I distinctly remember being at a waterpark when I was about 10 years old and witnessing a man next to us start to go into diabetic shock. My mother, always prepared for diabetic situations because of my grandfather, handed him a Snickers Bar and two peppermint candies. He immediately took them and his children unwrapped them quickly and put them into his mouth.
My mother may have saved his life that day because she had the necessary “medication” he needed. However, I also remember that his wife and an ambulance came because he had been in the sun too long and …read more

What does it mean to raise a green kid? Apparently, Green is more than just a color these days. Green is the way we live, the way we must live in order to protect our environment AND be healthy.
AND, we MUST raise our children to be this way too.
1. Reduce consumption. Don’t buy what you don’t need, evaluate what you really want, and use everything you have.
2. Reuse when you can. Pass down clothing, donate, use papers again, etc.
3. Recycle cans, bottles, paper, books, toys, clothing, etc. Use Freecycle, eBay, and Craigslist instead of buying new.
4. Enjoy nature instead of …read more

My son, AJ, takes his lunch to all day kindergarten everyday. He also takes two snacks and a drink. So, my job as a parent is to make sure that my home-made lunch is just what he needs to get him through the entire day, provide him with energy, help him concentration, and give him enough protein and natural sugars to prevent a hypoglycemic attack, which can easily happen with him.
So, what do I provide him?
1. One fresh fruit, either a peeled pear or apple (he has a salicylate intolerance and can not tolerate the peels although they provide the …read more

Formula storage is one of the most tricky things about feeding a baby so I recommend purchasing a formula travel case and packing extra, empty bottles.
To properly store formula:

Feed your baby prepared formula immediately.
Immediately refrigerate prepared formula up to 24 hours.
Discard any extra formula after one hour because bacteria can grow VERY quickly.

If you are traveling, use the formula dispenser.

At Hidden Valley, Jodie Shield, a registered dietitian, helps kids all around the country eat their veggies. Jodie has been a a consultant and a spokesperson for more than two decades. She is a former national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and has worked with the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
She is currently a complemental faculty member of the College of Health Sciences in the Department of Clinical Nutritian at Rush Univesity in Chicago.
As parents, you know how tough that can be, right? Here are twelve tips from Jodie to help you out you with a …read more

Raising children today who are conscious of others can be difficult. I know this first hand because my son can be quite self-centered. I don’t know if it is part of his disability or part of his personality. Or, it simply could be that we have not been focusing on teaching him to look past himself and recognize others. I don’t think it is the later because we have always placed an emphasis on sharing, giving, and helping.
There was an article in the December edition of Reader’s Digest that focused on this topic…raising children who care. In the …read more

Many families travel during the holidays and many other’s find themselves at friends and relatives homes during nap time. For most of these children sleep comes naturally and they can adjust to any location. But, there are some, like mine, who can not bring themselves to sleep in situations wherein they do not feel safe. So, how do you, as a parent, help your children maintain their sleep habits when they are not at home?
1. Bring the comforts of home with you. You obviously can’t bring the pillow and comforter with you everywhere you go in case your child needs …read more

A 5-month-old-baby nearly died last week when his mother, Jeri Moss diluted his baby formula to attempt to cut costs and make household ends meet.
Instead of feeding him the 15 cans of formula he needed she tried to stretch him to 8-10 cans by adding water. However, this had a disastrous effect on him. He had water intoxication and was severely malnourished.
La’Damian is currently in now in good condition.
“Sadly, this is not a new story,” says momlogic pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson. “When budgets are tight, parents trying to do the best for their children may think about diluting formula. …read more

September celebrates the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and the Health and Wellness bloggers chime about how the Twelve Steps to Recovery can relate to our particular blog. Earlier today I posted about Step #6 to be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects in character. Now I’ll tackle Step #11:
Step 11 – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

I believe in the power of words. I believe our words …read more

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, so Health and Wellness Channel bloggers are discussing the twelve steps to recovery as it relates to our readers. Mine is –
Step 6 – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character

At first look, “defect of character” seems little to do with nurturing healthy children. But if I may, our weaknesses have a lot to do with keeping our children healthy and productive. And I certainly have plenty of these defects.
Belatedly into the training, I realized that I have no patience for teaching my daughter …read more