According to Dr. Cindy Bunin Nurik, a study released by researchers from the Irish State Examination Commission on April 25 revealed that text messaging was directly related to a decline in writing ability.
1) Encourage creative writing ten minutes a day.
2) Create Make-A-Stories with your children, you write a sentence then they add a sentence in writing or even verbally at the dinner table.
3) Incorporate art to your writing. Give your children writing and art journals like Art Escapes by Dory Kanter, to encourage writing and drawing for fun.
4) Encourage writing letters instead of always texting.
5) Texting is habit forming because it is "immediately reinforcing." Talk with your kids about negative habits and encourage them to feed their brains with knowledge and experience by not becoming a texting junkie.
6) Get art and writing books for your youngsters as well like Kids Art Works!: Creating With Color, Design, Texture & More by Sandi Henry & Art for Kids: Drawing: The Only Drawing Book You'll Ever Need to Be the Artist You've Always Wanted to Be by Kathryn Temple
Write, draw, paint, tell stories, elaborate and communicate with your kids. They'll love you for it.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
GEORGIA COOKING IN AN OKLAHOMA KITCHEN
A few of you moms have said, "Lynne we can't do organic and low sugar all the time, we need to break loose sometimes." Agreed!
If you're gonna get loose, do it with Trisha Yearwood's decadent GEORGIA COOKING IN AN OKLAHOMA KITCHEN. She even has his and hers variations! That will do a marriage good.
Here's a sample for the upcoming holiday season.
Green Punch - Serve this punch with Cheese Straws. It’s a Yearwood family tradition - Perfect to serve at Christmas parties because it’s a beautiful bright green and makes a pretty punch bowl.
Ingredients: 2 13-ounce packets unsweetened lemon-lime soft drink mix, such as Kool-Aid, 2 cups sugar, 1 46-ounce can pineapple juice, 12 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate thawed, 32 ounces (1 quart) ginger ale. Put 2 quarts of water in a 1-gallon container. Add the drink mix and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pineapple juice and lemonade concentrate and stir well. Just before serving, add the ginger ale. www.trishayearwood.com.
If you're gonna get loose, do it with Trisha Yearwood's decadent GEORGIA COOKING IN AN OKLAHOMA KITCHEN. She even has his and hers variations! That will do a marriage good.
Here's a sample for the upcoming holiday season.
Green Punch - Serve this punch with Cheese Straws. It’s a Yearwood family tradition - Perfect to serve at Christmas parties because it’s a beautiful bright green and makes a pretty punch bowl.
Ingredients: 2 13-ounce packets unsweetened lemon-lime soft drink mix, such as Kool-Aid, 2 cups sugar, 1 46-ounce can pineapple juice, 12 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate thawed, 32 ounces (1 quart) ginger ale. Put 2 quarts of water in a 1-gallon container. Add the drink mix and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pineapple juice and lemonade concentrate and stir well. Just before serving, add the ginger ale. www.trishayearwood.com.
Introducing solid foods to baby
Nature made breast milk a complete nutritional package for baby until about around age one, when supplemental foods benefit growth and development. Depending on babies height and weight she may need more calories as early as four months, for growth, that’s when supplementing with rice cereal may begin.
The amount of milk baby is drinking has increased by this age to about 32 ounces per day. Her tummy may be full but she may be hungry because her body is growing and she needs more calories. At this point you may introduce a bit of rice cereal at dinner time. Every baby has different needs, talk with your pediatrician about introducing solids to your child.
Often by five-six months of age baby is ready to explore foods and textures. Offering yogurt on a tiny spoon for baby to eat and explore in a soft beginning. You can also turn organic peas, potatoes, squash and green beans your family eats for dinner into finely processed food for baby to suck off a spoon. Visit www.chow-baby.com to learn more about organic foods and purees.
Doctors often recommend serving one strained vegetable at a time for several days so that any reactions can be noted and addressed.
For more information on preparing natural food for baby you can read about organic baby food at www.earthsbest.com or check out Simply Natural Baby Food: Easy Recipes for Delicious Meals Your Infant and Toddler Will Love by Cathe Olson at your local library or book store.
