School breaks will always be important to both children and parents. But in these days of more one-parent families and many more families where mom and dad work, vacations can also be a stressful time to navigate through and ensure that our kids have happy summer vacation memories.

Old and New
What do you most remember from your childhood about summer vacations? I recently asked over one hundred people, male and female, from all walks of life, for their impressions. The favorite memories include: playing with friends, cousins and family; trips to the grand parents' house; trips to the sea, desert and mountains; recreation grounds; swimming pools; reading; bike rides; camping; long hot days and ice cream. Sleeping late and breaking routines were favorite too and important components of everyone's childhood summer break memories.

Just what do our children look forward to nowadays about summer break? No homework, no school, theme parks, water parks, sleepovers, trips with family, camping, and lots of free time to play. There does not seem to be much difference between the then and now. Everyone agrees that the only dislike about Summer Vacation is when it comes to an end and the time to go back to routine has returned.

A break from structure seems to be the key for a great vacation for parents and children. Today, there are many summer school programs and camps available for children, both educational and recreational. Summer camps abound. Lots of children love the activities and learn valuable lessons in relating, discovering and evolving as individuals. Summer camps can be a boon for parents to also enjoy some well-deserved rest. There appears though a need for balance, as some children express both feelings of excitement and of abandonment when talking about summer camps.

So just what can everyone do to most benefit and enjoy the summer break. Read on for the Top Ten Tips to making the most of summer time fun when school's out for summer.

1. Don't promise too much and over extend yourself during summer break. Let children know that they need to entertain themselves too. This way, it's a win-win situation that both parents and children really get to enjoy.
2. Simple things, like spending time together, just talking or cooking, yard work, making things together like a collage, playing board games, watching movies, often bring deep pleasure and create lasting happy childhood memories.
3. Breaking patterns with mealtimes and bedtimes when possible, not doing what is always done on Thursdays or Saturdays. Real breaks in tradition, patterns and routines allow children room to expand and grow. It also opens them up to a myriad of positive possibilities and shows them that there is safety and security in uncertainty. We know that every wise parent wants to show their children that real safety comes from within the children themselves.
4. If your children attend summer camps, make sure that that's what they really want to do and stay in touch with their experience as much as possible.
5. Make a balance with the time that your children spend with their friends, alone and with the family. Allowing real quality time to reconnect with children will help them and you make the best of the summer.
6. Get dads involved too. Women still are in our society the primary caregivers to children. Encourage dads to play an active role in summer time fun. Remember it's quality time that counts and family occasions still rate highly in children's vacation wish lists.
7. Get away. Go camping or to a hotel, motel, resort or to a family location. Even if it's only for one day. Do the best that you can. Children like to get away from it all, as much as adults. They enjoy and learn from different environments.
8. Encourage a sense of adventure in both boys and girls, from building camps, planting a garden, reading adventure stories, finding out about other cultures, peoples and lands. This helps your children to discover the magic and excitement of life beyond school time and work time routines.
9. Support older children in finding summer jobs and give them a taste of financial independence. Help younger children enjoy and value earning and making extra pocket money by giving them additional chores and projects. Also investigate voluntary work options to help develop a greater sense of community.
10. Get informed. Take an active role in your children's summer break by finding out what's going on in your neighborhood and beyond. See what activities are offered for your children to enjoy and take part in. Encourage older children to research for themselves. Remember, if you hear those words from your angels' lips: "I am bored!" Be ready with the sound advice: "Maybe it's you that's being boring!"

Petrene Soames is the author of The Essence of Self-Healing: How to bring health and happiness into your life (FleetStreet Publications - March 2001). She is a leading authority in healing and self-awareness, an inspirational speaker, a veteran television and radio guest featured in national and international press. She has worked successfully over the past 22 years as a consultant and therapist, helping others achieve their highest potential. Visit her web site at http://Timeismine.com or call (281) 363-9983.

To order your own autographed copy today of The Essence of Self-Healing and receive a free set of The Power of Positive Thoughts Cards, go to http://timeismine.com/ordernow.html or call 281-363-9983

2. Veganism is a personal choice by Fabrice Menoyot

Since June 21st is the First World Vegan Day, I'll take the opportunity to share a few thoughts about vegetarianism with you.

When one lives in the USA, or in any of the so-called "advanced" European countries, it's easy to loose track of some basic aspects of life. We live in a society that is largely consumer based and a large majority of people get their information and build their beliefs often only through what they hear, see or read in the media. I have been working with the media for the last 5 to 6 years and I noticed over and over that lots of the information that we receive is the product of marketing campaigns designed to bring public awareness and increase sales of a specific consumer item. We get this information no only via advertising messages but also via look alike articles and news that are written from News Releases sent by manufactures and retail businesses.

On the other hand, we have very little knowledge of how people live in other countries outside our borders. Only a minority of us do travel aboard and an even smaller group travels outside tourist centers that are more a mirror of our lifestyle at home than an authentic representation of a local lifestyle. So we have very little chance to challenge our knowledge and beliefs.

