Family and Parenting: Information For Families

Did you know that the average child eats less than 4 servings of fruit in an entire week? The daily recommendations for fruit alone are 2 full cups, while vegetables consumption is set at 2.5 cups. We are living in the age of “quickness’. Everything has to fast, in a hurry, and now, now, now! How can we ever grow up and be healthy if, as children, we aren’t eating the necessities of life?

Children today are just as busy and stressed as their parents. With all of the appointments, soccer games, Girl Scout meetings, gymnastics tournaments, karate classes, and never ending doses of get-up-and-go how are our children suppose to value their health as much as they value dance lessons? We are the leaders who are sending the next generation onto the future. We must value that as our parents did. Nights at the dinner table are slowly ending and turning into nights around the coffee table and in front of the television. How can we take the health of our children and put it in a place that stands above all of those other appointments and meetings?

No matter how busy life can get we cannot sacrifice the livelihood of our kids for the entertainment value of life. Without the proper nutrition and healthy foods those soccer games and gymnastic tournaments are only going to cause them health problems. It is time to step up to the plate and demand better health for your kids.

Sit down with your children one night and grab a pen and paper. Discuss the issue of health with them and invite them to offer ideas for creating healthier snacks ad meals. Ask them suggestions and meal ideas that they would enjoy eating, and share ideas back and forth. You may be surprised at the amount of enthusiasm that you receive from your kids. The general idea is that once your kids get the chance to help in the kitchen that it can turn into a tradition of family time and helping hands. Create a schedule of three to four nights a week where you will have the children either do the prep-work for the meals, or select one night of the week when the kids will actually make the entire meal (if their age permits) with only minimal help, and of course, supervision. You can turn healthy meals into a fun way to bring the family closer together. Come to a decision based on these ideas and declare war on the junk food days. Declare war on eating dinner with television-zombies and help your family become closer by simply eating healthier. Jump in head-first and you’ll see some pretty amazing results begin to flourish.

Living with allergies can be hard, and a real pain, but imagine how children with allergies feel. It can be a most aggravating condition to deal with but by developing a certain routine you too can learn to control your child’s allergic reactions within the home.

Dust mites are a major bummer when it comes to childhood allergies. They are everywhere in the home and they prefer the bedroom. Blankets, sheets and pillows are a favorite and this is where your child spends his hours trying to rest. So in an effort to make it easier on your child, begin by purchasing synthetic polyester-fill pillows and comforters. Feather-fill and down pillows are wonderful attractants for mites. Dust mite-proof covers are available for all of your bedding needs and can be a breath of fresh air for anyone with allergies.

To reduce the risk of harboring dust mites in your child’s room, shoot for a room without carpet or upholstered furniture. Tile, linoleum, or hardwood floors are the best bet. To keep your child’s feet from getting cold in the winter, you can opt to put runner-throw rugs along the floor but be sure to wash in hot water weekly, along with the child’s bedding. Don’t forget to dust and vacuum weekly as this can be a crucial step in preventing the accumulation of problem-causing dust.

The more shelving in your child’s room the more dust; idle and stationary decorative items on the shelves can be a superb attractant for dust and debris. So be aware that the less stuff there is lying around, the less dust can be attracted to it. Even stuffed animals carry dust and allergy promoting materials on them. So be selective when placing them on the bed. Choose a few select items that your child has chosen as ‘fav’s’ and be sure to wash them weekly. Any stuffed animals that wind-up on the bed should receive the same treatment.

The simplest step toward removing general debris from the air in your home is to change the central air unit filter at least once a month. Some families change their filter bi-monthly for best performance. If there are any smokers in the household take into consideration the effects of the smoke on the child and consider smoking outside. The smoke gets trapped in the carpet and upholstery around the house and this just as easily effects the child upon return to a room that has been smoked in. the safest bet is to keep the smoke away from any child.

In a world of interactive gaming, internet junkies, and outrageous advertisement gimmicks isn’t it time to open our eyes, as parents, and look at the world through younger, more venerable eyes? To do this is to begin to understand what our kids see in this confusing world. There is violence, murder, rape, and torturous acts all over the television and not to mention the video games that our children play.

Even though we may not like to play with video game systems it pays to know what, and how, our children use these interactive tools. The scary truth is that we cannot shield our children from the world that is outside the walls of our home. We raise them in hopes of doing the best we can to prepare them for everyday situations they may encounter, good or bad. Unfortunately, there is a progressive trend in violence and desensitization of that violence flooding the world. Not only are everyday citizens becoming fearful and scared in a general census but they are becoming more and more violent as the years progress. This comes full-circle to affect our cities, streets, and neighborhoods.

One person may not be able to affect, or change, the entire world but we can control the violence we allow inside of our homes. The number one attribute in child/teen violence is example. Violence is learned, and because of this, a major culprit for desensitization is the rapid use of violent video games. Not everyone who plays violent games becomes violent or desensitized to violence, but younger children are quickly influenced, and more adaptive, to and by their environment.

If a child already has feelings of anger, or hopelessness, the affects of visual violence can be even more stringent. As a parent you must begin early to be the preventative foundation for your child when it comes to video game violence. Begin by limiting the use your child has with all video games. The more attractive the video games are to them the more their taste in games will broaden and eventually reach violent, benumbing games. Preview any game your child requests as a gift or asks to rent. Try looking up the game manufacturer online, or talk to a video game store clerk about the theme and level of adult content in a game you are considering for your child. There are ratings on video games, as with DVD’s, so be aware of their meanings, the letter-code rating systems for games do not correspond to DVD rating codes. “M” is for Mature.

There is one issue that can be overlooked by many families and this risk can bring potential harm and even death to your small child. These risks come from the most unlikely suspects and the threats are very real and they affect many of us every day.

When you have children that are under the age of five, you do everything you can to keep them safe, happy, and healthy, especially in your own home. Your home is your safe haven. It is your way to escape the dangers of the world and bring a sense of security and safety. What if one of the biggest hazards to your children was lurking in your own home right under your nose and you didn’t even know you could do something about it?

In today’s mass-market and mass-production world there are lots of products, merchandise, and commodities available. One thing that parents do to keep their children safe is to buy the most talked about and safest-looking toys. The darker side of the mass-toy-production industry is the cheap, and almost non-existent, testing process that all toys should go through before reaching your child’s hands. When a toy is inadequately tested for general safety and material safety the results are dangerous toys that actually make it to the market, and then into your child’s room. All too often the recall comes too late for some and even then it is hard to create mass awareness to make up for this over production and massive toy industry.

One news cast cannot create full awareness for the billions of families living in the world today and because of this it is our duty as responsible parents to take actions by searching and researching products before making purchases that end up in our children’s hands. Though the information on the thousands of toy recalls can easily be found online not everyone has solid access to the internet 24/7. There are many government websites that broadcast the startling results and mass amounts of toy recalls.

The trouble is finding the right information that will help you to make an informed decision before buying. Begin by calling or visiting the website of the company that produces a toy that your child is wanting. Read their recall lists and then visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website’s recall list. The USCPSC’s list is thorough and long so has the item’s manufacturer information, name, and serial number ready. By doing the right research you can help prevent accidents from creeping into your own home.