Signs it is time to talk with your pediatrician about introducing solid foods.
* Head control. Your baby can hold his head steady in an upright position.
* Baby stops using his tongue to push food out of his mouth.
* Baby sits while supported.
* Baby can move food back and forth in his mouth, then swallow.
* Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.
* He seems hungry, even after gulping his milk.
* Baby shows curiosity about what you're eating.
The amount of milk baby is drinking has increased by this age to about 32 ounces per day. Her tummy may be full but she may be hungry because her body is growing and she needs more calories. At this point you may introduce a bit of rice cereal at dinner time. Every baby has different needs, talk with your pediatrician about introducing solids to your child.
Often by five-six months of age baby is ready to explore foods and textures. Offering yogurt on a tiny spoon for baby to eat and explore in a soft beginning. You can also turn organic peas, potatoes, squash and green beans your family eats for dinner into finely processed food for baby to suck off a spoon. Visit www.chow-baby.com to learn more about organic foods and purees.
Doctors often recommend serving one strained vegetable at a time for several days so that any reactions can be noted and addressed.
For more information on preparing natural food for baby you can read about organic baby food at www.earthsbest.com or check out Simply Natural Baby Food: Easy Recipes for Delicious Meals Your Infant and Toddler Will Love by Cathe Olson at your local library or book store.
Signs it is time to talk with your pediatrician about introducing solid foods.
* Head control. Your baby can hold his head steady in an upright position.
* Baby stops using his tongue to push food out of his mouth.
* Baby sits while supported.
* Baby can move food back and forth in his mouth, then swallow.
* Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.
* He seems hungry, even after gulping his milk.
* Baby shows curiosity about what you're eating.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
How To Create The Space Between
Create a space between you where you listen, reflect, hear, and respond with warmth.
This space is where you build the relationship so do not rush to solve, shame or ridicule, be reflective, talk slowly and take this opportunity to listen carefully to your child.
The space between is where you take the time to get to now your child better.
The space between is where you can express empathy “You are having so much fun on the scooter, you prefer not to give someone else a turn. “It’s hard to go to school when you are worried the kids will tease you.” “Sometimes you wish your dad would spend special time just with you.”
The space between is where your relationship grows as you show love, affection, patience, caring and empathy.
The Dinner Table and Your Hoola Hoop
One Family’s Experience
I was with a family recently who felt that their every day life was unmanageable.
After establishing their family mission, values and rules, we went to work on establishing their routines.
Dinnertime felt most disconcerting so we started there.
The parents explained that though their children were now in elementary school they had never been able to get the kids to sit down for dinner. Dinner-time felt chaotic. The kids complained about what the mother cooked, they got up from the table several times and then ran off to their rooms after dinner.
This family needed to get the parents back in charge of dinner. The parents are to indicate when dinner begins and ends. The parents identify who has to help with after-dinner clean-up and who can go outside to play or to their rooms to finish their homework.
1. In order to clarify the routine, first we wrote down what the dinner routine looked like and we hung it in the kitchen.
1. Set the table.
2. Place the food on the table.
3. Sit down to dinner
4. Ring the dinner bell to mark the start of the meal.
5. Say an observance of gratitude.
6. Eat.
7. Talk about our day.
8. Ring the bell to signal the end of the meal.
2. We marked each child’s eating space and told them once they sat down they would not leave that space without parental consent.
We all sat down to eat, we placed hoola-hoops under the chairs of the children to mark their “eating space.” They were told that once the family sat down to eat, the children were not to leave their eating spaces until they had asked permission and it had been granted by their parents.
3. We required the children to ask for consent to leave the table.
Dinner was done, they asked for permission, “Mom or dad, may I leave the table?” The mom and dad said, “Yes you may,” the children took their plates to the sink, and to the parents’ surprise they went into the living room for family activities.
The parents just looked to me like, “What, our kids have never sat through a family meal!”
For the next hour, we played activities, we built some towers, we did a family drawing, and then it was time for a bath, reading, and sleep.
Now, this was a family who understood what a dinner-routine looks like. There were clear expectations about what dinner would be like. There was an order to the dinner routine, there was a clear beginning and an end. Then, there were family activities after dinner.
