The Mom Crowd

Recently, I have found myself becoming a “paranoid parent” with regard to my children’s health.  All the constant flooding of the news about the Swine Flu or H1N1 Flu has really got me worried.  It is especially worrisome to me because our son, who has Type 1 Diabetes, is at a greater risk of complications should he contract one of these viruses. 

So, last night, I sat down and had a long talk with God.  There are only so many things we as parents can do to protect our children, from the flu or anything for that matter, and I really needed to get my thoughts into perspective.  After my prayer time, I felt much more at peace and decided that I would be proactive and do what I could, but also have to trust God for His protection.

Here are some things you can do to help protect your kids from the seasonal flu and H1N1:

Wash Your Hands – We all know the importance of washing our hands to prevent spreading illness.  The Centers for Disease Control emphasize washing with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.  Alcohol based hand-sanitizers are also a great weapon in the flu fight!

Avoid Touching Your Eyes and Mouth – Your eyes and mouth are great germ transmitters, so avoid biting your fingernails or playing with your eyelashes!

Cough or Sneeze Into Tissue – Coughing or sneezing into a tissue and throwing it away is the best way to get rid of your germs.  Make sure to wash your hands afterward.  If a tissue is not readily available, it is suggested that you cough or sneeze into your sleeve and NOT your hand.

Avoid Sick People – This seems like an easy one, right?  But reality is that we are exposed to sick people everyday at the grocery store, post office, or even at church.  Encourage your friends NOT to bring their kids over even if they “just have a runny nose, but no fever”.  Also, if one of your children gets sick, try to keep the others from playing with them until they have been fever free for at least 24 hours.

Sanitize Your Toys – I am guilty of not doing this as often as I should, but it’s great practice to take out the toys and sanitize them often, especially after a child is ill.  This will help prevent the spreading of “old germs” and possibly new ones. 

Get Vaccinated – Everyone in your family should get their annual flu shot.  It’s the best way to prevent contracting the flu.  If you are sensitive to the vaccine or agents in it, talk to your doctor or your child’s doctor about your options.  If your pediatrician’s office isn’t offering the flu vaccine or has run out (like mine did!), CVS and Walgreens walk-in clinics provide flu shots to children 18 months and older.  Contact your local one to see if they have the vaccine in stock before heading out. 

Pray – Let’s face it, we can do all of the things listed above and someone is still bound to get sick, so the best way to keep your sanity during this crazy time is to pray and trust God for His protection and health.  If nothing else, it’s a great way to to find peace!

For more information about the seasonal flu or the H1N1 virus, check out the CDC website or the government’s special flu website. 

What have you done to safeguard your family during this flu season? 

Photo Courtesy of itsv

This is a guest post from my friend, Dawn Craig.  I saw on Facebook that she did not recommend the movie ‘Astroboy’ so I asked her to explain. Here is Dawn’s review of the movie.

What ever happened to movies that are capable of portraying a valuable life lesson in a manner that is suitable for children? My husband and I recently took our two daughters (6 and 7) to watch Astroboy for what we thought would be a nice, entertaining evening – instead I spent almost the whole movie comforting my youngest and worrying about the nightmares they would have that night. I should have known things weren’t going to go well when within the first five minutes the little boy Toby (later referred to as Astroboy) is killed by a huge robot named the “Peacekeeper” (created by a government official to help him win his next term in office.)

Toby’s dad has a meltdown, (which any parent would do under the circumstances), and creates a robot identical to his lost son, including all of Toby’s childhood memories. Shortly after his creation, Toby’s dad rejects the boy and orders him to be destroyed. Another scientist saves the young boy and instead tells him to go find his purpose in life and sends this robot child out into the world alone. At this point my kids are already asking why his daddy wouldn’t want him and where was he going to go. I thought at this point it couldn’t get any worse and that surely the producers wouldn’t maintain this negative storyline throughout the whole movie – I was wrong.

The movie continues on with scenes of orphans being manipulated by the only father-figure in their life, numerous attempts to kill Astroboy, the “Peacekeeper” destroying the city, the second death of Astroboy, and so much more. In the end obviously the good guy wins, but unfortunately the much too negative path to get there disallows any positive message to be seen.

I can understand and appreciate a writer’s need to create storylines that not only entertain the children but can hold the adults attention as well. Unfortunately it seems they keep continuing to push the line and have lost sight of the impression they can have on a young mind. Needless to say I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone with small children.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Also, have you seen Where the Wild Things Are? Would you recommend it?

Since our son was about 18 months old, he has experienced night terrors.  At first we had no idea what was happening to him in the middle of the night until I had a conversation with my friend Karen about it and she told me of her son having the same thing… night terrors.  For Andrew, it usually happens less than an hour after he goes to bed and then he will generally have multiple episodes of this in the same night.  He wakes up crying and is completely inconsolable for up to about 35 minutes.  There is nothing we can do to even remotely calm him down.  He appears to be awake, but technically isn’t.  It is quite a strange event. 

Night terrors are most common in young children, usually ages 3-6, however they can occur in younger children and also in older children and adults.  There are many misconceptions about night terrors, mostly that they are just really bad nightmares, but in reality they are very different events.  Nightmares are bad dreams that you can wake up remembering.  Night terrors are commonly described as seeming to wake up screaming or crying, appearing awake, but confused, not remembering the incident, and being inconsolable for 5-30 or more minutes.  A child experiencing night terrors will suddenly fall back to sleep as quickly as they appeared to have waken.

