Kids can learn to make a Duck Tape wallet by attending a craft event at Michaels stores from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. During the free craft sessions for kids ages 6 to 12, kids will learn how to use Duck Tape to make a durable wallet as a Father's Day gift. Other creative Father's Day gift ideas include a Duck Tape tie, a personalized BBQ apron, a desk organizer or a wooden tool caddy. Instructions are available at www.michaels.com/fathersday .

Brush up on pool-safety tips

With the first day of summer right around the corner -- June 21, a public health and safety organization has shared pool-safety advice for children. NSF International gives the following tips:

• Keep a watchful eye. Small children require constant adult supervision. Also, make sure you know whether anyone using the pool is a non-swimmer.

• Establish rules for pool use. Do not allow kids to run or play games near the pool. Keep toys, particularly tricycles or wheeled toys, away from pools, as children playing with these could accidentally fall into the water.

• Replace the drains. Drains, suction fittings and grates should be designed to meet the newly revised 2007 standards for preventing body, limbs, and hair from becoming trapped. If a drain cover is missing or broken, shut down the pool, spa, or hot tub until the cover is replaced. Don't allow anyone to ever play with or remove a drain cover.

• Install a certified barrier or pool alarm. Gates leading to the pool area should have a self-closing and self-latching mechanism to prevent unauthorized entry. Make sure pool alarms are certified.

• Know the location of the emergency shut-off switch. Make sure an emergency shut-off switch for the pump is installed nearby and that it is easily accessible.

Parents pay more attention to kids

Today's mothers and fathers devote more time than ever to their children, in part because they are less likely than parents in earlier eras to send their kids out to play on their own or to put them to work inside or outside the home.

According to a 2006 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, fathers in 1965 spent a little more than one hour per week on child care -- meaning hands-on tending such as feeding, reading aloud, helping with homework, changing diapers or rocking to sleep -- compared with more than three hours per week in 2003.

Meanwhile, working mothers, who spent just less than three hours per week on child care in 1965, had nearly doubled that number by 2003. Over the same period, the time households spent on housework, including cooking and indoor chores such as cleaning and laundry, plummeted by 6.4 hours per week.

Baby might cost $222,360 to raise

A middle-income family might spend $222,360 to raise a child born in 2009 to the age of 18, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study.

The estimate is less than a 1 percent increase from 2008 and the smallest jump in a decade, which likely reflects the state of the economy, the USDA said. Increases in child care, education and health services were largely offset by a decline in transportation, the study showed.

The typical two-parent family spent from $11,650 to $13,530 on each child last year, the study shows. Households that make less, spend less, USDA researchers said. A family earning less than $56,670 a year is likely to spend $160,410 in 2009 dollars to rear a child, while parents earning more than $98,120 may pay $369,360, according to the study.

Is light drinking in pregnancy a plus?

Could a glass of wine a day early in pregnancy yield better behaved kids• Maybe, based on results of a new study, according to Reuters Health. Researchers found that the children of women who were light or moderate drinkers (2 to 6 drinks per week or one per day) early in pregnancy tended to have "more positive" behavior than the children of mothers who did not drink at all early in pregnancy.

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