• Creating an environment where a child feels comfortable and safe in developing friendships
• Encouraging childen to try new things and supporting them in all that they do whether it is successful or not
• Modeling acceptable social skills for children. Teaching them proper play skills.
• Demonstrating and encouraging the idea of taking turns.
• Helping children deal with anger management and daily frustrations.
• Demonstrate appropriate ways for them to express their feelings.

I just had to share this product with everyone - I was in awe over a weekend by a counter top machine at a relatives' house. It is called the Sodastream®  

It makes sense, it works and it will save a ton of bottles from landing into our landfills or our over flowing recycling centers in our house alone. Yes, you read it right, over flowing recycling centers. Some cities and states cannot get rid of their "to be" recycled content fast enough and it is causing another problem. Knowing the recycling centers are backed up, the next best thing we can do is use less to waste less and create a lesser burden on the recycling plants.

The SodaStream® will help my household save at least one case of aluminum cans and one case of vitamin water bottles from going to waste each week. The calculations for one: two person household is staggering at 2,496 containers at least are being thrown out one way or another. With the SodaStream® I will not be wasting any extra cans or bottles nor will I sacrifice my urge for diet soda, seltzer or vitamin water ...  AND it doesn't use electricity!!   

Read below from SodaStream® website:

How Does SodaStream Help the Environment?

SodaStream® is an "Active Green" product, meaning that consumers are actively reducing their CO2 footprint every time they make soda or sparkling water at home instead of buying it from the store. The more the system is used on a daily basis, the more CO2 footprint the user actively saves. (This differs from "Passive Green" products, which use green-friendly production processes, but their products are not inherently helping the consumers save on their daily footprint).

Because SodaStream® uses water straight from the tap, the system makes traditional store-bought beverage bottles obsolete. That means less plastic manufactured, less plastic waste is created, and fewer bottled beverages must be transported from manufacturers to distributors to stores to homes.

Globally, 206 billion liters of bottled water were consumed in 2008 (Zenith International Global Bottled Water Report, 2008). The energy required to make water bottles in the US only, is equivalent to 17 million barrels of oil (Container Recycling Institute, 2002).

According to the US Recycling Institute, more than 80% of bottles in the US do not get recycled and end up in landfills. Also, an estimated 4.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were produced in the process of replacing the 134 billion bottles and cans not recycled in 2005.
 

Using your own home carbonation system means:

• Less packaging waste from cans and bottles.
• Less pollution caused by transport of bottled beverages.
• One SodaStream® carbonator makes 60 or 110 liters, equivalent to 170 or 310 aluminum cans!
• When empty, the carbonator is refilled and reused, ready to make more fizzy and tasty soda whenever you want it.

Now, you can enjoy the best tasting soda on the planet ... and it's as easy as making coffee!

• Save space with concentrated soda mix and reusable carbonating bottles
• No more lugging and storing heavy, bulky bottles and cans
• No more hassles with empties in the trash or recycling bin
• No batteries, no electricity, no plumbing
• Over 30 flavors at the touch of a button