Category: Health

The benefits of Yoga have been hailed all over. It’s relaxing and does wonders for the core strength of your body. According to the Traditional Yoga Association, yoga is:

…a practice, a philosophy and a science that can enable the autonomous individual to attain a state of universal consciousness in which the true self is more fully revealed.

but there are several new versions of yoga cropping up, some of which are less tranquil than the traditional and therefore, result in a more rigorous workout – so it can be difficult to discern which version is right for your needs and, quite frankly, your personal tolerance and fitness levels.

So, I’m going to break it down for you. Read more…

Lots of things happen when you have kids. Your waistline expands, you lose sleep, you’re stressed out, and you’re sick all the time.

Ugh.

It makes you wonder why we started this adventure in the first place, doesn’t it?

So, is there anything you can do to prevent some of these horrible side effects of parenting? Indeed, there is.

Remember that your children are covered in germs. Okay, maybe it’s not quite that serious. But they are prone to picking up every germ that is even thinking about passing through your home. And yes, washing your hands (and teaching your kids to do the same) is imperative in the process of keeping the icks at bay, but remember that being well-rested and being active also helps keep your immune system strong.
Read more…

Earth Day has really evolved … remember when it used to be simply about planting a tree?

Or maybe that’s Arbor Day.

It’s no secret that our natural resources are getting scarce. What’s more, with an increase in food recalls, there’s been a renewed interesting in backyard gardening, farmers’ markets, and the local food movement. Schools discuss Earth Day, and as parents, we should, too.
Read more…

I’m a firm believer that the more germs my kid picks up now, the better prepared she’ll be when she heads to germ-infested kindergarten. Yes, she’s vaccinated, and no, I don’t tell her to lick shopping carts … but if she does, I don’t freak out about it.

However, I have a friend that is crazy about the germs. And, frankly, I worry about her sanity when her kiddo starts kindergarten. Will she keep him home at the slightest sniffle? Will she go Mommy Dearest at a PTO meeting if she thinks another mother is responsible for her son’s flu? Read more…

Recently, I wrote a post – The Quick and Dirty on Gluten Allergies and Celiac Disease. I wrote the post because recently several friends have adapted their diets to accommodate gluten-free for the sake of one of their children – each for their own personal reasons.

The difficult part about something that is relatively new like gluten-free diets and Celiac disease, or at least new to many, is finding a variety of foods to cook up for your family. So, I started looking around to find a site that would help those who were newly coping with this lifestyle (because I’m betting if you’ve been going down the gluten-free road a while now, you’ve found this gem of a site already). I had to share The Gluten-Free Girl with you. Read more…

It’s a thing most moms do: telling their birth story. Like an initiation ritual, or a right of passage. I was sharing mine with my daughter’s preschool teacher, going on about giving birth in a teaching hospital and the veritable audience in attendance when she told me she was in the hospital for 4 months. On bed rest. In the hospital. 4 months.

She carried her twins to full term – healthy boys – but from the outset it didn’t look like that would be a likely outcome. Hers is not my story to tell, so I can’t go into all of her details. But it got me to thinking about how our different baby experiences unite us on a continuum of shared smiles and tears, hormones and fears. Read more…

This is a quick and dirty list of indulgences you can take right now, this week, when you can sneak away for 30 minutes.

The husband’s watching golf on the couch anyway? Leave him with the kids and do something for yourself. Kids are asleep? Forget the laundry and focus on something frivolous for a bit. Have to get chores done? Make it fun by indulging at the same time.

Life should be fun and indulgent. Plain and simple. Read more…

Curiosity (and fear of Russia) got us to the moon. Curiosity gave us oysters – imagine being the first guy to think, hmmm, what if I crack open this wavy rock and slurp up whatever slimy nugget is inside?

Did you know that the entire reason James Cameron made Titanic wasn’t because he wanted to tell a Romeo and Juliet story on a sinking ship. It was the ship. It was diving down in the real ocean to explore, and incidentally film, the actual Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. His curiosity, mixed with a good dose of imagination, got him to the bottom of the ocean. Look how that turned out for him. Read more…

We’ve all had it happen. A baby up all night. A looming deadline that we couldn’t ignore. And stuff to do the next day.

You get behind the wheel to drive your kids to daycare of school … and you’re exhausted.

The constant hum of the tires on the road lull you into a driving coma and before you know it, you feel your head bob.

Tell me it hasn’t happened to you.

Because it has to me. And it scared the Be-Geezus out of me. Read more…

Sounds dramatic, no? But it’s true.

Last fall, we rushed our then 18-month-old to the emergency room for a gash on her face … one that required stitches and an antibiotic prescription.

Five hours after we got there, we left with six stitches and a slip of paper. We also started walking out while she still had an IV in her arm, because they told us we were good to go. A nurse had to chase us down and bring us back in because we hadn’t even noticed the tiny little catheter stuck in her hand.

Needless to say, we were tired—physically and emotionally—and just wanted to get home. Read more…

Oh, if only they made a tool that safely pried open my toddler’s mouth.

I didn’t intend to become a short order cook, but somehow it happened. Dinner is served and my girls find reasons why they don’t like it and won’t eat it. Then I make something else. And something else. And something else. Do you know that one night they said “yuck” to me and I about lost it. That’s when I realized something had to change.

Certainly you’ve experienced this. I do hope I’m not alone in this struggle!

Then a few days later I walked into my daughter’s preschool for lunch and there she was, eating spinach. YES! Spinach. Not a “yuck” in sight. Oh, the positive affects of peer pressure! When I asked the teacher how she manages to get the kids all eating their veggies, here is what she said: Read more…

I stumbled across an article the other day about toddlers undergoing general anesthesia for dental care because when the doctor took X-rays, they showed…

… that 11 of his 20 baby teeth had cavities. Then his pediatric dentist extracted two incisors, performed a root canal on a molar, and gave the rest fillings and crowns.

Come again?!

The kid was TWO. Read more…

Is there a spring in your step, yet? Spring is here, y’all. Well, in spirit if not in warm weather anyway. But still, I can just start to see spending lots more time outside.

Mostly, outside time makes me skip to my loo until I have to think about snacking. I love snacks and would pack a bag o’ chips and a jar of peanut butter anytime, for any occasion. Only, not the most healthy of choices for my kiddos. And no so great for my waist.

So I hunt and hunt for good, mostly healthy snacks. Which brings me to Crunchies Natural Snacks. They are freeze dried snacks. Awesome! OK, so I’m sure you’ve heard of dried cranberries or freeze dried apples before, but have you tasted freeze dried mangos or peas? Read more…