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My Blog Moved

2009-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Thank you for visiting. My blog moved April 1, 2009 to www.lynnekenney.com.

Please do come and visit.

Lynne
www.lynnekenney.com

What is PANDAS?

2009-03-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

PANDAS, is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.

The term is used to describe a subset of children who have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorders such as Tourette's Syndrome, and in whom symptoms worsen following strep. infections such as "Strep throat" and Scarlet Fever.

The children usually have dramatic, "overnight" onset of symptoms, including motor or vocal tics, obsessions, and/or compulsions. In addition to these symptoms, children may also become moody, irritable or show concerns about separating from parents or loved ones. This abrupt onset is generally preceeded by a Strep. throat infection.

What is the mechanism behind this phenomenon? At present, it is unknown but researchers at the NIMH are pursuing a theory that the mechanism is similar to that of Rheumatic Fever, an autoimmune disorder triggered by strep. throat infections. In every bacterial infection, the body produces antibodies against the invading bacteria, and the antibodies help eliminate the bacteria from the body. However in Rheumatic Fever, the antibodies mistakenly recognize and "attack" the heart valves, joints, and/or certain parts of the brain. This phenomenon is called "molecular mimicry", which means that proteins on the cell wall of the strep. bacteria are similar in some way to the proteins of the heart valve, joints, or brain. Because the antibodies set off an immune reaction which damages those tissues, the child with Rheumatic Fever can get heart disease (especially mitral valve regurgitation), arthritis, and/or abnormal movements known as Sydenham’s Chorea or St. Vitus Dance.

In PANDAS, it is believed that something very similar to Sydenham’s Chorea occurs. One part of the brain that is affected in PANDAS is the Basal Ganglia, which is believed to be responsible for movement and behavior. Thus, the antibodies interact with the brain to cause tics and/or OCD, instead of Sydenham Chorea.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is there a test for PANDAS?

A. No. The diagnosis of PANDAS is a clinical diagnosis, which means that there are no lab tests that can diagnose PANDAS. Instead clinicians use 5 diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of PANDAS (see below). At the present time the clinical features of the illness are the only means of determining whether or not a child might have PANDAS.

Q. What are the diagnostic criteria for PANDAS?

A. They are:

1. Presence of Obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder
2. Pediatric onset of symptoms (age 3 years to puberty)
3. Episodic course of symptom severity
4. Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep. or history of Scarlet Fever.)
5. Association with neurological abnormalities (motoric hyperactivity, or adventitious movements, such as choreiform movements)

Q. What is an episodic course of symptoms?

A. Children with PANDAS seem to have dramatic ups and downs in their OCD and/or tic severity. Tics or OCD which are almost always present at a relatively consistent level do not represent an episodic course. Many kids with OCD or tics have good days and bad days, or even good weeks and bad weeks. However, patients with PANDAS have a very sudden onset or worsening of their symptoms, followed by a slow, gradual improvement. If they get another strep. infection, their symptoms suddenly worsen again. The increased symptom severity usually persists for at least several weeks, but may last for several months or longer. The tics or OCD then seem to gradually fade away, and the children often enjoy a few weeks or several months without problems. When they have another strep. throat infection the tics or OCD return just as suddenly and dramatically as they did previously.

Q. Are there any other symptoms associated with PANDAS episodes?

A. Yes. Children with PANDAS often experience one or more of the following symptoms in conjunction with their OCD and/or tics:

1. ADHD symptoms (hyperactivity, inattention, fidgety)
2. Separation anxiety (Child is "clingy" and has difficulty separating from his/her caregivers. For example, the child may not want to be in a different room in the house from his/her parents.)
3. Mood changes (irritability, sadness, emotional lability)
4. Sleep disturbance
5. Night- time bed wetting and/or day- time urinary frequency
6. Fine/gross motor changes (e.g. changes in handwriting)
7. Joint pains

Q. My child has had strep. throat before, and he has tics and/or OCD. Does that mean he has PANDAS?

A. No. Many children have OCD and/or tics, and almost all school aged children get strep. throat at some point in their lives. In fact, the average grade-school student will have 2 – 3 strep. throat infections each year. PANDAS is considered when there is a very close relationship between the abrupt onset or worsening or OCD and/or tics, and a preceding strep. infection. If strep. is found in conjunction with two or three episodes of OCD/tics, then it may be that the child has PANDAS.

Q. Could an adult have PANDAS?

A. No. By definition, PANDAS is a pediatric disorder. It is possible that adolescents and adults may have immune mediated OCD, but this is not known. The research studies at the NIMH are restricted to children.

Q. My child has PANDAS. Should he have his tonsils removed?

A. The NIH does not recommend tonsillectomies for children with PANDAS, as there is no evidence that they are helpful. If a tonsillectomy is recommended because of frequent episodes of tonsillitis, it would be useful to discuss the pros and cons of the procedure with your child’s doctor, because of the role that the tonsils play in fighting strep. infections.

Q. What exactly is an anti-streptococcal antibody titer?

A. The anti-streptococcal antibody titer determines whether there is immunologic evidence of a previous strep. infection. Two different strep. tests are commercially available: the antistrepolysin O (ASO) titer, which rises 3-6 weeks after a strep. infection, and the antistreptococcal DNAase B (AntiDNAse-B) titer, which rises 6-8 weeks after a strep. infection.

Q. What does an elevated anti-streptococcal antibody titer mean? Is this bad for my child?

A. An elevated anti-strep. titer (such as ASO or AntiDNAse-B) means the child has had a strep. infection sometime within the past few months, and his body created antibodies to fight the strep. bacteria. Some children create lots of antibodies and have very high titers (up to 2,000), while others have more modest elevations. The height of the titer elevation doesn’t matter. Further, elevated titers are not a bad thing. They are measuring a normal, healthy response – the production of antibodies to fight off an infection. The antibodies stay in the body for some time after the infection is gone, but the amount of time that the antibodies persist varies greatly between different individuals. Some children have "positive" antibody titers for many months after a single infection.

Q. When is a strep. titer considered to be abnormal, or "elevated"?

A. The lab at NIH considers strep. titers between 0-400 to be normal. Other labs set the upper limit at 150 or 200. Since each lab measures titers in different ways, it is important to know the range used by the laboratory where the test was done – just ask where they draw the line between negative or positive titers.

It is important to note that some grade-school aged children have chronically "elevated" titers. These may actually be in the normal range for that child, as there is a lot of individual variability in titer values. Because of this variability, doctors will often draw a titer when the child is sick, or shortly thereafter, and then draw another titer several weeks later to see if the titer is "rising" – if so, this is strong evidence that the illness was due to strep. (Of course, a less expensive way to make this determination is to take a throat culture at the time that the child is ill.)

Q. Should an elevated strep. titer be treated with antibiotics?

A. No. Elevated titers indicate that a patient has had a past strep. exposure but the titers can not tell you precisely when the strep. infection occurred. Children may have "positive" titers for many months after one infection. Since these elevated titers are merely a marker of a prior infection and not proof of an ongoing infection it is not appropriate to give antibiotics for elevated titers. Antibiotics are recommended only when a child has a positive rapid strep. test or positive strep. throat culture.

Q. What are the treatment options for children with PANDAS?

A. The treatments for children with PANDAS are the same as if they had other types of OCD or tic disorders. Children with OCD, regardless of whether or not their illness is strep. triggered, benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy and/or anti-obsessional medications. A recent study showed that the combination of an SSRI medication (such as fluoxetine) and cognitive behavioral therapy was the best treatment for OCD, and that medication alone or cognitive behavioral therapy alone were better than no treatment, or use of a placebo (sugar pill). It often takes time for these treatments to work, so the sooner therapy is started, the better it is for the child.

Children with strep. triggered tics should be helped by the same tic medications that doctors use to treat other tic disorders. Your child’s primary physician can help you decide which type of specialist your child may need to see to receive these treatments.

Q. Can penicillin be used to treat PANDAS or prevent future PANDAS symptom exacerbations?

A. Penicillin and other antibiotics kill streptococcus and other types of bacteria. The antibiotics treat the sore throat or pharyngitis caused by the strep. by getting rid of the bacteria. However, in PANDAS, it appears that antibodies produced by the body in response to the strep. infection are the cause of the problem, not the bacteria themselves. Therefore one could not expect antibiotics such as penicillin to treat the symptoms of PANDAS. Researchers at the NIMH have been investigating the use of antibiotics as a form of prophylaxis or prevention of future problems. At this time, however, there isn’t enough evidence to recommend the long-term use of antibiotics.

Q. What about treating PANDAS with plasma exchange or immunoglobulin (IVIG)?

A. The results of a controlled trial of plasma exchange (also known as plasmapheresis) and immunoglobulin (IVIG) for the treatment of children in the PANDAS subgroup was published in "The Lancet", Vol. 354, October 2, 1999. All of the children participating in the study had clear evidence of a strep infection as the trigger of their OCD and tics, and all were severely ill at the time of treatment. The study showed that plasma exchange and IVIG were both effective for the treatment of severe, strep. triggered OCD and tics, and that there were persistent benefits of the interventions. However, there were a number of side-effects associated with the treatments, including nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness. In addition, there is a risk of infection with any invasive procedure, such as these. Thus, the treatments should be reserved for severely ill patients, and administered by a qualified team of health care professionals. The NIH is not currently conducting any trials with immunomodulatory therapies, and so is not able to offer either or the treatments.

Of note, a separate study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of plasma exchange in the treatment of chronic OCD (Nicolson et al: An Open Trial of Plasma Exchange in Childhood Onset Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Without Poststreptococcal Exacerbations. "J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2000," 39[10]: 1313-1315. None of those children benefited, suggesting that plasma exchange or IVIG is not helpful for children who do not have strep. triggered OCD or tics. Source NIH.

What is Tourette syndrome

2009-03-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman.

The early symptoms of TS are almost always noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of 7 and 10 years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups; males are affected about three to four times more often than females. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms such as chronic motor or vocal tics or transient tics of childhood. Although TS can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood.

What are the symptoms?

Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Some of the more common simple tics include eye blinking and other vision irregularities, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Simple vocalizations might include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds. Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several muscle groups. Complex motor tics might include facial grimacing combined with a head twist and a shoulder shrug. Other complex motor tics may actually appear purposeful, including sniffing or touching objects, hopping, jumping, bending, or twisting. Simple vocal tics may include throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking. More complex vocal tics include words or phrases. Perhaps the most dramatic and disabling tics include motor movements that result in self-harm such as punching oneself in the face or vocal tics including coprolalia (uttering swear words) or echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others). Some tics are preceded by an urge or sensation in the affected muscle group, commonly called a premonitory urge. Some with TS will describe a need to complete a tic in a certain way or a certain number of times in order to relieve the urge or decrease the sensation.

Tics are often worse with excitement or anxiety and better during calm, focused activities. Certain physical experiences can trigger or worsen tics, for example tight collars may trigger neck tics, or hearing another person sniff or throat-clear may trigger similar sounds. Tics do not go away during sleep but are often significantly diminished.

What is the course of TS?

Tics come and go over time, varying in type, frequency, location, and severity. The first symptoms usually occur in the head and neck area and may progress to include muscles of the trunk and extremities. Motor tics generally precede the development of vocal tics and simple tics often precede complex tics. Most patients experience peak tic severity before the mid-teen years with improvement for the majority of patients in the late teen years and early adulthood. Approximately 10 percent of those affected have a progressive or disabling course that lasts into adulthood.

Can people with TS control their tics?

Although the symptoms of TS are involuntary, some people can sometimes suppress, camouflage, or otherwise manage their tics in an effort to minimize their impact on functioning. However, people with TS often report a substantial buildup in tension when suppressing their tics to the point where they feel that the tic must be expressed. Tics in response to an environmental trigger can appear to be voluntary or purposeful but are not.

What causes TS?
Although the cause of TS is unknown, current research points to abnormalities in certain brain regions (including the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex), the circuits that interconnect these regions, and the neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) responsible for communication among nerve cells. Given the often complex presentation of TS, the cause of the disorder is likely to be equally complex.

What disorders are associated with TS?

Many with TS experience additional neurobehavioral problems including inattention; hyperactivity and impulsivity (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—ADHD) and related problems with reading, writing, and arithmetic; and obsessive-compulsive symptoms such as intrusive thoughts/worries and repetitive behaviors. For example, worries about dirt and germs may be associated with repetitive hand-washing, and concerns about bad things happening may be associated with ritualistic behaviors such as counting, repeating, or ordering and arranging. People with TS have also reported problems with depression or anxiety disorders, as well as other difficulties with living, that may or may not be directly related to TS. Given the range of potential complications, people with TS are best served by receiving medical care that provides a comprehensive treatment plan.

How is TS diagnosed?

TS is a diagnosis that doctors make after verifying that the patient has had both motor and vocal tics for at least 1 year. The existence of other neurological or psychiatric conditions[1] can also help doctors arrive at a diagnosis. Common tics are not often misdiagnosed by knowledgeable clinicians. But atypical symptoms or atypical presentation (for example, onset of symptoms in adulthood) may require specific specialty expertise for diagnosis. There are no blood or laboratory tests needed for diagnosis, but neuroimaging studies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), and electroencephalogram (EEG) scans, or certain blood tests may be used to rule out other conditions that might be confused with TS.

It is not uncommon for patients to obtain a formal diagnosis of TS only after symptoms have been present for some time. The reasons for this are many. For families and physicians unfamiliar with TS, mild and even moderate tic symptoms may be considered inconsequential, part of a developmental phase, or the result of another condition. For example, parents may think that eye blinking is related to vision problems or that sniffing is related to seasonal allergies. Many patients are self-diagnosed after they, their parents, other relatives, or friends read or hear about TS from others.

[1] These include childhood-onset involuntary movement disorders such as dystonia, or psychiatric disorders characterized by repetitive behaviors/movements (for example, stereotypic behaviors in autism and compulsive behaviors in obsessive-compulsive disorder — OCD).

How is TS treated?

Because tic symptoms do not often cause impairment, the majority of people with TS require no medication for tic suppression. However, effective medications are available for those whose symptoms interfere with functioning. Neuroleptics are the most consistently useful medications for tic suppression; a number are available but some are more effective than others (for example, haloperidol and pimozide). Unfortunately, there is no one medication that is helpful to all people with TS, nor does any medication completely eliminate symptoms. In addition, all medications have side effects. Most neuroleptic side effects can be managed by initiating treatment slowly and reducing the dose when side effects occur. The most common side effects of neuroleptics include sedation, weight gain, and cognitive dulling. Neurological side effects such as tremor, dystonic reactions (twisting movements or postures), parkinsonian-like symptoms, and other dyskinetic (involuntary) movements are less common and are readily managed with dose reduction. Discontinuing neuroleptics after long-term use must be done slowly to avoid rebound increases in tics and withdrawal dyskinesias. One form of withdrawal dyskinesia called tardive dykinesia is a movement disorder distinct from TS that may result from the chronic use of neuroleptics. The risk of this side effect can be reduced by using lower doses of neuroleptics for shorter periods of time.

Other medications may also be useful for reducing tic severity, but most have not been as extensively studied or shown to be as consistently useful as neuroleptics. Additional medications with demonstrated efficacy include alpha-adrenergic agonists such as clonidine and guanfacine. These medications are used primarily for hypertension but are also used in the treatment of tics. The most common side effect from these medications that precludes their use is sedation.

Effective medications are also available to treat some of the associated neurobehavioral disorders that can occur in patients with TS. Recent research shows that stimulant medications such as methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine can lessen ADHD symptoms in people with TS without causing tics to become more severe. However, the product labeling for stimulants currently contraindicates the use of these drugs in children with tics/TS and those with a family history of tics. Scientists hope that future studies will include a thorough discussion of the risks and benefits of stimulants in those with TS or a family history of TS and will clarify this issue. For obsessive-compulsive symptoms that significantly disrupt daily functioning, the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (clomipramine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, and sertraline) have been proven effective in some patients.

Psychotherapy may also be helpful. Although psychological problems do not cause TS, such problems may result from TS. Psychotherapy can help the person with TS better cope with the disorder and deal with the secondary social and emotional problems that sometimes occur. More recently, specific behavioral treatments that include awareness training and competing response training, such as voluntarily moving in response to a premonitory urge, have shown effectiveness in small controlled trials. Larger and more definitive NIH-funded studies are underway.

Is TS inherited?

Evidence from twin and family studies suggests that TS is an inherited disorder. Although early family studies suggested an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance (an autosomal dominant disorder is one in which only one copy of the defective gene, inherited from one parent, is necessary to produce the disorder), more recent studies suggest that the pattern of inheritance is much more complex. Although there may be a few genes with substantial effects, it is also possible that many genes with smaller effects and environmental factors may play a role in the development of TS. Genetic studies also suggest that some forms of ADHD and OCD are genetically related to TS, but there is less evidence for a genetic relationship between TS and other neurobehavioral problems that commonly co-occur with TS. It is important for families to understand that genetic predisposition may not necessarily result in full-blown TS; instead, it may express itself as a milder tic disorder or as obsessive-compulsive behaviors. It is also possible that the gene-carrying offspring will not develop any TS symptoms.

The sex of the person also plays an important role in TS gene expression. At-risk males are more likely to have tics and at-risk females are more likely to have obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

People with TS may have genetic risks for other neurobehavioral disorders such as depression or substance abuse. Genetic counseling of individuals with TS should include a full review of all potentially hereditary conditions in the family.

What is the prognosis?

Although there is no cure for TS, the condition in many individuals improves in the late teens and early 20s. As a result, some may actually become symptom-free or no longer need medication for tic suppression. Although the disorder is generally lifelong and chronic, it is not a degenerative condition. Individuals with TS have a normal life expectancy. TS does not impair intelligence. Although tic symptoms tend to decrease with age, it is possible that neurobehavioral disorders such as depression, panic attacks, mood swings, and antisocial behaviors can persist and cause impairment in adult life.

What is the best educational setting for children with TS?

Although students with TS often function well in the regular classroom, ADHD, learning disabilities, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and frequent tics can greatly interfere with academic performance or social adjustment. After a comprehensive assessment, students should be placed in an educational setting that meets their individual needs. Students may require tutoring, smaller or special classes, and in some cases special schools.

All students with TS need a tolerant and compassionate setting that both encourages them to work to their full potential and is flexible enough to accommodate their special needs. This setting may include a private study area, exams outside the regular classroom, or even oral exams when the child's symptoms interfere with his or her ability to write. Untimed testing reduces stress for students with TS.

What research is being done?

Within the Federal government, the leading supporter of research on TS and other neurological disorders is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The NINDS, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is responsible for supporting and conducting research on the brain and central nervous system.

NINDS sponsors research on TS both in its laboratories at the NIH and through grants to major medical institutions across the country. The National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders also support research of relevance to TS. And another component of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, funds professional education programs as well as TS research.

Knowledge about TS comes from studies across a number of medical and scientific disciplines, including genetics, neuroimaging, neuropathology, clinical trials (medication and non-medication), epidemiology, neurophysiology, neuroimmunology, and descriptive/diagnostic clinical science.

Genetic studies. Currently, NIH-funded investigators are conducting a variety of large-scale genetic studies. Rapid advances in the technology of gene finding will allow for genome-wide screening approaches in TS, and finding a gene or genes for TS would be a major step toward understanding genetic risk factors. In addition, understanding the genetics of TS genes will strengthen clinical diagnosis, improve genetic counseling, lead to the clarification of pathophysiology, and provide clues for more effective therapies.

Neuroimaging studies. Within the past 5 years, advances in imaging technology and an increase in trained investigators have led to an increasing use of novel and powerful techniques to identify brain regions, circuitry, and neurochemical factors important in TS and related conditions.

Neuropathology. Within the past 5 years, there has been an increase in the number and quality of donated postmortem brains from TS patients available for research purposes. This increase, coupled with advances in neuropathological techniques, has led to initial findings with implications for neuroimaging studies and animal models of TS.

Clinical trials. A number of clinical trials in TS have recently been completed or are currently underway. These include studies of stimulant treatment of ADHD in TS and behavioral treatments for reducing tic severity in children and adults. Smaller trials of novel approaches to treatment such as dopamine agonist and GABAergic medications also show promise.

Epidemiology and clinical science. Careful epidemiological studies now estimate the prevalence of TS to be substantially higher than previously thought with a wider range of clinical severity. Furthermore, clinical studies are providing new findings regarding TS and co-existing conditions. These include subtyping studies of TS and OCD, an examination of the link between ADHD and learning problems in children with TS, a new appreciation of sensory tics, and the role of co-existing disorders in rage attacks. One of the most important and controversial areas of TS science involves the relationship between TS and autoimmune brain injury associated with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infections or other infectious processes. There are a number of epidemiological and clinical investigations currently underway in this intriguing area.

"Tourette Syndrome Fact Sheet", NINDS. Publication date April 2005.

