Problem is a lot of my easy recipes can have 5 or more different seasonings! The number of ingredients doesn't make something easy or difficult in my opinion. I think ribs (especially country style) may look difficult but are easy to make and a turkey breast is also easy, but it makes for a real feeling of satisfaction when you make it, don't overcook it and find that it's not that difficult. OTOH, some things like cooking rice can be easy to ruin. Without knowing age, likes and dislikes it's impossible to give recipes but I can give suggestions and that is to concentrate more on techniques than hard and fast recipes. In a tater tot hotdish for example, instead of a given amount of ground beef, it can be chicken, turkey, pork, ham or otherwise. Doesn't *have* to be tater tots, could be fresh potatoes or any number of frozen or canned ones. Veg can be your choice, in it or on the side. Cream soup is convenient but you can use other alternatives for health or taste desires. Cooking for a beginner can be so simple. And really should start with some of the basics. How to boil water sounds simple but it's a basic. Simple pasta dishes are great learning ideas. And even knowing how to heat up something from a can, doctor it up (can/jar spaghetti sauce can be made quite tasty) and food safety, sanitation and the like are basics that are so often overlooked. How to use a meat thermometer. And so on. Some things that are simple in theory can be difficult for some. It took me a long time to get the knack of boiling potatoes without overcooking at least some of them. So I wound up with box flakes for too long. And like I mentioned, adjusting recipes to your likes is a basic thing but not always obvious. My old GF wanted a no-boil lasagna recipe. I don't use a recipe per se for my lasagna but she couldn't understand a guideline - it had to be a written recipe. So I found one for a spinach lasagna that gave the technique in writing and easy enough for her to follow. She refused to try it. "I DON'T LIKE SPINACH!!!!!" And of course "THEN LEAVE IT OUT!!!!" went over like the Hindenburg... Till the day she died, I was unable to get through to her that recipes are guidelines, not rules. My last suggestion is consider your definition of cooking. Warming up a can of soup can be cooking, and an accomplishment to someone who has never done it before. Embellishing it is another type of cooking. You don't have to raise the meat, grow the veggies and make your stock all the time. Start slow (baby steps it's often called) and work up. Nothing wrong with shortcuts, especially for a beginner.

I think I promised my husband I would try not to use this phrase anymore, but... "I used to work at an animal welfare organization." And I learned A LOT from the trainers there. Here's my thoughts on this issue: 1. Management. Try to eliminate the situations in which bad behavior can occur until you can address the behavior with training. For example, in my house the kids only eat at the table, whether it's meals or snacks. It minimizes the possibility of stolen food. As someone else suggested, crating when guests arrive. As someone noted above, these bad behaviors are self-reinforcing (yum, food! It's fun to jump!) so each time they do it and succeed, it encourages them to do it again. Prevention is key until you can address the issue with training! 2. Obedience training. Fit it in. I know it's hard, but it will be time well spent and you will reap dividends in an improved bond with your dog and better behavior. Find a trainer that uses POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. Rewarding good behaviors through treats, praise, pets, etc and extinguishing the bad by preventing them from occurring and a combination of ignoring/not rewarding them when they occur. We often reward bad behaviors without realizing it. Putting your hands on a jumping dog to hold him down may seem like petting to the jumper, and he likes petting! Becoming aware of how you may be unconsciously rewarding bad behavior is a huge help. 3. Exercise. A tired dog is a good dog. 4. I (and the wonderful, gifted trainers I've worked with) do not like leash pops/choke collars/prong collars. I've used them. My dear old dog wore a prong collar for years until I started at the humane org and learned about positive reinforcement training and gentle leader head halters. Sure, you can keep your dog from doing things using pain and fear, but is that really the best method? Would you do it with kids? Think about the amazing things they can get a killer whale to do at Sea World. All positive reinforcement. They don't make choke collars that big! 5. Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog." Great book. 6. This may be hard to fit in as well, but practice. Schedule brief visits from a friend or two, where they know the objective is to work on jumping. Plan in advance what to -- turn your back, feed treats/pet and praise when all four paws hit the floor. 10 minutes twice a week. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Works well if you have dog-owner friends who need volunteer helpers as well. :-) I don't want to sound preachy. I am certainly not a perfect dog owner. I do not have as much time for training as I should. I do not have as much patience as I should. I do resort to punishment (though not physical). The association of pet dog trainers website linked below is a good place to find a trainer. Sorry this is so long... hope something in it is of help! Here is a link that might be useful: Assoc of Pet Dog Trainers website

Well - they are not meant to contain urine. Since urine is sterile, it's not much of an issue anyway (just a psychological one). And I don't think babies have a natural inclination to have a BM in water - none of my 3 kids have ever done it. I am actually more concerned about my 3 year old not wiping adequately and getting in the pool than my 7 month old having a BM accident. That said, the swimming diapers will not do a perfect job, especially with a loose stool. And if a child his having diarrhea, they shouldn't be in the pool anyway. I would definitely stay away from the Pampers Swimmies - use the cloth swimming diapers, the elastic is MUCH more secure and it's better for the environment. Babies and pools are just one of those risks you have to take to enjoy life, IMO. Have a fun summer!!!!

Actually, after checking it out further my five year old would have to cut through it with something pretty sharp. And I don't think she would have the strength yet. Or the access to whatever would cut it. Regular household scissors wouldn't do the trick. It's pretty thick. Plus, the poles won't come out unless you unhook one of the end pieces from the top, again, she doesn't have enough strength to unhook one of those things. And then pop the poles out one by one. And they don't come out easy. I have a hard time getting them out and I am pretty strong for a girl. I guess an adult could snap one of the poles in half if they really tried. She couldn't. And as for a five year old not needing a barrier, I guess the above poster didn't read all of my first post. She can't swim. At all. If she walked too close and fell in or a dog jumped up on her, knocked her in, another kid pushing her in. That's what happened with her before (again, in my post). One of her friends pushed her in above her head. Even the adults around her didn't pay attention to her flailing around in the water. She had a vest on, but vests don't keep our head out of the water if you don't know to use them. She hadn't been in a pool without someone holding her since she was about a year old. I can't even count on another adult to help her. So yes, a five year old needs a barrier when being around a 10-foot hole in the ground full of water. I am not happy with the way the one panel droops but the pool company who installed it is going to look at it tomorrow when they come back to finish the liner tomorrow.