THE LEFT LANE
Digital postcards

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Instead of snail-mailing postcards, which often arrive after you get home, travelers e-mail the images to family and friends. Each "postcard" has a link that to a Web site, so postcards of Waikiki Beach go to the official site for Waikiki, where you can make hotel accommodations, book flights, and make tour reservations. Travelers keep the CD to remind them of their trip to the Islands.

CD Postcards of Hawai'i costs $19.99 and is available at the Continental Surf hotel in Waikiki.

Set a good example

Teaching kids that it's better to give than to receive is harder in the age of cradle-to-grave advertising. Studies show babies as young as 6 months form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalty forms as early as age 2. By age 3, one in five children request brand-name products.

Sheelagh Manheim, a child psychologist and co-author of "Yes, You Can! Raise Financially Aware Kids," urges parents to examine their own beliefs about charitable giving. "Your attitude toward money directly affects your children's generosity, because they are watching and learning from your example." She suggests:

• Teach compassion. When a child plays with someone younger, urge encouragement rather than competition.
• Talk about giving. Sharing may not come naturally, but the more you discuss giving opportunities, the more likely children will become interested in opportunities to be generous.
• Don't limit giving to money. Let your child help you make sandwiches at a soup kitchen or accompany you to donate clothes or food.

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