Your children hunger for their routine, they need to know their routine, they need to know what’s next because it helps them with mastery. They also hunger for you, even a recalcitrant teen will do activities with a parent if the activities appeal to the teen.
I was with a family recently who felt that their every day life was unmanageable.
After establishing their family mission, values and rules, we went to work on establishing their routines.
Dinnertime felt most disconcerting so we started there.
The parents explained that though their children were now in elementary school they had never been able to get the kids to sit down for dinner. Dinner-time felt chaotic. The kids complained about what the mother cooked, they got up from the table several times and then ran off to their rooms after dinner.
This family needed to get the parents back in charge of dinner. The parents are to indicate when dinner begins and ends. The parents identify who has to help with after-dinner clean-up and who can go outside to play or to their rooms to finish their homework.
1. In order to clarify the routine, first we wrote down what the dinner routine looked like and we hung it in the kitchen.
1. Set the table.
2. Place the food on the table.
3. Sit down to dinner
4. Ring the dinner bell to mark the start of the meal.
5. Say an observance of gratitude.
6. Eat.
7. Talk about our day.
8. Ring the bell to signal the end of the meal.
2. We marked each child’s eating space and told them once they sat down they would not leave that space without parental consent.
We all sat down to eat, we placed hoola-hoops under the chairs of the children to mark their “eating space.” They were told that once the family sat down to eat, the children were not to leave their eating spaces until they had asked permission and it had been granted by their parents.
3. We required the children to ask for consent to leave the table.
Dinner was done, they asked for permission, “Mom or dad, may I leave the table?” The mom and dad said, “Yes you may,” the children took their plates to the sink, and to the parents’ surprise they went into the living room for family activities.
The parents just looked to me like, “What, our kids have never sat through a family meal!”
For the next hour, we played activities, we built some towers, we did a family drawing, and then it was time for a bath, reading, and sleep.
Now, this was a family who understood what a dinner-routine looks like. There were clear expectations about what dinner would be like. There was an order to the dinner routine, there was a clear beginning and an end. Then, there were family activities after dinner.
Your children hunger for their routine, they need to know their routine, they need to know what’s next because it helps them with mastery. They also hunger for you, even a recalcitrant teen will do activities with a parent if the activities appeal to the teen.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Why is protein consumption so important?
Proteins are the building blocks for the cells in our bodies. There are many reasons why proteins are important to consume one reason is that protein contains essential amino acids.
Proteins are large molecules made up of smaller chemicals called amino acids. Humans need 20 different amino acids in order to produce all the proteins in our bodies. We can synthesize 10 of the amino acids, but the other 10 either cannot be made or not made in a sufficient quantity to be of any use. These 10 “essential” amino acids which must be obtained from food are: threonine, lysine, methionine, arginine, valine, phenylalanine, leucine, tryptophan, isoleucine and histidine. The 10 we can make are glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, glutamine, tyrosine and proline. (Source: thedietchannel.com)
Protein is such an important part of our bodies that it pays to take it seriously. We need the right amount and the correct kinds of protein to function at our best. A balanced diet will meet all our protein needs.
In order to determine your daily protein requirement as an adult multiply your weight by .55 to learn the number of grams of protein you need to eat daily.
Use these calculations to learn how much protein your children need to eat daily. Don't forget the healthy fats (nuts, avocado, milk, cheese, meats) and complex carbohydrates (beans, legumes, cereals, pasta, sprouted breads) in your diet, these are very important as well.
Ages 1 to 3 - 0.81 grams (child's weight in pounds x 0.81 = daily grams of protein)
Ages 4 to 6 - 0.68 grams
Ages 7 to 10 - 0.55 grams
Proteins are large molecules made up of smaller chemicals called amino acids. Humans need 20 different amino acids in order to produce all the proteins in our bodies. We can synthesize 10 of the amino acids, but the other 10 either cannot be made or not made in a sufficient quantity to be of any use. These 10 “essential” amino acids which must be obtained from food are: threonine, lysine, methionine, arginine, valine, phenylalanine, leucine, tryptophan, isoleucine and histidine. The 10 we can make are glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, glutamine, tyrosine and proline. (Source: thedietchannel.com)
Protein is such an important part of our bodies that it pays to take it seriously. We need the right amount and the correct kinds of protein to function at our best. A balanced diet will meet all our protein needs.
