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Four-part program on parenting slated

Advertser Staff

Parent to Parent Training, a four-session program to help parents and caretakers deal with the parenting issues, will be held 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on four consecutive Wednesdays in October, beginning this Wednesday, at Kamiloiki School library.

It's designed for parents of children ages 8 to 19.

The sessions are free, though $5 will be collected to pay for books.

Information: 397-5800.

Halloween costume plans start early

When do you start planning your child's Halloween costume? In a parenting.com poll, more than half of parents said they start planning "weeks to months in advance." Thirty-two percent said they plan about a week ahead of time; 8 percent said a couple of days beforehand; and 4 percent wait until the night before.

The most popular costumes? The National Costumers Association predicts that will be: Lord of the Rings characters, Spider-Man, X-men, the Hulk, Terminator and Daredevil. And don't forget Harry Potter and Care Bears.

Speaking of Halloween, trick-or-treat for UNICEF is kicking off its next campaign. Pick up a box at Pier 1 throughout October.

How to save money on school lunches

Your kids' school lunches shouldn't take a bite out of your budget. To pack in the savings, some tips from Parents magazine:

• Buy snack-size plastic bags and fill them with pretzels, crackers or carrot sticks that you can buy in bulk.
• Use dinner leftovers for lunch. Chicken breast, for example, makes a great sandwich. Plain pasta can be tossed with dressing and mixed with veggies and turkey to create a kid-friendly salad.
• Save money on juice boxes by putting drinks in reusable bottles.
• Encourage kids to bring home whatever they don't eat, and monitor the leftovers. If you regularly pack half a dozen cheese cubes and she only eats three, cut back.

Fewer kids live with married couples

Fewer children are living in married-couple households compared to past decades, according to a report issued by the National

Marriage Project at Rutgers.

"It is not that it (marriage) is withering away for adults, but ... it is withering away as a family experience for children," said Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the project.

Other key findings from the 2003 report:

• More than a third of children are born outside of marriage.
• An estimated 40 percent of children are expected to spend some time in a cohabiting, unmarried-couple household during their childhood.
• The percentage of American children living apart from their biological fathers has doubled over the past 40 years, from 17 percent to 34 percent.
• By 2010, the Census Bureau projects that married couples with children will account for only 20 percent of total households.