NIH Publication No. 05-2163

Prepared by:
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892

NINDS health-related material is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or any other Federal agency. Advice on the treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient's medical history.

All NINDS-prepared information is in the public domain and may be freely copied. Credit to the NINDS or the NIH is appreciated.

Last updated January 25, 2006

Teaching Friendship Skills

2009-03-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Making and keeping friends is a central part of entering school. Teaching your child prosocial friendship skills is a valuable part of your relationship with your children.

Where do you begin?

A. A few great books have been written on friendship skills. Ones from the American Girls library include: Friends: Making them and keeping them; The Feelings Book, and Stand Up For Yourself and Your Friends. For middle school children and teens Queen Bees and Wanna Bees is a must-read for parents. For parents who wish to coach their teens to health and wellness, The Parent as Coach by Diana Sterling is amazing for parents of teens.

B. Healthy friendship skills begin with confidence and self-respect. Children who have self-esteem are able to be kind, share, and include others in their friendship circles.

C. Knowing your own social style and what is unique about your child is another fine starting point. Emphasizing that everyone is different and we are all special in our own ways enhances acceptance and tolerance among children.

Here are a few, little discussed, tips on helping your children develop their friendship skills.

1. As young as age four you can begin to help your child discover his or her personal style. What kind of child is yours? Help her see that she is bright, funny, articulate, caring or thoughtful. Teach her how to recognize positive social skills in others so she chooses skillful friends who are likely to share her values.

2. In order to help your child see when she is using prosocial friendship skills, comment specifically on what your child does in her friendships that shows she cares.

“When Jose hurt his arm and you offered to sit with when he could not play, that was a kind thing to do.”

“Offering your sister your sweater at the skating rink when she was cold was a thoughtful thing to do.”

3. Teach your child to observe the behavior of others non-judgmentally in a manner that helps her to see how other people behave. Talk with her about how other people respond to that behavior.

4. As your child gets older help her develop the ability to observe the impact of her behavior on others.

5. Giving your children the words and actions to: a. enter into and exit social groups, b. include other people in their group and c. recognize what characteristics your child wants in his or her friends is invaluable.

Talk with your children about what makes a good friend. Write a short story or a book on what one does to show respect, integrity and honesty. If there is a school-mate who criticizes others or mocks others, that is not a friend you wish for your child to choose as a close mate. Draw distinctions between kids who are willing to lift one another up and those who desire to feel powerful by cutting others down.

Here are some sample social skills you might wish to introduce to your children one skill as a time. Role-play with your children, create positive conversations with your children and teach them the importance of learning these skills.

Sample List of Skills

• Accepting "No"
• Accepting Consequences
• Apologizing
• Arguing Respectfully
• Asking a Favor
• Asking Questions
• Being a Good Listener
• Being in a Group Discussion
• Conversational Skills
• Declining an Invitation
• Expressing Empathy
• Following Rules
• Good Sportsmanship

Developing friendship skills can be fun. So practice, play and enjoy with your children. Friendship will follow.

Books For New Dads!

2009-03-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Crash Course for New Dads

Greg Bishop wasn’t your typical boy growing up. With twelve brothers and sisters, he was expected to help out with his siblings, and he had changed plenty of dirty diapers by the time he became a father of four himself. But Greg knew that most expectant and new fathers didn’t have the same confidence in their parenting abilities as he did. So, on Father’s Day 1990, he got four dads and their babies (aka, the veteran dads) in a room with a dozen men who were soon to be daddies (aka, the rookies), and they talked for three hours. The veterans shared their experiences—and their babies—with the rookies, and a great idea was born. Boot Camp for New Dads has been a hit ever since. It has graduated more than 200,000 veterans in 260 communities across 43 states and in the US Navy, Army and Air Force. (To find a location near you, go to http://www.bootcampfornewdads.org/.)

In the process of educating fathers-to-be, Greg has also written many books and articles. His newest book is Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists & Cheat-Sheets. This amazing book is filled with guy-friendly lists, forms and charts to prepare men for fatherhood. I can’t even begin to tell you all the great information contained in this book, but some of the highlights include:

What You Need for the Hospital
Handling an Emergency Birth
Learning to Care for Your New Baby
Troubleshooter’s Guide to Crying Babies
How to Support a Mom-to-Be
Baby Blues & Postpartum Depression
Getting Your Love Life Back
When You Become Overwhelmed or Close to It
Infant CPR & Choking Basics
Preparing for Your Family’s Future
…and much, much more

Every father-to-be should read this book. (If he can attend a Boot Camp for New Dads program, that’s even better!) Even moms-to-be will benefit from its practical and organized tips and advice for handling the demands of new parenthood. Greg’s books and programs can’t be beat for the quality of information they provide and the reassurance they offer future parents.

Greg and his wife Alison have generously offered a copy of Crash Course for New Dads to one lucky reader of this blog, PLUS a copy of Greg’s book, Hit the Ground Crawling: Lessons from 150,000 New Fathers.

The Family Coach on Channel 12 LIVE March 24, 2009 Arizona Midday

2009-03-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Tune in to discuss - What is a blended family?

In a blended family, or stepfamily, one or both partners have been married before and one or both spouses has children from another relationship.

Blending is the process of redefining the family unit to include new parents and or new children. New grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles etc may also be involved. The processes of blending a family grows it exponentially.

The blending process includes many unanswered questions: Will we like each other? Who will make the rules? Who will enforce the rules? Will we all get along? Who will tuck me in at night? Will my parents still fight... on and on. It will help you and your children to feel safe and secure if you talk, communicate, share and explore the meaning of your new family, in your home and in the other homes involved.

It is your job as newly evolving blended parents to define for your children will be the family playing field. Defining the kind of family you wish to be will be a joint decision for all, even if the children are quite young.

So get ready for a democracy and begin with a mission statement, clarification of your values and family rules agreed on by all.

As expand your family, a few important things to remember are:

* Have a mission, a method and a plan. Talk with your new spouse about the kind of family you hope to be. Your expectations might differ.
* Discuss division of child-care teen-care responsibilities. Are you marrying someone who wants you care for their kids, how much, how, why etc.
* Be your most grown-up self. If you are becoming a blended family be ready to be the calmest, most mature, most patient adult possible because you will get tested and it is your job to stay calm and mature.
* Be patient . Good relationships take time and trust. Be ready to wait things out, be patient and keep circling back in your new relationships to build trust-filled experiences.
* Limit your expectations. Know that you will probably give a lot of time, energy, love and affection that will not be returned immediately. Think of it as making small investments that may one day yield a lot of interest, but don’t expect anything in return for now.

Given the right support, kids should gradually adjust to their new family members. It is your job to communicate openly, meet their needs for security and give them plenty of time to make a successful transition. If the transition remains bumpy for a long-time seek consultation there are many excellent books and clinicians experienced with blended families.

Resources on Amazon.com

Parenting Essentials ~ Dr. Lynne Kenney DVD

Stepcoupling: Creating and Sustaining a Strong Marriage in Today's Blended Family by Susan Wisdom and Jennifer Green

Blended Families: Creating Harmony as You Build a New Home Life by Maxine Marsolini

Smart Stepfamily, The: Seven Steps to a Healthy Family by Ron L. Deal

Parachutes for Parents: 12 New Keys to Raising Children for a Better World by Bobbie Sandoz-Merrill

Parenting High Ability Children: AAGT Parent Institute on March 28, 2009

2009-03-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

This one-day, budget friendly conference on parenting high ability children will provide information, reassurance, and new friends for families trying to make sense of it all. People from all over Arizona come to this informative, positive event.

Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented
2009 Parent Institute: Parenting High Ability Children

Who: Parents, Grandparents, & Educators from all over Arizona
What: Seminars on parenting gifted children
Where: Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU
Date: Saturday, March, 28th, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Price: $25, pre-registration required. Go to www.aagtparentday.com

See you there.

Routines And Chores For Kids

2009-03-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Routines, Tasks and Chores Teach Independence and Responsibility

Getting kids to complete tasks of every day living is important to their development.

If each morning you hear yourself saying, "I said, brush your teeth," or "I said, make your bed," consider the value of clear expectations.

Instead of making a battle out of it, consider your approach. Are you clear in what you expect? Have you clarified if the expected action is a personal or family contribution? Do you assert your expectations modeling peace not anger? Are you enhancing family relationships over asserting control?

Teach your children the value of contributions early on by teaching daily routines, tasks and chores. Be clear, be concrete and be consistent.

Teach, model and expect peacefully and calmly, your expectations, posture and tone will guide the outcome.

STEP #1 Identify Daily Routines For Your Children

Helping your children to identify the components of their daily routine is one step toward practicing independence and responsibility.

"We use task lists to keep the children focused on their brief responsibilities each morning," says Diana from Chicago.

Developing independence take 1) Knowing the expectation 2) Having the skills to exhibit the expected behavior and 3) Being recognized for the success in order to increase the likelihood of exhibiting the behavior next time.

Establish a daily task routine. Make play dates, sports and family fun dependent on their accomplishing specific tasks. It's very simple, you give to the family and the family gives back. Make each child a task list and hang them on the bathroom mirror. These are tasks of daily living and do not confer money they are just a part of being a responsible family member.

Write the tasks down.

JAMES, age 9

Get up
Make bed
Get dressed
Put PJs under pillow
Eat breakfast
Clear the table
Brush teeth
Brush hair
Get backpack
Out the door

Place a 4 x 6 task card on the mirror in the bathroom for each child to check off daily.

"The index card helps the children feel some mastery over their daily activities, they don't have to keep checking with me to guide their responsibilities, they know clearly what they are," offers Diana.

STEP #2 Assign Daily and Weekly Chores

Chores are separate from personal tasks (part of a daily routine) as they are done for the good of the community. Chores teach children the value of living in a group, a community, a family.

I look at chores as valued family contributions. When you live in a home where everyone contributes it is a clean, happy well-run home that is enjoyed by all.

Chores are a part of making expected contributions to the household. Children do not earn money for doing what is expected. They are expected to be a productive part of the family, their tasks are a piece of that, just as listening respectfully and being kind are expected.

Susan from Milwaukee offers this advice, "At our house, the kids are expected to help the “family community” for which they do not get paid money. Just as I make their breakfast or dinner and do their laundry, they have ways in which they contribute to the community. Making their bed, wiping the sink after they brush their teeth, setting the dinner table, and clearing their plates from the table are typical every day expectations."

Jane from Scottsdale agrees. "We have “chores” listed on our fridge, the kids do some each day and some weekly. If we have a big project or something outside the chore list we need done we might offer $2-$5 for that extra activity mostly to support the children's piggy banks.

"On Saturday there is a pretty good chance that our preschool and school-age children will help out, as they can earn valuable spending money for their participation. This money goes to things they care about like horseback riding, going to the water park and having movie night at home. Without hard work there are no horses and there are no trips to the mall, that's just the way it is," Jane says confidently.

STEP #3 Model Your Values

If you are going to give allowance for everyday household tasks, make sure you establish a specific amount, be consistent in giving it out each week and make sure the children complete the tasks assigned to earn allowance.

It is important to also suggest that children do not need to "consume" everything they like. Children can enjoy things in a store and leave them in a store. Life is not about accumulating stuff it's about caring for people.

Kim from Boston offers some clear advice, "When we go to the store, I do not agree to buy the kids small toys or objects that they can purchase with their allowance. We have a ten dollar per week maximum of allowance earned=2 0and they can use that to buy the newest Polly Pocket or Lego toy."

"Further, they are encouraged to put one dollar in savings and one dollar in our “community jar” to give away at the holidays to families in need. If every child contributes, they often have more than one hundred dollars to give away at the holidays, which teaches them to be compassionate as well as generous. They learn the value of hard work early with a spend, save, and donate system," asserts Kim.

Consider delineating what are expected family contributions in your home. Create a morning and evening task list for each child. Keep it simple with (3-8) discrete tasks. If you wish to help your children learn about money management, develop a chore list, assign fees, and encourage your children to spend, save and give. Teach your children the value of contributing to the family in the early years.

Spring Project Management

2009-03-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

You have probably already started mentally making notes about some of the projects that require warmer weather. Whether we wait until spring because of the necessity of working outside to get things done or because we lack the stamina to complete tasks in the winter, spring projects have long been a tradition. It could be as small as changing out lightbulbs or batteries to as big a project as finishing a basement. Making home improvements, no matter the size, helps to restore both our spirits and our homes. Projects can be a way for a family to spend quality time together on a Saturday morning. They also have the potential to improve the value of your home.

Begin to move your projects from your mind to paper. Not only does this help you remember what needs to be done, but it is also one more step in holding yourself accountable. Print out ListPlanIt.com's Seasonal Project List for Spring and hang it on your refrigerator or tack it up on the family bulletin board. As you think of things that would be good to work on, be sure to list them. Include supplies you might need and the steps to accomplish them. Visit listplanit.com for the lists you need to manage your home thoughtfully www.listplanit.com.

Monday March 9, 2009 MOM COACHING CALL

2009-03-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Join The Circle of Moms Coaching Calls
March 9-30, 2009

Attend the MONDAY Mom Coaching Call For Free. It only takes One Hour to change your family. March 9, 2009 11 am MT 1 ET 10 PT and learn to help your children to follow your family rules.

To enter the call you dial 712-429-0690 and enter the Participant PIN 884068. You may announce yourself or simply listen in, creating a comfortable learning environment depending on your needs and wishes.

These calls are designed to provide moms of children ages 3-8 strategies to:

Create Your Extraordinary Family.
Communicate your expectations to your children.
Help your children to comply with family expectations.
Provide you with the words and actions to help you raise confident, ethical, caring children.
Teach you strategies to distinguish between skill deficits and willful non-compliance.
Help you use your family values to encourage peaceful interactions at home.
Establish bite-sized expectations so that your children become skillful and accomplished at home and at school.

Hear you there!

Stress-Free Potty Training

2009-02-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Successful potty-training starts with understanding a child’s individual personality. Stress-Free Potty Training, offers thoughtful planning and effective communication techniques to help parents tailor their training techniques and avoid stress during this major milestone of their child's life. Written with Dr. Pete Stavinoha, a pediatric neuropsychologist at Children's Medical Center Dallas.

Check it out today: www.StressFreePottyTraining.com

New & Notable: "The Real Parenting Show with Dr. Pete & Sara" podcast via the Parents Everywhere Network. Straightforward advice and practical tips for real parents raising real kids in the real world. www.TheRealParentingShow.com or check us out on iTunes!

The Skinny on Raising Happy Skillful Kids 3-8

2009-02-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

At the request of several moms, in March I am launching four one hour mom coaching calls for parents wishing to raise happy, ethical, skillful kids. The series is $129 and is always enjoyed by all. Please let the moms with whom you work know about this opportunity.

Join The Circle of Moms Coaching Calls
March 9-30, 2009
Mondays at 11 am Mountain Time

Americans are good at parenting their young children, but teaching your children mastery and accountability in the KANGAROO YEARS ages 3-8 is a new experience. To help you -The Family Coach has set up a series of four coaching calls in MARCH for moms like you!

These calls are designed to provide moms of children ages 3-8 strategies to:

Create Your Extraordinary Family.
Communicate your expectations to your children.
Help your children to comply with family expectations.
Provide you with the words and actions to help you raise confident, ethical, caring children.
Teach you strategies to distinguish between skill deficits and willful non-compliance.
Help you use your family values to encourage peaceful interactions at home.
Establish bite-sized expectations so that your children become skillful and accomplished at home and at school.

www.lynnekenney.com
www.twittermoms.com/profile/LynneKenney

Literature Review: Treatment of PTSD in Children

2009-02-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

From Efficacy to Effectiveness: The Trajectory Of The Treatment Literature For Children With PTSD
Valentina Nikulina; Jeanean M Hergenrother; Elissa J Brown; Megan E Doyle; Beryl J Filton; Gabrielle S Carson

This review summarizes efficacious treatments for preschoolers, children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder, with a focus on the advances made within the last 5 years.

There is considerable support for the use of trauma-specific cognitive-behavioral interventions, in both individual and group formats. The research on psychopharmacological treatments lags behind that of psychotherapy and is currently inconclusive.

Limitations of the studies are discussed and treatments that warrant further consideration are reviewed. The authors also review current advances in effectiveness and suggest future directions that are important in generalizing the interventions to underserved and hard to reach populations. The article concludes with the authors' projections for the evolution of the field within the upcoming 5 years.
Introduction

In the USA, approximately two thirds of children experience one or more traumatic events by the time they are 16 years of age.[1] Traumatic events include child sexual abuse (CSA), child physical abuse (CPA), community violence, witnessing domestic violence and natural/manmade disaster. Childrens' trauma-related mental health problems include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other anxiety disorders, depression and disruptive behavior disorders.[2] PTSD is the most common response to a traumatic event and is associated with later interpersonal, vocational and physical problems.[3-5]

The awareness of these pervasive consequences of PTSD has resulted in empirical advances in our understanding of its treatment. From randomized controlled trials, investigators have examined and found individual trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral interventions to be efficacious at reducing PTSD symptoms and other trauma sequelae. Current research is moving towards enhancing generalizability, or effectiveness, of treatments when applied to real-world settings.

This paper examines current literature on the treatment of PTSD in preschoolers, children and adolescents. First, we review the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and its prevalence in youth. Second, we discuss psychosocial and pharmacological treatments that demonstrated efficacy in treating PTSD, as well as other outcomes of trauma exposure. Third, we discuss effectiveness, including barriers to mental health, cultural background, trauma characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the current status of research on PTSD treatment and a projection of the field's progress over the next 5 years. For full article see Expert Rev Neurother. 2008;8(8):1233-1246.

Excessive Television Exposure in Teens Linked to Depression in Adulthood

2009-02-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

February 5, 2009 — Excess exposure to television in teens has been linked to an increased risk for depression in early adulthood, particularly among young men.

A large longitudinal study from investigators at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, shows that each extra daily hour of television use was associated with an 8% increase in the odds of developing depressive symptoms by young adulthood.

"We looked at the development of depression over a 7-year period and found that the amount of television exposure was significantly associated with the development of depression," principal investigator Brian A. Primack, MD, told Medscape Psychiatry.

The study is published in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Leading Cause of Morbidity Worldwide

Although previous studies have investigated the relationship between electronic media and mental health, this research has largely been cross-sectional and has primarily focused on anxiety.

Findings from these studies have shown a link between excessive use of certain media, social anxiety, and a decline in interpersonal relationships.

Researchers wanted to explore the relationship between media exposure and depression, which has been cited by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of morbidity worldwide and is very common in adolescence.

They hypothesized that an excessive amount of television watching during adolescence would increase depression in young adulthood and would have a greater impact on young females than their male counterparts.

They also theorized that television exposure would turn out to be more potent than other types of electronic media, including videocassettes, computer games, or radio. (The data for the study were collected before Internet use was widespread and prior to the introduction of DVDs).

Males at Greater Risk

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, investigators looked at the relationship between electronic media exposure in 4142 adolescents who were not depressed at baseline and the subsequent development of depression at 7-year follow-up from 1995 to 2002.

At baseline, teens were asked about the number of hours they had spent during the previous week watching television or videocassettes, playing computer games, or listening to the radio.

Subjects reported an average of 5.68 hours of media exposure per day, including 2.3 hours of television, 0.62 hours of videocassettes, 0.41 hours of computer games, and 2.34 hours of radio.

At follow-up, 308 (7.4%) participants reported symptoms consistent with depression, and researchers found these individuals had watched more television than nondepressed individuals at baseline — 2.64 hours vs 2.28 hours per day — and that this association was statistically significant. However, there was no association between these symptoms and exposure to other media types.

Surprisingly, in contrast to their original hypothesis, the researchers found that, compared with young men, young women were less likely to develop depression given the same total media exposure.

"At study outset, we felt females were more likely to be affected because of all the images that are pervasive in the media of the 'feminine ideal' of thin, beautiful women. However, the study showed the opposite was true," said Dr. Primack.

Greater "Social Reserve" in Girls?

One possible explanation for this finding, he said, is that the impact of media content that presents idealized masculinity and sex roles on the psychological development of young males has been underappreciated.

"The bottom line is that males are also held to a high standard in the media, and it is possible that, for a number of reasons, those portrayals might be more powerful that we had previously thought," he said.

Another possible explanation is that young females have more "social reserve" than young males, which increases their resilience.

"We know that during adolescence and even in early adulthood females have closer relationships than young males. So if a boy watches several hours of television a day, this may substantially displace social interaction. Girls, however, may be able to watch the same amount of television while still maintaining their social relationships," said Dr. Primack.

More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms at play and whether it is the amount of media exposure, the type of media content adolescents are exposed to, or some other mechanism that underlies this association.

