I found out recently that there is a new "No-Cry" book out. This series of books has helped us out so much in the past years with our children. I am very excited about this new book, and can't wait to get our copy. Below is an excerpt from the book, it is very informative and explains very clearly why children benefit greatly from a good nap.
Why Short Cat-Naps Are Not Good EnoughBy Elizabeth
Pantley, Author of The No-Cry Nap Solution
If your child's naps are shorter than an hour and a half in length, you may have wondered if these brief naps provide enough rest for your little one. You might suspect that these catnaps aren't meeting your child's sleep needs – and you would be right.
The science of sleep explains why a short nap takes the edge off, but doesn't offer the same physical and mental nourishment that a longer nap provides. It takes between 90 and 120 minutes for your child to move through one entire sleep cycle, resulting in a Perfect Nap.
It has been discovered that each stage of sleep brings a different benefit to the sleeper. Imagine, if you will, magic gifts that are awarded at each new stage of sleep:
Stage 1 - Very light
sleep - Lasts 5 to 15 minutes
The gifts:Prepares body for sleep; Reduces feelings of sleepiness
Stage 2 - Light to moderate
sleep - Lasts up 15 minutes
The gifts:Increases alertness; Improves motor skills; Stabilizes mood; Slightly reduces homeostatic sleep pressure (The biological process that creates fatigue and irritability.)
Stage 3 - Deep
sleep - Lasts up to 15 minutes
The gifts:Strengthens memory; Release of growth hormone; Repair of bones, tissues and muscles; Fortification of immune system; Regulates appetite; Releases bottled up stress; Restores energy; Reduces homeostatic sleep pressure
Stage 4 – Deepest sleep - Lasts up to 15 minutes
The gifts:Same benefits as Stage 3, but enhanced
Next Stage – Dreaming - Lasts up to 9 to 30 minutes
The gifts:Transfers short-term memory into long-term memory; Organizes thoughts; Secures new learning; Enhances brain connections; Sharpens visual and perceptual skills; Processes emotions; Relieves stress; Inspires creativity; Boosts energy; Reduces homeostatic sleep pressure
Longer naps - For as long as your child sleeps
The gifts:Repeat all of the above stages in cycles
In order for your child to receive all of these wonderful gifts he must sleep long enough to pass at least once through each stage of sleep. Longer naps will encompass additional sleep cycles and provide a continuous presentation of gifts.
Newborn babies have unique cycles that slowly mature over time. A newborn sleep cycle is about 40 to 60 minutes long, and an infant enters dream sleep quickly, skipping several sleep stages. Infants need several sleep cycles to receive their full allotment of gifts. If your infant is sleeping only 40-60 minutes at
naptime it is an indication that your baby is waking between cycles instead of returning to sleep on his own. We'll cover a plethora of ideas to help your baby learn to go back to sleep without your intervention.
Now you can clearly see why a short nap doesn't provide your baby or young child the best benefits of napping. You can also see why a mini-nap can fool you into thinking it is enough – since the very first five to fifteen minutes reduce feelings of sleepiness and bring that whoosh of second-wind energy that dissipates quickly, resulting is fussiness, crying, crankiness, tantrums and whining.
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This is a copyrighted excerpt from The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your
Naptime Problems by Elizabeth
Pantley. (
McGraw-Hill, December 2008).
More excerpts (available for reprint) are posted on her website.
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth
It is always fun to create something new, especially when it turns out to be a good soap and not sent to the pile that gets ground up for laundry or dish soap. 
It is always fun to create something new, especially when it turns out to be a good soap and not sent to the pile that gets ground up for laundry or dish soap. 
Making a lip balm has been on my mind several years now, but just wasn't sure about jumping in. So far the results are favorable and the people who have tested it really like it. I will create several new flavors(all natural of course) hopefully in the next week or so. A solid scented lotion bar to match the soap scents will be my next project. If all goes smoothly they will be added near the end of April also. Look for its debut at the end of April.
This Saturday was the Annual Pinewood Derby Competition for the Cub Scouts in Pack 4. The boys(and dads) had lots of fun carving, cutting, painting and getting their cars to the right weight in preparation for the big day. Saturday morning they all got together at a local school gym to find out how all their hard work paid off. It was an exciting morning as cars were raced two at a time down the track to see who would eventually come out victorious. In the end the Bear Den's top three winners were Nathan Zerangue,
