Baby goes buy buy: once a child arrives, parents must turn their focus from retrofitting the bathroom, dining out and fancy vacations to budgeting for diapers, formula and day care

0 Comments | Insight on the News, August 5, 2002 | by Alexandra Rockey Fleming

Workers also are taking more interest in government jobs, reversing a decades--long trend when government service fell out of favor. The renewed interest in government work is greatest among college graduates, who are turning to public service in numbers not seen in a generation.

In the weeks after the terrorist attacks, applications by graduates tripled at Teach for America, which places non-teaching graduates at impoverished schools. The Peace Corps and other teaching organizations and graduate schools also have seen applications surge.

Other analysts note that graduates, no matter the ideological reasons, naturally are gravitating toward the jobs that are most available. As it happens, the jobs that have become most desirable also are those that have been the most plentiful during the recession: namely, those in education, health care and social services.

Nursing and retirement homes continue to report severe worker shortages, however, despite the prospects of increased employment, according to the department.

PATRICE HILL WRITES FOR Insight'S SISTER DAILY, THE WASHINGTON TIMES.

RELATED ARTICLE: Road Warriors

Families are never more together than when they take vacations. The Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), a trade association, estimates that pleasure travel will be up by about 2 percent this summer as 233 million people go on holiday.

Planning ahead can help families deal with the obvious--where to stay and what to do--but the following tips can help control the mundane, including keeping peace in the backseat:

* Give your children an allowance for the day. Remind them that the money is for snacks, arcade games and souvenirs. It will help them learn about budgeting money and making good choices.

* Give your child a map. A map will show them how far you have gone and how much farther there is to go. They also might enjoy a compass to go with it.

* Play the license-plate game. Print a U.S. map off the Internet and color in the states as you see license plates from each one. You might even record the time, date and state in which you saw each one.

* Plan a stop somewhere wacky. Check guidebooks to see if there is an offbeat locale, such as South Carolina's South of the Border or Virginia's Dinoland, to take a photo-opportunity break.

* Create a scavenger hunt. Give each child a list of items to watch for while driving. Bring a small bag of prizes to be awarded for travel games (as well as for good behavior for toddlers).

* Play classic board games. Monopoly has a great car version. Battleship also is a car favorite.

* Read out loud. Take turns reading passages from a book. Audio books that have books to follow along with also are good for the whole family.

* Get headsets for everyone. Invest in inexpensive personal CD or cassette players. That way, the teens don't have to listen to Disney songs, the preschoolers don't have to hear Britney Spears and parents actually can talk to one another.

* Write or collect postcards. Get postcards to document the trip and write to friends while you are gone. Bring along stamps so you can drop the cards in the mail.