Posts tagged ‘Health’
How to Have Healthier Menfolk
As I sit here and eat a bag of Hershey’s kisses, I wonder how in the world my kids learned to stop loving junk food đ and stay healthy? đ¤
Wonder how you build kids who love junk food, into healthy adults? đŞđ
This month of June, celebrates men and boyâs health. So letâs talk about physical health.
When it comes to male health, I literally have to call âthe kidsâ when my husband needs to go to the doctor. Heâs pretty clear that there is no need to go to the doctor.. just take an Advil or Dayquil and stay in the bed. đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸
So you can imagine, thereâs no such thing as scheduling an annual well visit.
Do you live with someone like that? đ¤Śđ˝ââď¸
Scheduling annual well doctor and dentist visits are easy to do when our sons are young. They need both for school or to play sports. As they grow into men, it becomes more challenging to have them see a doctor as a preventative measure. My husband would rather write a check for a million dollars đľ than have a wellness visit. đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸
Itâs a shame that body parts have to stop working, in order to visit the doctor. Maybe itâs the âif itâs not broken, donât fix itâ strategy.
If the males in your family are the same way, it might be easier to help them eat healthier. Personally, I like vegetables and a fish protein since I donât eat meat. I get a little push back if I make what my husband calls, double greens. 𼏠For example, cooking stir fry veggies and a side of spinach is considered double greens. On those days, Iâm pressing my luck.
With your sons, especially if they play a sport, having a good amount of healthy carbs makes eating junk food less enticing. Maybe theyâre not interested in eating grapes, apples and cherries, but have them in the fridge. Having popcorn, cheese bites, and healthy snacks in the pantry, may make flaming hots, or hot Cheetos less attractive.
I recommend starting a healthy regime now at the beginning of the summer before more bad eating habits get started.
Consider adding in a mother-son (or husband-wife) evening walk to give you time with each other, and a little exercise.
Or⌠encourage your husband and son to go to the park and throw a baseball, football, play soccer, or run on the track together. You might get push back if theyâve not done this before. Just keep encouraging them.
Iâve been trying to get my husband to walk with me in the evening, so that we donât become a fixed part of the sofa. đ Iâll keep trying.
At the end of the day, exercising and healthy eating, can help you control your weight and keep your sanity.
Write me and let me know how successful you are with the males in your family. Iâll do the same. đ
Interested in learning more about your familyâs dynamics? Contact me â Ms. Parent Guru to receive information about my parent coaching programs that help guide you through Aging Parents, Mother and Daughter drama, Mothers and their Sons challenges, Fathers and Daughters as well as Fathers and their Sons.
Click Here to become a part of my parenting community.
The Cost of Anger to Me
Last week as I was driving to a meeting, I signaled to move into the lane to my right. Apparently I was too close to the driver behind me because the 
next thing I knew, he sped ahead of me, changed into my lane and put on his brakes⌠I said to myself â âIâve just been a victim of road rage! He probably didnât think more about it, because he had satisfied that moment of complete rage. But I thought about how our anger, our rage gets the best of us every day.
My hubs tells me Iâm on the âred trainâ when I get really angry. Physiologically, my head hurts and I feel irrational. Imagine what that does to the organs in our bodies like our hearts, our brains, etc. The urban idiom is called âpop offâ meaning you lost your cool.
