Rainy Day Totems and Puddle-Stomping

We asked you about fun ways to spend a rainy day, and here’s what you said:

Stay inside on a rainy day? Not in our house. All three kids (3, 5 and 7) plus Mom put their boots and raincoats on. . . . We splash in puddles, listen to the rain patter on our umbrella and race “leaf boats” in the gutter. The tricycles and push toys turn into street sweepers to clean the streets. If it’s the weekend, Papi takes them out for mud ball. We love the rain.

--AMY RODRIGUEZ

Cypress

One of my favorite things to do when my 8-year-old son and I have a few unplanned hours . . . we take to his room and gather up outgrown toys, clothes and books to donate. . . . The results are totally win-win: Some helpful organization gets bags full of perfectly nice children’s items, his room benefits from some much-needed weeding out, and we enjoy some quiet hours to reminisce.

--KAT JOHNSON, Los Angeles

Our family has a tradition of cavorting in the rain. Slickers buckled, we stomp through puddles, float sticks and leaves down gutters, and revel in being the only ones out and about. Colors, smells and sounds are all soft and secret during the rain. . . . Back inside, it’s cocoa or tea, sometimes a fire and a delicious sense of well-being.

--MAUREEN MAHER, Laguna Beach

When I see a really interesting project in a magazine, I put the directions and all the makings in a box or bag, ready for that next rainy day. . . . Right now I have all the makings for sock puppets, as well as a “sandcastle” project stashed in the cupboard.

--MICHELLE M. FRANCL-DONNAY

Pleasanton

The ideal way to spend a rainy day is to clean out that persistent clutter in the bedroom, trash the unwanted items, pay those pesky bills or write humorous letters to friends in distant places. All this is substantially better than getting on the road. . . .

--RAJ C. PATRAO, West Hollywood

My kids, ages 7 and 9, have an abundance of “stuff”--toys, trinkets, souvenirs that overflow their drawers. So . . . they pick a drawer and . . . enjoy toys that have been forgotten, are reminded of good times and--if we’re lucky--they toss out a few items!

--NANCY NOJIMA, Westchester

To keep our two children occupied on rainy days, I encouraged them to cut out pictures from old magazines. . . . It was fun for them to find a picture of a tub of butter, for example, and then put wings on it from another picture and have the whole thing fly over the Golden Gate Bridge.

--PAT SHEIKH, Laguna Niguel

I love to bundle my kids up with hats, jackets and rain boots (myself included) and go outside. . . . We stomp in the puddles up and down the driveway. It’s great fun and they get to burn off some of that pent-up energy.

--KIM CHRISTIANSEN, Costa Mesa

My kids would raid the linen closet for every spare sheet and blanket they could find. When thrown over a bedpost and anchored in a dresser drawer, these became terrific forts. . . . We had forts that escaped the boundaries of bedrooms and meandered down hallways, through the living room. . . . Half the day was spent building the fort, and the other half was spent playing in it.

--SUSIE STAUFF, Arcadia

It’s a good day to teach some cooking or even to clean the house thoroughly. To this day, our daughters think a rainy day is a call to cleaning.

--PATRICIA FYLER, Brea

Make “Rainy Day Totems” to frighten away the stormy weather: Mold clay, mud, paper cups, thread spools, string, yarn, buttons or scraps of paper into fierce-looking figures (the more menacing the better).

When finished, set on windowsill and wait. Eventually, even the most stubborn storm will be frightened away.

--C. COLLINS, San Clemente

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The next question: “Did you brush your teeth?” “Have you brushed your teeth?” “Will you please brush your teeth?” Do you find yourself asking those questions just a little too often? How do you get a child--especially a young toddler--to do the daily deed? Nag, nag, nag? Do it yourself? Decide it doesn’t matter since baby teeth fall out? Tell us, please.

Please share your strategies with us in 75 words or fewer by Friday of this week. Each Monday, we’ll ask a new parenting question, and publish responses on a subsequent Monday. Send to Parental Guidance (PG), Southern California Living, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053; e-mail socalliving@latimes.com; or fax (213) 237-0732. Please include your name, hometown and phone number. Submissions cannot be returned. No telephone calls, please.