Keeping Summer Fun!

Summer will arrive shortly and, while the warm months are full of smiles, bicycle rides, and swimming pools, the outdoor scenery can pose health risks to adults and children. Before heading out for summer activities, be sure to take the necessary precautions for happy, healthy fun:

1.      Beware of insect-borne illnesses. Dangerous mosquitos are commonly known to carry West Nile virus   and ticks can carry Lyme disease. Be sure to spray pets with flee/tick repellent. Insects are also attracted to sweet smelling lotions or perfumes so keep it simple.

2.      Sun exposure is of great concern. Sunscreen, containing at least 15 SPF, should be applied before outdoor activity and reapplied according to the label instructions. Along with skin protection, UV-filtered lenses should be used to protect eyes from sun exposure.

3.      Allergens peak with warm weather. Pollen counts are elevated and smoggy air can trigger allergic or asthmatic symptoms. Checking the air quality before beginning the day is a smart routine.

4.      Picnics are great ways to enjoy the outdoors. Be cautious when packing foods for the outing. Place an ice pack in the picnic basket and foods in individually sealed containers to keep fresh.

5.      Lastly, the most serious summer danger is drowning. Beaches and pools are common summer activities. Children left unattended can be disastrous. Be sure to stay close and keep an eye on children at all times when around water.

These are just a few tips for a great summer. The best way to ensure that kids have the best summer stories to share with friends when they return to school is to make the summer a happy and healthy one!

Cool Meals for the Warm Weather!

When school lets out, routine will fade away into the lazy days of summer. Packing lunches full of fruits, whole grains, and calcium give way to “quick bites” from the ice cream truck, pizza shop, or sandwich shop. The idea of a warm meal falls away and kids look towards popsicles, chips, and cookies. Summer months should give children an opportunity to relax and enjoy a little time outside of the rigidity of “classroom” rules though not run the risk of developing unhealthy eating habits.

          Fresh fruits go hand in hand with summer. Encourage healthy eating by taking children on a day trip to a local “pick-your-own” farm. Kids will have a chance to try delicious fruits and exercise as they walk throughout the farm. Once the fruit is home, nannies and parents have the opportunity to try new recipes that encourage healthy eating. Making fruit salads, pure fruit juice, non-fat yogurt smoothies, and fresh fruit skewers, all picked from the farm, are great ways to make meals and snacks exciting and fun.

          Another idea is to encourage kids to plant their own garden. They can decide what to grow, learn about caring for seeds, and ultimately picking their own fruits and vegetables. These “personal” farms don’t have to be planted in a large field. Local department and hardware stores sell seeds, the right dirt, and small pots to keep outside in a small area. Giving young children the “farm to table” experience is a fun way to promote healthy eating.

          As meal time approaches, transition away from the stove and venture outside to the grill. Grilled chicken, fish, and vegetables are healthy choices for daily dining. There are a variety of fruits & vegetables that can be grilled. Do a “taste test.” Which do you like better, a grilled banana (use bananas that are not over ripe!) or “raw” banana, a grilled pineapple or a raw pineapple? Be mindful of young children near hot grills. Grilling outdoors leads to eating outdoors. Kids love the opportunity to eat outside; they may not realize they’re still on the same healthy eating plan.

Surprising Seasonal Allergy Triggers

With spring rapidly approaching, allergic reactions have spiked as compared to the winter months. Allergy symptoms consist of sneezing, runny nose, watery or itching eyes, skin rashes, and common cold-like symptoms. To control these symptoms, many doctors prescribe seasonal medications or even yearly medical regiments to control allergy attacks. According to Prevention.com, the most effective way to decrease allergic reactions is to understand their triggers.

     Surprisingly, summer fruits are first on the list of agitators. Grass or ragweed allergy sufferers are advised to take precaution when eating apples, peaches, pears, and melons when these fruits are in season. Baseball parks, America’s pastime, overflow with an influx of families during the spring and summer months. Ironically, the dust and dirt from the field may contain high levels of spores, causing allergy symptoms to surface. Be aware and take precautions such as carrying allergy medications in case of an attack. After the baseball game, be careful of jumping directly into the pool to cool off. Diving into water instead of easing the body in can trigger asthma or allergy symptoms because of the sudden temperature drop. As the evening approaches, be sure to remain downwind during those late night camping adventures or bonfires. Smoke inhalation weakens the body’s immune system causing allergy symptoms to worsen.

