Staying Healthy in the Winter
By Yvonne Juarez, MD, Chief of Pediatrics, Fresno Kaiser Permanente
Now that temperatures have dropped and we are bundling up our little ones as they leave for school in the morning, it’s important to remember that cold and flu season is here. School-age kids are particularly vulnerable to the spread of colds, viral and bacterial infections. But there are steps you can take to make sure your kids stay healthy throughout the winter season.
- Wash hands frequently. Proper hand washing is an effective way to avoid spreading germs. Just 15 to 20 seconds of hand washing (or enough time to sing Happy Birthday), using water and soap can reduce the risk of transmitting diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hand washing is the single most important means of preventing infection from spreading. If you don’t have access to a sink, hand sanitizer is another good option.
- Keep vaccinated. Make sure your children are up to date on all of their vaccinations. Vaccines not only protect your child, but the children around them. Check with your pediatrician for a list of vaccines your child should have based on their age.
- Get a flu shot. Along with regular vaccinations, the flu shot is a good way to reduce your child’s risk of catching the flu, or worse, developing more serious complications from the flu. The flu vaccine is recommended for all children 6 months and older. Now is the time to get your children a flu shot. A nasal spray is also available. Contact your local doctor or county health department for a list of places where the vaccine is available.
To read the entire article, please subscribe to Totts Magazine. Click here.
For more information about how to keep you and your family healthy: visit www.kp.org.
Family Resolutions for 2012!
- Spend more quality time together…schedule time every week to spend uninterrupted time together…Game Night is easy & fun!
- Get moving…make time for physical activity, even a brisk walk after dinner is a great way to speed up the ‘ol ticker, relieve stress, and catch up with one another.
- Eat healthy…it’s a great time to empty the pantry of chips & soda and create new fun & healthy snacks together.
- Be thankful…take time to acknowledge what great things are happening in your lives (good grades always deserve praise!)
- Smell the roses…don’t let great moments pass you by, stop and live in the moment or you may miss that winning goal in the next game!
- Get hydrated…replace soda and juice with good ‘ol H2O…remember * a minimum of 8- 8 ounce glasses a day.
- Learn something new…ballroom dancing anyone? Your family could steal the floor at the next wedding!
- Help others…find a charity or organization you can all become involved with.
- Get organized…see page ( ) for some great tips
- Plan a vacation…once a year take a trip without laptops, cell phones and video games, and enjoy one another. The memories will be priceless!
Family Game Night
Finding an opening in your busy schedules to spend quality time together can be tough. Mark out a one hour period on your calendar, the same time every week, turn off the phones and the TV and get your game on!
Great Tips for Game Night
- Make your favorite snack
- If there are younger children, create teams
- Appoint a game captain each week who is responsible for picking the game for the following week
- Create & post a chart to keep track of who wins each week
Games for your next Game Night…
Road Trip by Daddy-O…take a family trip without leaving the house with this wacky worded, retro style board game will keep you thinking, imagining and laughing all the way to the East Coast. Priced at $24.00, visit www.daddyogames.com.
SCRUBLE Cube…the word game and puzzle game, all scrubled in one! Enjoy endless hours of min bending entertainment for up to 4 players. Priced at $24.95, visit www.scrublecube.com.
Oh, Really! How much do you really know about your family? This thought provoking game is filled with laughter and entertainment. Priced at $25, visit www.finditgames.com.
Inspector Rabbit…this sly hare challenges your memory skills and your luck with this ravishing die and memory game. Priced at $21, visit www.habausa.com.
Getting on Track 2012
The start of a new year is a great time to adopt new habits and throw out the old. Lack of organization can be a huge source of stress to any mom or family in today’s busy modern world. A few minutes each day spent on pre-planning can help eliminate hours of feeling frustrated and helpless throughout your weekly routine. Here are some ideas on how to help you keep everyone’s schedules, commitments and needs and wants in order to help 2012 be as stress-free and as productive as possible!
Create a master calendar for your family.
A great amount of being organized is about knowing what is actually going on. Having a color coded calendar for the entire family is a great way to keep track of where everyone is supposed to be. This calendar should include:
- family plans
- work schedules
- appointments (Doctor, hair, exterminator, etc…)
- after-school activities
- field trips
- vacation days
- school assignments
- and of course “Daddy & Mommy” time!
First assign each family member a color of their very own. Make sure to display the calendar in a central location where there is easy visibility and access to. Hang the coordinating colored markers, with string on a hook right beside (this helps eliminate them from walking off.) Now everyone can add new task and events as they come up.
At any given moment, you should be able to look at the calendar and immediately know where everyone is and what they’re up to. Most important, you’ll be able to see what arrangements need to be made – booking a babysitter, arranging for a carpool or baking cupcakes for the PTA bake sale. Knowing these things ahead of time will allow you to take care of them when your schedule allows – rather than feeling the pressure at the last minute.
To read the entire article, please subscribe to Totts Magazine. Click here.
Getting organized can be even easier with these great products from momAgenda.
- Family Planner, $16.95
- Meal Planner, $16.95
- Chores Pad, $16.95
- Grocery List, $7.95
- Babysitter Info, $7.95
For these and more great momAgenda products, visit www.momagenda.com.
