Play dates can be a blessing or a curse – depending on if you’re the lucky host this time around. Truth be told, it can be frustrating to have families into your home who don’t show a basic respect for your house rules. While you can’t necessarily hand over this list without seeming a bit overbearing, you can teach by example. Keep these 6 standards on hand for the next play date, and use them wherever you go!

1. Timing is Everything. Just as you wouldn’t want a real date to show up 30 minutes late, keep on schedule with any appointments you have for playing. Likewise, avoid being too early. Most moms I know are still finishing up with their tidying just minutes before guests walk in the door, or a child’s napping schedule may be affecting by an unexpected arrival.

2. Come Prepared. While everyone forgets a diaper at one time or another, some parents have been known to use a host home as their own personal retail outlet. Bring a well-stocked diaper bag, complete with an extra change of clothes, and anything your child would need on a typical afternoon out. Just because your host home has socks in your tyke’s size, doesn’t mean they want to lend them out — indefinitely.

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[From Daily Mail]

Playing outdoors dramatically cuts a child’s risk of becoming short-sighted, research shows.

Just two or three hours of fun in the fresh air each day halves the odds of the common condition, studies have found.

The finding challenges the widespread belief that short-sightedness, in which distant objects appear blurred, is caused by an excess of close work such as computer use and TV watching.

Instead, it appears that the condition, which usually develops during childhood, is warded off by a daily dose of natural light.

The research will also strike a chord with adults whose eyesight has significantly worsened when they start working in an office.

Hey office workers, does this sound familiar? It sure does for some of us. Read the rest of the article here.