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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Cool time in the summer
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Jordan Bonner and his mother, Leigh Anne, both from Perry, cool off from the 100
degree temperature recently.
Vacations tempt children
to re-examine boundaries
QUESTION: Why is it
that children are often
the most obnoxious and
irritating on vacations
and at other times when
parents specifically try
to please them? On those
special days, you’d think
the kids would say to
themselves, “Wow! Mom
and Dad are doing some
thing really nice for us,
taking us on this great
vacation. We’re going to
give them a break and be
really good kids today.”
Isn’t that reasonable?
DR. DOBSON: Sure it’s
reasonable, but children just
don’t think that way. In fact,
many boys and girls mis
behave even more at these
times. Why is this? One rea
son, I think, is because chil
dren often feel compelled to
re-examine the boundaries
whenever they think they
have moved. In other words,
whenever the normal rou
tine changes, the tougher
kids often push the limits
to see if the old rules still
apply.
QUESTION: So how can
parents preserve their
own peace of mind and
maintain harmony dur
ing car trips and family
holidays?
DR. DOBSON: Sometimes
it helps to redefine the
boundaries at .the beginning
of your time together. Let
the children know exact
ly what you’re doing and
what’s expected of them. If
they still misbehave, respond
with good, loving discipline
right from the start.
No parent wants to be an
ogre on vacation, but it helps
to show a little firmness at
the outset that can make the
rest of the time together fun
for the entire family.
QUESTION: What does
research tell us about
the personalities of new
borns?
How to make pine straw useful
By Dan Rahn
University of Georgia
Georgia pines have start
ed raining pine straw early
this year. And yes, somebody
has to rake it all up. But
pine straw can be more of a
blessing than a chore, said
University of Georgia spe
cialist Bob Westerfield.
“If you use it right, pine
straw can actually help you
have less yard work to do,”
said Westerfield, a UGA
Cooperative Extension con
sumer horticulturist.
Pine straw can free you,
he said, from having to do
so much:
■ Mowing. Contoured pine
straw islands, with just a
few plants, can replace large
areas of high-maintenance
lawn. Where you already
have groups of shrubs or
trees, use pine straw to
tie them together, he said.
Then you won’t have to mow
around them individually.
■ Watering. Sunshine and
wind will take away much
less water if the soil sur
face is covered with mulch,
he said. Reduce water needs
DR. DOBSON: One of the
most ambitious studies yet
conducted took a period of
three decades to complete.
That investigation is known
in professional literature as
the New York Longitudinal
Study. The findings from
this investigation, led by
psychiatrists Stella Chess
and Alexander Thomas,
were reported in their excel
lent book for parents, “Know
Your Child.”
Chess and Thomas found
that babies not only dif
fer significantly from one
another at the moment of
birth, but those differences
tend to be rather persistent
throughout childhood.
Even more interestingly,
they observed three broad
categories or patterns of
tempera
men t s
into which
the major
ity of chil
dren can
be classi
fied.
First
they
referred
to “the
difficult
child,”
Dr. James
Dobson
Focus on the Family
who is characterized l}y
negative reactions to peo
ple, intense mood swings,
irregular sleep patterns and
feeding schedules, frequent
periods of crying and violent
tantrums when frustrated.
Does that sound familiar?
I described those individuals
many years ago as “strong
willed” children.
The second pattern is called
“the easy child,” who mani
fests a positive approach to
people, quiet adaptability to
new situations, regular sleep
patterns and feeding sched
ules, and a willingness to
accept the rules of the game.
The authors concluded,
“Such a youngster is usually
with pine straw mulch
around shrubs and in flower
beds.
■ Weeding. Mulches help
control weeds, he said. That
provides two advantages:
One, you don’t have to pull
weeds yourself. And two, you
don’t have to spray chemi
cal herbicides around your
yard.
Extension foresters say
pine straw actually falls
year-round. But needle-fall
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a joy to his or her parents,
pediatrician and teachers.”
My term for the easy child is
“compliant.”
The third category was
given the title “slow-to
warm-up” or “shy.” These
youngsters respond nega
tively to new situations and
they adapt slowly. However,
they are less intense than
difficult children are and
they tend to have regular
sleeping and feeding sched
ules.
When they are upset or
frustrated, they typically
withdraw from the situation
and react mildly, rather than
exploding with anger and
rebellion.
Not every child fits into
one of these categories, of
course, but approximately
65 percent* do. Drs. Chess
and Thomas also emphasized
that babies are fully human
at birth, being able immedi
ately to relate to their par
ents and learning from their
environments. I doubt if that
news will come as a surprise
to most mothers, who never
believed in the “blank slate”
theory, anyway.
It should not be difficult
to understand why these
findings from longitudinal
research have been exciting
to me. They confirm my own
clinical observations, not
only about the wonderful
complexity of human beings,
but also about the categories
of temperament identified
by Drs. Chess and Thomas.
Dr. Dobson is founder and
chairman of the board of
the nonprofit organization
Focus on the Family, P.O.
Box 444, Colorado Springs,
CO. 80903; or www.family.
org. Questions and answers
are excerpted from “The
Complete Marriage and
Family Home Reference
Guide” and “Bringing Up
Boys, ” both published by
Tyndale House.
is heaviest in fall, winter
and early spring.
If you have more pine
straw than you can use in
the fall, just find an out-of
the-way place to pile it up
and save it.
Next spring, you could be
happy you did.
For all the reasons it’s so
good in your landscape, pine
straw can be just as valuable
as a mulch in your vegetable
garden.
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I r
—j
Diana Dougerty and her companion Samson, entertain the Sr. Wildlife Group at
Bonaire United Methodist Church on Tuesday.
Clay Dehlart feeds
a hungry Samson.
Macaws eat basi
cally the same foods as
humans.
ENl'Gary Harmon
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