     Lastly, on those beautiful summer days, think about the way heat traps pollen and diesel bringing allergens closer to the ground. It’s a good practice to always check the weather report for air quality. If quality is low, take precautions. 6 Surprising Seasonal Allergy Triggers

The Influence of Social Media On Youth

Living in the age of social media, status updates, and automatic news feeds means the information highway has become influential, regardless of age demographics. The American Academy of Pediatrics released data correlating to youth and social media stating: 22% of teens log onto these sites more than 10 times per day, 75% have access via mobile device, and the prolific use of social media has increased the risk of cyber bullying and depression among teens.

      Social media, while potentially dangerous to the naive, has positively increased communication, provided abundant access to information, and has allowed younger users to easily use their own creativity to construct their online profiles. In 2005, Facebook originated as a university based site and allowed access only to users with an “.edu” address. Today, Facebook is internationally accessible to users over the age of 13. The American Academy of Pediatrics developed 13 tips for parents regarding online danger prevention and educating young social media consumers:

1. No underage activity. No child under 13 should have access to social media sites
2. Parents should check computer privacy settings, limiting access once a child is old enough to navigate on their own.
3. Use filter software to monitor which sites children visit.
4. Set ground rules before a social media profile is created
5. Know your child’s interests. Their likes will become their top searches.
6. Keep the computer in a central location to monitor usage and content.
7. Monitor pictures. Once a picture is posted, the image can never be destroyed.
8. Parents should set a good example, displaying appropriate profiles of their own.  Limiting cell phone use will help to limit access to social networks
9. Teach children about online reputations. 
10.  Parents need to understand technology & their children’s level of knowledge.
11.  Discuss online dangers, predators, and scams.
12. Urge children to stay away from giveaways, contests and questionnaires that request personal information.

Technology use is a societal norm. In less than a decade, the age of social media users has decreased by five years of age. While children are developing socially, emotionally, and mentally, technology serves as a central place for information communication. If boundaries are not set and online activity is not monitored closely by parents, the fallout of posting inappropriate comments or pictures by naïve children may come back to haunt them in unexpected ways.

How to Talk to Your Kids about Tragedy

The aftermath of Sandy Hook, the Colorado movie theater massacre, and Hurricane Sandy devastation has left parents nationwide hugging their children a little tighter and keeping a closer eye on their daily activities. When tragedies occur, how do parents explain abstruse situations to innocent children? Begin by finding out what they already know. Never assume they know all details. Launching into unnecessary detail may cause information to be shared. Children are only as innocent as what they know. Once their perception is established, ask an open-ended follow up question. Your questions allow the transfer of sadness, inquiries, fears, and angers.

         With children, the more lucid the explanation, the easier it is for everyone. Analogies are a great form of communication for young children. Relate the occurring tragedy to situations they encounter every day. Children should be informed about their surroundings, never fear them. Acknowledge which emotion they are harboring and reassure them that they are secure with you. Children need to know that they have safe places where no harm can come their way. While most people assumed that schools were that safe place, recent tragedies have proved that parents must provide children with emergency thinking skills. In case of emergency, they need to know who to contact, where to go, and that someone is there to protect them.   

         Watching the news with your child gives allowance for age appropriate dialog. The older they become, the more detailed the conversation will be. In today’s world, the most important thing a parent can do is hold their child one second longer and tell them they love them one extra time per day.

Let Girls Play

Have you ever wondered why it’s okay for girls to be sensitive? Are they born that way, or do they develop the trait as a result of the way they are treated as infants or young children? After coming across an article written by a frustrated mother who raised her daughter in a male-dominated neighborhood, the question was raised. Growing up, her daughter often played alone without female companionship. One might agree that there is a correlation between a girl’s sensitivity and how she was treated, relative to playmates, during her formative years.

