Americans are leaving vacation time unused
A survey by Harris Interactive Inc. found that by the end of 2012, Americans will leave an average of 9.2 days of vacation unused, up from the average of 6.2 days in 2011.
Nearly 90 percent of those questioned said they would take more leisure trips on their vacation if they had the time and money to do so, according to the survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults that was commissioned by travel website Hotwire.
Hotwire has a selfish reason for pointing out the survey results: The travel website says vacationers can save lots of money by traveling between Thanksgiving and Christmas. During the holiday gap, hotel rates drop 33 percent in Boston, 28 percent in San Francisco and 26 percent in Seattle, compared with the peak summer travel season, according to the website.
— Los Angeles Times
Potty-training method not tied to incontinence
Can the wrong type of toilet training lead to incontinence later? Probably not, a new study concludes.
Broadly speaking, parents use one of two techniques. The first, sometimes called parent-oriented, rewards good behavior and punishes accidents by withholding the reward. In the other, called child-oriented, parents wait until the child seems ready for training, usually around 18 months or older, and then praise success and ignore accidents. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests the child-oriented approach, but until now there has been little research to support either.
Researchers studied 58 children ages 4 to 12 with symptoms of daytime incontinence, comparing them with 147 children without the problem. The groups were similar in income, race and ethnicity, parental education, mother’s work status, and family size.
The study, published online Nov. 1 in Clinical Pediatrics, found no association between urge incontinence and the method by which the children had been toilet-trained.
“I see a lot of kids with daytime wetting complaints, and kids who can’t be potty-trained easily — kids 6 or 7 years old,” said the senior author, Dr. Joseph Barone, a professor of urology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. “And the parents always feel guilty, thinking they trained their child wrong. I want to try to take the guilt away from the parents.”
— New York Times
Hints from Heloise: Reusing insulated boxes
Dear Readers: In a recent column, a reader asked for suggestions about what to do with all of the insulated foam boxes she has. Here is what some of you said:
Dennis in Washington: “I take them to the local mailing center for recycling.”
Sondra in Nebraska: “Those foam boxes are prized by fishermen! They are perfect for transporting worms used for bait.”
Eileen in New York: “I break them up into small pieces and use them in the bottom of pots for plants. It fills the pot, and I don’t have to use so much soil.”
Victoria in Montana: Uses the foam boxes to cover new plants to keep them from freezing.
Jane, via email: “I use foam boxes to store seasonal decorations. They hold up better than cardboard boxes and are more protective.”
Cathy, via email: “I love having those foam boxes on hand for gatherings! It’s nice to have insulated containers to send leftovers home with guests.”
— King Features