According to Livestrong.com, âAnger is an emotion that is associated with resentment, frustration, irritability and rage. Chinese medicine asserts that this choleric emotion is stored in the liver and gallbladder, which produce and store bile, respectively. This anger can affect many biological processes that sap energy and cause headaches, dizziness and high blood pressure.âš According to Lavelle Hendricks, âBefore anger affects any part of our body, it has to affect our brain first. When we experience anger, the brain causes the body to release stress hormones, adrenaline and
noradrenaline. These chemicals help the body control the heart rate and blood pressure.â²
Just think about how many people you know who have experienced heart attacks or aneurysms. Iâm thinking about how my anger affects not only me, but also my kids and my husband. As a mom, I like being in control â to understand where everything is, my role, and how it affects my family. But, there are so many things that are outside of my control. Like someone bumping into to me on the street, or driving too close, or your kid having a bad day and saying something disrespectful. For our own sanity and the sake of our bodies, we have to let things go and move on without anger or self-recrimination. Hey…donât lose your cool…
[1] http://www.livestrong.com/article/193234-what-emotions-affect-different-organs-in-the-human-body/
[2]http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Hendricks,%20LaVelle%20The%20Effects%20of%20Anger%20on%20the%20Brain%20and%20Body%20NFJCA%20V2%20N1%202013.pdf
Interested in learning more about your familyâs dynamics? Contact me – Ms. Parent Guru to receive information about my inspiring parenting programs for Aging Parents, Mothers & Daughters, Mothers and their Sons or  Finding Superwoman⢠for Overworked Moms.
Click Here to become a part of my parenting community.
Want more Romance âĽÂ in your life? Register for my Nov 1st webinar: How To Put Romance Back Into Your Schedule
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Family Dynamics Strategist, Speaker & Author
www.clynnwilliams.com
3 Things You Want to KnowâŚ
(Reblogged from The Parenting Skill Daily)
 Parenting Tips: My Teen Lost His Phone, What Do I Do?Â
By Olfa Turki
Looking for parenting tips on how to handle it when your teen loses his phone? Read my story to see how I handled it! My teen is in high school and commutes for one hour a day. To keep my sanity, my husband and I provided him with a cellphone for emergency calls. It was a long debate at our home, whether we can trust a 12 year old with a cellphone. But since I am a helicopter mom and since he is commuting for a long time, I wanted to feel safe and be able to reach him during his commute. I wanted him to be able to reach me in case something happens: a bus missed, a metro not working.
Substance Abuse – Does It Run In Families
By Eric Metcalf, MPH
@EricMetcalfMPH
Want to know if youâre likely to develop a health problem? Looking at your family history can often help you measure your level of risk.
For example, if a close family member has had type 2 diabetes, certain forms of cancer, or heart disease, you may also have a greater chance of developing the condition, too. The same is true for alcoholism and drug addiction. If a close family member has had a substance abuse problem, your risk is also higher.
Some of the extra risk that runs in families comes from the genes that one generation passes down to another. But other elements within your family can influence if you develop a problem with drugs or alcohol. For example, drinking too much or using drugs may have seemed normal to you from an early age because you saw family members do it.
What Kids Need to Know About EBOLA (Video)
Shared by Ann Morgan James
If you want to read more #parenting tips, follow My Blog and sign up for my Parenting Newsletter. Want to ask questions or dialogue with me about how tough adult issues affect our families; reach out to me on Twitter @cgwwbook or Like my Facebook fan page www.Facebook.com/CGWWBooks. Â Â Â Â #ParentTips
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Generational Development Specialist
www.clynnwilliams.com
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
P.S. Hey⌠I have a new book coming out soon about #BlendedFamilies. Get in touch w/me if you want to be one of the first to read a short excerptâŚ
Â
Tips For #Backpack Safety For Kids
(reblogged from TheBlackList Pub)
It’s that time of the year again, time to go back to school shopping. As another summer comes to an end and a new school year is quickly approaching, parents are beginning to prepare their kids for a successful year at school and this often means the purchasing of a new backpack. With so much to do in order to prepare for the upcoming school year, few stop to think about backpack safety for kids. Did you know that carrying a heavy backpack to school just may be causing health problems for your kids?
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, children between the ages of 5-18 account for 6,500 emergency room visits related to carrying a backpack that is too heavy for them. More research indicates that by the end of the school year, nearly 60 percent of all school-aged children will experience at least one episode of lower back pain. Backpacks that are too heavy are responsible for a significant amount of back pain from children ranging in age from elementary school all the way up through college. Common symptoms of poor backpack loading and carrying can include headaches, poor posture, neck pain and shoulder pain or stiffness. Here are some tips to help you pick a bookbag that won’t harm your child’s back.