Need for Media Literacy

In the meantime, said Dr. Primack, the study has implications for clinicians, including psychiatrists, pediatricians, family physicians, internists, and other health providers who work with adolescents, to ask about television and other media exposure. It also has implications for researchers and research funding agencies.

"At this point, we have enough substantial data from studies like this linking large amounts of media exposure to major health concerns such as substance use, obesity, and aggression. So moderating the amount of media an individual consumes is certainly something physicians can and probably should suggest," he said.

Teaching media literacy, the critical analysis of media content, is also something that should be considered on a widespread basis, he added. "Individuals who are media literate should be better equipped to navigate the modern world. They may be less susceptible to the messages from the barrage of media that are all around us these days. They may even be more psychologically fulfilled because they will set their own goals instead of allowing advertisers and marketers to set their life goals for them," said Dr. Primack.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66:181-188. Abstract

Written by Caroline Cassels from Medline

Join Twitter Moms

2009-02-14T09:42:00.001-08:00

What Is Serotonin?

2009-02-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

Serotonin is a hormone that is found naturally in the human brain; it is also found in the digestive tract and platelets of some animals, including human beings. It is also found in a variety of plant sources, including vegetables, fruits, and even mushrooms. Categorized as a neurotransmitter, it is important in transmitting nerve impulses. It is also described as a vasoconstrictor, which is a substance that can cause narrowing of the blood vessels. The amino acid tryptophan is credited with producing serotonin in the body.

Serotonin can be considered a "happy" hormone, as it greatly influences an overall sense of well-being. It also helps to regulate moods, temper anxiety, and relieve depression. It is also credited with being a natural sleep aid. It even plays an important role in regulating such things as aggression, appetite, and sexuality. It also helps with regulating body temperature and metabolism and plays a role in the stimulation of vomiting.

Since serotonin is so important in regulating moods and feelings of well-being, it is often targeted in drugs that are used to affect the mood, such as antidepressants. A class of medications called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), such as Marplan and Nardil, works to prevent the breaking down of neurotransmitters, allowing them to increase in the brain and relieve depression. Unfortunately, these drugs have many serious side effects, and they tend to react dangerously with some other types of medication.

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Celexa, Zoloft, Lexapro, and Prozac, are also used to fight depression, yet they have fewer side effects, and they tend to react better than other medications. Not all antidepressants work to increase serotonin in the brain, however. Some, like tricyclic antidepressants, such as Elavil, actually work against neurotransmitter reuptake.

A link between food and serotonin?

2009-02-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

Just what is the link between food and serotonin, and can a change in your diet make a difference?

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, which has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years. The reason is that low serotonin levels have been linked to depression, lack of concentration, obesity, sleeplessness, and, of course, migraine.

But the food and serotonin link is more complicated than just eating foods containing serotonin. Your body doesn't get serotonin from foods, but makes serotonin from tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid which is essential for the body to get. It is the precursor to more than one neurotransmitter.

You may be able to increase levels of tryptophan by eating foods like breads, pastas, candy ... but wait! That's no good. It may temporarily help if you're depressed (or it may not!), but it's not going to really help anything in the long run.

Is there another way?

Yes, there are a couple other ways. You can find the food and serotonin link in items that are somewhat healthier. Try turkey, black eyed-peas, black and English walnuts, almonds, sesame or pumpkin seeds, and cheddar, gruyere or swiss cheese. Also helping to a lesser extent are whole grains, rice, and other dairy products (grandma was right – drink a glass of warm milk before bed!).

Examples of food with tryptophan:
wheat germ - 0.4g/1cup
granola - 0.2g/1cup
cottage cheese - 0.4g/1cup
egg - 0.1g/1
duck - 0.4g/quarter lb
turkey - 0.37g/quarter cup
chicken - 0.28g/quarter cup

* list from The Healing Nutrients Within by Dr Eric R Braverman.

Gene Variants in Adolescent Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorder

2009-02-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

Anxious and Depressed Teens and Adults: Same Version of Mood Gene, Different Brain Reactions

An NIMH study using brain imaging shows that some anxious and depressed adolescents react differently from adult patients when looking at frightful faces. This difference occurs even though the adolescent and adult patients have the same version of a mood gene. Researchers in the NIMH Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and colleagues reported these findings online October 31, 2008, in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Background

Anxiety and depression are influenced by the processing of the mood-regulating brain chemical called serotonin. A protein known as the serotonin transporter directs serotonin from the space between nerve cells back into the cells, where it can be reused. Changes in the gene that codes for the serotonin transporter can lead to decreased transport of serotonin back into the brain’s nerve cells. Abnormalities in the serotonin system are associated with anxiety and depression.

Everyone inherits two copies of the serotonin transporter gene—one from each parent. The gene has various versions—one version is short, and one version is long. A person may have two copies of the same version or one copy each of two different versions. Previous studies in adults have linked versions of the gene to increased risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Adults who have one copy of the short version tend to be more anxious and depressed than adults who have two copies of the long version.

Previous brain imaging studies in adults linked gene versions to different responses of the brain’s fear hub—the amygdala—to frightful faces. In both healthy and affected adults who have at least one copy of the short version, the amygdala reacts more than it does in healthy or affected adults who have two copies of the long version of the gene. Whether these findings in adults also hold true for adolescents was unknown.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Jennifer Y. F. Lau, Ph.D., then at NIMH and now at the University of Oxford, U.K., and colleagues at NIH scanned the brains of 33 healthy teens and 31 teens with depression and anxiety disorders while they viewed pictures of frightful faces. Then the investigators compared the amygdala reactions in the two groups.

Findings of This Study

Lau and colleagues found that in healthy adolescents who have at least one copy of the short version of the gene, the amygdala reacts more than it does in healthy adolescents who have two copies of the long version. This result is the same in healthy adults. However, in anxious or depressed adolescents, the opposite results were found. In affected adolescents who have at least one copy of the short version, the amygdala reacts less than it does in affected adolescents who have two copies of the long version.

Significance

This finding in affected teens with two long version genes is the opposite of that observed in anxious or depressed adults. It is surprising because anxiety and depression during adolescence tend to predict these disorders during adulthood.

What’s Next?

The unexpected finding may be explained by the fact that anxious adults and anxious adolescents react differently when presented with threats. But further research is needed to fully understand the difference, the investigators say.
Reference

Lau JY, Goldman D, Buzas B, Fromm SJ, Guyer AE, Hodgkinson C, Monk CS, Nelson EE, Shen PH, Pine DS, Ernst M. Amygdala Function and 5-HTT Gene Variants in Adolescent Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 2008 Oct 23. Source: Medline

The GODDARD SCHOOL comes to Scottsdale

2009-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome to The Goddard School® located in Scottsdale at 13940 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd! We will be opening soon.

The Goddard School® can make a positive difference in your child's life. Our warm, loving atmosphere features a year round extended day program from 7 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday. Our program is designed to enhance the emotional, social, intellectual, and physical development of your child from six weeks to six years of age. We also offer after-school enrichment and a summer program for children up to seven years of age.

We take great pride in our faculty. Our experienced and degreed teachers provide a loving and nurturing environment for your children. Areas of growth and development are highlighted on our daily lesson plans, which our faculty brings to life in appropriate and attainable ways. Children are encouraged to progress at their own pace according to their individual needs and abilities. We are continually adding exciting curricular resources such as Music Appreciation, Apple Blossom Yoga, Time to Sign™, American Sign Language for children, Art History, Foreign Language Program, B.A.S.E. Fitness, and the Goddard Guide to Getting Along™! All of these enrichment programs are included in the tuition - there are no extra fees for participation.

To learn more about The Goddard School® please call (480) 451-5512.

Natalia Elfimova is the owner of the new Goddard School in Scottsdale. As a parent of a young daughter, Natalia recognizes the importance of a safe and nurturing learning environment. Her family is the basis for the reason that she chose Goddard. She has been a resident of the Scottsdale are for over ten years and is happy to be able to provide Goddard’s outstanding program to the children in the community.

Join The Circle of Moms Coaching Calls

2009-02-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Join The Circle of Moms Coaching Calls
March 9-30, 2009

Americans are good at parenting their young children, but teaching your children mastery and accountability in the KANGAROO YEARS ages 3-8 is a new experience. To help you -The Family Coach has set up a series of four coaching calls in MARCH for moms like you!

These calls are designed to provide moms of children ages 3-8 strategies to:

Create Your Extraordinary Family.
Communicate your expectations to your children.
Help your children to comply with family expectations.
Provide you with the words and actions to help you raise confident, ethical, caring children.
Teach you strategies to distinguish between skill deficits and willful non-compliance.
Help you use your family values to encourage peaceful interactions at home.
Establish bite-sized expectations so that your children become skillful and accomplished at home and at school.

To sign-up for The Circle of Moms Coaching Series email Lynne at thefamilycoach@aol.com.
The series is $129 for four one hour classes.
This is an educational service provided by The Family Coach.

Twitter Moms

2009-02-03T08:30:00.001-08:00

How Ritalin Works In Brain To Boost Cognition, Focus Attention

2009-02-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2008) — Stimulant medications such as Ritalin have been prescribed for decades to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their popularity as "cognition enhancers" has recently surged among the healthy, as well.

What's now starting to catch up is knowledge of what these drugs actually do in the brain. In a paper publishing online this week in Biological Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology researchers David Devilbiss and Craig Berridge report that Ritalin fine-tunes the functioning of neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) - a brain region involved in attention, decision-making and impulse control - while having few effects outside it.

Because of the potential for addiction and abuse, controversy has swirled for years around the use of stimulants to treat ADHD, especially in children. By helping pinpoint Ritalin's action in the brain, the study should give drug developers a better road map to follow as they search for safer alternatives.

At the same time, the results support the idea that today's ADHD drugs may be safer than people think, says Berridge. Mounting behavioral and neurochemical evidence suggests that clinically relevant doses of Ritalin primarily target the PFC, without affecting brain centers linked to over-arousal and addiction. In other words, Ritalin at low doses doesn't appear to act like a stimulant at all.

"It's the higher doses of these drugs that are normally associated with their effects as stimulants, those that increase locomotor activity, impair cognition and target neurotransmitters all over the brain," says Berridge. "These lower doses are diametrically opposed to that. Instead, they help the PFC better do what it's supposed to do."

A behavioral disorder marked by hyperactivity, impulsivity and the inability to concentrate, ADHD has been treated for more than a half-century with Ritalin, Adderall and other stimulant drugs. New reports also indicate these meds have lately been embraced by healthy Americans of all ages as a means to boost mental performance.

Yet, despite their prevalence, we know remarkably little about how these drugs work, especially at lower doses that have been proven clinically to calm behavior and focus attention in ADHD patients, says Berridge. In 2006, his team reported that therapeutic doses of Ritalin boosted neurotransmitter levels primarily in the PFC, suggesting a selective targeting of this region of the brain. Since then, he and Devilbiss have focused on how Ritalin acts on PFC neurons to enhance cognition.

To answer this, the pair studied PFC neurons in rats under a variety of Ritalin doses, including one that improved the animals' performance in a working memory task of the type that ADHD patients have trouble completing. Using a sophisticated new system for monitoring many neurons at once through a set of microelectrodes, the scientists observed both the random, spontaneous firings of PFC neurons and their response to stimulation of an important pathway into the PFC, the hippocampus.

Much like tiny microphones, the electrodes record a pop every time a neuron fires, Devilbiss explains. Analyzing the complex patterns of "voices" that emerge is challenging but also powerful, because it allows study of neurons on many levels.

"Similar to listening to a choir, you can understand the music by listening to individual voices," says Devilbiss, "or you can listen to the interplay between the voices of the ensemble and how the different voices combine."

When they listened to individual PFC neurons, the scientists found that while cognition-enhancing doses of Ritalin had little effect on spontaneous activity, the neurons' sensitivity to signals coming from the hippocampus increased dramatically. Under higher, stimulatory doses, on the other hand, PFC neurons stopped responding to incoming information.

"This suggests that the therapeutic effects of Ritalin likely stem from this fine-tuning of PFC sensitivity," says Berridge. "You're improving the ability of these neurons to respond to behaviorally relevant signals, and that translates into better cognition, attention and working memory." Higher doses associated with drug abuse and cognitive impairment, in contrast, impair functioning of the PFC.

More intriguing still were the results that came from tuning into the entire chorus of neurons at once. When groups of neurons were already "singing" together strongly, Ritalin reinforced this coordinated activity. At the same time, the drug weakened activity that wasn't well coordinated to begin with. All of this suggests that Ritalin strengthens dominant and important signals within the PFC, while lessening weaker signals that may act as distractors, says Berridge.

"These results show a new level of action for cognition-enhancing doses of Ritalin that couldn't have been predicted from single neuron analyses," he says. "So, if you're searching for drugs that might replace Ritalin, this is one effect you could potentially look for."

He and Devilbiss also hope the research will help unravel an even deeper mystery: exactly how neurons encode complex behavior and cognition.

"Most studies look at how something that impairs cognition affects PFC neurons. But to really understand how neurons encode cognitive function, you want to see what neurons do when cognition is improved," says Berridge. "So this work sets the stage for examining the interplay among PFC neurons, higher cognition, and the action of therapeutic drugs."

The work was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health and the UW-Madison Discovery Seed Grant Program.

Thriving with ADHD

2009-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

For all you who asked, here is the outline for the February 3, 2009 Teleconference Thriving with ADHD

What is ADHD
• A medical condition characterized by inattention, impulsivity and or hyperactivity
• Approximately 5-7 percent of school-aged children have ADHD
• 2 million children in US
• 5 million adults US
ADHD is not
• Lack of motivation
• Poor parenting
• A result of parenting
• Laziness
• Low intelligence
• Uncommon
Executive Function
• "Executive Function" refers to a set of mental processes that serve as the boss of our brain, the organizer, strategic planner and Chief Executive Officer of our brain.
• We use executive function when we perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to details and remembering information.
When The Boss is Out
• Difficulty with
– Problem solving
– Organization
– Managing behavior
– Mood modulation
– Starting and stopping behaviors
– Staying on task
EF Observable Behavior
• TIME MANAGEMENT
– Finish work on time
– Keep track of time
– Make and keep plans
• ATTENTION
– Stay on task
– Make and act on corrections while speaking, thinking, reading and writing
• ORGANIZING THOUGHTS TO COMMUNICATE THEM
– Ask for what one needs
– Communicate ides in a relevant sequential manner
– Express emotional state thoughtfully
– Act on self-corrections while speaking, thinking, reading and writing
EF Observable Behavior
• PLANNING
– Initiating relevant tasks
– Acting on independently generated ideas or plans
– Planning a project
– Projecting how much time is needed for a project
• MEMORY
– Holding information in working memory
– Retaining and using information in the moment
– Retrieving information from memory
– Keeping track of more than one thing at once
Additional Domains
• IMPULSIVITY
• MOOD MODULATION
• SENSORY STIMULATION
Co-morbid Issues
• ODD
• CD
• Tics
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Social issues
• Self-esteem
Managing ADHD
• Structure
• Organization
• Planning
• Mastery
• Family mission
• Family values
• Clear rules
• Clear expectations
• Clear consequences

Hear You Then.

Time: 11 am in Phoenix 1 pm ET 10 am PT
Cost: First class Free
Call in line: 712-429-0690 pin 884068#.

Thrive with ADHD

2009-01-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

There are an estimated 1.46 to 2.46 million children with ADHD in the United States, constituting 3 to 5 percent of the school student population.

It has been documented that approximately 25 to 30 percent of all children with ADHD also have learning disabilities. Likewise, children with ADHD have coexisting psychiatric disorders at a much higher rate.

These children and their parents need the skills to enhance attention, contain impulsivity, increase delay and manage their motors. Join a fruitful conversation as you learn to help your child thrive with ADHD and associated challenges.

Teleconference TUESDAY FEB 3, 2009 Thriving with ADHD - Whether your children are diagnosed with ADHD or not, this teleconference is for you if your children are overactive, impulsive or have executive function challenges.

Time: 11 am in Phoenix 1 pm ET 10 am PT
Cost: First class Free
Call in line: 712-429-0690 pin 884068#.

Hear you there!

Increase Fats Decrease Depression

2009-01-30T06:20:00.001-08:00

The popular idea today is that omega-3 fats such as fish and flax oils are antidotes for depression. The truth is that there are many healthy, natural fats that work this way. Fats such as organic butter from grass-fed animals, unrefined coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oil help stabilize blood sugar while they enhance mental function and improve mood.

Fats are vitally important for neurological function and mood. The low-fat diet craze of recent years has done no favors for our brains or our emotional well-being. Like organic animal protein, fats provide substance and sustenance to deal with daily stress and emotional trauma.

One way to appreciate the vital role that fats play in neurological health is to consider the ketogenic diet, a medical dietary therapy that is sometimes used in hospitals for people with neurological disorders. The diet calls for 80% of calories to come from high-quality fats, such as organic butter, ghee, unrefined coconut oils, extra virgin olive oil, and fish oils. Such quality fats help to protect both the myelin lining of the central nervous system and also the brain, which is mostly fat and cholesterol.

The high-fat ketogenic diet is used especially for children and the elderly. It is a quick remedy for nervous system disorders that may stem from reactions to vaccines. It can also be used for neurological issues such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s Disease. Some scientists believe that a high-fat diet can actually help repair the myelin lining around the nerves that are affected by a variety of chronic neurological diseases.

More evidence for the role of fats in mental health comes from the most recent, Winter 2008 issue of Wise Traditions, published by the Weston Price Foundation. In The Pursuit of Happiness: How Nutrient-dense Animal Fats Promote Mental and Emotional Health, Chris Masterjohn states, “Modern science has now elucidated the role of nutrient-dense animal fats in preventing mental illness and supporting the focused, goal-oriented behavior needed to confront challenges and pursue a happy, satisfying, and successful life.” Source: Health Counselor, Carol Kenney www.pathways4health.com.

Dr. Michele Borba on Manners

2009-01-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

Simple Mom-Tested Secrets to Raising Well-Mannered Kids
By Dr. Michele Borba, www.simplemommysecrets.com

Excerpt from 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know: Getting Back to Basics and Raising Happy Kids by Michele Borba (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2006)

All three of my sons attended a wonderful cooperative nursery school led by an incredibly caring teacher, Jeanette Thompson. The very first impression I had of the school was how well-mannered the children were. And, through the years as I put in my "coop" hours, I understood why her students were so polite: Mrs. Thompson never taught manners at a special time, instead she taught students manners all day long through her own example. Every sentence she ever uttered contained the word "please," "thank you," or "excuse me." It was impossible for her students not to be polite. She used to always tell the moms, "Manners are caught, not taught." Was she ever right! I also learned an important secret from my children's teacher: The first step to teaching kids good manners is to make sure you model them yourself.

Make no mistake, Mom: Courtesy does enhance our kids' chances of success! Scores of studies find that well-mannered children are more popular and do better in school. Notice how often they're invited to others' homes? Kids like to be around kids who are nice. Listen to teachers speak about them using such positive accolades. Courteous children have an edge later in life: the business world clearly tells us their first interview choices are those applicants displaying good social graces. They also get more "second" job interviews, and usually even the job. You just can't help but react positively to people who are polite and courteous. By prioritizing polite behaviors with our children, we can enhance their social competence and give them a big boost towards success. Here are five simple secrets to enhance good social graces in your children and give them that edge for a better life.

* Reward Courtesy. Good manners are among the simplest skills to teach children because they are expressed in just a few very specific behaviors. We can instantly point out good or poor manners to our kids: "Wow, nice manners! Did you notice the smile on Grandma's face when you thanked her for dinner?" or "Eating before waiting for the others to sit down wasn't polite," We can modify our children's manners: "Next time, remember to say 'Excuse Me' when you walk in front of someone." And we can always tune them up: "Before you ask for the dish, say "Please."

* Point Out the Value of Manners. Discuss with your children the value of good manners. You might say, "Using good manners helps you gain the respect of others. It's also a great way to meet new friends. Polite people just make the world a kinder place." Once kids understand the impact good manners have on others, they're more likely to incorporate courtesy in their own behavior.

* Teach a Manner a Week. When my children were young I taught them a jingle, "Hearts, like doors, will open with ease, if you learn to use these keys." We'd then print a manner a week on a large paper key and tape it on our kitchen door as a reminder. Every child in the neighborhood could recite not only our jingle, but name the manners that are the "keys to opening hearts." It helped me recognize "catching new manners" doesn't happen overnight: it takes consistency and effort to enhance them in our kids. So, how about teaching a "Manner a Week"? Write the manner on an index card, post it on your refrigerator, and then hold a contest to see how many times family members hear another member use the word. Here's a few to get you started: "Please., Thank you., May I?, Excuse me, I'm sorry., Pardon me., I'm glad to meet you,, You go first., and May I introduce....?"

