The Mail-Journal, Volume 15, Number 48, Milford, Kosciusko County, 20 December 1978 — Page 16

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed.. December 20.1978

Selecting Toys for the Holiday Season By Genevieve Millet Landau Director. Hasbro Center for Child Development and Education

Choosing gifts for the children on your list should be part of the fun of the holidays. and it can be if you allow plenty of time to choose their presents, particularly the playthings you’d like to give them. If parents haven't considered in advance what they are looking for. they're likely to be bewildered by the number and variety .of toys and games to choose among. How do you choose? Here are a few simple guidelines to keep the joy in toybuying and giving. Above all. be guided by your children’s interests. Remember to select things that are right for a youngster's age

A v ChristiW Love and joy be with you this holiday. BOCKMAN'S Nursery, Greenhouse & Florists North Webster

r MICHIANA 1 INJURED i BONDED PREPAINTED ALUMINUM CONTINUOUS GUTTERING SERVICE 2390 Elkhart Road, Building C 533-2157

seate »■ €artfj <3> j^ 11 tl . X .w/iaplF I- ■' ' :S v ' - . ■ MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS! For all of our friends this Christmas, a very special wish that brightness, excitement and love — the true spirit of the season — be yours at this joyous time of year! Vega Corporation P.O. Box 26, Syracuse

and aptitudes. Almost all manufacturers age-grade their toys and the packages are clearly marked. Don’t buy a toy just because you believe it will promote your child's intellectual growth. All toys and games — and many household objects, too — are “teaching tools” provided they permit the child to use his imagination and develop skills at his own pace, in the ways he plays with them. There is a hidden child in every adult, and it is easy to succumb to the lure of nostalgia. that is. to buy something you would have adored when you were a child. But this isn't the time to indulge your own childhood dreams. It is the time to choose what will please your child, even if it is something that doesn't appeal to you. In the case of very small children, the task is easy. Almost anything cuddly, colorful. that makes a nice sound, or that is pushable and pullable will please an infant or toddler. Everything is new to them, full of wonder and a source of surprise and delight. Os course you want the toys you buy to be safe. The Toy Manufacturers of America have adopted stringent voluntary safety standards, which they developed with the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The National Safety Council and other organizations, to make sure the products you buy are sturdy and safe. Even so. remember that the age of the child is important and what is safe for a five-year old can be

unsafe for a toddler. Next, to keep the holiday season a happy one for both children and parents, don't overload boys and girls with presents. Young children faced with a dozen dazzling new things to play with, run from one to the other in a frenzy which can become almost hysterical. It is much more sensible to space the presents. Give one or two new playthings at a time. Let your children savor these and dream up ways of playing with them. Children learn at their own pace and in their own ways how they want to play — what stories to act out. what feelings to express. Too many new things at once can distract them from developing the fine art of their own imagination. As children grow into the school years, it's especially important, in avoiding holiday frustration, for parents to relate gift-giving to the child’s individual interests and preferences. Children vary greatly in their physical, intellectual and emotional aptitudes — each developing according to his or her unique timetable. During the grade school years children's likes and dislikes are becoming established. Some girls and boys love to build things. Some like to draw and paint. Some like puzzles and board games; others like action toys, especially cars or anything to do with transportation. Older children are apt to like games of skill. These are interests that can be developed by the selection of toys and playthings, but don't make the learning of a specific educational skill the prime factor in selection. The child's pleasure in a certain kind of activity should be your guide. Cost should not be the main element either. How much you spend is a poor measure of the joy you