The Classics
The Classics…Here are a few of our favorite Holiday must haves to share with your Totts!
Books to Bed
Twas the Night before Christmas book and pajama set. Readingto your child helps them feel safe and secure and is proven to helpchildren fall asleep with greater ease. Send them off to sweetdreams with this great set that comes bagged and tied with aribbon, the perfect gift. Infant, toddler, and child sizes available. Priced between $39-$46, visit www.bookstobed.com
Elf Magic
“So, go visit for Christmas and teach what I’ve taught; That the best gifts are those that can never be bought! That Christmas is brighter and dreams will come true If you share love and kindness in all that you do.”Through the years, families create lasting memories of the Elfcapade adventures, and children young and old look forward to the annual visits from the adventurous Elves, but it is the bond of friendship that is created with the Elves that the family will remember and treasure forever. Despite the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, the Elves bring families together and remind them that Christmas is about much more than just gifts. For more information on Elf Magic Elves, Books, DVDs and accessories, visit www.Elf-Magic.com or call 1-877-Elf-Magic (1-877-353-6244).
The Original Christmas Classics Box Set
The cute and family-friendly box set contains four of the most beloved holiday TV specials of all time, including the Rankin/Bassclassics “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Coming’ to Town” and “Frosty Returns.” Watching these iconic TV specials are part of the American holiday tradition, just like baking cookies or trimming the Christmas tree! The holiday season just wouldn’t be the same without them…The Original Christmas Classics box set will be available wherever Blu-rays are sold for $44.99.
Lumps, the Elf Coal Game™
Children around the world have been so good the past few years; lumps of coal have built up at the North Pole. Puzzled by what to do, Santa’s elves created an exciting new game! For the first time ever, getting lumps of coal in your stocking is great! Priced at $7.99, visit www.continuumgames.com.
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Calming The After School Storm
Written by Holly Duenas
Finally! The baby is asleep. You tackle that pile of laundry that has been staring at you all day long and rush to finish the dishes in the sink. You sit and relax for a minute, maybe even read five pages of a book – if you’re lucky. Or maybe you’ll finally get to take that shower you’ve been dreaming of. Whatever you decide, decide quickly. You only have so much time until…the kids get home from school.
We all love our kids; I mean, that’s why we gave birth to them, after all. But why is it that from the time they get home from school until the time the husband gets home from work, utter chaos ensues? I think for most moms with kids in school this is the most stressful time of the day – dealing with tired, overworked kids who have been going all day long, helping them with homework, maybe calming a fussy baby who has just woken up from his nap, and trying to get dinner cooked and on the table. If you don’t have a plan in place, it can overwhelm even a Supermom.
Throughout my experiences in motherhood, I have found that planning is key to just about everything. A well thought out afters-chool plan can make a world of a difference in how you feel and, ultimately, how your kids feel, too. The worst two hours of your day can become the very best hours of your day with some preparation.
First, have a healthy snack ready and on your table for your children when they arrive home from school. Not only will this give them something to immediately go to, it will give them brain power to successfully complete their homework afterwards. I would also recommend sitting with your children while they eat and using this time to ask them about their day. I have found that mealtimes (and yes, even snack times!) are a great opportunity to communicate and connect with my children. I miss them after a long day at school and I treasure the moments when we can talk over a plate of banana muffins.
To read the entire article, please subscribe to Totts Magazine. Click here.
The Post Board
What is your favorite holiday memory as a child?
My favorite holiday memories are still a part of our family tradition, but year by year they have truly left the most lasting impressions.
Every holiday and mass gathering the games come out and the fun and laughter begin. We have played everything from a silly card game called “Nertz” to the bewildering and more challenging games such as Balderdash and Cranium. I can not tell you how many pseudonyms have evolved or how many of the ladies have had to run from the table because their little bladders could not combat the deep belly laughing. There have even been a few friendly and entertaining rivalries that have emerged, and of course nobody spares a second to revive them at the next function.
Even more fun has been the evolution from not being able to join the adult games to now watching our own children join in the fun as well.
This time has helped turn tears to laughter in times of loss, helped broken hearts mend, and simply stopped time and allowed us to submerge ourselves in the company of loved ones without any interruption from the toils and reality of our daily lives and struggles.
They are memories that have stayed with me and kept me eagerly awaiting the next, for quality time with your loved ones is truly a gift that should never be taken for granted!
~ Playful in Fresno
If you could have just one wish for your child, what would it be?
If I could grant my child one wish, it would be to magically make her parents perfect.
I can see how every action my child encounters does leave a lasting impression. I cringe every time I lash out in frustration, or make an inappropriate comment, or even don’t want to interact with my husband…she is seeing and hearing it all.
I wish I could magically morph us into the parents who know and instinctually say and do the right things so that when the time comes she has the confidence to make the right decisions for herself because she was given good role models and examples of how people should act and what relationships should consist of and be.
I don’t want her to grow up with anger or resentment and I want her to search for a partner who will love her and complete her when that time comes.
Now that I am a parent I see how that responsibility lies heavily on me and on how and what my actions are. So please, if there is a fairy godmother out there, that is my wish…
~ Wishful in Madera
Questions for our next issue:
What is your New Year’s resolution?
What is your best advice for dealing with homework?
We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this and other issues.
