The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 24

12 alternatives to hurting your kid. When the big and little problems of your evervdav life Dile up to the ooint where you feel like lashing out-stop. Take time out Don't take it out on yourkid Trvanvorallofthesesimplealternatives-whateverworksforvou 1. Stop in your tracks Step back Sit down. 3.

Take five deep breaths inhale. Exhale. Slowly, slowly 3. Count to 10 Better vet. 20 Or siy the alphabet out loud.

Q. Phone a friend, a relative or go visit someone 5. SMI mad' Hug a pillow Or munch on an apple 6. Thumb through a magazine, book or newspaper 7. Dosomesit-ups 8.

Pick up a pencil and write down your thoughts 9. Take a hot bath Or cold shower 10. lie down on the floor, or just put your feet up 11. Put on your favorite record, or radio program 12. write for parenting Information to: Parenting.

PO Box 2866. Chicago, IL 60690 National CommittM for Pravtntlon of Child MMIM Take time out. Don't take It out on your kid. KENNY'S BACK! Kenny Rogers refuses to fold 'em, returning to his famous role in "The Gambler-Part Next week in TV UPDATE. Funny Forecaster TV's craziest weatherman, Willard Scott of the "Today" show, is co-starring on "Valerie's Family" as Peter Poole, the Hogans' next-door neighbor and husband of Patty (played by Edie McClurg).

Did Scott have any trouble making the transition Scott: star-struck from his unscripted shenanigans on "Today" to a sitcom's structured silliness? "They're two different animals," says Scott. "I'm not a structured person. I'm a freeform, ad-libbing fool! If only I can learn to memorize my lines, I'll be all right. But it's totally different from I'm in love." Scott confesses to being as star- struck as any tourist visiting Tinseltown. "Valerie's Family" is shot on the lot previously owned by MGM.

Scott recalled the excitement of his first day on the set: "For me, little Willie Scott from Alexandria, to walk out the same set where they filmed 'Gone with the 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'The Wizard of Oz' well, all I can say is, Toto, I don't think we're in Alexandria State Secrets Thank goodness for sexism in the State Department! Without it, Barbara Babcock, one of TV's classiest actresses, might now be Barbara Babcock: class act Babcock, Madame Ambassador, instead of costar of CBS's "The Law and Harry McGraw." After graduating from prestigious Wellesley College, she interviewed with the State Department, planning on a career as a diplomat. Babcock quickly realized Foggy Bottom was no place for a woman when a career ambassador confided to her that the most she could hope to become was a glorified secretary. Instead, the young woman enrolled in acting school. The long-term result: an Emmy Award for best actress as the passionate Grace Gardner on "Hill Street Blues." "I probably would have been happy as a diplomat, but I'm happier as an actor because diplomats don't get to play different people." On "The Law and Harry McGraw," Babcock plays Boston Brahmin lawyer Ellie Maginnis. There's just one problem with her new series, however.

How are we supposed to believe that the patrician Ellie is chasing after lowlife detective Harry McGraw (played by Jerry Orbach)? "Ellie is not chasing after Harry," Babcock says firmly. "We respect each other, but we come from different worlds." Kavner's Comeback Until her recent co- starring role on "The Tracey Ullman Show," Julie Kavner seemed in danger of becoming a permanent resident of second-bananaland. After a career-making role as Valerie Harper's lovelorn sibling Brenda on "Rhoda," Kavner was fast becoming a trivia question. Kavner insists, however, that she has kept busy since the heady days of the '70s. "I was in several pictures, like 'National Lampoon Goes to the which it didn't.

It went straight to cable. I also did quite a bit of theater." These days, Kavner doesn't have to worry about her career. She had a small but memorable role as the mother in Woody Allen's movie "Radio Days," and the Fox Network's "Tracey Ullman Show" has been earning rave reviews as the only good variety show on TV. (Sorry, Dolly.) Kavner also has a small part in the film comedy "Surrender," starring Sally Field and Michael Caine. She plays a pregnant Hispanic painter, which seems quite a stretch for an actress so identified with Brenda Morgenstern.

"Evidently, the director couldn't find a funny Mexican woman to do it," says Kavner. Short Take Conrad: inspiration One of the favorite aphorisms of William Conrad and the is, "Talent is to know who to steal from." Hotline wants to know whether he was secretly working as one of Joe Biden's advisers. BY FRANK SANELU) THE KOKOMO TRIBUNE.