Tales of trees and tadpoles

Ok New post! Well yesterday I got to play with the chainsaw!! First time I ever used a chainsaw. I cut down most of the tree and hauled it to the pick up spot my mom helped. Then I hooked the hose up to the pool to drain IT AND WHEN I GOT IN TO UNPLUG IT there were lots and lots of tadpoles. I got a big 5 gallon bucket and put old swimming pool water in it and netted out hundreds of tadpoles. The girls came home yesterday and celebrated when they saw the tadpoles. This morning before school Kim had a Big pickle jar, Natalie had a quart size jar, and Rachel had a pint jar and they were full of swimming pool water and tadpoles. it was precious seeing my Kindergartner, 2nd grader and 6th grader proudly walking into school with their tadpoles or "guppies" as Natalie and Rachel call them. Anyways it was too adorably cute.
I had a birthday a few weeks ago and I got an awesome new camera so I will be making and posting some pictures to share on here.

Band-Aids

I have often bought band-aids thinking, "These will last a while so I don't mind the price." I buy a small box of 35 for around $1.35. I bring them home and never see the box again. But I do see the contents of the box every once in a while. To a child a band-aid is a fascinating thing. They learn that when you prick yourself you can put a little band-aid on it to make it not bleed. They also learn that when they have a blister they can put the band-aid on it to protect it. So they have figured out that band-aids are comfort measures when they are hurt. A few weeks ago I was cleaning my daughters room. I noticed the humongous amount of stuffed animals or "snuggle buddies" as we call them piled up on the floor where I could not help but step all over them. Thinking, as moms often do, "ah ha I will use some silly psychology to get them to keep their toys off the floor." (We try everything) I acted like their snuggle buddies were hurt by being on the floor and stepped on by people. They had sound effects I created, "Bwhaaaa, and Boo Hoo, and Whaaa, and NOOO" But it was a little fun humor and the girls picked them up. I bought some more band-aids shortly after that usually because they disappear and I never know where they are. Now almost every day I see snuggle buddies covered in band-aids. They are still on the floor, oh yes, but their "discomfort" is now remedied with a small piece of gauze and plastic. :)

What is your opinion?

Ok, I have a conundrum. What is the proper way to handle you pre-teen child's friends? I have my own opinions about this topic but I really would like some feed back good and bad about your life experiences, either your first hand ones as a pre-teen or as a parent of a pre-teen. If the friend's manners are lacking and you are hurt by the lack of kindness, what do you do? If the friend is a bad influence (behavior wise) what do you do? Just wanted to have your perspectives on this. Thank You. Dawn