Parenting poetry

A haiku is a very short Japanese poem, consisting of just three lines.

In each line there is a fixed number of syllables in the format 5-7-5.

At keepkidshealthy.com are the following haikus about, you guessed it, parenting:

"Croup"

A bark like a seal

Trouble breathing and hoarse cry.

Try some steam or mist.

"Twins"

It is often said

That parenting is easy.

They do not have twins.

"Asthma"

A cough at nighttime

And when running and playing.

Does he have asthma?

"Night Terrors"

Yelling and screaming

In the middle of the night

Who is standing there?

"Bedwetting"

Sheets are wet again.

Little Jim does not wake up.

Stay dry with alarm.

To add your parenting haiku, visit www.keepingkidshealthy.com .

Possible solution for our skeeter problem

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's largest mobile phone operator said Thursday that it will offer cell phone users a new noise service that it says will repel mosquitoes.

SK Telecom Co. said subscribers can pay 3,000 won ($2.50) to download a sound wave that is inaudible to human ears but annoys mosquitoes within a range of 3 feet. Customers can then play the sound by hitting a few buttons on their mobile phones.

The service, which begins today, has one drawback: It consumes as much battery power as normal cell phone rings.

Reader questions Mr. Potatohead fact

The Rail was informed that a reader questioned an item that appeared last week about Mr. Potatohead being the first toy advertised on national TV.

"It had to have been Barbie," the reader asserted.

After inquiries were made of the reader if he had documentation that refuted the fact, he replied, "I'm relying on my memory. You can't believe everything you see in computers."

And you can't always trust your memory, either.

The Rail double-checked. Mr. Potatohead was advertised on national TV in 1952, a full seven years before the idea for a Barbie doll was even conceived.

After being burned by the nationality of Vincent Van Gogh, The Rail is being much more careful in researching its information.

To contact The Rail, send an e-mail to features editor Dean Rhodes at drhodes@forumcomm.com or click on the Valley R&R icon at In-Forum.com.

Today's best bet

"City Girl," 7:30 p.m., a 1929 movie about a Minnesota farmer who sends his son to Chicago to sell their crops. Part of Summer Cinema 2003.

Weld Hall, MSUM

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