I’ve got three items here to take you into the weekend, and these will be of particular interest to you if your kids—like mine—are already done with school for the season. Everyone knows that there’s no magic quite like summer, and also no purgatory quite like a child who is only too eager to tell you that he or she is boooooooored.
(Ah, children! Can’t live with ‘em, can’t eat them for dinner without folks complaining.)
First up: Scholastic has once again launched their Summer Reading Buzz program, which is great either as a stand-alone pursuit or in conjunction with a program sponsored by your local library. Not only does it get your kids jazzed about reading, but every four read books your child logs means Scholastic donates another book to children in need. (This is one of my very favorite Scholastic sites, and I promise your kid will love it.)
Next: If your child has the chops to become a junior reporter, check out the Time For Kids Junior Talent Search. (Get your entry form here and make sure those entries are postmarked by June 20th, 2008.) It’s open to kids 13 years of age or younger, and twelve lucky winners will report for Time For Kids for a period of one year. Winners also receive… a t-shirt. Okay, this isn’t one you enter for the swag, but it sounds like a cool experience, nonetheless.
And last (but not least): How’d you like to be drawn into an upcoming Batman comic book? You can go enter the sweepstakes here or use this handy-dandy little widget right down here (click on the “WIN” tab):
The winner gets the original, signed artwork as well as 50 copies of the comic book. (And probably a deep love of milk mustaches, but that isn’t mentioned specifically.)
So there you have it; three distractions for your kids. No need to thank me.
My kids are a little too old for the Mr. Men Show, actually, but that doesn’t stop them from watching it whenever they pass it on the television dial. I understand; it is sort of mesmerizing, with its goofy little characters. It’s charming, just like the books. (I’ve always had a soft spot for Mr. Men.)
Well, I saw 
It’s so not fair.
If you have a school-age child, chances are you are well-acquainted with the phenomenon that is High School Musical. Why, you’d be hard-pressed to avoid it. Just taking a look at the variety of items available in the 
No, really.
Yep, another Cartoon Network project is premiering in just a few weeks, and 
I’m labeling this “retro” even though this is one of the few times I won’t give you a long, drawn-out “when I watched this as a wee lass” sort of story to go along with an old show. Oh, sure—I grew up on Sesame Street and Superfriends and I’m only too happy to bore you with the tales of how important those shows were to me in my tender youth, but this time it’s different.