The tempation for a meal overrides all else. You can try all the deterring tactics you want, but when an animal like a raccoon finds a meal that it MUST have, it will stop at nothing. Lights will do nothing to stop them, except maybe spook them at first, but rest assured, that they'll muster up the guts to enter the light in one night. Squirrels are they same. I had one that kept chasing the birds off our feeders and hanging there, eating all the sunflower seed. I'd grab the hose and spray it, and the squirrel would race to the top of the tree, trembling in fear. I'd go inside then, figuring he'd surely leave. Nope, he slowly ventures down the tree and hops right back on the feeder. The temptation of an easy meal was just too overpowering. Raccoons are far worse, and much smarter, so if you have them, I wish you the best of luck in your battles. Joe

Happy belated birthday Ms Marion ! A Spring baby you are. Enjoy your presents with health and happiness. May you and your garden of life enrich each other. Felix

You really did something special!! I am very impressed on how well everything ties togeather. I see you used my applique mistakes. They worked for you, I am glad. I love the fabrics your used. I am not always impressed with Christmas quilts but yours is outstanding. Woodenzoo's block is interesting, I see a Christmas tree hiding in there!

ima, I came across this article the other day. ============= Many unwanted behaviors, including some that disturb parents, tend to drop out on their own, especially if you don't overreact to them and reinforce them with a great deal of excited attention. Take thumb sucking, which is quite common up to age 5. At that point it drops off sharply and continues to decline. Unless the dentist tells you that you need to do something about it right now, you can probably let thumb sucking go. The same principle applies for most stuttering. Approximately 5 percent of all children stutter, usually at some point between ages 2 and 5. Parents get understandably nervous when their children stutter, but the vast majority of these children (approximately 80 percent) stop stuttering on their own by age 6. If stuttering persists past that point or lasts for a period extending more than six months, then it's time to do something about it. There are a lot more behaviors, running the range from annoying to unacceptable, in this category. Approximately 60 percent of 4- and 5-year-old boys can't sit still as long as adults want them to, and approximately 50 percent of 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls whine to the extent that their parents consider it a significant problem. Both fidgeting and whining tend to decrease on their own with age, especially if you don't reinforce these annoying behaviors by showing your child that they're a surefire way to get your (exasperated) attention. Thirty to 40 percent of 10- and 11-year-old boys and girls lie in a way that their parents identify as a significant problem, but this age seems to be the peak, and the rate of problem lying tends to plummet thereafter and cease to be an issue. By adolescence, more than 50 percent of males and 20 percent to 35 percent of females have engaged in one delinquent behaviortypically theft or vandalism. For most children, it does not turn into a continuing problem. ============= Apparently, (if this article was accurate) your SD is just hitting 'peak lying years', so, well, you may have a rough couple years ahead of you, and her mom's example certainly can't help, but she's also probably not doomed to grow up into a pathological liar, she may just be at 'that age'.