Tips for Backpack Safety for Kids:
Make sure your child’s bookbag is no more than 5-10 percent of his/her body weight. A backpack that is too heavy will cause your child to bend forward in an attempt to better support the weight of his/her backpack rather than allow the shoulders and straps to support the weight. A bookbag that is overweight can be dangerous to the health of your child’s back.
Compartments are key. Look for a backpack with compartments to effectively pack your child’s bag. You won’t have to worry about your child’s lunch being flattened under their textbooks.
When packing a backpack, make sure your child places items that are bulky or pointy away from the back of the backpack. Pens and pencils rubbing against your child’s back can lead to painful blisters.
To read more click here:Â http://bit.ly/1nMPBkE
If you liked what you read, follow my blog for more articles, info and camaraderie with other people just like you & me. Reach out to me on Twitter (@cgwwbook) or Facebook (CGWWBooks)
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Parent Coach
www.clynnwilliams.com
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! (220 Publishing, 2013)
When Suicide is NOT the Answer
I had a friend in high school who told me he was going to âkill himselfâ. I was beside myself with worry, told my parents and my dad said â âIf he was going to kill himself, he wouldnât tell you first.â Of course the guy did not kill himself, but my brother did⌠Parents should never have to bury their children but they certainly shouldn’t have to bury them because they’ve committed suicide. Suicide is such a desperate call for help and in my opinion indicates that there were no other options. The problem for most parents is how is it that our child, teen or post-teen adult lives and interacts with us every day and we have no idea that they are contemplating suicide? Mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse is often the cause of suicide.[1] Additional stress factors such as difficult interpersonal relationships, long-term sickness or financial worries can also contribute to feelings that âlife is no longer worth livingâ.
According to HelpGuide.org, most suicidal people give signals of their intentions. Below are some warning signs that we can look for to recognize and hopefully prevent suicides with our family, friends and students:
|
Suicide Warning Signs |
|
| Talking  about suicide | Any talk  about suicide, dying, or self-harm, such as “I wish I hadn’t been  born,” “If I see you again…” and “I’d be better off  dead.” |
| Seeking  out lethal means | Seeking  access to guns, pills, knives, or other objects that could be used in a  suicide attempt. |
| Preoccupation  with death | Unusual  focus on death, dying, or violence. Writing poems or stories about death. |
| No hope  for the future | Feelings  of helplessness, hopelessness, and being trapped (“There’s no way  out”). Belief that things will never get better or change. |
| Self-loathing,  self-hatred | Feelings  of worthlessness, guilt, shame, and self-hatred. Feeling like a burden  (“Everyone would be better off without me”). |
| Getting  affairs in order | Making out  a will. Giving away prized possessions. Making arrangements for family  members. |
| Saying  goodbye | Unusual or  unexpected visits or calls to family and friends. Saying goodbye to people as  if they won’t be seen again. |
| Withdrawing  from others | Withdrawing  from friends and family. Increasing social isolation. Desire to be left  alone. |
| Self-destructive  behavior | Increased  alcohol or drug use, reckless driving, unsafe sex. Taking unnecessary risks  as if they have a “death wish.” |
| Sudden  sense of calm | A sudden  sense of calm and happiness after being extremely depressed can mean that the  person has made a decision to commit suicide. [2] |
As a parent, we donât understand it when a young person takes his/her life because of hopelessness or frustration. We often wonder where we went wrong. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, after accidents and homicide. It’s also thought that at least 25 attempts are made for every completed teen suicide. If you are concerned, here are some prevention tips that you may use:
- Speak to that person if you are worried
- Respond quickly in a crisis. Determine if the risk is low, moderate or high
- Offer professional help & support
Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Support
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline â Suicide prevention telephone hotline funded by the U.S. government. Provides free, 24-hour assistance. 1-800-273-TALK (8255). (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline)
National Hopeline Network â Toll-free telephone number offering 24-hour suicide crisis support. 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433). (National Hopeline Network)
—
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Author & Parenting Coach
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES! Available in September, 2013 (220 Communications)
Can Your Daughterâs Friends Influence Her Eating Habits?
