A Saturday "Site of the Day" special: Most days, a single Site of the Day is plenty to keep you occupied. But on Saturday morning, with kids underfoot and a weekend's worth of amusement needed, something more intensive is called for. So be sure to stop by here every week for your super-sized listing of Five Fun Things to Do Today -- including a family activity, a site for the kids, a shopping site, a site offering humor or inspiration about parenting children with special needs, and a site that's just silly or fun. Today's list:

1. Activity: Cookies in a Jar
2. Kids' Site: Sketchpad
3. Shopping: Autism Outlet Store
4. Humor: "A Special-Needs Parent's Wish List"
5. Just for Fun: The Trailer Mash

Here's a list of posts that have received one or more comments this week:

• Sicker in Body, Sharper in Mind
• No-TV Week? No Way!
• Autistic Kids, Violent Adults
• Inclusion: How's That Working Out for You?
• Weekday Reflection: Opinions
• Five Things Pediatricians Do That Drive Me Crazy
• Does Mady Gosselin Need Discipline, or a Diagnosis?
• Weekday Reflection: Acceptance
• Wordless Wednesday: What I'm Reading in December
• Wordless Wednesday: Special-Needs Christmas Carols

What's on your mind today? Speak out in the comments below, or add your opinion to the posts above.

Read more: Special Needs News | Site of the Day | Parenting Special Needs Forum

Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

With all the fuss and the shopping and the stress, it can be easy to look on the down side at this allegedly festive time of year. If you need a little prodding to look on the bright side, here are four positive Readers Respond pages that could use your input. Force yourself to be nice, not naughty.

• What's the Best Gift Your Child Ever Received?
• What's the Nicest Thing Anybody Ever Said About Your Child?
• Share Your Positive School Experiences
• What Are You Thankful For About Your Child With Special Needs?

More Parenting Tips: Tips of the Day | Behavior ABCs | Parenting Book Reviews

_{Image by Terri Mauro}

Read: "The reality is that if you burn yourself out and fall ill, your loved one will lose just as much or more than you do. It is in everyone's best interest for you to take care of yourself so that you can successfully complete the marathon that faces you and your family." -- John W. Cassidy, MD, from Mindstorms: The Complete Guide for Families Living With Traumatic Brain Injury, this week's featured book.

Reflect: Do I have trouble taking care of myself? What would happen to my child if I became ill? Can the supports I'd have to call on then help me out now?

Respond in the comments with your own thoughts on this quote and how it applies to your life with your child.

Every weekday, take a moment to read, reflect, and respond to a passage from a book, blog, or article. ... More Reflections

Also new today: Site of the Day | Today's News and Views | Tip of the Day

_{Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber. Compare prices.}

What It Is: "A games portal for autistic children. The games are a free resource that aim to help autistic children to develop independent living skills."

Who's In Charge: "Autism Games is a collaboration between Swinburne University's Multimedia Design Program, Bulleen Heights Specialist School, Swinburne Autism Bio-Research Initiative (SABRI) and the National eTherapy Centre (NeTC). ... Created by more 80 students 8 lecturers and 10 autism specialists, the project represents more than 16,000 hours of research and development."

Why It's Worth Checking Out: With lots of holiday idle time coming up, here's the perfect opportunity to set your child to work doing something fun that's also worthwhile for more than just passing time.

Where to Start: The companion site for parents lets you click on a game's icon and read more about what it will help your child do.

More Sites of the Day

+ Page of the Day: Fun Things to Do: Websites for Kids +

This is one of my favorite parts of the day: Looking out my back window, watching the side door of the high school, waiting for my son to come out. And there he is, just another guy staying late to work on the yearbook, bopping down the stairs and walking home, arms swinging, shoulders hunched (but not as bent over as he used to walk), body bobbing a little (but not bouncing noticeably like he used to), blissfully unaware that he's being watched, carefree, Mom-free. It's a big step for him to be walking home by himself now. It's a big step for me.

Maybe next year I'll let him walk alone to school, too.

Also new today: Site of the Day | Today's News and Views | Tip of the Day

Cookies, cakes, and other baked treats are staples of the holiday table, but for kids on restricted diets, they're not at all jolly. Make sure your child always has something sweet to celebrate with by whipping up your own safe-to-eat holiday goodies. I've gathered links to gluten-free, nut-free, low-sugar recipes around the Web for you to use to develop your own safe holiday traditions.

More Parenting Tips: Tips of the Day | Behavior ABCs | Parenting Book Reviews

_{Image by Terri Mauro}

Read: "No two injuries are identical. No two people are identical. Even identical twins are not exactly the same, as they have different experiences throughout their lives. No two families are identical. No two treatment programs are the same. You and your injured family member have a relationship that is like no other." -- John W. Cassidy, MD, from Mindstorms: The Complete Guide for Families Living With Traumatic Brain Injury, this week's featured book.

Reflect: Does my interest in my child's diagnosis keep me from recognizing his uniqueness? Do I adapt theories and treatments to her individual strengths and weaknesses? How do my own unique preferences and abilities factor in?

Respond in the comments with your own thoughts on this quote and how it applies to your life with your child.

Every weekday, take a moment to read, reflect, and respond to a passage from a book, blog, or article. ... More Reflections

Also new today: Site of the Day | Today's News and Views | Tip of the Day

_{Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber. Compare prices.}

What It Is: "GamesWithWords.org is a Web-based research laboratory. The games are experiments probing the nature of language."

Who's In Charge: Joshua Hartshorne, a "graduate student at the Psychology Department of Harvard University. ... He is broadly interested in human behavior, with a particular interest in language and inference. By 'inference,' he means the application of learned information to make predictions about a novel situation."

Why It's Worth Checking Out: The games are a fun and interesting way to contribute to research on language, and maybe help you relate to your child's language difficulties.

More Sites of the Day

+ Page of the Day: Say What You Mean +

Visit the gallery to find a holiday songbook for your stressful season (and this carol in a size that doesn't strain your eyes).
(Image text copyright © Terri Mauro. Artwork copyright © Bobbie Peachey.)

More Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday on About.com