Fatherhood essays: More than 20,000 essays were submitted by lastTuesday's deadline in the "Father of the Year" essay contest,sponsored by the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative. Some surprises,according to Initiative founder David Hirsch: A Downstate high schoolteacher reported that the experience was so emotionally devastatingfor students whose fathers are absent because of divorce andremarriage that she questioned whether it was fair to put kidsthrough the experience. A Chicago school, meanwhile, managed 100percent participation even though only a handful of students couldsay they "knew" their fathers. All were able to identify a "fatherfigure" in their lives. The winner will be announced June 15,Father's Day, at a Chicago Cubs game.
It's here: Millions of girls between ages 9 and 15 will takepart in Thursday's fifth annual Take Our Daughters To Work Day. TheMs. Foundation for Women, sponsor of the popular event, isdocumenting individual success stories from past participants. Lastyear, 16.6 million adults said they or their spouse personallyparticipated by taking a girl to their workplace - 7.6 million morethan in 1995. For information, call (800) 676-7780.
Baby toys: A baby's fascination with rattles and toys often iscaused not so much by the noise they make as from actually playingwith the toy."When a baby has mastery over an object and controls itsmovement, the baby enjoys the object more and becomes more active,"Marin Seligman, author of The Optimistic Child (Houghton Mifflin),says in the April edition of Working Mother magazine. She offerstips for promoting mastery at an early age:Choose toys that operate only in response to your youngster'sactions, such as blocks, trucks, baby gyms and instruments.Allow your child lots of room to explore, and enlarge that safe playspace regularly.Give eating utensils as early as possible and offer plenty of fingerfoods.Play games in which you follow your child's lead. When your childclaps his or her hands, respond by clapping yours.When your child faces a new task, break the challenge into small,achievable steps, starting with a level the child can control.Fluoride rules change: To prevent discoloration of tooth enamelfrom too much fluoride, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistryand the American Dental Association now say that babies shouldn'treceive supplemental fluoride during the first six months of life.Parents don't need to worry about the small amount of fluoridepresent in tap water, but they should avoid infant multivitamins thatcontain fluoride supplements.
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