In order to determine your daily protein requirement as an adult multiply your weight by .55 to learn the number of grams of protein you need to eat daily.
Use these calculations to learn how much protein your children need to eat daily. Don't forget the healthy fats (nuts, avocado, milk, cheese, meats) and complex carbohydrates (beans, legumes, cereals, pasta, sprouted breads) in your diet, these are very important as well.
Ages 1 to 3 - 0.81 grams (child's weight in pounds x 0.81 = daily grams of protein)
Ages 4 to 6 - 0.68 grams
Ages 7 to 10 - 0.55 grams
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Back To School: Who's doing what?
School starts tomorrow! We've organized our school supplies, layed out tomorrow's outfit and made a yummy lunch. I was interested in what everyone else is up to...
ABC 15 News in Phoenix reports:
"The best thing parents can do is get their own homework done well before summer vacation winds down," said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List. "Many providers are already getting booked up; get in now to get the best service and to have time for any last-minute emergencies."
Angie’s List recently polled its members nationwide about their back to school plans. Here's their list:
Going to the pediatrician: About two-thirds of school age children will head to the doctor before the school year begins. North Scottsdale Pediatrics is at 480-860-8488.
Before and after school care: Consider The Boys and Girls Club.
Hiring a tutor: More than one-in-four-kids have used a tutor in the past and another one-in-three might require one this year. Call the best! Dana Herzberg @ On Track Tutoring Tutoring 480-563-5588.
Getting pictures taken: School pictures matter to families. Most schools schedule their photo day early in the school year. How about getting a family photo!
Taking music lessons: 40 percent of Angie’s List members said their child or children will take up music this year.
Getting your computer up to speed: The majority of poll respondents will not be buying a new computer this school year.
School uniforms: Nearly one-quarter of Angie’s List respondents say their child is required to wear a uniform to school.
Taking driving lessons: Will you have a student driver in the household this year? Car crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. Make a donation to www.lisajohnsonfoundation.org and learn what you can do to keep your teen safe!
Time for a haircut: Your child wants to make a good first impression at school, so make sure they are a cut above with a great hair cut.
I cut my own kids hair this year and we used the money we saved to go to the Waterpark!
Happy First Day of School To You!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Peggy Porter Brings Success Home
If you are looking for coaching and guidance to get your Mom-Made Career soaring, consider joining Peggy Porter's SUCCESS CLUB For Mom Entrepreneurs. I love her wisdom. Visit www.peggyporter.com for more information.
Here is some of her current sage advice.
Awareness-being focused on the power of the present and how perfect it really is. Perfecting the present means, right now you are at a turning point between the past and the future. This turning point is perfect. It is perfect because it is a moment of choice for you. It is an opportunity to change the course of your life, whatever that may be. The present is all we have at this moment, so that in itself is perfect.
If you are fixated on the past or worrying about the future, you will be completely missing the perfection of the present. The inability to be mindful of what you are doing gives opportunity for anxiety, worry and fear to sneak into your life. If the majority of your day is worry or fear based, chances are your thoughts are somewhere else and not in the present.
Ask yourself now, "What part of my life am I living in-past, present or future?" It is the present, remember, that holds all the power.
So how do you start living and enjoying more of the present?
First, stop multi-tasking!! I know for busy women this is easier said than done. We have such huge demands that multi-tasking seems essential in order to get our to-do list complete. The problem, however, is that when we multi-task our energy is split and we are often less focused and more scattered. We do things without remembering and feel the stress of the mental to-do list we are constantly checking off in our heads.
When you feel the urge or catch yourself gearing up for the next round of multi-tasking, stop yourself. Remember that even though you may feel more efficient, the process of multi-tasking exhausts you mentally and physically while robbing you of the joy of the present moment. Keep in mind my formula:
SE(Split Energy)=Reduction and FE(Focused Energy)=Production
Continue to ask yourself, where is my attention focused?
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