Tuesday on Today 7/24

We started the 9:00 hour off with Today's Classroom: Preparing For Preschool. The authors of "Practical Wisdom For Parents," from the 92nd Street YMCA preschool gave tips to parents to get their kids and themselves ready for that daunting first day of school. You have to first make sure the kids are able to communicate well and have good verbal skills. Are they able to say goodbye for a few hours while you're away from them? Can they take off their coats and shoes and use the bathroom independently and put toys away? They also suggested to wait until the week before school before talking about with your kids. Show them the school and read books about going to school to get them prepared. And only one parent should go to drop them off. Don't make a big fuss and try not to look so distraught. It should be a positive experience for all involved. And take it from someone who's been there, it's not that hard. Once you get past that first day and your child realizes that school is fun, it's routine. Get more parenting tips in the book.

Today's Family featured iVillage on the road again for a second day in a row. This time with a huge box they call a first aid kit filled with stuff like allergy medicine, band aids and pain meds. They also suggested you pack a stomach med such as Pepto Bismol and alcohol wipes for cuts and scrapes. There was a thermometer and cold meds in their box along with instant ice packs and lots of water. In case dehydration sets in, there are some kind of electrolyte tablets you can put into your water to relieve it. For the full list of things to pack, visit the website at todayshow.com.

Today Throws A Wedding: Looking For Couples In Las Vegas. Al Roker was in Las Vegas today auditioning people who want to get married on The Today Show. He gave the couples a quiz about Las Vegas weddings. The men also had to sing a couple of bars of That's Amore while riding in a gondola at The Venetian Hotel.

From there we moved on to A Hostess Gift Guide segment where they showed different ideas like personalized soaps, Table Topics--a box of cards with conversation starters written on them, and a salad bowl on ice. They also showed candles in keepsake containers as well as mobile serving trays that float. Obviously those are meant for pool parties. There was a bunch of ideas including gifts for dogs--if the hostess is a dog owner. For the full list visit the website. And if all this sounds a little too weird, you can always opt for the more traditional bottle of wine. Though, I do like the idea of the gifts for dogs. Everybody always seems to forget about the pooches. And what better gift for the dog than an adorable dog T-Shirt from The Karmic Bulldog store at http://cafepress.com/karmicbulldog. Right now you can buy 3 t-shirts and get one free. I just did. Hey, why not get one for the hostess too or one of many other adorable gifts? It's original. While you're there, you can pick up a card to go with the gift.

Another segment called Passion For Fashion had The Girlz of Bratz as guests. I guess there's a movie based on the Bratz dolls. Bet you can hardly wait for that one to open.

Today's Kitchen had two chefs from The Venetian Hotel "Cooking At The Venetian." They made truffles and wild prawn hash browns as well as other interesting edibles that I'm sure you can get recipes for on the website.

That's a wrap. Till Tomorrow.