Breathe

My neighborhood has labeled me. In the winter I'm the "house with the snow plow" at Halloween; "the house with the Fun Dip", and in the summer I'm known to be "the house with the pool" meaning it's a given that if the weather is warm enough my pool is filled with kids. My shopping list consistently contains chips, salsa and chlorine. Having a pool is great but comes with much responsibility. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in recent years an average of about 250 children under 5 years old drowned in pools nationwide annually. More than half of these deaths occurred in the summer months. Among unintentional injuries, drowning is the second leading cause of death to this age group after motor vehicle incidents. Another 2,700 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for near-drowning incidents. Most of these cases involve residential pools. That's scary stuff to me so I have my pool rules. No one can swim with out a buddy or adult/high school student supervising from the deck. And all swimmers must cleanup after themselves and use an actual real bathroom. yea,I'm not sure they are following that last one too well. What kind of house does she have?

She buzz words

• Mojito
• Babysitter
• Ensemble
• Beach pass

Right now she could be

• Designing a web site
• Learning to type
• Resetting her GPS for a national landmark
• Cleaning out her wallet

She therapy!

University of Colorado psychologist Leaf Van Boven specializes in studying happiness. After years of surveys and experiments, he concludes that life experiences make people happier than material possessions. He encourages vacations over the latest electronic device, stating that the former have more social value, thus leading to more personal satisfaction.

Would she prefer a vacation or some pricey object she's had her eye on?

Her kids are watching...

Preschool

Bob the Builder and Go, Diego, Go, on Noggin

Elementary

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, on Cartoon Network

Bindi: The Jungle Girl, on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel

Middle School

Kyle XY, on ABC Family

She's safe

The National Crime Prevention Council offers these tips to keep your house safe while you are on vacation:

• Make sure all windows are locked.
• Bicycles, expensive lawn furniture, second car, and any other outside valuables should be brought inside and locked away.
• Use automatic timers on lights.
• Let neighbors know you will be out of town or ask a friend to check on your house daily.
• Stop all mail and newspaper.

She fashion

Pink is the current "it" color, in a light-weight summer sundress or beach towel. T-shirt dresses, big belts, shoes, pedicures, and accessories like big hoop earrings round out a good portion of her latest shopping trip. She's wearing ballet flats, wedges, and thongs (sandals that have one toe separator).

She vent!

"There is dog/cat hair everywhere; am I the only person that knows how to operate a vacuum?"

She has a child with special needs!

There are numerous books and websites to provide support to the parent of a child with special needs. Here is another site to add to your list of favorites:

• www.ourspecialkids.com serves parents whose children may have autism, ADHD, diabetes, dyslexia, and other disabilities.

• Get more She Prep at www.ShePrep.com