* Correct Impoliteness Immediately. When your child uses an impolite comment, immediately correct the behavior by using the three "Bs" of discipline: "Be Brief, Be Private so no one but you and your child is aware you're correcting your child, and Be Specific." Here's how two parents used the three "Bs": Juan's mom waited for a private moment to point out his poor manners to him, "Starting your dinner without waiting first for Grandma to sit down, was impolite. Being polite means always respecting older people." Waiting for the right time when only Juan could hear his mom's correction, preserved his dignity but still let him know his behavior was unacceptable. When Kevin used a racist comment, his father immediately used the three Bs letting him know it was unacceptable: "That was a bigoted comment and could hurt someone's feelings. Please, don't ever use that word again."

* Practice Table Manners. A friend of mine who really wanted to make sure her children "caught good manners" started a unique family tradition: Once a month, she asks her children to help her plan a party. The children plan the menu, set their table--with only their "company dishes"--arrange a centerpiece of hand-picked flowers, and then sit in their "Sunday best." The party is just for their family, and it's the time my friend helps her children practice table manners such as "please pass," "thank you," "May I be excused?" (as well keeping your napkin on your lap, chewing with your mouth closed, waiting for others to speak, and learning which fork to use with each course). Yes, it takes a lot of work, but she swears it's worth it, especially when so many people comment on how well-behaved her children are.

A recent survey conducted by US News & World Report found nine out of ten Americans felt the breakdown of common courtesy has become a serious problem in this country. A huge seventy-eight percent of those polled said manners and good social graces have significantly eroded over past ten years, and is a major contributor to the breakdown of our values in this country. What a sad commentary! Using good manners will enhance your child's reputation in all arenas-home, school, and the community. Besides, kids like to be around other kids who are courteous and nice. So start boosting your child's social graces by using these simple secrets in your family.

Michele Borba, Ed.D. is a mom of three, a former teacher, and renowned educational consultant who has presented workshops to one million parents and teachers worldwide. Dr. Borba is the author of 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know: Getting Back to Basics and Raising Happy Kids (Jossey-Bass, April 2006).She is a frequent guest on Today, The Early Show, The View, and Fox & Friends. She is also the award-winning author of over 20 books including Parents Do Make a Difference, Don't Give Me That Attitude!, No More Misbehavin': 38 Difficult Behaviors and How to Stop Them, and Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me. Dr. Borba is an advisory board member for Parents. For more strategies and tips visit www.simplemommysecrets.com.

© 2006 by Michele Borba www.simplemommysecrets.com.

Family-Based Lifestyle Interventions May Help Obese Children Lose Weight

2009-01-29T06:53:00.000-08:00

Family-Based Lifestyle Interventions May Help Obese Children Lose Weight

Laurie Barclay, MD From Medscape Today

January 26, 2009 — Family-based lifestyle interventions that modify diet and physical activity and that include behavioral therapy can help obese children lose weight and maintain that loss for at least 6 months, according to the results of a Cochrane systematic review posted online January 21 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

"Child and adolescent obesity is increasingly prevalent, and can be associated with significant short- and long-term health consequences," write Hiltje Oude Luttikhuis, from Beatrix Children's Hospital and University Medical Center Groningen, in Groningen, the Netherlands, and colleagues. "In order to support clinicians in determining the most appropriate form of treatment, paediatric weight management guidelines exist in many countries to promote best practice, but at present many of these recommendations are based on low grade scientific evidence."

The goal of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of lifestyle, drug, and surgical interventions to treat obesity in childhood. The reviewers searched CENTRAL on The Cochrane Library Issue 2 2008, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Science, DARE, and NHS EED from 1985 to May 2008 without language restrictions. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were also consulted.

Inclusion criteria for the review were randomized controlled trials of lifestyle interventions (eg, dietary, physical activity, and/or behavioral therapy interventions) and drug and surgical interventions to treat obesity in children younger than 18 years. The interventions could have been conducted with or without the support of family members. A minimum of 6 months of follow-up was required or 3 months for actual drug therapy.

Exclusion criteria were interventions that specifically addressed the treatment of eating disorders or of type 2 diabetes or that included participants with a secondary or syndromic cause of obesity. Using criteria in the Cochrane Handbook, 2 reviewers independently evaluated trial quality and extracted data, and they also contacted study authors for additional information when needed.

The 64 randomized controlled trials identified that met criteria enrolled a total of 5230 participants. In 12 studies, lifestyle interventions were directed at physical activity and sedentary behavior, whereas 6 studies addressed diet and 36 evaluated behaviorally oriented treatment programs. Ten studies looked at drug interventions with metformin, orlistat, or sibutramine. None of the identified studies of surgical intervention met inclusion criteria. Intervention design, outcome measurements, and methodologic quality varied considerably in the included studies.

Meta-analyses showed that lifestyle interventions involving children and lifestyle interventions in adolescents with or without the addition of orlistat or sibutramine were associated with a reduction in overweight at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Randomized controlled trials of drugs showed a range of adverse effects.

Limitations of this review include those of the reviewed studies, such as insufficient power, publication bias, failure to account for missing data in analyses, analysis not based on intent-to-treat, variations in the definitions of fatness in children, and limited duration of follow-up.

"While there is limited quality data to recommend one treatment program to be favoured over another, this review shows that combined behavioural lifestyle interventions compared to standard care or self-help can produce a significant and clinically meaningful reduction in overweight in children and adolescents," the study authors conclude. "In obese adolescents, consideration should be given to the use of either orlistat or sibutramine, as an adjunct to lifestyle interventions, although this approach needs to be carefully weighed up against the potential for adverse effects. Furthermore, high quality research that considers psychosocial determinants for behaviour change, strategies to improve clinician family interaction, and cost-effective programs for primary and community care is required."

The University Medical Center, Groningen, Netherlands; The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia; the Centre for Food Physical Activity and Obesity Research, University of Teesside, United Kingdom; the Wolfson Research Institute, University of Durham, United Kingdom; and the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council, Australia, supported this study. One of the review authors is a coauthor on 3 of the studies included in the Cochrane Review. Two other authors are involved in the design and conduct of a potentially eligible study for this review.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Published online January 21, 2009.

Getting Your Children To Do As They Are Told

2009-01-27T05:55:00.000-08:00

Why Do Children Misbehave?

If you attend a workshop or parenting class, you are likely to hear that children misbehave for four common reasons: attention, power, revenge, or inadequacy. Yet, when I ask parents the meanings behind behavior, they often come up with a broader range of reasons children misbehave.

Children may misbehave due to:

1. Illness: When we don’t feel well, we often don’t have the skills, patience, calming power, or thinking ability to do the right thing.
2. Boredom: This is common in school when topics and activities do not stimulate the brain enough to keep it engaged.
3. Frustration and anger: When tasks, people, or experiences lead us to frustration or anger, we are unlikely to do the right thing or make a good choice.
4. A need for attention: Most people enjoy attention, but there is likely a critical mass below which children seek the stimulation and comfort of attention, love, and nurturance.
5. Anxiety: Anxiety is simply fear turned on its side. They both come from the same biological brain system, the limbic system. Many times children misbehave because they are anxious, afraid, or both, even if they don’t have the language skills to communicate their concerns or fears.
6. Low self-esteem: When children do not regard themselves very highly, part of them figures, “Who cares. Whatever. Things are no good for me now so why should I comply?”
7. Misunderstanding: Sometimes children misunderstand what is expected of them. This can be due to communication, listening, or attention challenges.
8. Pacing problems: The internal motor of some children runs too high, making their internal pacing and speed a difficulty to manage themselves.
9. Communication challenges: Due to receptive and or expressive language issues, some children do not have the foundational communication skills to exhibit appropriate behaviors.
10. Sabotage: While parents are generally well-meaning, they can miscommunicate with their children, expect skills beyond the child’s ability, or interfere with learning because of their own anger and skill deficits.
11. Sensory overload: Some children experience overloads to their nervous system that lead to acting up and acting out. Sensory calming skills need to be employed.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

One method for stepping back and collecting data before you form an opinion or intervene is to ask yourself: “What is the meaning of the behavior?” “What underlies this behavior?” “Why is it occurring?” and “What factors are reinforcing this behavior?” In fact, there are three steps to intervening: Data collection, decision-making and intervention.

The method we explore today at the teleconference is "Can He Do It?" differentiating willful non-compliance from a skill deficit. Let's look at a sample behavior:

Identify “Can He Do It?”

Many times children may not be able to exhibit desired behaviors because they do not possess the skills to do as you ask. A simple evaluation tool I use in my office is “Can He Do It?” The tool works like this: write down a specific behavior your child had difficulty with in the past 48 hours. Then ask yourself if your child possessed the skills necessary to complete the desired behavior? If yes, expect it. This is when we use simple behavioral compliance strategies. If no, teach it. It’s that simple. Let’s look at one specific behavioral challenges.

Behavior #1: Sharing Toys

Step #1: What is the expected behavior?

Answer: I expect my five-year-old son to share his toys with his sister.

Step #2: “Can he do it?”

• Did I discretely define one behavior I am seeking my child to exhibit?
• Does my child have the requisite skills to exhibit this behavior?
• Are there any roadblocks that inhibit my child’s ability to exhibit the behavior? For example, did my child sleep well and eat well?
• Have I defined which toys are for sharing and which are personal and will not be played with by others?
• If my child will share another toy, but not the requested toy, did I offer an alternative solution for the children?

Step #3: If yes, expect it. Help your child learn to share by clarifying expectations and establishing a time-frame for sharing.

Step #4: If no, teach it. Help the child to choose an alternate toy, model sharing, and practice sharing.

Bring your own examples to the call, look forward to hearing you there.

http://www.lynnekenney.com/teleconferences.php

Peggy Porter Can Change Your Life with Mompreneur Coaching

2009-01-26T06:09:00.000-08:00

Peggy Porter is an entrepreneur coach whom I truly respect, read on and see if you are motivated for your better life - today. Best, Dr. K

The month of January is coming to a close and so I encourage you to ask yourself these questions:

Am I TRULY living the life that I want to live, the life I dream off?

Am I creating the business that offers financial prosperity as well as lots of time to spend with family?

Am I taking care of ME? Do I experience joy, vitality and happiness on a daily basis?

Do I love the life I am living while creating the life I want?

Do I want to be entering 2010 in the same place I am today?

If you answered NO to any of these questions, you are not alone. Many Mom Entrepreneurs struggle with bringing their vision for their family and business into reality.

The thing is, IT IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE!

Then WHY do many mom entrepreneurs still struggle from year to year to make the changes they know and want to make?

Because we lose focus and motivation and life gets in the way. Overwhelm sets in as well as fear and self doubt and before we know it, another year rolls by and we are in the same place as we were last year.

How do I know this? Because it all happened to me on more than one occasion.
So are you tired of living this struggle? Are you REALLY READY to make some changes and DO things differently this year? Are you ready to think bigger about what your life can truly be?

I want to help you reach all your goals in 2009. How do I know I can do this? Because I know how effective having a coach can be. All the times I have been involved with a coach or a coaching program has been the time when I have experienced the most personal and professional growth AND I know the results clients have gotten from working with me. Coaching gives you the accountability, focus and structure that is needed to reach goals.

Presently, I have two openings for private platinum clients. This is a very structured, focused year long one on one coaching program. It will get you results if you are ready to make the commitments and step into the possibilities for your life and business.

This is what you will get as a platinum client...

Mom Entrepreneur Platinum Program

This is a 12 month program for the motivated Mom Entrepreneur who is ready to make the commitment to turn her life and business around!

Year long programs are not for everyone but they are for the client who wants to create a compelling vision for their life and business, break through barriers, set big, bold goals, and create clear action steps with weekly accountability.

The Platinum program consists of:

* 90 minute life assessment and goal setting call at the beginning of the program
* 3-1 hour sessions each and every month
* Monthly checklists to keep focused and on track
* Monthly goal setting on eliminating clutter, energy drains and tolerations
* Creating and committing to regular routines of self care
* 90 minute assessment at the 6 month mark
* Mp3 downloadable recording of each call
* Unlimited email coaching for the entire year

Sound like something you are be interested in? Email me or call 506-651-4550 before Feb 1, 2009 and we will set up an appointment to discuss the program and its suitability for you.

There is a quote that always comes to mind when I am feeling stuck...

"If you always do what you always did,
you will always get what you always got."

Are you ready to do things different? Email me at peggy@seekingbalance.ca

To Your Mom Entrepreneur Success,

Peggy Porter

Self-Monitoring Behavior

2009-01-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

Self-Monitoring Behavior

You may know children who hit or call names, only to blame the other children for their behavioral choices. Sometimes these children blame others in order to justify their own behavior. More often, however, they have not developed the self-awareness, planning, and impulse control to manage their behaviors effectively. This occurs particularly when they are ages four to nine. One step toward helping your children follow the rules is improving their ability to observe their own behaviors and the impact of their behaviors on others.

Research shows that children behave better when their view of their behavior coincides with the view others have of their behavior. As an example, seven-year-old Juliette is more likely to hold the door open for her peers at school when her peers view that behavior as one Juliette is anticipated to exhibit. If asked to rate her "door holding" behavior on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being poor and 5 being excellent) she is also more likely to rate herself as her peers would see her behavior if she knows they are also evaluating her.

You can use self and sibling ratings as a tool to help your children observe and manage their behaviors better at home. The Family Coach, My Daily Points tool can help your children consciously monitor their behavior.

THE FAMILY COACH POINTS TOOL

Name __________________________________________________________________

Time:______Points:_____
Time:______Points:_____
Time:______Points:_____
Time:______Points:_____
Time:______Points:_____

Name __________________________________________________________________

Time: ______Points:_____
Time: ______Points:_____
Time: ______Points:_____
Time: ______Points:_____
Time: ______Points:_____

Begin with three rules for your family to follow for one week. Each day, focus on one of the rules. Make a sheet of paper with each person's name across the top. On the left hand side write down five times such as 7 am, 8 am, noon, 3 pm, and 5 pm depending on what time your children go to school, camp, soccer, etc. Try to choose five specific times when you are with your children so that the rating period is based on times when you are present to observe behaviors. Help your children monitor their adherence to one family rule each day by taking a moment and asking your children, "On a scale from 1 to 5, how well did you follow the family rule today?" On the scale, 1 is poorly, 2 is partially, 3 is okay, 4 is good, and 5 is great.

Let's put this tool into practice:

"This week, we will be focusing on three family rules: (1) Being an active listener, (2) complimenting one another, and (3) putting our belongings back in their homes (where they belong). Today is Monday, so we are working on 'Being an active listener'." Take the time to help your children see where they are earning points with an eye toward what behaviors they wish to improve.

Light a SPARK FREE Webinar

2009-01-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

SPARK presents:

"Simple ways to increase MVPA"

This webinar is the first in a series of free monthly "Wednesday Webinars" hosted by SPARK. The purpose is to provide educators and administrators with resources to implement and/or sustain SPARK programs in their schools. Whether you are a seasoned SPARK Star or just want to learn more about SPARK, this webinar series is for you!
There will be a new topic each month as well as time for Q&A on anything you'd like to discuss.

SPARK's February Webinar-

"Simple Ways to increase MVPA"

Description: A major objective of SPARK PE is to increase the amount of time students spend engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This webinar will present proven ways to increase MVPA through discussion of the following topics:

*Why students need more MVPA
*Modifying lessons to increase MVPA
*Decreasing transition time between activities
*Identifying inclusionary strategies

When: Wednesday, Feb 4th at 3:00 pm PST

Who: K-12 teachers and administrators, PE specialists, after school coordinators, early childhood educators, and coordinated school health staff.

Duration: 30 minutes

Cost: Free!

Registration: To register for this webinar, click on the following link: SPARK Webinar- Feb 4th. Then
click on the "REGISTER" button to sign up.

Thank you from the SPARK team!

Conscious Movement

2009-01-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Introducing Conscious Movement classes for adults.

Conscious Movement gets you moving. You learn to let go of the constant gripping of your muscles, that creates tension in your body and mind. You will become aware of where you get "stuck" in your body and in your thought patterns. Through movement, you can trust in your body and mind, becoming more present and focused in your life.

Besides learning about yourself, through movement, you also get a workout. As you integrate movement in your muscles, bones and joints, you learn to create more relaxation and ease by moving through your whole body. In practicing deep internal stretches in your body, you can unwind your challenge areas. You will build strength, stamina & endurance as you work your muscles through "whole body" movements. You will learn to let go of the physical and mental "stuff" that holds you back from really making things work in your life.

www.consciousworkouts.com
Contact Michell at:
info@consciousworkouts.com or 602-617-3141 to register

Twitter Moms Blog

2009-01-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

It's official, TwitterMoms now has featured contributors! Look for fun, thought-provoking posts everyday. Read the latest in parenting, home & food, style, health & fitness, travel, money & business and a completely upgraded TwitterMom of the Week (could it be you?).

Announcing the TwitterMoms Featured Contributors

We reviewed hundreds of applications for featured contributors, and may I just say, you ladies are all very impressive! But I did have to select a limited number -- this go around! Our featured contributors are volunteers, and as we get further along we will add more featured contributors from our membership. Stay tuned! But, without further adieu, it is with great pleasure to introduce you to our new featured contributors:

* For all you moms out there, Molly Balient, Terreece Clarke and Lynne Kenney will be posting stories and advice on parenting.
* Laura Zavelson, Mary and Beth Ann Bentley will be covering crafting, decorating and all things home & food.
* To keep up on the latest fashion and beauty trends, check out Kristen Andrews style blog - she's got all the inside scoop.
* Holly Rigsby and Lisa Druxman will be sharing their expertise for losing weight and keeping fit in 2009 in the health & fitness section.
* And, if you are taking a vacation this year or just want to live vicariously through a mom traveling Europe with her husband, child and dog, be sure to read the latest from Alice Griffin and Jamie Pearson.
* Beth Feldman, Lyn Mettler and Lauren Barack will be helping us keep our businesses and finances in order with their advice and expertise in money & business.
* Finally, Lea Curtes Swenson will be introducing us to the TwitterMom of the Week every Monday!

Join us! www.twittermoms.com/profile/LynneKenney

Money Management For Moms

2009-01-10T14:43:00.001-08:00

Think Thin with Dr. Fred From MotherHoodLater.com

2009-01-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

I think we can all remember back when it was "so easy" to lose weight - if not so easy then at least easier than it is now. Time is definitely not our friend when it comes to weight loss, especially for women. The reason for this is mainly the hormonal changes that start to occur at this stage of life. That's right, peri-menopausal changes. These changes start anywhere from 35 to 40 and will last until you start to experience the more common menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, memory loss, and vaginal dryness - to name a few.

I have designed a program with stubborn weight loss issues in mind. These issues are interesting because many women complain of the inability to lose weight after having children (but that has never stopped Angelina Jolie) or some women find that for the first time in their lives, without changing the way they eat, they are finding that the pounds just keep piling on. It's all about hormones! The diet program I recommend is geared toward regulating those hormones and allowing you to lose weight and, most importantly, to stay healthy while setting a good example for your children.

In my first diet book for adults, Thin For Good, there are specific chapters designed for both men and women at different times in their lives. My more recent book, The Hamptons Diet, applies more to everyone and includes all of the insight I've gained since the first book was written. Each book has over 200 recipes. The Hamptons Diet Cookbook is also available if you truly get hooked on this way of eating.

In case you don't want to buy the books, allow me to share the top ten tips for losing weight (at any age!)

Cut out Sugar!
Seems simple enough, right? Yet sugar can be found in most foods. In fact, there are 300 foods that the government says do not have to include the sugar content in the ingredients label although the food does contain sugar (such as iodized salt - most iodized salts add sugar to keep the grains from sticking together). Did you know that ketchup contains more sugar than ice cream? How can you find the hidden sugars? Look at the ingredients list for words that end in "-ose" or "-ol" - these are sugars. Fruit juice should be avoided - studies show that those who consume more fruit juice are more prone to obesity and diabetes. Soda is also loaded with sugar. You may be hearing a lot about high fructose corn syrup these day too - what you may not know is that this product is even more deadly than regular sugar. Be wary of labels that say "no sugar added" - check the ingredients list. You will be surprised at what you find!
Note: Stevia (a non-caloric herb) is a good and healthy sugar substitute that can easily be found in a health food store.

Eradicate Simple Carbohydrates from your Diet:
That means bye-bye to all the "white" foods such as bread, pasta, pretzels, etc. They are metabolized in the body just like sugar. I should also mention that honey, succanat, and agave are still just sugars albeit in a "healthier" form; yet for the purposes of losing weight, they are metabolized in the body identically to sugar so get rid of them.

Cut out "Diet" Products:
Most of these will contain an artificial sweetener of some kind. Not only are these toxic chemicals which will kill you at some point, but they set up blood sugar reactions in the body and will have you craving sweets just as if you were eating sugar.

