Do not make it perfectly straight. Make the base thicker than the top. Draw 3 small ovals at the top of the stalk. Use a lighter green shade to draw these. Draw them a little bit bigger than the first ovals you made. Draw them by pair forming a V on the stalk, draw your last ovals as small as the first ones you made. Draw lines at the bottom of the leaves and connect them to the stalk. Make the base thicker than the tips. Draw soft V's to make the veins. Make 5 veins in one leaf evenly spaced from each other. To add translucency, add a bright yellow color on the top leaves. Use a darker green to make subtle shadows.

Summary: Draw a line for the stalk. Thicken the stalk. Color the stalk with a dark shade of green. Draw more ovals. Fill your leaves with color. Draw the midrib. Draw the veins. Make the veins for all the leaves. Add translucency and shadows.

When you find other families with young children, schedule playdates. Invite the other parent and child to your house. Once you get to know each other, you might find yourself scheduling a weekly playdate. You might even be able to trade off childcare. Visit local landmarks, parks, factories, and other places to enrich your children's education. This can be especially helpful in breaking up the day when you have small children at home. Give your kids a chance to get messy and creative. Plan arts and crafts projects that align with their interests. For example, if your child loves playing with play dough, try making handmade ornaments out of salt dough. If your child loves drawing, practice making a story book. Build up a cache of materials to use in arts and crafts projects. This might include toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes, egg cartons, ribbons, string, cellophane, pipe cleaners, and so on. Build library visits into your weekly schedule. This is a good opportunity to nurture a love for reading. Most libraries hold story times that are age-specific. These can be wonderful opportunities to meet other families. If there are too many toys available, young kids may get overwhelmed with the choices. It can be hard to focus on one activity when there are 10 other possible activities in immediate view. Select some toys to remove from use and store them out of sight. Every few weeks, bring these toys back into circulation, removing and storing other toys.

Summary: Schedule playdates with other kids. Take your kids on field trips. Do arts and crafts projects. Take regular trips to the library. Rotate toys in and out of use.

Air inhaled through the mouth is unfiltered, so it's more likely to dry out the membranes in your throat. Breathing through your nose, on the other hand, will filter the air and make it more humid. If your nose is too congested to breathe through, try taking over-the-counter nasal decongestants to help remedy the problem. Foods that fall into these categories are more likely to aggravate the dryness you already feel, so it's best to avoid them until the problem is fixed. In addition to making your throat feel more dry, spicy or salty foods can actually make a dry throat feel painful. You can probably tell when foods are salty or spicy, but you might consume plenty of dry foods without even realizing it. Examples of dry food consumed in many households on a daily basis include toast, cookies, dry breads, dried fruit, and bananas. Both alcohol and caffeine actually dehydrate you instead of hydrating you, so they strip valuable moisture away from your throat and the rest of your body. Both alcohol and caffeine directly dry out the mouth and throat, but they can increase overall dehydration by triggering more frequent urination, too. On a similar note, you should also avoid acidic beverages, including most fruit juices and tomato juice. While these fluids may not increase overall dehydration, they can irritate an already dry, sensitive throat. Moreover, acidic beverages are more likely to further encourage tooth decay, and people who suffer from dry throat and dry mouth are already at a higher risk of developing decay. Many common medications can be classified as "anticholinergic" drugs. These decrease secretions, including saliva production, and may result in an excessively dry throat. Some examples include antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants, and antispasmodics. Many drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease, overactive bladder, and chronic bronchitis can also cause a problem. If you're suspicious of a certain medication, it's best to consult your doctor about it before taking action. Do not quit using any prescribed medication unless your doctor tells you to do so. Many standard mouthwashes and toothpastes can actually aggravate the problem, so you should consider switching to formulas that are specially formulated for people with dry throats or dry mouths. The wrong commercial mouthwash or rinse can be especially harmful for a dry throat. Most formulas contain alcohol or peroxide, and either ingredient will only cause your throat and mouth to experience further dryness. You can ask a dentist for recommendations, but if you'd rather look for a good alternative yourself, know that most mouthwashes and toothpastes formulated for dry throats and mouths will be labeled accordingly. If you currently smoke, quitting should help remedy your dry throat. The smoke you inhale drags drying agents and other irritants into your throat, and those irritants might be partially or fully responsible for your chronic dryness. Cigarette smoke paralyzes the hair in your nose and lungs. As a result, your respiratory system is unable to move mucus, dust, and other irritants out of the body. This leads to coughing and more significant dryness in your mouth, nose, and throat.

Summary: Breathe through your nose. Avoid dry, salty, or spicy foods. Stay away from alcohol and caffeine. Examine your medications. Switch your mouthwash and other dental care products. Quit smoking.

There are an array of symptoms that might point to a person being on drugs, because it will depend upon the drug and its properties. For some, drugs will make them drowsy, relaxed, and happy. Other people who abuse substances tend to be very energetic and erratic in their behavior. You may notice that the person is always on the move but never seems to actually achieve anything. Other behaviors to look out for include: Acting irrationally or rashly, without thinking about the consequences. Having trouble concentrating. The person may also have a very short attention span and does not stick to projects for long. Forgetting important meetings and events. Many substance abusers tend to gravitate towards risky or treacherous activities. This is because, it part, they do not consider the consequences of their actions. Because of their poor judgement, they may: Make faulty decisions. Indulge in detrimental behaviors that may be harmful to themselves or others. Have a lot of legal issues. Always be out of money. Someone who is abusing substances may have a track record of breaking things and mismanaging items around the office. You may also notice that the person loses things a lot, or is always asking to borrow other people's things because they broke or lost their own items. A person who is abusing drugs may develop a nervous attitude when they get to work. The person may speak quickly but without really thinking about what they are saying. On the flip side, the person may also talk very confidently about something that they actually know very little about. A substance abuser may miss work often, either because they are abusing drugs or are trying to hide the fact that they are high. Their excuses may be weak or lack any backing.
Summary: Watch out for unusual behavior. Watch out for a person who does risky activities. Take note if someone has a bad track record of destroying property. Keep track of nervous or confused behaviors. Keep track of how often the suspected person misses work.