Well Spring is around the corner, but not as close as Spring Break and kids are gearing themselves up to have a blast to celebrate the end of winter and the dreariest term of the school year.

Being from the tropics myself, I never experienced "winter or spring break". We had Easter holidays which was celebrated quite differently and so I don't really relate, but I understand the need to unwind.

Now my son tells me that members of his senior class will be celebrating by heading to Cancun!! He of course wishes to go so that he can avoid being "that guy". Assurances have been made, adult chaperones will be attending, he is mature and won't do anyting stupid, blah,blah blah.

Fortunately, yes fortunately for him, he will be the one, that one, yeah that guy, this year for a number of reasons.

1. He is too young. The child is 16, yes he is a senior but a pretty young one. His classmates are 17 and 18 year olds and could be inclined to take more risks and get involved in more adult activities;
2. At 6'2", he does not look his age, and likes to pretend to be the same age as his friends;
3. I will not be one of the chaperones;
   
4. Take a look at wikipedia and see what it says about common practices at Spring Break. Now with the real time information that is common these days, and memories of our own youth, we don't really need wiki to remind us that binge drinking, casual sex and rec drugs form part of the spring break tradition but zeroing in on Cancun as wiki does, makes the point a lot stronger;
5. The principal sent out an email reminding us of the dangers and reinforced that the trip is not endorsed by the school;
6. He is a border, and should be seeing his parents during vacation;
   
7. We are in a recession for chrissakes.
   
8. Does anyone remember Natalie Holloway?

Parenting involves making decisions to protect our kids. If these decisions are unpopular so be it. This is not to say we have not raised them to protect themselves, but why tempt fate especially knowing that our world has become such an unsafe place? There are lots of other ways to have good fun closer to home and in any event kids don't need to grow up too fast do they?

Leave it for college, high schoolers.

As an aside, see how Spring Break was born here.

It is always engaging to see kids who are comfortable participating in public speaking, declamations or other oratory competitions.

The young lady you see below won 1st place in this year's MLK Oratory competition. the topic:

"If Dr. King were alive today, what do you think he would say about current events?

Time: 5 minutes. I know many adults who couldn't muster the courage to do this.

Let me explain this. Everyday at restaurant.com you can choose to purchase a $25 git certificate for the cost of $10 at participating restaurants. But today only if you use the coupon code PREZ they'll chop another 70% off the $10 making it only $3. Yes you heard me right so what are you waiting for?

Got get your gift certificate NOW.

Have you noticed that everything is sleek nowadays ?We have flat screen TV's, slim phones, bags that can hold everything while concealing the bulk, skinny pants, even slim lattes are on offer.

My son eats like horse and he is sleek too. Tall and slim like a string bean. He has no idea of his weight and no interest in it. When I returned from my long weekend trip my husband had slimmed down, so of course I dare not buck the trend. At my age which we will call "around middle" that caramel frappuccino that I consumed as mentioned below can be deemed taking a risk. Somehow women who are accustomed to being slender can all of a sudden find the pounds creeping on as the years grow and their metabolism slows down. What to do?

Personally I love to walk and from reports, doctors consider it a great form of exercise; but since I don't live in a walking friendly city like New York I have to find a convenient place for walking and if the scenery isn't spectacular I might find myself getting bored with it and have to head for the good old gym.

But what about people who are too big or too embarrassed to go to the gym? Well they could work out at home or try using a slimming product to lose weight before heading out to work more off or they could go under the knife. With the high cost of health care and the many health insurance issues I would unless it would otherwise be a health risk, resist the latter. As for pills well some reports say some diet pills do work but before choosing this option I'd go to my doctor. One product that is getting great reviews is lipofuze . It gets a big thumbs up in terms of its effectiveness, its record of safety. its value for money and its ingredients. It contains ginger, green tea and cinnamon among other ingredients. Some people say it is so good they have had to lower the dosage as the weight started to peel off too fast, with no other side effects. At weightlossresearch.net this pill is highly recommended.

Come Monday, I think I'll be heading to the gym. Hey, it has air conditioning and I do live in the tropics.