Choose Lean Proteins:
Don't be afraid of meat or eggs. They fire up the metabolism and it is okay to eat eggs every morning. 80% of the cholesterol in your blood stream is produced by the liver and not by what you eat - a very common medical myth. I would advise eating organic animal products whenever possible.

Choose Healthier Snacks:
Cheese, nuts, nut butters, seeds are all significantly heart healthy snacks. The fatty acids found in these products not only satisfy hunger, and boost your metabolism but will also aid in decreasing cholesterol and raising the healthy HDL cholesterol.

Vegetables are you Friends:
So many of us forget that vegetables are a wonderful source of carbohydrates and fiber. They are filling and most of them are filled with lots of water hence giving them the ability to satiate you.

Drink Plenty of Water:
You should be drinking about ½ your body weight in ounces of water each day. I know that sounds like a lot, but once you start doing it you will start to feel the thirst. This helps to flush out toxins and keep your bowels moving regularly.

Eat at Home More Often:
Not only will this save you money but you will know exactly what is in your food; no guess work and no added growth hormones or antibiotic residue from non-organic or non-natural food.

Exercise:
This not only decreases stress levels which decrease cortisol levels (the hormone that increases fatty deposition around the mid section) but also helps in the weight loss process. Even if you only exercise for a few minutes a day - it's better than nothing.

Get a Buddy:
If all else fails, get support from those around you. Encourage your husband, a girlfriend or anyone to join in with you. It is easier as a team. And if your family doesn't go along willingly, if you do the shopping and the cooking, then they will be forced to eat what you are eating - don't buy foods just for them. If they want something different, they can go to the store themselves.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Think Thin in 2009
Tips for Healthy Weight Loss
Dr. Fred Pescatore, MD, MPH, CCN
from www.motherhoodlater.com

Dr. Fred Pescatore, MD, MPH, CCN is a regular contributor to the MLTS Newsletter. He is the author of The New York Times best-selling book, The Hampton's Diet, and The Hampton's Diet Cookbook, which combine the Mediterranean lifestyle with the palates of Americans emphasizing a whole foods approach to health and weight management. He lectures around the world and has been seen on such televisions shows as, NBC's Today Show and ABC's The View. He is a correspondent for Women's World, First for Women, In Touch, US Weekly and Life & Style magazines.

Successful Parents

2009-01-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

SUCCESS MAGAZINE is featuring an amazing DVD series for parents this month. It's on sale NOW! Visit http://www.successmagazine.com/Family-Relationships-DVD-Collection-/PARAMS/product/251

Financial Tips with Michelle Evard

2009-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

Listen in to Michelle Evard http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Family-Coach Thursday January 8, 2009 1pm ET as we discuss money saving tips for 2009.

1. If you are trying stay on a budget, use cash instead of credit cards. When you do this, go to the ATM on a certain day and take out a certain amt. For example, I take out $200/wk and once that is gone, I know I cannot go out to dinner or pick up the dry cleaning.

2. If trying to save on food, read the flyers and buy more of the big items when they are on sale. Big items include meat, milk, bread – things you use all the time. Utilize coupons and buy produce that is in season.

3. If your child does activities and they would like to join all of them, give them a choice of 2 or 3 they can join and see if the local community center, YMCA or school already has a program. That way you do not have to pay full price for them. Stay away from traveling teams until your child narrows down what they like – so you aren’t spending needless amounts of money on gas and travel.

4. When you child is old enough to understand – usually around 7 or 8 – put them on a budget. For example, they are allowed $50 a month, if they ruin the carpet or you have to fix the neighbors house because they were careless, that $50 go towards their mistakes. You aren’t punishing them with money, you are showing them that those things cost money and that it doesn’t grow on trees.

5. For older children in high school, give them monetary rewards for finishing school, getting good grades, etc. It will have limits though, they have to use the money to invest and to grow, they can’t just spend it. This way they understand using their money to grow their net worth instead of buying material items.

Queen of Fats Susan Allport

2009-01-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

What exactly are omega-3s?

Omega-3s are one of two families of essential fats, which are fats we cannot make ourselves and must consume in our diets. The omega-3s originate in green leaves (of all places), and they compete with a second family of essential fats, omega-6s, fats that are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants, for positions in every cell in our body.

We’ve been taught to think of all these fats, the polyunsaturates, as one big happy family. But in fact they are two competing families with very different effects on our bodies. Omega-3s speed up the activity of cells; omega-6s slow it down. Omega-3s create little to no inflammation; omega-6s create a lot of inflammation. A balance of these two families, in our diets and our tissues, produces just the right amount of activity and inflammation and leads to optimal health.
How have omega-3s been removed from the Western Diet

Let me back up a moment and talk about where omega-3s are found and then it will be easy to see how they’ve been removed. Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, not fish, as most people think. They accumulate in the tissues of animals that eat green leaves, including fish, but they originate in the chlorplasts of green leaves. A second family fats, omega-6s, are much more prevalent in the seeds of plants. Omega-6s are also essential for health but they compete with omega-3s for positions in our cell membranes so that anyone who is consuming lots of vegetable or seed oils, as most Americans are, is not going to have a lot of omega-3s in their tissues.

As our reliance on seed oils has increased since the early 1900s so has our incidence of heart disease and other ailments

Omega-3s originate in the green leaves of plants, as I said, and because green leaves are the most abundant thing on the planet, omega-3s are, in fact the most abundant fat on the planet. The only place they’re not abundant is in the tissues of Americans and other Westerners because we’re eating so many of the competing omega-6 fats.

http://www.susanallport.com/

Save Your Brain

2009-01-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

The three-pound organ in your head is very special. So if you want to feel happy, alert and focused, start being sensitive to its needs.

1. Ditch the high fructose corn syrup and sugars, transfats, processed and packaged foods (which contain up to 3,500 food additives and chemicals).
2.Choose organic foods and grass-fed animal products to avoid hormones, antibiotics and the gallon of neurotoxic pesticides each of us consume every year.
3. Filter your water.
4. Wear a helmet when doing sports that put your head at risk.
5. Eat foods high in Omega 3 fatty acids.
6. Stop eating food out of boxes and cans.
7. Eat fresh food for each meal.

Read: Mark Hyman, M.D., author of "The Ultramind Solution."

Seven Goal Setting Steps

2009-01-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

Step #1: Consider all that you have accomplished since in 2008. Write down what has worked for you. What you wish to continue to achieve as a family and what goals you’d like to set for the next quarter.

Step #2: Write down 1-3 goals per domain in any of the domains that you value. Make your goals SMART - Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Consider goals for health, family time, behavior, school, friends, spirituality, sports, nutrition, hobbies, sports and personal time.

Step #3: Choose one goal at a time to work toward. Establish short-time frames to maximize success. If you are setting a health or exercise goal begin with small steps. As an example, “I will walk Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7am-7:30 for two weeks.”

Step #4: Keep track of your daily progress toward goals by writing in a journal, jotting a note on your calendar or keeping track online.

Step #5: Reward yourself for small successes. Take yourself out to a movie, have tea with a friend or set aside an hour on a Sunday to read a book as a reward for your progress.

Step #6: Revise your goal if it was not attainable.

Step #7: Choose a new domain or goal within the domain you are currently working on. By taking small steps, monitoring your progress and rewarding yourself, you will remain mindful of your goal and move in the direction of success!

Parenting Essentials: 10 Steps to More Confident Parenting

2009-01-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Start 2009 off by Creating Your Extraordinary Family at home with the DVD - Parenting Essentials: 10 Steps to More Confident Parenting by Dr. Lynne Kenney

Dr. Lynne Kenney, a self-professed "nine year-old at heart," recognizes that we live in a stressful world. She also believes that kids are resilient and forgiving, and that in the face of challenges, we can raise strong, independent children while living passionately and helping our children do the same.

Simply copy the link into your browser.
http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=2303

Listen to Dr. K Live on TV and Radio in January

2009-01-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make our top ten list?

1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
2. Fit in Fitness
3. Tame the Bulge
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Help Others
10. Get Organized

Listen to Dr. K live Friday on Channel 12 and Saturday Live on the Jan D'Atri show NEWSTALK 550 KFYI on Clear Channel, Phoenix Arizona
www.KFYI.com

Motherhood is an Emotional Rollercoaster Ride

2009-01-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

Motherhood is an emotional rollercoaster ride with all the highs and lows, twists and turns, and nauseating moments you get from the one at your local amusement park. However, unlike your typical two-minute ride, this one lasts a lifetime and begins moments after you pee on a stick.

Hop in and I’ll share a seat with you on my rollercoaster ride so far!

* When I found out I was pregnant, I was elated. I couldn’t wait to be a mommy, again and again.

* During the first trimester, I panicked. What came in the easy way, had to come out the hard way.

* During the second trimester, I was calm. I knew if millions of women could deliver babies, so could I.

* During the third trimester, I was desperate. I felt like I couldn’t wait another minute to get my body back again.

* The moment my children were born, I felt relief. They were healthy.

* Three days post-partum, I was depressed. I couldn’t bear the fact that one day my babies would leave home. Yes, only three days later. While that thought still brings tears to my eyes, the baby blues made me sob at the unbearable notion.

* Three weeks post-partum, I was overwhelmed. How could I possibly take care of a baby, then a toddler and baby, then two kids and a baby all by myself during the day?

* Three months post-partum I felt capable. I had mastered breastfeeding, the car seat and how to get a shower in during the day.

It’s been over ten years since I started this rollercoaster ride and during that time I’ve also felt:

* Immense pride for all that my children are . . . smart, beautiful, thoughtful, fun, generous, polite, creative . . .

* Guilty for raising my voice, being impatient and taking my stress out on them.

* Crippling worry about their emotional and physical well-being.

* Grateful to be blessed with three incredible daughters.

* Stressed at the amount of tasks I have to do while being the primary caregiver.

* Lucky to be their mommy.

* Angry when they are disrespectful to me.

* Content knowing that my decision to not work outside the home was the right one for me.

* Regret on days I’ve spent more time nagging than playing.

* Happy just being with my daughters.

I know there will be more highs and lows on this emotional rollercoaster, but there’s no better ride than motherhood!

Written by: Shannon Hutton http://www.sparkplugging.com/believer-in-balance/

2009-01-01T13:49:00.001-08:00

Twitter Moms: The Influential Moms Network

Breakfast on the go...Recipe

2008-12-29T04:54:00.000-08:00

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Cups

It's often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That's because skipping your morning meal can lead to a dip in blood sugar that may cause cravings for unhealthy, refined foods. This cycle can lead to overeating and, thus, may impede your weight-loss efforts. Instead, start your day with this nutritious, mouthwatering meal. Not only will it keep you satisfied and stabilize your blood sugar, research shows that a morning meal can improve energy as well as work and school performance. This tasty recipe will be sure to get you going in the morning.

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Cups

Description

These egg "muffins" make a hearty breakfast that can be eaten on the run. Make them ahead and warm them for a fast breakfast treat.

Makes 6 cups

Ingredients
4 ounces turkey sausage or crumbled turkey bacon
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
5 large eggs
1 can (12 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded, reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 6-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.

In a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, pepper, and onion for 5 minutes or until the sausage is no longer pink. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and cool slightly. Stir in the eggs and mushrooms. Evenly divide the mixture among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the egg is set.

Recipe reprinted with permission from The South Beach Diet Cookbook.
Source: www.southbeachdiet.com

2009 Teleconference Schedule

2008-12-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

You asked... Now They're Here!

Teleconferences 2009
With Dr. Lynne Kenney

Tuesdays at 11 am we're the Lunch Bunch

Learning What it Takes To Create Your Extraordinary Family

Join in, Chime in, Offer Ideas - "Cause Mom Knows Best"

January 2009 11 am-12 pm MT

6th Lead your life don’t be led by it
13th Building health and reducing stress with routines
20th Asserting your family values leads to effective discipline
27th Getting your children to do as expected

February 2009 11 am-12 pm MT

3rd Thriving with ADHD
10th Seek to understand before you intervene
17th The Thinker and The Caveman
24th School strategies for success

March 2009 11 am-12 pm MT

3rd Sensory interventions for today’s children
10th Parental Teamwork – RESPECT RULES
17th Collaborating with oppositional children
24th Managing anger and anxiety in children

Sign-up for Dr. Kenney’s Teleconferences at www.lynnekenney.com
$59.00 Per Month
Call-in Information will be sent via email upon registration

Ideas for Good Health in the New Year with Carol Kenney

2008-12-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

Ideas for Good Health in the New Year….See which might resonate with you…by Carol Kenney, respected nutritional coach, www.pathways4health.com.

Strategies to Work With the Natural Energy Rhythms of the Body.

Make time to eat a good breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. A hearty breakfast following the 40/30/30 concept of 40% complex carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat can help to boost metabolism, stabilize blood sugar, and provide sustained energy for the brain. Studies confirm that people who eat breakfast have the least problem keeping a healthy weight.

Try to eat your main protein-based meal at noon, when digestive fire is at its peak. Avoid eating three hours before you retire at night. Digestive fire dwindles in the evening as the body naturally cools down to welcome sleep.

Allow for enough sleep. We all vary both in how much and when we sleep best around the 24-hour cycle of a day. Some people are Owls and love working into the late-night hours, while others are Larks and thrive on waking up early and retiring early. Whatever your pleasure, recall that a lack of sleep can throw off body chemistry, foster inflammation, and contribute to weight gain. Adequate sleep restores the immune system and is one of the best ways to ward off illness. Check in with yourself. “Enough” sleep varies with the individual, one’s type of work, and level of stress. One useful gauge: If you are craving caffeine and sweets to keep going throughout the day and often come down with colds, you are probably not getting enough sleep.

Try some regular aerobic exercise in the fresh air and sunshine (Yes, sunshine is good for your health!). Among its many benefits, aerobic exercise helps prevent inflammation. A 30-minute walk three times a week may be sufficient. If possible, try to exercise early in the day when the lungs are at their peak energy. If you exercise to lose or maintain weight, choose something you like since studies show that exercise that is not enjoyed creates stress and can be counterproductive, even exacerbating weight gain.

Strategies When Choosing Foods.

Try to buy local, fresh, whole foods…organic when possible. Think variety…rainbow colors, some raw and some cooked, some fermented. Foods are a system, uniquely balanced with nutrients and fiber for assimilation and nourishment. Our body converts foods into energy in a way that defies the explanations of science and the microscope.

Read food labels. Read for trans fats, for genetically modified (GMO) foods, and for the pseudonyms for sugar and artificial additives such as “evaporated cane juice” and MSG. Recent scientific studies suggest ties between GMOs and allergies, immune problems, and infertility; and between MSG (prevalent in processed, packaged, and fast foods) depression and childhood obesity.

Consume healthy fats and oils. Saturated fats such as organic butter from grass-fed animals and organic unrefined coconut oil are top choices for cooking, and quality cod liver oil4 and fish oil are good sources of omega-3 fats. Saturated fats are necessary for cell membranes, which are 50% saturated fat. Omega-3s are important for neurological function. Avoid trans fats, which are found in many processed and fast foods; they confuse the body and can foster chronic disease.

Let the way Nature packages food be a guide. Sugar is a classic example. To make one cup of refined white sugar requires 17 feet of sugar cane!!! In refining, we miss the cane’s natural fiber and micronutrients. How much sugar would we eat if we had to ingest it in this form? Or, how many walnuts might we consume if, instead of pouring from a package, we had to take the time to crack each one?

Think prevention of disease, not suppression of symptoms. Develop strategies to curb inflammation, the root of all chronic disease. From evolution and genetic selection, we as a people are prone to inflammation. The inflammatory response supported our survival before the discovery of modern antibiotics. While good strategies to try to curb our inflammatory nature are tied to lifestyle (getting enough sleep, moderate exercise, laughter, fresh air, sunshine and connection with others), they are also tied to diet. This means limiting sugar, refined flour, clear denatured vegetable oils, and meats from grain-fed animals. It also means bringing into good balance the consumption of omega-6 and omega-3 fats...

Try to limit processed and fast foods, and avoid cooking with clear vegetable oils. This can be a huge step toward creating in your diet a healthy 2:1 balance of omega-6:-3 oils. Omega-6 oils are inflammatory. They are hidden in processed, packaged, and fast foods, which is a major reason the typical American ratio is 20:1, rather than 2:1. The sensible way to bring the “-6:-3 ratio” into better balance and benefit from the omega-3s that you do consume is to limit your intake of omega-6 fats. Since omega-3s and -6s compete for the same digestive enzymes, consuming large amounts of omega-6s through processed and fast foods can negate the potential anti-inflammatory benefits of omega-3 oils, because omega-6s “crowd out” omega-3s.

To preserve the delicate brain, consume good fats and oils while you also try to avoid excitotoxins in foods and the excessive use of mobile phones. The protective lymph system does not extend its strong protective web to the head. Nature in Her design anticipated neither our modern technology nor additives in processed foods.

Eat foods attuned to the season and the season of your life. Tropical fruits, and summer foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, and salad greens are cooling and well-suited to warm climates. But in winter, hearty soups and meals built around warming chicken, turkey, and lamb, leeks, onions, parsnips, and winter squashes can preserve internal heat and support the body’s natural energy without undue strain and overwork. Rotating foods with the seasons supports this energy and can also help prevent allergies. In the later decades of life, foods and quantities that worked in earlier years may no longer. Our body gives such wonderful feedback. We need only to pay attention…

Be “bad” sometimes. It reminds us why it is generally best to be “good.” An 80/20 or 90/10 goal is good enough: if we aim for 80%-90% of our choices in the “healthy” zone (food, sleep, or whatever) we enjoy some “wiggle room.” Then, we just pay attention to how we feel. In all realms, our body will give us feedback. And, as Annemarie Colbin taught me, there is no need to feel guilty when we make a “bad” choice. After all, we have already paid the price by how we feel. In the meantime, what we have gained is valuable information. Happy eating and good health to you in 2009.

Kids health habits lead to obesity and diabetes

2008-12-26T05:44:00.000-08:00

Kids' Worst Health Habits

The health of today's children is in jeopardy. "In the last 10 years, diabetes in children has doubled; there's a growing obesity epidemic among children, and we're seeing heart disease start in children," says Joel Fuhrman, M.D., family physician in Flemington, N.J., and author "Eat for Health and "Disease-Proof Your Child."

The consequences are so dire, in fact, that health authorities are now predicting that this generation of children will be the first to have a shorter life span than their parents. So what habits are putting kids in jeopardy?

Fuhrman pulled together the 10 worst offenders but issues this warning: "Parents can't force children to do anything they aren't doing themselves, which is why parents also need to change their habits to become better role models."

1. Drinking soda

Soda is loaded with sugar (about 13 teaspoons per can) artificial sweeteners, caffeine and empty calories (about 150 in a regular soda). Plus, soda might displace healthy beverages like milk or water and cause tooth decay. Bottom line: Nix soda from your child's diet and replace it with water, milk and other healthy beverages.

2. Not exercising

Today's kids are leading inactive lifestyles, putting them at risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Bottom line: Make physical activity as important for your kids as brushing their teeth. By instilling the exercise habit in them when they're young, they'll be more likely to stick with it as adults. Just remember that kids learn by example, so get active with them.

3. Eating processed and barbecued meats

Your kids might love baloney sandwiches and hamburgers, but processed and barbecued meats have been linked to cancer, especially colon cancer.

Bottom line: Steer your kids clear of this kind of meat, and instead, turn them on to more healthy, wholesome foods like fruits, veggies, beans, nuts and seeds.

4. Being overweight

While it might be vogue to be heavy -- roughly 16 percent of kids aged two to 19 are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- that extra weight could cause your child serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Bottom line: Clean up your diet, and your family will follow. Likewise, become a regular exerciser, and encourage your children to get more active.

5. Not eating enough fruits and veggies

Fruits and veggies are loaded with disease-fighting nutrients, which is why kids who don't eat enough are at greater risk for developing cancer and other chronic health conditions.

Bottom line: Make fruits and veggies the mainstay of meals, and your kids will easily get the servings they need. Check MyPyramid.gov to view fruit and veggie requirements for kids or try AOL Health's handy Veggie and Fruit Tracker to calculate daily requirements.

6. Too many hours in front of the TV

Watching TV and playing video games are sedentary activities that encourage snacking and often replace physical activity. TV viewing also exposes your kids to risky behaviors like smoking and drinking, which could influence them.

Bottom line: Limit your kids' use of the TV and computer. Children under two years old should not watch any TV, while kids over two should be limited to no more than two hours of media time a day, per the American Academy of Pediatrics.

7. Noshing sugary treats and foods

Your kids might go gaga over treats, but they're nutrient-poor, calorie-laden foods. Most are also made with refined grains, which have been linked to cancer. Plus, the more your kids eat these, the more they could begin craving them, which could eventually boost their weight.

Bottom line: Limit sugar in your children's diet as much as possible. Ban sugary cereals, cookies and candy from your pantry. Then become a savvy label reader, looking for hidden sugars in everything from granola bars toketchup and even pasta sauces. To satisfy a sweet tooth, serve fruit as a dessert or a snack.

