The ADD child exhibits a series of behaviors that are common in most children. Most children misbehave, act silly and day dream. So what, then, is the difference? The child with Attention Deficit Disorder exhibits these behaviors in a constant and extreme manner, often interfering with their academic, social and family interactions.

Here are the variety of ways that a child may exhibit ADD behaviors:

Inattention: The most visible and well-known behavior of a child with attention deficit issues is an inability to maintain attention and focus over an extended period of time. This behavior shows up in a variety of situations, such as forgetting or confusing instructions that were just given, being inattentive when involved in a conversation, growing bored of activities within moments, appearing to be in a daze or day dream, and being unable to complete tasks.

I am in pain. I've been in pain all day. Last night, I was in "searing pain", which is pain multiplied by pain, divided by relief, then multiplied by pain to the tenth power. In case you are not a math whiz, that equals pain with 33 zeros after it. Two days ago, I was in pain (just regular pain, no zeros). In fact, I was in pain all week.

Welcome to my humor column.

Actually, pain is not really all that funny ... unless it happens to somebody else. Oh, come on. Don't get all sanctimonious on me. Pain is the very essence of the Bugs Bunny Show. And the Three Stooges. And every sitcom that relies on personal slights and insults. Without pain to tickle the funny bone, the entertainment industry would be no bigger today than George Bush's collection of feminist literature.

There are software programs that you can purchase to keep your children from accessing undesirable websites. There are two good ones, Cyber Patrol and Net Nanny.

There is also software that will create a log of all the sites that have been visited by your PC. It allows you to check on the sites your children are visiting.

You can also use your History Button on your web browser.

If you are running Windows 98, you can set-up a "Content Advisor" rating system to control how much of Web sites a person can view according to it's levels of language, nudity, sex and violence.

Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll writes up to five columns a week. After all, if he can write five columns, you should be able to write a five-lined poem-but that does not seem to be the case.

How does he do it? Carroll claimed to recite lines from Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant Child":

"I have six humble serving men

They taught me all I knew

Their names are what

And where and when

And why and how and who."

I'm more than sure that two incentives for Jon Carroll are 1.) Creating deadlines and 2.) His salary! Yes, we writers DO get paid every now and then!

Basing my philosophies on those few lines of Kipling's "The Elephant Child", my advice is to "Simply Ask Questions". Rummage through some old work (whether it be poetry, nonfiction, or fiction) that you've written and use the following techniques to enhance your skills. And, then, ask yourself the follow questions.

(NC)?According to recent Canadian studies, as many as eight out of 10 child safety seats may be improperly installed in Canadian vehicles. While most parents understand the importance of child safety seats and make sure they have one for their child, the problem comes from a lack of caregiver education when installing them.

Transport Canada's "Keep Kids Safe: Car Time 1-2-3-4" information guide indicates that approximately 10,000 Canadian children 12 years of age or younger are injured every year in traffic collisions, some of them fatally. One effective way to reduce the risk to children from the dangers of collisions or sudden stops is to restrain them properly.

(NC)-When Canadians think of summer, they conjure up images of vacations and long-weekend getaways, camping, picnics, spending time with the kids and, of course, going to the cottage. It is a time when relaxing in the sun and having a good time are at the forefront of everyone's mind. However, according to the Canadian Association of Fire

Chiefs (CAFC), studies have shown that summer, in particular, tends to be the most dangerous time of year for children, especially with respect to fire-related incidents. In fact, the number of children playing with fire increases dramatically during the summer. Even more frightening, children in North America are more likely than adults to die or be seriously injured in fires.

(NC)?According to Family Services Canada, approximately 12% of children are bullies. Additional research confirms that bullying occurs frequently: once every seven minutes on the playground and once every twenty-five minutes in class (Craig and Pepler, 1997).

To prevent bullying, it is important to consider not only the bully and victim, but also peers, school staff, parents, and the broader community. The best approach at school, is to develop a clearly stated code of behaviour with consistent follow-through.

(NC)-Learning that something is wrong with your child can be a frightening experience. Frightening and embarrassing. In fact, the reason that many fail to have their children's behavior diagnosed is that they fear the results may reflect poorly on them as parents.

Getting over this selfish fear of diagnosis is an important initial step if children are to receive the full benefit of treatment, because the earlier help arrives the better the prognosis. The main hope for children at risk of serious mental illness lies in early detection.

(NC)-For those who suffer from allergies the spring season comes much too soon. It's a time when allergy symptoms can be at their worst. Pollen levels rise during the spring as trees and flowers begin to bloom causing sneezing, runny nose, itchy watery eyes and nasal congestion.

Thankfully, there's no place like home to escape from these airborne allergens. Or is there? Dust, mold and other allergens can also make a home seem unbearable for allergy sufferers.

The good news is that there are ways to reduce these irritants and make your home a haven from outdoor pollen and mould spore attacks.

(NC)-According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, approximately one in five children between the ages of four and 16 have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. If untreated, such conditions can lead to drug addiction, dropping out of school and, in more severe cases, criminal behavior.

Until recently, doctors and researchers rarely considered that children could suffer from mental disorders. But studies have shown that many do in fact live through a lot of the same frightening symptoms experienced by adults.