July, 2008

There is no greater bliss on earth than that enjoyed by kids on their summer holidays. The time before school starts again seems endless; the mischief available to revel in is irresistible; and all the time, there’s a spare afternoon to escape the beating sun (or rain!) and watch a magical movie.

Now, I’m not talking about the summer blockbusters that Hollywood likes to shove down our throats year after year. (Does anyone really care about the millionth installment of Spiderman?) I’m talking about the movies that seem to capture the excitement of these golden days in the sun. Maybe you have your own favorites, but here is a personal selection of three films that make me feel young, and give you the urge to eat a popsicle or icecream in front of the TV for a couple of hours.

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In the U.S., I spent my summer vacations being pretty lazy; I spent June through August going to the pool, catching up with friends, sleeping late, or traveling with my family. For some reason, I imagined children and adolescents all over the world spending these months the exact same way, but I’ve now realized two things: not all countries have the same months for summer vacation and other kids out of school attended summer camp (6 million kids in America each year), try to make extra cash at a summer jobs or study at summer school (yikes).

While in the U.S., most schools allow a summer vacation of about three months, the summer holidays in England usually begin near the end of July and last until the first week of September for approximately 6 weeks of unadulterated bliss. 

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After two hot, sweaty months in Beijing, I am returning home to  Canada. Parting with Beijing, however, will be more bitter than it will be sweet. This city is a constant adventure. Saying goodbye to it has never been easy.

When I moved away five years ago, I had just finished 10th grade at the International School of Beijing. I sobbed against the airplane window as the plane left the tarmac and hated my parents for taking me away from the city I had lived in the longest, the place I loved the best. Adjusting to Canada – its public schools, its blistering winters, and its spaces that seemed to be devoid of any kind of history or culture – was far harder than settling in to China to had been. Nonetheless, I eventually gave up resenting my parents, and Canada became home. 

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Reducing Your Carbon Footprint 

Last year’s quality crisis in the toy industry saw babies swallowing magnets, scathing reports of playthings covered in toxic paint and huge shipments of toys being returned to their countries of origin. Since children are renowned for putting anything and everything into their mouths, ensuring that the toys they play with are safe and toxin-free is essential. 

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Calling all junior Olympians! Show your stuff this Friday at AmCham’s annual Kid Olympics at the International School of Beijing–complete with hula-hooping, dunking, contests and games for prizes. Enjoy the barbecue, cool off with cold drinks, and catch the firework show in the evening.

What: Kid Olympics

When: Friday, July 4, 3pm to 9pm

Where: International School of Beijing

Why: It’s fun!

As if pregnant women weren’t inundated by health advice already, a new study in The Journal of Physiology suggests that a poor diet in the womb might have long lasting health effects on the child. 

The experiment found that rats whose mothers were fed fatty, processed foods during pregnancy had high levels of fat in the bloodstream even after adolescence, and despite switching to healthier grub. (Not that breaking the habit is easy; the same team showed previously that you might crave the snacks you had in the womb.)

Translation: If mom gobbles Doritos and swigs cokes throughout pregnancy, baby—or teenager—might have a greater chance of developing Type II diabetes. No big shocker there.

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Getting It Done Without Tears & Strife 

Many countries celebrated Father’s Day a couple of weeks ago; male parenting was applauded and all the nice things fathers do were given recognition. For much of the year, however, children spend more time lamenting the embarrassing things that both their mothers and fathers do than embracing parental quirks. 

In a recent Washington Post article,  Donna Scaramastra Gorman, a tbjkids contributing writer, bemoans the type of father she had growing up – the extremely intelligent, overly helpful kind.  
When asked for the answer to a simple math equation, her engineer father would pull out his physics textbooks to explain the complex science behind her seemingly straightforward question.  

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