8. Eating fast food

"Fast food is for parents who don't care about their kids," Fuhrman says. By buying them fast food, you're giving them the lowest quality food, which adds calories, fat and little nutrition to their diets. The end result? You could wind up with an overweight, unhealthy child. Plus, if they're eating fried foods or food cooked at high temperatures, they're noshing cancer-causing compounds.

Bottom line: Boycott all fast food.

9. Not getting enough vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to dozens of health conditions, including rickets, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Sunshine is the best source of vitamin D, but most kids don't spend enough hours outside to get all they need. Plus, if you live in a northern climate, getting enough vitamin D in the winter can be impossible.

Bottom line: Make sure your child is getting 400 IU of vitamin D daily through a multivitamin and/or vitamin D supplement.

10. Filling up on food made with white flour

White flour has zero nutritional value, which is why Fuhrman believes it should be banned from foods. "White flour's been linked to obesity and cancer-causing cell development," he says.

Bottom line: Don't buy food made with white flour. Instead, choose 100 percent whole-grain products. SOURCE: Written By KAREN ASP from AOL

The Family Coach as a lot planned for 2009!

2008-12-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

The Family Coach is an educational service provided by North Scottsdale Pediatrics. Family Coaching regards you, the parent, as the expert. Through coaching we identify your goals for Better Family Living and we implement strategies for success.

Families improve skills in the following areas:

• Family behavior and discipline
• Family health and wellness
• Family schedules & routines
• Improving attention and focus
• Improving friendship skills
• Improving school success
• Parenting with confidence
• Parenting with consistency
• Working together with the other parent

We will be doing a teleconference series for families who wish to enhance their family lives.

We are also teaming with Pediatric Speech-Language Specialists (Anita Werner) and On Track Tutoring (Dana Herzberg) for a free in-school educational lecture series for teachers and parents.

We have classes planned for 2009 as well.

Family coaching in home or at school is also on the menu.

Visit www.lynnekenney.com for more information.

What your kids need most this holiday season

2008-12-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

While we are busy shopping and wrapping presents I was reminded what our children need most this holiday season.

Alone time with mom or dad.
A date with their favorite family member.
To give time at a local charity.
Presents that keep them active not just sitting around.
Music lessons.
Time playing sports with mom or dad.
A good bedtime story.
Their manners, don't forget yours either.

Remember, your child's favorite toy is you.

Happy Holidays! Dr. K.

Helping Children Communicate Their Feelings

2008-12-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

One of my students recently called me to relate an affirming story about expressing feelings. “I got upset because he wouldn’t help me put his toys away, he said, ‘When you look at me like that you hurt my feelings.’” While a mother’s pride is sometimes overstated, this time it was not.

I knew exactly why my student was so pleased. She, like myself, had once taught preschool and was intent on helping children communicate their feelings. That’s not easy for young children: language is still rudimentary in the early years, plus many children hide their feelings to secure adult approval. Unhappy feelings do not just disappear though—they go underground, often to reemerge years later.

I never told my parents that they were hurting my feelings when they showed disapproval. Such an idea never entered my head and could have been dangerous if it had! Surely, my parents could not have understood, much less expressed, such feelings when they were young. Now, we realize that when children let us know how they feel, we can help them understand themselves and also help them to cope with unhappy feelings, which is much more useful than repressing them.

How Times Have Changed

My student was not only amused and proud; she was also honest. She told her son that she was sorry to have hurt his feelings, and that she had been upset because she was tired and bending over to put the blocks away was hurting her back. He replied, “That’s because you’re old!” My student kept her cool and said, “I guess you must feel angry at me. You know it hurts my feelings to call me old.”

Within minutes, my student and her son went swimming. By then, the slate was clean. They could be friends again because there was no hidden backlog of unhappy feelings.

Encouraging the Expression of Real Feelings

After a lifetime of working with children and recalling my own feelings as a child, I am convinced that nothing, aside from loving and protecting children, is as important as helping them communicate their real feelings. Grappling directly with perceptions and sensations leads to solving problems in the here and now, rather than leaving them to fester into a source of discomfort one is never able to figure out. It can also save on many counseling sessions in the future.

How can we help children tell us how they feel? By reading them stories and following up with conversation. By listening to accounts of their dreams, and asking what they think the dreams are saying about deep-down feelings. By paying attention when children want to tell us something rather than saying, “I’m busy now. Tell me later.”

We are most apt to cut off the expression of real feelings when children tell us things we do not want to hear. If a child says, “You’re fat!” and you roar, “You can’t talk to me that way,” the child may very well decide not to talk to you in any real way.

Less intimidating responses to offending comments do exist. My friend looked as if she was going to faint when her two-year-old daughter, disobeying an instruction to get her pajamas, yelled, “I will not, you mean lady.” My friend turned red, and said in a shaky voice, “If I ever talked to my mother that way I would have been struck dead by lightening.” My friend did not go on to tell her daughter that she was a bad girl and should never say such a thing; instead she did some deep breathing to gain control of her emotions and said, “I know you’re angry and want to play, but now it’s bedtime.” My friend’s courage and fortitude have been well repaid by a teenage daughter who over the years has managed to tell her most of the issues that have upset her.

In our worthy attempts to help our children communicate their feelings, we must be careful not to extract an apology for “unacceptable behaviors.” Forcing children to say they are sorry, when they are not, is forcing them to lie. Nor should we belabor communicating to the point of boredom. Short answers are far better than long ones. At times we will be tired, frustrated, or annoyed; at times we will lose patience because we are human and do not have complete emotional regulation. Children learn to tolerate our imperfections, our fallibility. And if we happen to leave an important problem unresolved, we can always return to it later. We can always say: “I’m sorry I shouted at you, instead of telling you my feelings. I guess grown-ups sometimes lose control too.”

Children need parents, not saints—a truth I have learned while raising my daughters. The true teachers are those who encourage children to accept human frailty, to acknowledge both love and anger, and to muster the freedom and courage to become their fullest selves. By Barb Grady www.parenting-plus.com

How Moms Shop Online

2008-12-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Study: Mothers Know Best for Online Shopping
Moms were also more likely than non-moms to single out customer product reviews or ratings as the most influential source for obtaining holiday gift information
Dec 17, 2008
By Katy Bachman

Mom knows best when it comes to shopping, and there's a good reason for it: She's big on conducting research before plunking down the dollars. That's according to results from a new Mindshare Online Research study released Tuesday (Dec. 16) that found that 61 percent of moms research holiday gifts compared to only 48 percent of non-moms.

Moms were also more likely than non-moms to single out customer product reviews or ratings as the most influential source for obtaining holiday gift information, 23 percent versus 12 percent.

Another valuable tool is the Internet with 54 percent of all shoppers surveyed doing the bulk of holiday shopping online.

Overall, women are the family members most likely to handle the holiday shopping--77 percent of women compared to 36 percent for men.

As expected, 64 percent of all shoppers said they expect to spend less on gifts this year than previous year and more than three-fourths said they will shop around to find the best prices.

Conducted in December by BuzzBack Market Research, Mindshare's online study was based on a survey of 350 adults.

Give yourself the gift of planning

2008-12-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Today, there are 10 days until Christmas. Presents are wrapped and hidden, the holiday meal has been planned, invitations to holiday parties and get-togethers have been accepted, and batches of holiday cookies have been baked.

If you have guests arriving before or on Christmas day, however, then you still have plenty to do in order to prepare your home for the Christmas festivities. Begin each day with a plan of attack. Move your least pleasant tasks to the top of the list and plan to do them first thing in the morning.

Give yourself the gift of early preparation & confidence! www.listplanit.com

How to Create your Most Peaceful Holiday Season Ever!

2008-12-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

How to Create your Most Peaceful Holiday Season Ever!

Are you overwhelmed just thinking of your holiday to- do list?
Has holiday stress already started to take its’ toll on you?
Are you wondering how you will ever get everything done?

Do you dream of a peaceful, joyful holiday season?

Join me on Tuesday Dec 9, 2008 at 1200 noon EST and I guarantee that you will be able to create the best most peaceful holiday season ever.

During this teleclass you will learn:

* the ONE thing you need to do that can dramatically increase your enjoyment of the holidays
* ways to create priceless memories that can be carried on for generations
* how to bring the spirit of the holidays into your household and your heart
* steps you can take to reduce your stress and keep your sanity intact this year
* how you can bring in the NEW YEAR with grace, enthusiasm and peace instead of overwhelm, regret or anxiety
* the ONE thing you must avoid in order to REDUCE STRESS this season

AND the 2 Strategies I have been using that is helping to create my Most Peaceful Holiday Season yet!

Date: Dec 9th 2008 at 1200 noon Eastern Standard Time, 1:00 pm Atlantic Standard Time and 9:00am Pacific Time. $17.00

http://www.peggyporter.com/dec08-teleclass.php

Defining Yourself as an Entrepreneur

2008-12-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Yvette Craddock decided her entrepreneurial fate at six years of age. In 2002, she began her journey by establishing Click Marketing Solutions, a full-service marketing firm, which received immediate industry recognition and has garnered over a dozen awards, including international recognition. In 2008, Yvette launched another business that derives from her personal passion for fashion. ShopStyleFolio.com is devoted to bold, modern and luxurious women’s jewelry and offers only one of each item. Through her entrepreneurial outlets, she continues to design her life and inspire others. www.click-marketing.net

4 P’s

Path - What activities/interests are you attracted to; people or causes.

Passion – What are your strengths; things that you do effortlessly for free if you had to.

Purpose – Combine path and passion to define opportunities for change in your area of expertise/interest.

Plan - What is your realistic, comprehensive business plan? How does that factor into your life plan.

Visit Yvette Craddock at
www.click-marketing.net

www.twittermoms.com/profile/LynneKenney

GRANDMA'S CEREAL COOKIES

2008-12-02T15:55:00.001-08:00

What child doesn't like cookies? If you're having trouble your children to eat their cereal in the morning, here's the recipe for delicious, nutritious cookies, from my grandma.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening or organic butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk
2 cups of your favorite nutritious cereal (We use Wheaties)
1 cup chocolate chips

Three steps that make you a cook:

1) Cream the shortening or butter, sugar, brown sugar, milk, egg and vanilla. 2) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, the baking soda, the powder and the salt. 3) Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. When they're mixed fold in 1 cup chocolate chips and 2 cups of your favorite cereal.

Cook at 350 degrees on a buttered cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.

Roadblocks to Entrepreneurial Success

2008-12-01T15:10:00.001-08:00

You may be holiday shopping or cooking today. Perhaps you are already thinking about how to make 2009 a more productive year than 2008. If so, listen to these hard earned words of John Bishop. Plan for your entrepreneurial success...

There will be challenges along the way to your success. Here are ten potential roadblocks to look out for:

1. No clear vision - The clearer your vision is of your definition for success, the faster you will achieve it.

2. Fear of failure - Eliminate the Bummer Words - no, never, can’t, won’t, maybe and if.

3. Lack of determination - Turn challenges into a problems that need to be overcome.

4. No action plan - Write a detailed, step-by-step plan of how you will achieve your success. Include a timetable for completion, and place the written strategy where you can read it, every day.

5. Inflexibility - You will have to make adjustments in your life to focus on reaching the success you want.

6. Negative thinking - Everyone has some self-doubt. Ask yourself everyday: a). Did I give my best effort to today’s activities? b) Did I move closer to reaching my goals?

7. Lack of enthusiasm - All days are good; some are better than others. You will find enthusiasm is contagious; give some to others.

8. Procrastination - You can have the best plan in the world, but if you don’t take action on it you simply have a dream.

9. Making excuses - Take personal responsibility for your success by eliminating excuses. Avoid blaming others for your lack of effort.

10. Refusal to learn from your mistakes - Successful people learn valuable life lessons from their mistakes.

These roadblocks can actually become stepping stones to your success. How? By identifying which ones are holding you back from reaching your goals and diligently working to eliminate them. Set monthly and quarterly goals. Post affirmations around your home. Seek relationships with positive thinkers. Plan for Success in 2009!

AND BABY MAKES TWO- - Things that make you say eeeew and smile

2008-12-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

First time parents are in for their share of terrible sights and smells! Some of us are better at it than others; but it’s safe to say that we all have some issues dealing with those baby bodily functions. Here are some tips for dealing with the grossest of the gross.

Spitting up
Moms of young babies often feel that they spend their entire lives wearing a dirty shirt. Not only is it difficult to keep your clothing clean, but it’s difficult to keep yourself (and baby) smelling fresh. First, keep some sort of cloth around for your shoulder and lap whenever you’re burping baby. They make specific burp rags, but when my babies were young, I found that these cloths were not wide enough to cover my whole shoulder. Cloth diapers worked much better. I pretty much walked around the house with a cloth diaper on my shoulder at all times when I had a small infant.

Washing those clothes that have been regurgitated upon takes some special care. The smell (especially if you’re using formula) can be hard to remove. Try putting a splash of color safe bleach in the wash to completely remove the smell.

Moms who work have a special challenge – getting to work in the morning without having to change your shirt before you drop off baby. Here was my solution for this dilemma. After I got dressed in the morning, I would put one of my husband’s old dress shirts on over my clothes. I wore it until after I had dropped the baby off at the sitter. It covered nearly my entire outfit.

Poopy Diapers
Get a surgical mask if you need it, you’re going to be changing these for a while. However, once your baby gets a little older, there will be fewer each day. You just have to toughen up about changing them. The best solution for controlling the smell is just to get them out of the house quickly. No, really just bag em and toss em. Luckily, a newborn’s diet prevents the smell from being too offensive; just wait until they start eating solids or better yet, til they are teens...

Little Boy Accidents During Diaper Change
Has it happened to you yet? If you’re the parent of a newborn boy, it’s only a matter of time until your little darling sprays you in the face with a stream of urine during the diaper change. My advice is to keep your son’s penis covered as much as possible during the diaper change. An extra cloth close by can be a lifesaver!

Honestly, babies smell great no matter what the secretions. A bit of humor goes a long way. Here is a great link for large swaddling blankets that are super helpful. I use the aden + anais large swaddling blankets for everything. www.clevermom.me

Kids Health and Activity Camp

2008-12-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Location Village Health Club and Spa at DC Ranch
Open to ages 6-15 5-6:15pm

December 15th, 2008 thru January 9th, 2009
Excluding December 24th, 25, 31st and Jan 1st, 2009

$15 per single class/ $100 for 10 classes/ $120 for 15 classes
(no make-ups and classes must be used in the scheduled time)
Kids do not need to be members to attend these classes

Contact Cindy Feltman Angulo CPT (602) 451-3672

Check out Dr. Kenney 1 pm Today Channel 12 LIVE

2008-11-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

Get Real—Set Reasonable Expectations

The holiday season may be portrayed as trouble free and festive. But family problems may escalate when the season arrives. The reality of the holidays, much like life, is that real people and families are not perfect. If you can change your expectations—don't expect holidays to be like the movies!—you may have a more enjoyable experience.

Tips for setting reasonable expectations:

* Do your best to stick to your regular family routine. Changing your schedule to fit in holiday activities and traveling can be tough on you and your kids, so try to keep things as normal as possible. Try to keep bedtimes and mealtimes the same even when you're away from home.
* Talk with your family about schedules. Take time to explain each day's activities to your children and let them know what you expect from them. Together, choose activities that you really want to do. You can't do everything, so you might let your children pick their favorite things for your family to do. Do the things that you all will enjoy the most, and then say "no" to extra activities.
* Talk with family members about your expectations for their behavior at the holidays. We can't tell our children to behave if a family member models drinking too much, swearing and bringing their old baggage to the table.
* Talk with your family about finances. Even young children can learn how to budget for gifts. Urge them to get creative and make presents for family members instead of buying them. Receiving a thoughtful gift from a child can be a memorable holiday moment. Many families concentrate on special things they can make or do for each other.

Maintain Your Health:

* Eat in moderation - Eat small meals several times throughout the day.
* If a meal is particularly delicious - take half of it off your plate and save it for later.
* Drink water - stay hydrated.
* Drink in moderation or replace alcohol with lemon water, fresh tea or sparkling organic lemonade.
* Get your sleep. Sleep deprivation leads to stress.
* Exercise - Use 10 minute movement morsels if you cannot get outside to ride your bike or go for a walk.

Take Time To Relax and Play with Your Family:

Plan quiet time or at least downtime from activities. Take a few moments to read a book, take a bubble bath, or sit down and listen to your favorite songs. You also may want to:

* Play a board game with your family.
* Go for a walk with your family to see holiday displays in your neighborhood.
* Join your kids for fun family exercise. If you choose something outdoors, the fresh air and exercise can lift your spirits.
* Settle down for storytime with your family. Pull out holiday stories that you loved as a child and read them aloud together.

Volunteer at a Local Charity:

Carving out a few hours to volunteer at a charity might seem impossible but giving your time and energy may help you find the spirit of the season. Stuck for ideas? You and your family might help wrap gifts for needy children, deliver meals to families in need, or visit residents in a local nursing home.

Just Do Your Best:

As you enjoy the holiday season, do your best to limit stress. Don't expect everything to go as planned. Your child may get sick on the holiday, the oven might break as you are cooking a special dinner, or a storm may prevent relatives from visiting. When these things happen, let the family help decide on a new plan. For example, if the electricity goes out, grab your flashlights and make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Use cookie cutters to cut them into fun shapes!

Don't let unexpected events ruin the holidays for you. Be adaptable and flexible. You can help yourself and your children relax and enjoy the holidays for what they truly are: a time of joy, celebration, and peace with friends and family.

Get organized on www.listplanit.com
Ready Meryl Starr's Personal Organization

Three Components of Successful School Programs for Children with ADHD

2008-11-25T10:48:00.001-08:00

The ADHD child’s school success is often dependent on his or her ability to attend to tasks and teacher and classroom expectations with minimal distraction. When a child exhibits behaviors associated with ADHD, consequences may include difficulties with school and with forming relationships with his or her peers if appropriate instructional methodologies and interventions are not implemented.

There are an estimated 1.46 to 2.46 million children with ADHD in the United States, constituting 3 to 5 percent of the school student population. It has been documented that approximately 25 to 30 percent of all children with ADHD also have learning disabilities. Likewise, children with ADHD have coexisting psychiatric disorders at a much higher rate.

When selecting and implementing successful school strategies and practices for the ADHD student, it is imperative to understand the characteristics of the child, including those pertaining to disabilities. This knowledge will be useful in the evaluation and implementation of successful practices, which are often the same practices that benefit students without ADHD.

Three Components of Successful Programs for Children with ADHD: The three main components of a successful ADHD school strategy are academic instruction, behavioral interventions, and classroom accommodations. This guide outlines a series of strategies proven successful in not only educating children with ADHD but all children. By incorporating techniques from these three areas into their everyday instructional and classroom management practices, teachers will improve the academic performance and the behavior of their students with ADHD.

Academic Instruction: The first major component of the most effective instruction for children with ADHD is effective school instruction. Teachers can help prepare their students with ADHD to achieve by applying the principles of effective teaching when they introduce, conduct, and conclude each lesson during the school day. The discussion and techniques that follow pertain to the instructional process in general (across subject areas); strategies for specific subject areas appear in the subsequent subsection “Individualizing Instructional Practices.”

Behavioral Interventions: The second major component of effective school instruction for children with ADHD involves the use of behavioral interventions. The purpose of behavioral interventions in the school setting is to assist ADHD students in displaying the behaviors that are most conducive to their own learning and that of classmates. Well-managed classrooms prevent many disciplinary problems and provide an environment that is most favorable for learning. When a teacher’s time must be spent interacting with students whose behaviors are not focused on the lesson being presented, less time is available for assisting other students. Behavioral interventions should be viewed as an opportunity for teaching in the most effective and efficient manner, rather than as an opportunity for punishment.

Classroom Accommodations: The third component of a strategy for effectively educating children with ADHD involves physical school classroom accommodations. Children with ADHD often have difficulty adjusting to the structured environment of a classroom, determining what is important, and focusing on their assigned work. They are easily distracted by other children or by nearby activities in the school classroom. As a result, many children with ADHD benefit from accommodations that reduce distractions in the classroom environment and help them to stay on task and learn. Certain accommodations within the physical and learning environments of the classroom can benefit children with ADHD. Source: U.S. Department of Education. To order a hard copy of this ADD teaching report, e-mail edpubs@inet.ed.gov or call (877) 433-7827.

Montel Says Make Exercise a Habit

2008-11-22T06:12:00.000-08:00

You are an active person, whether you realize it or not! You may not run five miles a day or hike a mountain every weekend, but chances are you spend at least some time walking, running after your kids, and lifting things (whether they're weights or laundry detergent doesn't matter!).

