This funny, little book is ideal for every frustrated parent thinking that he or she has (at the moment) the worst child in the world – YOU DON'T (there are others...). Putting the little ones to sleep is a challenge for every parent (with the first as much as with any other). The author has put a lot of effort into describing vividly all the different scenarios parents regularly find themselves in (and if their mom hadn't told them swearing just was not to be done – who knows...) when trying to get the kid(s) to bed (= step 1 = difficult) and to SLEEP (= step 2 = close enough to impossible at times).

What makes this book so special, is the perspective the author puts on the adventure of putting a child to sleep every day for weeks . . . months . . . and years. And, to be honest, you have to be a parent to fully enjoy the humour of this book. If you are still in the “practise makes perfect-stage” - hold off buying it for the moment. You will enjoy it much more with a little experience under your eyelids (if your kid does not see the necessity in sleeping, why should you have to do it then?)

Those of you who are happy mums and dads of (no doubt) delightful little kids – go off and get it – at least you will have a great laugh while you are waiting for your little one to find his or her way into the land of dreams (at least for a couple of hours).

This game can be played with any number of players, the number can be even or odd - that's the handy thing about this game: NO MESSING with numbers etc.

Gather all your party guests in the room and make them pick their detective. This can be done by volunteering, throwing a coin or you take whoever lost the game played beforehand and make him the detective for the new game. When your detective has been chosen, make him/her to wait outside the door.

Afterwards, all except the detective sit in a circle while the detective waits outside. One person from the circle is elected to be the murderer, and then the Detective is called back to stand in the circle.

When he is ready, the murderer winks at people in the circle. Anyone who sees that they have been winked at lets out a blood-curdling scream and dies. If you want to make it a little more difficult, you can get other people of the circle to move their hands slightly (as if they were winking, too) - to distract the detective from the "real" murdere

The Detective has three attempts to guess the murderer.

Stop your kids from being bored over the summer and give them the opportunity to explore their artistic talents. From the 27th June to 12th August, the Diamond Valley Arts Council is will offer lessons in drawing, painting and crafts using a variety of techniques. The classes promise to be a lot of fun and will be held in a creative and safe environment.


The classes will run from 1 – 3 pm each day and are available to all kids between the age of 5 and 17. The minimum enrolment for this camp is 1 week. Why not give your children the opportunity to explore their talents and have fun while being creative?

The weekly fee for the camp is $60 per student, or $50 if paid in advance. Advance payment must be by check or money order made payable to The Diamond Valley Arts Council and sent to 110 San Mateo Circle, Hemet, CA 92543.

The classes will be held at the Esplanade Arts Center, 2181 W. Esplanade Ave., at the corner of Sanderson Avenue in San Jacinto.

For more information, call Mary at 951-207-8172 or email thedvac@thedvac.org

SUMMERTIME - PARTYTIME: Every kid loves to invite his / her schoolmates to a BBQ or a garden party. But what to do with them when they are "fed and watered"????
In our section Funny Party Games, we will suggest several games for kids of different ages which will make the time fly by. So here we go.

All the children (except one - The Pirate) sit cross-legged on the floor in a circle. The pirate sits cross-legged in the middle of the circle, blind-folded, with a large bunch of keys on the floor in front of him. A child is nominated to creep up and take the keys and then return to their place, without the pirate hearing them. The Pirate has three goes to point to where he thinks the raider is. If he is sucessful, the raider becomes the Pirate.

"Mum..., where's my favourite toy?", "I'll never pass my next school exam!", "Why can't I get those runners?"
Who does not know all those questions? Kids are fascinating individuals - Their curiosity as well as their innocence make them a constant source of joy and entertainment...
But like every good thing in life, they have their "moments", too - waking you up in the middle of the night after having dreamed of a bear underneath their wardrobe for example.
Those are the moments where "Mum" needs a lot of patience and good will.
I often wonder, how other women cope with those challenging moments in their parenting life. This section of Women's Web is dedicated to exactly those kind of questions.
Why not share your experiences with others and take advantage of their knowledge in return?
We are looking forward to posting your first articles.