European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Let child help herself Stop thumb sucking by Catherine Deangelis and Frank a. Oski Baltimore Sun How can i Stop my 4-year-old from sucking her thumb probably the Best Way is to make a pact with her which Only works if she wants to Stop. To encourage her Point out what thumb sucking is doing to her pretty body. It May be causing a Gap Between her Teeth or a callous or wrinkled skin on her thumb. Once she wants to Stop ask if you can help by giving gentle and Subtle reminders such As a Buzz word or phrase when she starts to suck. Visual reminders which she applies to herself also help. Let her apply Fingernail polish or band aids for instance or suggest she Wear a Mitten or sock on her hands during sleep. Applying bitter tasting liquids May work but Only if your child agrees to its use. As part of the pact an important part give rewards for Short then longer periods of no thumb sucking. These can include verbal Praise Reading an extra Story to her or something similar which she enjoys. How can you Tell if a child has Chicken pox Chicken pox or Varicella is an infection caused by the same virus that causes herpes zoster or shingles. Children with Chicken pox usually have a slight fever and a Tell tale rash that begins with scattered crops of Small bumps and develops into tiny blisters on Small circular Pink or red bases. These blisters break form scabs and gradually disappear. New lesions appear for three to four Days causing the characteristic rash with numerous bumps blisters and scabs. My son refuses to eat stews or casseroles because they contain mixed foods. Should i make him eat them forcing children to eat foods they dislike is almost always a losing Battle and increases the possibility of Long term eating problems. Many Young children go through a period of wanting All their foods separated. They la eat All of one food before beginning the next. Don t fuss. Instead gradually try introducing two foods mixed together such As succotash. Add mixed soups such As Chicken Noodle or vegetable and other mixed foods until your child accepts them. Or. Frank a. Oskel is director and or. Catherine Deangelis is Deputy director of the Johns Hopkins children s Center in Baltimore. My. Working women and pre Partum frenzy by Susan Swartz Santa Rosa Calif press Democrat it s no wonder that at times woman feels like her uterus i everybody else s business what with Nosy relatives and friends wondering if she is trying and when she succeeds near strangers patting her belly like it is now their Domain. This Public intrusion into a very private matter has Only intensified in the current baby making Campaign in the United states that some say feels like propaganda. Prime time Wise we know that Stuart and Anne Are trying and that Hope and Michael succeeded making Melissa feel inadequate. Jane Curtin did a to movie on what is becoming a predictable theme almost 40 professional and second wife surprises self and husband who had kids with first wife by getting pregnant. Did t we just see this asked a Wise 16-year-old passing by the tube. Murphy Brown flipped when a pregnant Friend told her if she did t have a baby she d regret it All her life. Even tall Cool Sigourney Weaver in working girl heard biological clock ticking. It s Tough on some women who up until now have been Content with their lives. I Don t know if i want a baby or if i m just watching too much to said one. The message seems to be of you be got your Stock option and your equity. You have three degrees and have been self actualized. But have you Ever seen your nose in miniature there s probably a reason for All this. Indeed there does happen to be a Large crop of first time babies among real life career women in their 30s and Early 40s. Even Lear a the Magazine billed for the mature woman did an Issue on motherhood after 40. Still this should not be cause for pre Partum panic among those who plan to put it off a while longer or forever. Maybe it s the housewives revenge a Campaign crafted by women who chose to stay Home with their kids in the 70s and suffered their hard line Sisters insults about a career being the ultimate fulfilment. The problem with leaving family planning to to and the movies is that not All babies Are As adaptable and agreeable As the one in baby Boom both Diane Keaton s and Kate Jackson s and not As smart and Clever As the Little girl in the Good Mother Keaton s again. The adoring child who runs to meet Mommy with her briefcase in the airline commercial could easily pull a mood and barely Grunt the next time she returns from a business trip. Unlike film versions Many working mommies find it impossible to hire live in nannies or even to find or afford child care at All. Or to be with adoring and agreeable daddies or other partners. In addition to the Mommy and me movies there s a controversial and Campaign going on that says not Only does the new woman want babies she also wants to sign off her computer for Good and come Home. This theme has been the Selling push by a Magazine of the fudge recipe and sweater pattern variety. The message is that americans want More stability and can get it by returning to the Safe Days of their childhood when life was More Home and family entered. It is a Long stretch from there to women yearning to toss their careers and go Back to ironing shirts and making custards but the promoter insists the contemporary woman wants what her Mother had including the same Magazine. You d think that most people would t fall for this but apparently enough believe in a june Cleaver revival that More of the same style of marketing is expected to focus on the mom at Home consumer. It feels like an insidious come Back All is forgiven gesture to those women whom psychologists periodically declare have Over liberated themselves. Some predict that women who decided to delay childbearing Are Only More frustrated when they attempt it mid career finding that no time is the Ideal time. One expert who discussed the difficult balance of career and family said chillingly my speculation is that women will lower their aspirations  others Are betting on the new working Mother As a Force for Progress. It is the woman in the maternity business suits who now that she has their attention will lean on employers to improve working conditions for All leading to greater acceptance of Job sharing flexible work schedules mom and pop parental leave and company sponsored child care. These modern moms can either take one Queen step Forward or two monster Steps Back. Page 16 the stars and stripes monday february 13,1989 i am always saddened when adults take a simple Holiday for children and screw it up. What began As a presentation of simple gifts to Delight and Surprise children around the Christmas tree has culminated in a woman opening up six shrimp Forks from her dog who Drew her name. The tradition of Little children wandering through the darkness in makeshift fright costumes on the eve of halloween has Given Way to adult parties of such magnitude an entire Industry has evolved to clothe them. It is Small wonder that Valentine s Day struggles to remain a Day for Young lovers a Day when the human heart is made out of chocolate and naked cherubs defy the february chill to Send out their arrows. Whenever adults speak of Valentine s Day they go Back to their youth. They go Back As i do to a Small classroom in the second Grade. They go Back to miss Dawkins who put a Large cardboard Box on her desk a week before. It is covered with red hearts made out of construction paper and ribbon of crepe paper. All week Long i have watched my classmates drop in their fistful of secrets. Everyone but Ray Deger. On Valentine s Day just minutes before miss Dawkins is to distribute the cards Ray drops his in. My heart stops beating. Would the love i Felt for him be returned or would i be left to trudge through life alone rejected unloved miss Dawkins takes an eternity to pass out the Valentines. The ones stacked before me hold no interest. There can t be More than two or three left in the Box when she Calls out my name. It is signed  my eyes dissect the card for hidden messages. There Are two bears kissing one another with three hearts poised above their Heads. The message says i care for  there is no doubt in my mind i was one of the bears and Ray was the other one. Professionally my eyes take in that there Are no erasures or smudges so the card is new bought just for me. Sylvia Proshold Points out later that his Mother signed it. That s All she knows. It s his signature All right. There have been other Valentine s Days Days of Candy hearts and even roses at $80 a dozen. My children brought me homemade Valentines that held awkward messages of love. My husband has showered me with All kinds of remembrances throughout the years celebrating his Devotion. But the Day will never again recapture that breathless moment when miss Dawkins handed me the Small Valentine from Ray Deger declaring i care for  he had never spoken to me before that Day and he was never to speak to me during the four years we went to Grade school together. The moment belonged Only to a phenomenon called Valentine s Day. C 1989ermabombeck