Conference moira::parenting

Books!!!

    Legos would be another wonderful idea as it would keep the hands busy
    putting something together.
    
    

    My 8 yr old is into Micro Machines.  These are almost thumb size little
    cars and accessories of all kinds.  If there is a toddler in the house,
    this may not be a good idea as they are small enough to swallow.
    
    -sandy
    

How about an assortment of baseball or other type of trading cards? I just
saw some Harley Davidson cards this morning at a 7-11 that I couldn't pass up -
and this is for a motorcylec-crazed 2-year-old, so I'm sure an older boy
would enjoy this type of thing even more since he can read.

Other possibilities:

	Comic Books
	Little action figures/cars
	Travel-sized games like etch-a-sketch, tic-tac-toe, etc.
	Deck of cards (already have Jurrassic Park ones in drugstores!)
	Videos (bought or rented), if they have a VCR
	Cassette player and some "books on tape" or other music
	Puzzles
	Models - cars, airplanes, etc.

    I spent 6 months in bed when I was 15.  And I mean in bed, flat on my
    back, no getting up at all.  People did things for me that I will
    always remember and appreciate.  One person sent me little things in
    the mail every 7 to 10 days.  Some of the ideas that others have
    mentioned would work perfectly for this.  It made the day very special
    when I got the small item in the mail.
    
    Another person went to the public library and got me books once a week. 
    I loved to read and it gave me a never-ending supply and didn't cost
    her anything but her time.  
    
    Bringing his friends in for a visit or dropping by with a McDonald's
    happy meal might also be appreciated.
    
    judy

    My suggestions, and NO BATTERIES REQUIRED!!!  Hand held Wonderful
    Waterfuls, they also make a full size one but the hand held ones seem
    to be a hit from elementary to high school age kids.  (ask me I keep
    two of them in the car and have had them used by my son age 6 up to
    Adult as well as teens)  the miniature version of popular games, like
    Sorry, Connect Four both travel size and full size.  
    
    so many others.  What I have done, with AJ spending quite a bit of time
    "attempting" to stay quiet, is walk through the first aisle of ToysRUs
    in the party favor aisle.  There are tons of small toys like the square
    thing with 16 little squares, one is empty and you have to put letters
    or numbers in order.  There's another thing that is like a small
    circular maze, a tiny metal ball and you have to get it to the middle,
    there's four of these per pack.  Sometimes the local party supply place
    will have these, I've also seen many of these at the Fair Dept. store.
    
    (Can you tell I'm a mom?)  I keep a "reward bag" tucked away with many
    of these little things in it, just to have for when he deserves a small
    pick-me-up kind of treat.  Did I mention Jacks, or pick up stix?
    
    All of this presumes there are no small children in the home who can
    put small objects in their mouth.
    
    Lyn

    I would suggest some "art" supplies.  Crayola puts out some nice kits
    with various pens, pencils, markers, paints etc.  Or stop in a stationary 
    or department store and pick out a variety of pencils, markers, paper etc.
    
    
    

    Just one afterthought, a former manager gave me a large grocery bag
    just before one of AJ's hospitalizations.  In the bag were several
    individually wrapped packages.  the instructions were that I was to let
    AJ pick out one "gift" per day, instead of giving him all at once.
    
    In our case there were so many I let him pick one in the morning, and
    one late afternoon or evening.  He was literally barely awake from
    anesthesia when he started asking to "pick from the gift bag".  It made
    the hospital stay more tollerable, since he had to lay on his belly for
    a couple days from the back surgery.  I have thanked my boss profusely
    so many times for thinking of this.  (I found out later it was his stay
    at home mother of 3 wife who came up with the idea)
    
    There was coloring books&crayons in one, there was a small jigsaw
    puzzle in another, there was modeling clay, there was a pop-gun thing
    with the sponge ball attached to it by a string (we could control the
    length of the string), Old Maid Cards, regualar or baseball cards for
    older kids, some kind of miniature electronic keyboard about 1"by3".   
    Most of the things were under a couple dollars, and had come from one of 
    the local discount department stores.
    
    How about an inexpensive walkman type thing, and cassette tapes?  I
    guess I tend to feel a little more experienced on this one, considering
    that AJ's medical records probably weigh more than he does!
    
    Lyn