What most of you might have noticed during the past 15 years, is the large increase of information that we receive about nutrition. The milk industry for example has for many years sent the message that everyone's need to consume dairy products because of our need for calcium and vitamin D. The meat industry has brought us over and over the message that human beings need to consume protein in order to function. 100's of food supplements have been brought to the market and we have being told over and over that these products are necessary in order to bring the nutrients that our body needs and that are no longer present in the food we consume. A proof of the high level of success of these campaigns is that our children today truly believe these facts without questioning any of them.

Back in the 70's and 80's, nobody was really concerned about any of this. But since then, we all seem to have become very knowledgeable about nutrition, while at the same time the amount of overweight people is the USA has increased dramatically and is reaching nowadays almost 60% of the adult population. Meanwhile, many studies published by institutions such as Havard University and other well-recognized institutions and researchers have brought new insight about these facts. Most of these facts are not published in the main media mainly because of conflicts of interest with the advertisers. Remember what happened to Oprah a few years ago when the Texas meat industry sued her for making negative comments about the effect of meat on our body? Although Oprah won the battle, she has refused to bring the subject back on the air. More than that, ask any Public Relation agency and they'll tell you that Oprah does not want to know about possible guests bringing the subject of vegetarianism to her show.

The fact is everyone can find any study and data to backup pretty much anything. Another fact is that the data we are exposed to changes very often and what is good for us today becomes bad tomorrow and vice versa. Personal experience, on the other hand, personal exposure to different cultures, different beliefs and different lifestyles does often bring us more facts about life than any possible research or study published in our local newspaper or scientific magazine.

When you expose yourself to different cultures you quickly realize that first, what you eat everyday is based on:

1. What is available wherever you are. What earth produces according to the location and the season.
2. Cultural and religious beliefs
3. More than anything else, what you eat is your own personal choice. You eat what you like and don't eat what tastes awful to you, as simple as that.

You also realize that we, citizens of the advanced world, are a very small minority on this planet who bases our food consumption on so-called scientific data about the nutritional content of each ingredient that is in our plate.

Look at a few well known examples. Indians communities who are established in the neighborhood of the North Pole don't eat the famous 5 daily serving of veggies. They don't eat beef either but mainly fish. Ever tried to grow potatoes in a bucket of ice? South Korean eat dogs. Hindus don't eat cows. White rice is widely consumed in China and India and French people eat anything that moves and grows.

One argument that is often brought is that none of these people eat healthy food and don't live as long as those who have a so-called balanced diet.

So let me bring you another example of people who live 3 ½ hours from Houston. I was in Jamaica at the end of April and went to a community in the mountains out of the tourist track. I spent 8 days with them. The people there are called Maroons and are the descendants of the first black slaves brought from Africa by the British, They immediately rebelled against slavery and disappeared in the jungle. In the 1700's they finally signed a treaty with the national authorities and have been left on their own ever since. People there eat what their land produce and most of them are vegetarian. Some raise goats and a few chicken in order to sell them and buy some basic products such as cloth, soap, etc. They eat whatever is available according to the season and have a few plants and trees that deliver all year long. They do not use any food supplements and rarely use pharmaceutical drugs. For one week I ate fruits that I picked up from trees (often with someone help) and cooked vegetables that went from the ground to the pot. I was introduced to a 96-years old man that still had a great sense of humor and just a few years ago the oldest member of the community died at 112 years. The life expectancy there is about 75, pretty much the same as in the US and other "First" world countries. But at a much lower cost…!

And let me tell you. The fruits were the best I had for a long time; it reminded me when I was a kid, when our fruits and veggies were ripe, sweet and juicy. You remember?

To conclude, for me, being a vegetarian, a vegan is not about eating "healthy". I know lots of people who eat meat and dairy products and who are very healthy and in balance and who live happy and old. Being a vegan for me is about living in a cruelty free world; it's about making friend with all the other animals that share this world with me, and accept them as intelligent and sensitive beings as we human are. Anyone who has pets or is living around animals knows that well. Being a vegan is also about feeding myself with life and not fear and death. Many people argue with me at this point with the fact that plants are alive too. It's true. But we harvest plants; we collect fruits. We don't kill then and as long as we treat them right, they grow again and again.

At the end of the day, we all have a choice. We all can eat anything we want. I just wish to invite you to make your own choice. Choose for yourself, not for what you have been or are being told. And accept that everyone has the right to choose differently.

Journeys, Cruises, Trips...

January 11-21st, 2003

The Great Pyramid of Egypt

Click here for details

March 8-15th, 2003

Caribbean 2003

Click here for details

Interesting web sites about vegetarianism:

• http://www.peta-online.org/ [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]
• http://www.vegweb.com/ [Veggies Unite! - Lots of free recipes]
• http://petrene.com/articles/vegetarian.htm "To be or not to be a vegetarian" by Petrene Soames.

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