There are apparently different things that can trigger night terrors in children.  The most common thing is letting the child get over-tired or over-stressed.  There are also many different ways people choose to deal with their child’s night terrors.  For us, sitting with Andrew, rubbing his back or legs and hugging him sometimes helps soothe him.  Other times, it’s best for us not to touch or talk to him.  If your child has a tendency to have night terrors, make sure to let any babysitters know how to best handle them. 

The important thing to remember is not to treat the child as if he/she is acting up.  This is an involuntary response that they don’t even know is happening.  Being calm, finding what helps soothe your child at that time, and trying to prevent letting your child get totally wiped out will all help the situation! 

Does your child experience night terrors?  How do you help them during an episode? 

Photo Courtesy of deltaMike

My husband and I are saying “no” to a lot of invitations lately. A few months after my first daughter was born I read “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Dr. Weissbluth and the book recommends maintaining a consistent bedtime every night. For the most part we do keep bedtime consistent. She goes to bed within 30 minutes of the same time every night. Then along came baby number two.

I love how newborns sleep through practically anything and sleep anywhere. Of course, I don’t love their short erratic sleep schedule. Eventually newborns establish a bedtime on their own as they get older. Now at 7 months my boy starts giving sleep cues just before 7:00 p.m. and he is done for the day. He is ready to be nursed and laid down.

Maintaining a routine and a consistent bedtime has become even more important for us now that we have two kids. We realized this when we kept them up a little later than usual at a friend’s house. My 2 year old could be entertained while at the house, but once we got home she fought being washed in the bath and cried a lot before she fell asleep. She was a bear the next day and tired at Mother’s Day Out. That same evening I was holding and bouncing my son to keep him content. He kept bobbing his head on my boob to nurse. Then he screamed in the car on the way home. My children were put to bed 1.5 hours after their usual bedtime. My husband and I definitely agreed that the cost of keeping our children up late wasn’t worth the price.

Now in the evenings only one of us will go out at a time. We could hire a babysitter, but that isn’t practical all the time. It is certainly a special treat for both my husband and I to be out together past 7:00 p.m. Many times we have to say no to events that start at 7:00 p.m. It is just the phase of life we are in. I know it won’t be this way forever.

On the other hand, we love the early bed time. We have a great time hanging together around the house and creating date nights at home. I appreciate the break from my children. I also love that my children are well rested and behave better the next day. Our whole family is better for them getting their sleep.

How about you? Do you notice a difference in your child’s behavior if they have a consistent bedtime? Have you had to turn down invitations, because they are past your child’s bedtime?

*P.S. That is my boy in the photo. He fell asleep eating his teething biscuit at dinner! Maybe he wasn’t that well rested that day. LOL.

Christy’s post last week got me thinking about our family dynamic.  My husband works close to home (and even from home, occasionally), but he also does a LOT of traveling for his PhD studies.  He’ll be gone for anywhere from ten days to twelve weeks at a time.  The traveling can be difficult for him, with frequent travels through international airports (and their security), sleeping on couches at friends’ houses, and eating out every day (which he hates doing).  I’ve also witnessed how it has affected our children.

It’s hard on us when our husbands have to leave on business (or TDY), but it can even be harder on the kids.  When kids are young, they have little or no concept of time.  Saying “daddy will be home in ten days” or something along those lines just doesn’t register with them.  The first time my husband left us to do some PhD work at his university (in another country), he was gone for over two months.  Ten weeks?  Seventy days?  How was I supposed to explain this?  My four year old could only count to twenty!  Fortunately, I have a dear friend who was stationed overseas a couple of years ago, and during that time, her husband was deployed three times.  Her kids were also very young at the time, and she gave me some very helpful advice to get me and the kids through those very difficult weeks away.

Make a “daddy” book: Create a mini photo album filled with pictures of dad playing and interacting with the kids.  Let the kids carry them around, or prop it up next to their bed at night, so daddy’s right there with them. Some parents have put pictures of their spouses on the kids’ pillowcases (which you can order from Snapfish).

“Count” down the days until dad gets home: Whenever my husband leaves, whether it be for a few days or weeks, we create a Jellybean Countdown Container.  As you can probably guess, we take an old jar and fill it with jellybeans, and the number of treats corresponds with the number of days that my husband is gone.  The kids get one jellybean out of the jar every day, and that way, they know that daddy’s coming home when the jar is empty!

Let the kids use things that smell like dad: I would let my son use dad’s cologne if he wanted to smell like daddy.  Just dab a little on his wrist or spray his shirt, and he was good to go.  I, too, would occasionally use his cologne, spray one of his flannel shirts, and sleep in it at night.

Give them “kisses” from daddy: As an extra comfort measure, I would fill a jar with Hershey’s Kisses and place it on top of the counter.  Any time the kids got hurt or really sad, they would get a “kiss” from dad.

Skype before bed: If your husband’s involved with the kids’ bedtime routines, arrange for him to call around bedtime.  He can tell the kids a story (or, in our case, my son can tell HIM a story), sing them a song, etc.  If your husband is in a place where he can’t do this, have him record a few videos reading the kids’ favorite books.  Then, play the videos at night so daddy can read them a story before bed.

Does your husband travel a lot for work?  How do you handle this time in your house?

Related posts:

Trina’s post about being a (temporary) single mom