Is your daughter fixated on her weight? Does she consider herself fat? Does she feel that she gains weight no matter how little she eats? Right now I have a couple of students who worry about eating or drinking anything for fear of gaining weight.
As graduation approached for my daughter, I remember the photographer telling her that she needed to stop eating âall those cookiesâ and lose weight, so that she would look good in her prom dress. My daughter and I laughed at the time, but little did I know, that she took those words to heart, and began watching what she was eating. By the time prom occurred, she was tiny! So were her girlfriends.
According to Journal of Youth and Adolescence, a girlâs peers exert more influence on her dissatisfaction with her body, more so than TV actresses or social media. Dangerous weight control such as excessive dieting or bulimic tendencies often begins during the tween years. For some reason, excessive weight control does not affect girl âjocksâ. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130130143628.htm
The words âYouâre fatâ can easily send a t(w)een girl into an eating disorder spiral.
This theory isnât new to parents. Canât you tell what peers your daughter is involved with based on how she acts? I certainly could. Are you concerned with your daughterâs obsession with weight? If so, ask your health care provider or school personnel to suggest a prevention or intervention program that will help her better control any obsessive eating tendencies.
C. Lynn Williams – #MsParentguru
Author & Parenting Coach
Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen (St. Paul Press, 2010)
The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son (St. Paul Press, 2012)
Teaching School Tolerance
I saw this link on pregnant teen girls and our need to be sure that they are educated in school. Check it out and tell me what you think.
http://www.tolerance.org/blog/support-pregnant-teens-lasts-generations
Submitted by Sarah Sansburyon March 30, 2012
- Keywords:
- Diversity and inclusion
Paulina walked slowly down the hall, her gait marked by the waddle of many pregnant mothers. As she came closer, you could see her belly, slightly swollen. You felt her discomfort as she squeezed into her desk. Five months in, she hadn’t seen a doctor or taken any vitamins. The baby’s father wasn’t in the picture. There were rumors of rape. Her parents had all but disowned her.
What role should the school play in the life of a teenage mom? How can we help?
Of course we donât advocate teen pregnancy. Pregnancy prevention is the best policy. However, the question is what to do when it happensâbecause it will happen.
Like all teenagersâno matter their creed, race, genderâyoung mothers are still students deserving an equal opportunity for education. A school needs to be flexible in making that happen.
Sadly, the fact is teen moms are more likely to drop out than graduate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 50 percent of teen moms get their diploma. Of those who get their high school diploma, only an estimated 2 percent will graduate from college by age 30. Itâs not only hard to be a mom while going through school, but that most schools do not offer teen moms the needed support.
In fact, only a few states have specific laws requiring schools to provide special services for teen moms like home-bound studies or in-school programs. Other states, like Kansas, have no laws regarding attendance or alternative programs. Some statesârequireâ helpful programs for teen moms. Others âencourageâthem. Some schools do an excellent job of serving pregnant or parenting teens.
A teen mother‘s success seems unfortunately tied to the luck of the drawâthe state and district where she attends school. One purpose of public education is to help create capable, contributing citizensâeven if they are young moms. A little help now may be all she needs to stay on the path of education.
We need to champion their needsâwhether that means speaking to your administration, board of education members, or even state legislators. And, if you have any pregnant students, be flexible and supportive as best you can. It can be as simple as providing a comfortable desk area or, on a larger scale, supplying materials and instruction needed while she recovers during maternity leave.
No matter what our personal philosophy is on teen pregnancy, we need to boost our studentsâ likelihood for success.
Paulina, a senior, had a baby boy in January. With the support of her teachers and school counselor, she had started taking prenatal vitamins, regularly seeing a doctor and will be participating in a home-bound study program when she’s on maternity leave. She is determined to graduateâfor a better future for her and her baby.
Sansbury is a middle and high school teacher in Georgia.
Staying Sane While Raising Your Teens 
Blogpost Comments