can give. A child, especially a young child, may like the simplest and least expensive toy most of all. seize upon it. play with it constantly, ignoring gifts that are much more complex and valuable. Older children, however, may ask for something that you simply can't afford. You should explain this and ask for a second choice. Never promise to give a child something you know you can’t buy. If a youngster is promised a specific plaything and doesn't get it. nothing else will make him happy. If your child has been promised ice skates, roller skates will not be a suitable substitute. And the same holds true if your child's heart has been set on roller skates even though ice skates cost more. Brian Hartman to Manchester Robert Brian Hartman has been accepted for enrollment at Manchester College, North Manchester, for the 1979 fall term. Manchester College, an independent liberal arts college, offers BS and BA degrees with majors in more than 26 areas and a master of arts degree for teachers and a two-year associate of arts degree. The college has increased its emphasis on career planning and has established a comprehensive career planning and placement office. Students can come to this office for help in examining their interests, in setting career goals, and in deciding upon an academic program which will help them meet their objectives. Brian is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hartman of Milford. Aww rats! capitol fat cats getting the rodent runaround Senator William Proxmire lamented in a speech recently that the Senate Office Buildings in Washington are being over-run by hordes of mice and rats. Now, the senator reports, he has been deluged with hundreds of suggestions from across the U. S. on how to get rid of the pesky rodents. According to the senator, most Americans are suggesting such things as hiring rat terrier dogs or sending snakes slithering down the mouse holes. The snake idea was vetoed by Proxmire’s staff on the grounds they actually prefer the rodents to the snakes. Other writers suggested providing the mice with cheeseflavored popcorn or even coca cola to drink. These foods, say the letter writers, kill the rodents by disrupting their digestion. One concerned citizen sent in 144 mousetraps. Proxmire says that another person seriously proposed a machine that uses a low magnetic field to affect the nervous system of the mice. The manufacturer claims that the mice will stop eating and drinking in the presence of the magnetic field and die within 14 days.

zysMy??, Ink •$ *SFZ m jwgUJJMHIy CHRISTMAS GREETINGS Siur flftfcfe* * MM Phend And Brown Inc. Contractors and Engineers Milford

College graduates may have to put on hard hats

Telephone receptionists are in, but telephone operators are out. So, too, are lawyers and rabbis. And college graduates may soon find themselves on construction crews. So says the U.S. government’s official forecast of 1985. The predictions, contained in a Labor Department volume entitled “The Occupational Outlook Handbook.” doesn't bode well for college graduates. Gift His Auto: If he’s on the road a great deal due to his job, here’s a unique way of showing you care: present him with an emergency road kit this Christmas. Your local automotive supply store can help you put together a kit that includes jumper cables, gas can, flares, flashlight and other helpfuk accessories.

Z A A I I M Ira W /W/A i F Xi ' Wm “ & B 1 J 111 THE SI'IIIIT OF THE SEASIIN... The Best of Wishes for the Holiday Season and for always. May the Holiday Season find you feeling joyful for this is the most joyful of all seasons... . May you also find Peace in the meaning of Christmas. Christner Oil Co. — Nappanee Jack’s Sunoco Service — Syracuse Tim’s Sunoco Service — Milford R on Smith, Bulk Plant Agent Milford — Syracuse — Cromwell

Signs of this already appeared for college graduates during the years 1969 to 1976. Two million out of eight million graduates were obligated to take jobs on farms and in clerical, service, blue-collar and sales areas. With that as a beginning the survey also predicts hard times ahead for the teaching profession, especially college presidents. Much of the job shortage will be due to mechanization and computerization. So we will be seeing or hearing less and less of telephone operators. But we will see more and more receptionists because, says the survey, “their work is of a per-son-to-person nature” Due to business expansion, receptionists will be greatly in demand. Prospects are also bright for craftsmen and technicians. And geologists and petroleum engineers will be eagerly sought by industry as the search for energy resources is stepped up.

But young lawyers are in for harder times as they will have to jostle with many colleagues to get to available jobs. “Small towns and growing suburbs are the best places to begin a legal practice,” the survey suggests. The future also looks gloomy for locomotive engineers as mechanization takes over the nation’s rails and highway freight transportation offers fierce competition. But one sacred area that will be sorely affected is the very soul of society. “The demand for rabbis has declined in recent years,” the handbook discloses, “because established congregations are closing and aren’t being replaced. “However a shortage of Catholic priests can be foreseen,” the survey says, “because of an increase of the Catholic population and a drop in seminary students.” , The war babies of the 1940’s and 1050’s are adults now.

ascending the career ladder, and now represent the most powerful consumer force of America. They are also marrying later than previous generations and have created a brisk demand for single-family homes So other craftsmen and other professionals in the building and real estate fields are growing in prosperity. Agents, builders, masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians will have it made.

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