To truly live well physically, it's important for you to energize your body most days of the week, with at least 30 minutes — heading toward a goal of 60 minutes — of physical activity.

People can always make excuses as to why they don't have time to exercise. But when it comes down to it, if it's important to you, you can fit it in. If you have time to watch TV or go to dinner with friends, you can certainly find time to enjoy some physical activity!

Here are a few ways for you to discover the joy of regular exercise:

* Start slowly and gradually. Over the next few weeks and months, work your way up to 30 minutes (with the goal of reaching 60 minutes) on most days of the week. Remember: Slow and steady wins the race!
* Stay hydrated: Drink fluids, especially water, before, during, and after your activity.
* Before you exercise, warm up with about five minutes of walking, marching in place, or a less strenuous version of the activity you're about to do.
* At the end of the exercise, slow down gradually with five minutes of a cool down similar to your warm-up. For example, if you're finishing a run, slow to a jog, then a walk.
* If you feel pain during exercise, stop and be sure to consult your doctor. Uncomfortable stiffness, dizziness, or severe breathlessness are also signs that you should stop and get medical attention.

Over the next few days, we'll explore the three major types of structured physical activity: aerobic/cardiovascular, resistance/strength, and flexibility. They are all important parts of your fitness program, and they will work together to reinforce one another.

Here's to living well!

What Is Phonological/Phoneme Awareness?

2008-11-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes teachers tell parents, "Your child does not have phonemic awareness." What does that mean and what can we do to improve phonemic awareness?

Stanovich (1993) defines "phonological awareness" as the ability to deal explicitly and segmentally with sound units smaller than the syllable. He also notes that researchers "argue intensely" about the meaning of the term and about the nature of the tasks used to measure it.

Phonological awareness sometimes refers to an awareness that words consist of syllables and phonemes (segments of words or groupings of sound).

A phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and move individual sounds (manipulate) - phonemes - in spoken words.

Adams (1990) describes 5 levels of phonemic awareness in terms of abilities:

* to hear rhymes and alliteration as measured by knowledge of nursery rhymes

* to do oddity tasks (comparing and contrasting the sounds of words for rhyme and alliteration)

* to blend and split syllables

* to perform phonemic segmentation (such as counting out the number of phonemes in a word)

* to perform phoneme manipulation tasks (such as adding, deleting a particular phoneme and regenerating a word from the remainder).

What can you do to enhance phonemic awareness and consequently reading skills?

Phonemic awareness can be developed through a number of activities, including asking children beginning in preschool (age 3) to:

1. Have fun with your child teaching him rhymes.
2. Clap the rhythm of syllables.
3. Identify and categorize sounds.
4. Blend sounds to form words.
5. Delete or add sounds to form new words.
6. Substitute sounds to make new words.

Read with your child. Practice phonics with your child. Enjoy playing with sounds through music, clapping and movement.

Visit www.hookedonphonics.com to learn more.

Michelle LaRowe on the 6 C's of discipline

2008-11-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

Listen in to Michelle LaRowe on discipline www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Family-Coach.

Michelle's 6 C's of Effective Discipline.

Comprehension: Understand what true discipline is

Clarity: Be clear with your expectations

Communication: Get everyone on the same page

Consistency: Be regular and predictable

Consideration: Protect little hearts

Centering your faith: Put Jesus first!

www.michellelarowe.com

Parenting expert MARY MURRAY on teaching friendship skills

2008-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

Listen in to Educational Psychologist Mary Murray, Director of Murray Camp on Nantucket, as we talk about what schools and parents can do to help teach friendship skills.

Mary suggests we visit onetoughjob.org and www.pbs.org/parents for helpful tips and solutions.

www.blogtalkradio.com/the-family-coach

Books that might interest you include:

Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman

Friends: Making Them & Keeping Them (American Girl) by Patti Kelley Criswell and Stacy Peterson

A Smart Girls Guide to Friendship Troubles by Patti Kelley Criswell and Angela Martini

Protect Your Child from Bullying: Expert Advice to Help You Recognize, Prevent, and Stop Bullying Before Your Child Gets Hurt by Allan L. Beane

Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues that Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing by Michele Borba

Parents Do Make a Difference: How to Raise Kids with Solid Character, Strong Minds, and Caring Hearts (The Jossey-Bass Psychology Series) by Michele Borba

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me: The Top 25 Friendship Problems and How to Solve Them by Michele Borba

Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different - And How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balanced Men by Steve Biddulph and Paul Stanish

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson

The holidays on a budget with Dr. Caron Goode

2008-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

For families who are facing tough times, the end of the year holidays may become a source of stress, guilt and worry. But getting creative during these tough times and coming up with alternative ways to celebrate to share time and give gifts (without breaking the bank) brings the joy of the holiday season back to the forefront. To celebrate the holidays on a shoestring budget, put these top ten tips to the test:

1. Start with comfort foods created with a dose of love. I remember the smell of buttery blueberry muffins on Christmas morning that our neighbor provided. She put her heart into cooking, and you can do the same with a few shortcuts for time. Gift muffins, breads or cookies.

a. Cinnamon bread or buns: Buy frozen bread dough and follow instructions for thawing. Before letting the bread rise, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough in roughly a rectangle shape. Sprinkle generously with sugar or sugar substitute, and cinnamon. If you like slivered pecans or almonds, add them at this stage of preparation. Slowly and evenly roll the dough from longest side to the longest side and shape the edges closed. Put into a loaf pan for rising before baking. If you want cinnamon rolls, then roll the dough as suggested very long and stretch a little more. Cut two-inch slices and place on a cookie tray for rising before baking.

b. Gluten-free: For those of you on special diets, try Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix or the Gluten Free Brownie Mix by Bob’s Red Mill. I fix them in my household and find them delicious. Here is the link: http://www.bobsredmill.com/product.php?productid=3746

2. Remember the reason for the season. Take time to reflect on what the holidays mean to you and to your family. This can help to get your focus off of the commercialization and materialism of the holidays and back to the meaning behind them. Doing this can often help you to regain perspective and to approach your family holidays from a different (and more affordable) angle.

3. Use pictures to evoke memories. Dig out your older family holiday pictures. Disply them on corkboard or large poster board. Pictures can evoke emotions and a sense of belonging. Or make a scrapbook of holidays past and present. Talk about what was happening before and after each photo was taken. Write captions. Make this a fun, family event where every age has a say and smile!

4. Encourage an attitude of gratitude in your children. Foster an attitude of gratitude in your children by encouraging them to express thanks for what they do have and by giving back to others who have substantially less. Use pictures to express appreciation. Pictures often inspire people to express what they appreciate or admire about others. A picture of dad dressed as Santa Claus might make children laugh. It might also make them realize they appreciate his sense of humor. Encourage your family to share these types of feelings as you work on your scrapbook.

5. Put the focus on the family. Some of the best family memories are made during the holidays, so take advantage of the time together by doing low cost activities as a family. Playing board games, attending holiday services, going for walks, and watching a classic Christmas movie at home are all no cost ways to celebrate one of the greatest gifts of all.

6. List positive assets in the family holiday scrapbook. You can do this by asking all family members to list five positive things they feel about the family member in a photo. Have them write these attributes on the page where the picture appears or next to the displayed pihotos. Also have them include their name and the date. Small tributes such as these can go a long way towards building a positive family-image and appreciation for each other.

7. Get crafty and creative. Homemade gifts truly make wonderful gifts for family, friends and relatives. From simple ornaments made out of hardened sugar cookies, to packing the dry ingredients of your favorite cookie recipe in a glass gar, giving gifts that are expressions of yourself and your family are not only affordable but meaningful.

8. Give cost free gifts. For parents that usually purchase gifts for teachers, or adult family members and friends, giving no cost gifts can make a great (and often needed) alternative. Free nights of babysitting, a day of housework or gardening or a lesson in a hobby that you excel at can help to significantly slash your holiday budget.

9. Consider doing grabs. Consider suggesting a group grab or playing secret Santa with family to cut back on costs. Another variation of a gift sharing is that each woman contributes a gift for a woman, and the same for each man and child with a gift cap of ten or twenty dollars. The joy is to be creative, useful, indulgent and humorous. Then, each person picks a wrapped, secret gift within his or her grouping.

10. Consider adopting a charity. Some families skip gift giving all together and take on a charity each holiday season. Instead of purchasing gifts, consider donating money, gifts or time to charity in the names of friends and family.

Remember the three Hs this holiday season and give them liberally: hugs, hot chocolate and humor.

Dr. Caron B. Goode is the founder of the Academy for Coaching Parents International, a training and certification program for parent coaches. In addition to duties with the academy, Goode is the founding editor of the website InspiredParenting.net, and the author of eleven books, the most recent of which is Help Kids Cope with Stress & Trauma, which includes several chapters on he use of storytelling strategies. For more information on The Academy for Coaching Parents International or to sign up for academy announcements, visit www.acpi.biz.

Holiday Tips with Peggy Porter

2008-11-17T05:27:00.000-08:00

Each year around this time, my girlfriends and I go on our annual shopping trip to the US. This is usually the time for me when I start my shopping and Christmas preparations.

Although for some, it may seem a bit premature, I always like to remind my readers in early November of how they can begin to implement a few tips now that can save them holiday stress later.

Being a busy, working mom is usually demanding enough, however, throw in a holiday and your stress level can go through the roof if you are not organized.

Each year some of us make the promise to ourselves that we will not be so unprepared or disorganized next Christmas. Somehow though, the year creeps up quickly and we are left with the same frantic schedule.

This year make a commitment to fully embrace and enjoy all that this wonderful time of year has to offer. Don't allow another year to go by feeling pressured, stressed and overwhelmed. You have complete control over what your holiday season will consist of.

Following are a few tips that may be helpful in getting a head start so when the season is in full swing, you can relax and enjoy all the festivities.

* Make your Christmas list now and start shopping. Write down who you have to buy for, any suggestions you have for gifts and approximate amount you want to spend on each person. Knowing how much you want to spend will eliminate a lot of needless shopping for items that are out of your price range. With the help of the computer, you can make a master list and save it so you can reuse each year, adding or changing as necessary. Use the convenience of gift certificates and online as well as catalogue shopping. It can make the whole process so much less demanding (unless you get a big rush being in the stores on the Saturday before Christmas!).

* Organize your gift wrapping essentials. Buy a container to house all your wrapping paper, scissors, ribbons and tags. Have it all ready in a convenient place such as a closet or under the bed. As you buy a gift, bring it home and wrap it. Having all the items together makes it easy to wrap as you buy. I have done this for the last few years and it makes my wrapping effortless, or almost effortless!

* Eliminate clutter now. In order to get ready for the new, get rid of the old. Go through your kids' toy boxes and throw out any broken or incomplete toys. Donate any others that your kids have outgrown and are still in good condition. If your kids are old enough, have them organize their own clothing or toys - a great way to teach them responsibility.

* Take care of your health. With the hectic schedule that many of us have during the season, it is a necessity to eat well and exercise regularly if we want to be energized and able to effectively manage holiday stress.

* Put yourself at the top of your Christmas to-do list. Remember that sacrificing your health and sanity does nothing for you or your family's Christmas spirit. Nourish and renew your own spirit this holiday season and I guarantee it will be the best gift your family will receive. Visit www.peggyporter.com for more great ideas from Canada's Finest Mom Coach!

Wurth Organizing To The Rescue

2008-11-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

Winter is a great time to "Spring Clean." If you need an organizer, no one is nicer or more committed than Danielle Wurth, mother and organizer. Here is what Danielle has to say....

Life is busier and more hectic than ever! Our home is our one "sacred retreat" from the craziness of our day. Being organized clears the mind and cleanses the soul from items you may or may or may not need thus creating a peaceful home environment.

Wurth Organizing has a passion for helping others cleanse their home from chaos. Your Organizing Guru Danielle Wurth makes the process fun, and the rewards are wurth the time and energy that is put forth.

We will work WITH you or FOR you to create an organizational system within budget to simplify your life by:

* Maximizing the space whether it is a closet, kitchen, garage or office
* Reducing your personal clutter by removing unwanted items to be donated or sold
* If you are selling your home, we will help you make it more marketable to buyers
* If you are moving into a new home, we'll assist you with the transition process
* Create a time and project management system for a happier, more gratifying life

Danielle Wurth
dlwurth@cox.net
602.579.5274

The value of assigning tasks to your children

2008-11-14T10:17:00.001-08:00

The majority of families with whom I work are facing issues of lack of control in their homes. They experience their children refusing to do as told, they feel their home lives could be better managed and they desire more peace and calm at home. Fundamentally, when I work with these families establishing a firm foundation of values is first. I have observed that if children are not clearly told what kind of family culture they live in and what behaviors are expected then they are confused and noncompliance is often the most common result.

Often, the first time I meet with a family we review what kind of family they wish to raise and then we begin to establish routines that will help them create the family they desire to live in. By assigning tasks to your children you are living with a value of helping your children become independent and resourceful. Therefore, one of my favorite tools in The Family Coach Toolbox is the ROUTINE TASKS LIST.

These task lists are essential for healthy family functioning. They serve two functions: 1) To help the family regain order and 2) To help the children begin to develop independent skills for health and wellness. Children as young at two years of age know that life experience have some order. They understand routine. A two year old knows that when she sits in her high-chair or at the family table that food is about to be served. They know that sitting comes first and eating comes second. This is the beginning of their understanding that some predictability exists in their world.

Morning and evening routines are the most basic routines to establish. While every family does routines differently, there are some basic tasks children need to complete each day before going to school. Of course, they need to get up, get dressed, get their teeth brushed, brush their hair, eat breakfast and head off to school.

Begin developing task lists by sitting down with your children, yes, even the young ones and talk about basic routines.

"Each morning when we get up we have a lot to do." "What do you do each morning?" "What order do you like to do things in?"

Write down the parts of the child's routine. Let them draw them and color them and write them out to their ability level. With a young child they can draw pictures and you can write underneath the pictures for them. Some children like to bathe in the morning others like to complete their homework in the morning. Write it all down. Then take a white magic marker board, the size you can hang on a bedroom door, and write a list of five tasks. Keep it simple so that your children can experience success.

Your board might look like this:

• Make my bed

• Get dressed

• Eat breakfast

• Brush my teeth

• Brush my hair

Or like this:

• Take a shower

• Get dressed

• Brush my teeth

• Brush my hair

• Eat breakfast

Create a task list for each child, recognizing that they may benefit from different routines. However the routine best works for you and your child, that is how you will write it down. Identifying routines and assigning written tasks to your children helps them become masterful independent children.

MaryAnn Kohl's Art Books: A must for creative families

2008-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

Once a month I co-teach an entire day of art to three classes at our girls school. We use MaryAnn Kohls books which I highly recommend to you all! Crayons, clay, fingerpaints, cookie sheets, milk cartons, and music are among the many ingredients that go into her imaginative art projects for kids http://www.brightring.com/Books.html.

The art projects in these award-winning books by MaryAnn Kohl allow children to explore the many facets of their world through art as a process, not just as a product. For your home, for your friends, for your children - check them out http://www.brightring.com/

INFANT SLEEP PATTERNS

2008-11-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

In the first three months, tiny babies seldom sleep for more than four-hour stretches without needing a feeding. Tiny babies have tiny tummies. Yet, they usually sleep a total of 14-18 hours a day.

From three to six months, most babies begin to settle. They are awake for longer stretches during the day and some may sleep five-hour stretches at night. Between three to six months, expect one or two nightwakings. You will also see the period of deep sleep lengthen. The vulnerable periods for nightwaking decrease and babies are able to enter deep sleep more quickly. This is called sleep maturity.

Generally, newborns sleep about eight to nine hours in the daytime and about eight hours at night. Most babies do not begin sleeping through the night (six to eight hours) without waking until about three months of age, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds. Newborns and young infants have a small stomach and must wake every few hours to eat. In most cases, your baby will awaken and be ready to eat about every three to four hours.

It is not necessary to wake a baby for feedings unless you have been advised to do so by your baby's physician. However, we usually do not let a newborn sleep longer than five hours at a time in the first five to six weeks. Some premature babies need more frequent feedings and must be awakened to eat.

Babies have shorter sleep cycles than you do. Alternating light and deep sleep about every 60 minutes vs Adults 90 minutes.

Signs that baby is falling asleep:
o Sigh Baby
o Grimace Baby
o Flutter Baby
o Twitch Baby
o Limp-limb Baby is usually fast asleep

Some babies need help getting back to sleep. Some "resettlers" or "self-soothers" can go through this vulnerable period without completely awakening, and if they do wake up, they can ease themselves back into a deep sleep.

Blood flow to the brain nearly doubles during REM sleep. (This increased blood flow is particularly evident in the area of the brain that automatically controls breathing.) During REM sleep the body increases its manufacture of certain nerve proteins, the building blocks of the brain. Learning is also thought to occur during the active stage of sleep. Speak with your pediatrician regarding your babies sleep habits as all babies differ.

The Perfect Apple Pie

2008-11-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

Tune in to The Family Coach Solution Studio to listen to the Empress of Pies, Miss Kris talk about making the perfect apple pie this holiday season.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Family-Coach

Pie Crust

2 ½ cups flour
1 cup shortening (I like butter flavored Crisco)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 egg
Up to 1/3 cup cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt with a pastry blender. You are looking for coarse crumb-like texture.

Measure vinegar and egg in measuring cup. Add cold to make 1/3 cup. Beat lightly. Add to flour mixture until dough holds together – adding more water 1 T at a time if necessary.

Apples

6-8 cups peeled and sliced tart apples (I like Granny Smith best)
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ - 1 cup sugar – depending on the apples
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons butter

Toss apples with flour, cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice. Put in crust and dot with butter before adding top crust. Pie should bake at 375 degrees – probably close to an hour. Cover top lightly with foil during the first half hour or so to keep from over browning. Pie is done when crust is flaky and apples are bubbling. Yum!

Get Dr. Kenney's DVD today

2008-11-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

DVD - Parenting Essentials: 10 Steps to More Confident Parenting by Dr. Lynne Kenney

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=1983

Dr. Lynne Kenney, a self-professed "nine year-old at heart," recognizes that we live in a stressful world. She also believes that kids are resilient and forgiving. In the face of challenges, we can raise strong, independent children while living passionately and helping our children do the same. A clinician and an educator, Dr. Kenney talks about:

· Establishing and communicating values for our children

· Setting boundaries

· Getting out of the "control cycle"

· Helping kids define themselves

Dr. Kenney founded the multimedia franchise Real Time Moms, audiocasts the ModMom show, and hosts Baby Basics on BabyFirst TV. She has written for audiences from children to divorce court judges, and she has a busy clinical practice. She holds a doctorate in psychology from Pepperdine University and has trained at Harvard Medical School and UCLA Medical School. Bonus materials include an in-depth interview with Dr. Kenney, an audience Q&A session and more!

You are what you eat! Teleconference November 13, 2008

2008-11-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today’s families are overscheduled and overtaxed. Learn the importance of fueling your family life with healthy food, meal planning, simple meals, exercise and fun! Dive into family dining, family meal planning, cooking, dinner table activities and mindful eating. Experience 60 minutes that will change your life. The Family Coach Dr. Lynne Kenney. 12 participant limit. Write me at thefamilycoachATaol.com to register. November 13, 2008 9:30-10:30 am Arizona Time.

a. What are the 12 healthiest foods
b. The Harvard Healthy Food Pyramid
c. Three levels of healthy eating
d. Juicing, mixing, cooking and stirring
e. Family meal planning
f. Healthy cookbooks
g. Family Dinner Time Activities
h. Strategies for picky eaters
i. Family Dinner as a protective factor for your children
Call in numbers and handout will be emailed to your prior to the event.
Come armed with paper, pencil and markers. Hear you there!

Be A Mentor at AASK

2008-10-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the person who helped you search for your first apartment?

Who dropped you off for your first job interview?

Who was there to listen when you came home after a rough day at work?

One of the most critical needs in our community is for mentors to support foster teens age 17 and older. Upon celebrating their 18th birthday, foster teens “age out” of the system. The State provides each teen with monthly financial support for housing and food, but without a caring adult to guide and encourage them it can be very scary to venture into the adult world.

How does the program benefit teens?

As a Community Advisor, you can help make a difference in the life of a foster teen by serving as a role model, mentor and friend. You can provide them with emotional support and assistance in learning life skills as they transition from foster care to an independent life of their own. Community Advisors assist foster teens in learning positive decision-making, relationship building and becoming successful participants in their community.

Nationwide, foster youth without support are less likely to finish high school and are more likely to be homeless, unemployed, live in poverty, become involved in violence, drug and alcohol abuse, or be incarcerated.
How can you get involved?

Find out how you can make a difference in a foster teen’s future. Contact specialfriends@aask-az.org for program details and to download an application. You may also contact: Community Advisor Program Coordinator, Michael Weddle, at mweddle@aask-az.org or at telephone number 602.930.4451. Visit www.aask-az.org for more information.

