Kids love animals. My children are fortunate to live in a family that has two dogs and four hermit crabs. We have also temporarily cared for a variety of lizards, snakes, frogs, caterpillars, and such. We are definitely animal-friendly at our house.

And yet my kids want more. They continually ask for more pets of different kinds. Birds, lizards, fish, mice, anything. Instead of being content with our current critters, my children yearn for more.

So my 4-year-old is missing his entire last week of school due to illness. This is sad for multiple reasons. (1) I hate for him not to feel well. (2) It was going to be a fun week and he missed it. (3) It was my last couple of days before summer break and I had plans.

Submitted by Lisa A. Yackel, CVPM,PHR

Hospital Administrator at Case Veterinary Hospital

Okay, moms, here comes our big day... Mother's Day! When my kids were younger I would be filled with anticipation of what this wonderful day would hold. I had such high expectations for my special day. I'm not sure what exactly I wanted to happen, but it should probably resemble a Hallmark commercial or a sappy made for tv movie. No pressure there... for my kids, my husband, or myself!

Yesterday afternoon my boys were playing together with little plastic army men. The trouble was that my 7-year-old was not playing very nicely or fairly with his little brother, which did not make my little guy too happy, to say the least.

By Lisa A. Yackel, CVPM, PHR

Hospital Administrator at Case Veterinary Hospital

Join the YMCA for a week full of healthy activities

There is an ongoing competition in town. Every month the first-graders in my son's class compete to see who can read the most books. They record the books/chapters they read on reading logs. At the end of the month, the child who has read the most books/chapters wins a prize – usually a fun magazine - from the teacher.

Like many moms, I set limits for the amount of screen time my kids can have each day. My current standard is 30 minutes of computer or video game time per school day, with a bit more allowed on weekends.