            If there are three toddlers on the floor playing and they begin to play rough, even if they are laughing and giggling, the boys will be told not to be so rough with the girl. Although the girl was clearly enjoying herself, according to society norms, rough play is not “appropriate behavior.” Chances are, parents are fearful of the children “rough-housing” and the girl eventually getting hurt. When boys pull out their army trucks and toy guns, why do we take those away from a little girl and give her a Barbie doll? While those toys are not harmful, many think it seems more suitable for a girl to play with something less violent and more gentler.

            Once that little girl reaches her school-aged years and wants to play sports, her choices will be different from that of her counterpart. Even if she wants to tackle or wrestle, rarely will a school allow a girl on the football or wrestling team in fear that she will get injured. If she wants to get dirty, she can always play softball, but it will be different than boy’s baseball. The ball will be softer, the game will be shorter, and the ball will be thrown differently so she does not strain her arm. Basketball will also hold the same double standard. Fouls will be called differently and certain moves will be prohibited. If she is just as capable as her male counterpart, why must she play by a different set of rules?

            The double standard for how girls and boys behave will follow her as she continues to mature. When school years begin to wind down and college approaches, it is assumed she will choose a career “suitable” for a woman, but if she picks an officer, firefighter, doctor, lawyer, or engineer, she will have to work twice as hard to prove herself in a male-dominated field.

            Sadly, it continues that, women doing the same job as a man gets paid less, leaving women’s rights a critical point in politics today. The number of women CEOs compared to men is 1 in every 20. The question remains, does knowing the odds are against her, affect her career choices? Although too young to remember, she has been manipulated because of her gender since she was playing on the playground. Would things be different if society would just “let girls play?”

Idea From:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lyz-lenz/gender-discrimination_b_1987291.html?utm_hp_ref=parents-toddlers

New Year’s Resolutions- Helpful or Hindrance?

As we said goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013, many of us focused on our annual New Year’s resolutions. Whether it’s loosing those extra ten pounds or being a more positive person, resolutions give people hope that the next year will be better than the last. Frequently, resolutions last for the first half of the year. Comfort and acceptance of our flaws yield to vowing this will be the last year of imperfection.

            According to The Journal of Clinical Psychology, less than ten percent of the population reach their goal for the new year. Upon encountering hardship, almost forty percent never make their goal. The remaining attempters strive for a goal that they will partially reach, struggling to stick to it a little longer, but just never get there.

            The five most common New Year’s resolutions are losing weight, saving money, quitting smoking, finding love, and getting organized. Now why do most of these resolutions fail to succeed? Majority of people never accomplish their goals for two reasons, 1. We try to stop “cold turkey” and 2. We set limits on everything all at the same time. A better chance for success involves tossing strict restraints out of the window. Here are some helpful tips to help make it into that ten percent:

Losing Weight- Don’t set a limit on how much weight you want to loose nor set a specific date. Diets mean that they will eventually end when you reach your target weight, often time causing you to regain the lost weight. Why not make eating healthier foods and exercising 3-4 days per week a lifestyle habit? The weight will eventually fall, and stay, off.

   Saving Money- Instead of depriving yourself of something you enjoy, such as that weekly restaurant date or family outing, get rid of something that you don’t need. For instance, do you need every premium channel on cable that costs an extra $50 per month?

  Quit Smoking- Don’t just wait until January 1^st and say that you’ll quit smoking forever. If you quit “cold turkey”, it’s challenging to make that work. Try to slowly cut back from a pack a day, to a half a pack, to a few, to one, then let them fad away.

   Finding Love- You can’t say, “I going to fall in love this year.” Love will show up when you least expect it. Just be patient.

     Getting Organized- If your life is cluttered from school, work, home, or kids, slowly get everything in order. Buy a planner. Write down activities, dinners, play dates, etc. Take a weekend once a month and get things organized in the house. Take baby steps, not large leaps.

When making a resolution, keep in mind that change doesn’t happen overnight. Resolutions take time, effort, and much patience. If you’re not ready to hit a few stumbling blocks, you may not achieve your ultimate goal, so expect to hit a setback or two, all the while keeping your eye on the goal. Remember that the original point of a resolution was to better yourself over time, not create a short term goal to change an imperfection. Devise a plan to change your lifestyle and maintain the goal once reached. This may even take more than one year, but could last a lifetime.