Five Steps To Being A Mindful Parent

2008-10-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

The term “mindful” has been the subject of much research in the past ten years. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, a prominent researcher in mindfulness, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”

Relative to your daily parenting, mindfulness refers to being present and alert in the moment with yourself first and then your child without distraction. Parenting mindfully means being present and non-judgmental in any given moment or experience. When one is present, alert and experiencing a moment fully, parenting attentively with love and compassion arrive with ease. Each moment flows to the next as you experience the thoughts, sensations and experiences of being in the moment with your child. Being mindful is living alertly in the now.

If one is going to establish a parenting process that takes just 30 mindful minutes a day to implement, it needs to be active, actionable and simple. No parent is going to adhere to a long arduous and confusing process. So the first step is to simplify parenting. Using mindfulness as the backdrop this is achievable.

Here are five simple steps to becoming mindful each day:

1. First thing in the morning, fresh out of bed, sit and meditate for five minutes, take a brisk walk or sit down with your planer and bring being mindful "front of mind."
2. Choose a specific person, activity, word or action to focus on.
3. Create a sentence to say to yourself that will help you to focus mindfully on this person, activity, word or action. As an example, for my daughters birthday, she wished for me to be a more back-stage helper rather than the director of the event. At eight years of age she had an image of how she wanted her party to go and she wished to be the director. So the day of her party, I sat for five minutes with my eyes closed, I centered my thought on the following affirmation "Allie is the director, I am the helper, let her guide the way."
4. When you live your mindful focus by observing your affirmation, sentence, or mantra, take one second to smile to yourself and think "I lived it!"
5. Release your brain to live the rest of your day with free and happy thoughts because you practiced and lived one mindful goal throughout your day.

Remember, one thought one moment at a time.

What is Stress by Entrepreneur Coach Peggy Porter

2008-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

What Really is STRESS?

As women and Mom Entrepreneurs, stress is probably a word that we either say or hear daily. If we don't say or hear it then I guarantee most people feel it. It has become a fact of life.

The secret to handling stress, however, is in the management of it.

How a person manages stress and copes with change affects both the quality and length of life a person can expect to live. Hans Selye-the father of stress research and education, discovered in the laboratory that mood affects health. When you are happy, your body emits chemicals and hormones that combat disease and prolong life. When you are sad or depressed, your body releases chemicals and hormones that can trigger disease and prematurely end life.

For the typical person, half the source of stress is job related and half is connected to home and family.

If the workplace is stressful, it helps to have a safe haven at home; if there is stress at home, it is ideal to have smooth sailing at work. The person however who is fighting a double war-stress on the job AND at home-is a candidate for "breakdown", otherwise known as "burnout."

Here's one definition of stress:

The physical and emotional wear and tear resulting from real or imagined problems. When a threat to wellbeing is perceived, a small area of the brain known as the hypothalamus is activated. This stimulates a number of other physiological changes; increased release of hormones and chemicals into the bloodstream, increased heart rate, energy, respiration and blood flow to active muscles. The body goes into a state of "alert" - ready to take action, ready to combat the threat or run away. This is known as the Fight or Flight response. If you do fight or flee, chemicals and hormones are used up quickly by the body.

In the early ages of civilization when men and women were threatened by large predators, forest fires and an adverse climate the fight or flight response served them well. It was an excellent aid for survival; stressor -- physiological reaction -- fight or flee -- body returns to normal because they dealt with the stressor and then the stressor was gone until another one came along.

In the modern day, however, most of our threats are psychological instead of physical...often fighting is not appropriate and fleeing is not possible. Bodies still react just as our ancestors did so hormones and chemicals are released in response to the threat. Because the threats are more psychological than physical, we sit tight (unable to fight or flee as our ancestors did when dealing with a physical threat) and react to one stressor after another-usually leaving our body with no time to return to normal before the next stressor hits us. The level of chemicals and hormones increase and our internal organs experience wear and tear. Damage may result in conditions such as heart attack, stroke, ulcerative colitis, or other harmful diseases.

So as you can see, stress in today's society is much more serious and damaging than in the earlier ages.

Another challenge is that we accept stress as just a normal part of our lives without realizing the toll it is taking on not only on the length of our lives but the quality as well.

In order to be a successful business owner and balanced Mom, effectively recognizing and managing stress is key. Is stress affecting your life or business? If so, stay tuned for my next article where I will talk about the signs of stress and the one thing you MUST do to manage it more effectively. Visit www.peggyporter.com for more.

Time Management For Moms

2008-10-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks several moms and I have discussed the need to spend 15 simple minutes a day planning their strategies for home success.

Topics we have reviewed:

1. Manage your to do's: Write your to do's in your planner. Prioritize your to do's (ABC). Give a to do to someone else if it is not imperative that you do it.
2. Clean one room a day for 15 minutes and your home will sparkle.
3. Spend 15 mindful face to face uninterrupted minutes with your child, your relationship will blossom.

Now my wonderful colleague Heather Dominick www.energyrichcoach.com has introduced me to Paula Eder "The Time Finder." This is what I learned on her blog this morning - thetimefinder.com/

Finding Time You Didn’t Know You Had!

The secret to finding more time for yourself is by developing the skill that I call “Thinking 15.”

‘Thinking 15″ means looking at 15-minutes as the time-block that you build your day, and your daily plan, around. It means knowing that 15-minutes is plenty of time for many, many tasks in your life. You may not be able to complete a task in 15-minutes - but you can always make a start!

When you’re “Thinking 15″ you’ll find that you are making choices about time in a whole new way. What if you have 15-minutes between the dinner dishes and your coaching call? You won’t let that precious time go, thinking that there’s nothing on your plate that takes just 15-minutes.

Something is better than nothing.

Rather than letting that time go by, when you’re “Thinking 15” you might make a start on a task that you haven’t been getting to. Or how about jumping on the treadmill for a quick run, or lifting some weights? You could return a phone call or respond to some e-mails. Or you might choose to take the moment and sit quietly with yourself, as Connie Ragen Green and I suggested in yesterday’s post.

In all of these examples, the operative concepts are “Thinking 15” and recognizing that whether you consciously choose or not, you’re always making time choices!

As you go through your day, I guarantee that you will find “Thinking 15” to be a very useful tool for both finding and using time more effectively!

How many 15-minute time blocks can you reclaim and put to use today?

I'm looking at my day differently already. Thanks Paula!

The Family Coach Menu

2008-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Each day I am honored to receive many phone calls and emails from moms asking, "How can I improve my family life?" A good place to start is with your own personal priorities. What domains do you wish to improve? What are you currently finding most challenging? Look at The Family Coach menu, choose the three top areas in which you wish to work then email me on the CONTACT button on www.lynnekenney.com, I will help to guide you to resources that are best suited for you and your family.

THE FAMILY COACH
Coaching Menu

Better Family Living
 Create more family fun
 Develop closer family relationships
 Develop successful family leadership
 Develop successful family systems
 Develop successful strategies for disciplining our children
 Family meal planning
 Getting our children to do as we ask
 Goal setting for success
 Grocery shopping strategies
 Identify the foundation of our family
 Nutrition and health planning
 Simple cooking strategies

The Organized Home
 Daily action plan for healthy families
 Develop a system for family roles and responsibilities
 Develop a system for family tasks and chores
 Develop and implement study centers
 Time-management strategies (individual or family)
 Use schedules, posters, and picture boards for every day success

The Productive Family
 Homework success strategies
 Manage ADHD at home or at school
 Manage Anxiety/Anger/Avoidance
 MoveMent morsels: Health and exercise systems
 My family art center
 My family music center
 My family small manipulatives center
 Organizing our toys and tools
 Play Time strategies
 Setting up centers: Who, what, when, where and how
 Teaching readiness and responsibility
 You’re personalized “The Family Coach @ Home Curriculum”

What Does Coaching Mean To You?

2008-10-10T08:34:00.001-07:00

What does coaching mean to you?

When you look back on your life experiences with your coaches, what did they do?
They helped you learn new skills.
They helped you improve your skills and abilities in order to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Family Coach is a method where a skilled person outside of your immediate circle, helps you to identify who you want to be and how you are going to get there. Coaching is about change through active questioning, data collection, decision making and implementation.

How The Family Coach works: The coaching process is an enjoyable and amazing journey in which you develop an effective collaboration between the family coach and yourself.

In creating skills for Better Family Living, the coaching work is about laying a clear foundation, identifying where you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there. You participate in an active process of goal setting and reexamination of your achievement towards your goals. You learn the skills to monitor progress toward your goals on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.

The Family Coach helps you plan for your future, organize your time, design your family life and realize your potential as a parent, mom entrepreneur and CEO of your family life. You can dive into Better Family Living Skills with The Family Coach Teleclass Series, email Lynne through the CONTACT button on the www.lynnekenney.com website if you wish to learn more.

Managing Anger and Anxiety II Teleclass

2008-10-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

You are invited to the Managing Anger and Anxiety II Teleclass

Tuesday October 14, 2008 7:30-8:30 pm Pacific Time

I have created a teleclass to extend our learning from the recent NSP Workshop. Even if you were not free to attend, this teleclass will provide valuable content for you.

In this teleclass we will step back to the foundation of our homes. A topic few families ever have the opportunity to explore. We will review progress of your strategies to date and discuss Establishing The Foundation for your happy home.

We will review establishing your family mission statement, creating a values based family, and writing the rules for your happy home. You are free to invite friends if you wish. We all can learn to develop the foundation for our successful homes together.

For Registration Please Visit http://thefamilycoach.eventbrite.com/

The class will last 60 minutes. This teleconferencing opportunity costs $35.00. You dial the conference line and enter the PIN number. You pay for the long-distance charge, which varies based on your own phone sevice agreement. This is a live call similar to a conference call. You will be able to communicate with other class participants, ask questions and offer comments.

Please come to the teleclass armed with white paper, several markers and a pen. If you already have developed your The Family Coach Playbook, our notes will go there, if you have yet to develop your Playbook stay tuned... we will do it Tuesday via phone.

The conference line and PIN will be emailed to you upon registration.

Please secure payment through PAYPAL. I look forward to sharing this learning experience with you.

Very Best,

Lynne Kenney, PsyD

www.lynnekenney.com

Halloween Health Tips

2008-09-28T05:07:00.000-07:00

This Halloween keep your kids on an even keel with these health and nutrition tips:

1. Eat lean proteins such as chicken and complex carbohydrates like brown rice before eating sweets to decrease the associated blood sugar spike. Eating lean protein or complex carbohydrates will help slow down the absorption of the sugar into your blood stream. Did you know that in order for you to lose weight, you must keep your blood sugar level steady to allow your body to burn fat?

2. Offer your children a healthy meal before Trick or Treating. The less hungry they are the less likely they are to overload on candy.

3. During the holiday season keep fresh fruit on the kitchen counter so when your kids grab-n-go they choose fresh fruit over sweets.

4. If candy is a must, offer your children lollipops instead of candy bars. In general, hard candies have fewer calories than chocolate. For example, 2.1 oz of a snickers bar has 280 calories compared to a lollipop with only 22 calories. That means, a snickers bar has over 12x more calories than a piece of a lollipop.

5. Buy your candy at the last minute to avoid eating the candy ahead of time. Consider buying a candy that you don't like to avoid the temptation of eating it
when handing out candy to trick or treaters.

6. After Trick-or-Treating offer to buy the candy your kids gathered for 5 cents a piece, they'll have money to go shopping and you'll have less of a headache from their screaming sugar rush.

7. Donate the candy to a day camp, shelter or school, teachers use one piece at a time for academic reinforcement. One piece at a time is the perfect portion.

Halloween is a time for family and fun. Developing a plan for health ahead of time is the key.

Source: Arnel Ricafranca is the owner of Fitness Boot Camp.

Back To The Dinner Table: Name Your Nights

2008-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Getting back on a family dinner schedule is one of the best gifts you can give your children after the holidays. Family dinner has been shown to enhance school success, decrease illegal substance use and decrease bullying and teasing.

Take the time to name each night a different dining experience.

Sunday = Buffet Night

Monday = Hearty Meals Night

Tuesday = Spaghetti Night

Wednesday = On Broadway! As your children prepare and sing a show of any sort. Thursday = Picnic Night – Remember you can picnic anywhere anytime, in your backyard, in the park or even on the family room floor.

Friday = Ethnic Dinner Night, try some exotic food choices or simply stick with Chinese.

Saturday = Date Night, mom and dad go out and kids enjoy Pizza and salad.

Change up your schedule when kids get energized or you run out of recipes. Check out www.cooks.com, www.rachaelray.com, www.allrecipes.com and www.bhg.com for monthly recipes.

ON THE SAME PAGE – WHEN YOUR DISCIPLINE STYLES VARY

2008-09-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Parenting your children can be difficult. We often struggle with determining the right appropriate limits and with following through with the consequences we’ve promised. But, things can really get complicated when we’re two people who have very different styles of discipline try to parent together.

Good Cop, Bad Cop
It’s not unusual for one parent to be far stricter than the other. But, allowing each parent to discipline as they see fit when they know their style is different from that of their spouse sets you up to have your child play one parent against the other. Your child will soon learn to go to the more lenient parent with issues, leaving out the stricter parent. The child may even ask the “nice” parent to intervene on their behalf with the “mean” one. Neither of you is receiving a great deal of respect from your child when this situation is allowed to arise. Plus, it’s likely to cause issues in your marriage, because you never agree on how the other handles discipline situations.

Meeting in the Middle
If your parenting styles differ significantly, you’re going to need to discuss every discipline situation for a while. You should make the rule that no punishments, or even threats of punishment should be delivered by either parent alone. Sit down and discuss each and every situation. You can begin by discussing what each of you would do if you had to deal with the situation alone, and then choose a disciplinary action that both of you can support.

After a while, some patterns will be established, and each of you will have a good idea of how to handle a situation on your own in a way that would be acceptable to your partner, too.

A United Front
It’s critical that you and your partner present a united front to your child. Children need to understand that mom and dad are working together to make the rules and provide clear direction. Showing your child that both parents are on the same page and that standards and consequences are fully supported by both parties will have a positive impact on your child’s behavior. Children look to us to set the rules; inconsistency between parents is confusing to them. So, hook up with your partner and create clear rules and consequences for breaking them that everyone can understand and support.

Free Parenting Class in Phoenix

2008-09-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Parachutes For Parents is a one-stop parenting program that will show you how to both love and discipline your children. It then shows you how to achieve the kind of communication that leads to close, warm connections, joyful laughter, and memorable times with your family. It also shows you how to by-pass the teen rebellion and offers a 125-page Problem-Solving Guide for every imaginable parenting problem.

You will learn to:
• Keep parent-child relationships close & cooperative, rather than broken and bratty
• Conduct open, fun, & interesting conversation, rather than combative or shut down interactions
• Use problems to teach clear lessons about living life honestly & effectively, rather that resist and dismiss them as unnecessary disruptions
• By-pass the teen rebellion, rather than become paralyzed and ineffective during this phase of child development
• Bring true peace & joy to your family, rather than the chaos that fills so many homes.

Powerful Parenting Class
Wednesdays, September 10th - November 12th
CCOJ - Building 3 (Room 303 & 304)
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Class is Free of Charge (no need to register)
Day-care is Free @ Kid's Kountry (on same campus as CCOJ)

Presented by Bobbie Merrill, MSW and Tom Merrill, Ph. D.

Much of the Merrill's approach to working with children is based on Bobbie's highly acclaimed book, Parachutes for Parents: Raising Loved and Loving Children for a Better World. This model has been successfully demonstrated in schools in the United States and Australia, producing high numbers of intellectually and socially gifted and cooperative children. In addition, thousands of parents have reported significant results when they use this model.

Joy is located on the NW corner of 75th Ave. and Loop 101. 21000 N. 75th Ave., Glendale, AZ 85308

Is Your Child Ready For Potty Training

2008-09-02T09:31:00.001-07:00

Most children show an interest in learning to potty between the ages of 18-36months. Yet every child is different. If you ask your friends, you'll hear every story under the sun from, "My daughter trained herself at 22 months," to "My five year old still won't poop on the potty."

As a parent you want to remain calm and know that your developmentally skillful child will surely be using the potty by elementary school so don't freak out:). One thing I wish someone had told me before I introduced the potty to our children was that many children pee train before they poop train. No challenge, it will all come in time. Breathe, relax.

Let's begin with signs you child might be ready.

Cognitive Signs

Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy."
Understands the value of putting things where they belong.
Has words for pee and poop.
Has awareness that pee or poop are coming out.
Feels the urge to pee or poop.
Can communicate that urge.

Behavioral Signs

Shows interest in other people using the potty.
Wants to look at or watch people going potty.
Gives a verbal noiuse or sign that she is pottying such as grunting, squatting, or telling you.
Demonstrates a desire for independence.
Takes pride in her accomplishments.
Seems eager to use the potty.

Physical Signs

Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes.
Can pull his pants up and down.
Does not like the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper.
Wants the dirty diaper to come off.
Takes the dirty diaper off himself.
Can walk and run with relative ease.
Can hold her pee for three-four hours or more (this shows bladder control)
Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times.

Next we'll take a look at introducing pottying to your "potty-ready" child.

Art Masterpiece Program

2008-09-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Art is a medium for all the senses. A child can look, imagine, think, ponder, draw, paint, sculpt, explore and learn with art. If you have some time in September consider attending the Art Masterpiece Program at the Phoenix Art Museum for educators. Parents are welcome as well. Specifically, it is training for those parents whose schools participate in Art Masterpiece. But really, any parent can come learn and enjoy.

Art Masterpiece Program

The Art Masterpiece Program trains school-based volunteers in tools and techniques to teach elementary-level students about the visual arts. Most participants are classroom volunteers at a child’s school who augment presentation of the visual arts on a regular basis. The Training Program covers basics of looking at and discussing art objects, an overview of art history, resources for materials and ideas, modeling of classroom presentations and activities, and Museum orientation.

Wednesdays in September*

September 3, 10, 17, 24
9:30am – 12 Noon
Phoenix Art Museum

* New material will be presented every Wednesday

You can register online today or at the Museum on Wednesday, September 3 @ 9am
Cost: $20 for entire program/$10 Training Manual.
Want the Training Manual for FREE?

Here is the link:

http://www.phxart.org/events/documents/2008ArtMasterpieceManual_001.pdf

If you wish to bring art into your home on your own here are some helpful resources:

Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning) by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga

Dynamic Art Projects for Children: Includes Step-By-Step Instructions and Photographs by Denise M. Logan (Spiral-bound - Sep 2005)

How to Teach Art to Children, Grades 1-6 by Joy Evans and Tanya Skelton

The Art of Teaching Art to Children: In School and at Home by Nancy Beal and Gloria Bley Miller

Text Messaging May Contribute To Decrease in Writing Skills

2008-08-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

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.

GEORGIA COOKING IN AN OKLAHOMA KITCHEN

2008-08-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Introducing solid foods to baby

2008-08-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

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.

How To Create The Space Between

2008-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Why is protein consumption so important?

2008-08-16T07:56:00.001-07:00

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

Back To School: Who's doing what?

2008-08-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

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!

Peggy Porter Brings Success Home

2008-08-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

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?

Limiting Sugar in Your Kid's Diets: Eat Dinner For Breakfast

2008-07-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

Parents who wish to limit sugar in their children's diets are looking for foods higher in protein and healthy fats for breakfast. If you lose the sugary cereals and pancakes five days a week, what else can you offer?

One morning, you may creatively offer left overs from dinner for breakfast, you might be surprised when chicken teriyaki appeals to your four year old. Here are some refreshing options you might try for breakfast in your home along with two delicious recipes from EatWellBeWell.org.

• Roast turkey and cheese roll-ups
• Chicken Stir-Fry
• Powerhouse Pizza
• Chicken Satay
• Vegetable Quesadilla
• Grilled Chicken Tacos
• Sloppy Chicken Joes
• Tuna salad in “scoops” tortilla chips
• Greek pasta with tomatoes and white beans
• Soft tacos with organic beef
• Pasta with pesto shredded zucchini and carrots
• Tortilla Soup
• Crustless Spinach Quiche

Sloppy Garden Joes

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 pound extra lean ground turkey or chicken
1- 8 ounce can no salt tomato sauce
1 -15 ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed
1-8 ounce can mushrooms
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
pepper to taste
8 whole wheat buns

Directions:
1. Sauté onions, carrot, green pepper, and ground turkey or chicken in a pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, barbecue sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Uncover and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until thick.
5. Serve on toasted or plain buns.

Powerhouse Pizza

Ingredients:
12-inch unbaked pizza crust, homemade or store-bought
3/4 cup pizza sauce
1 cup grated low fat mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise or on the diagonal
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onions
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400» F.
2. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
3. Spread the pizza sauce over the crust.
4. Scatter the mozzarella cheese over the sauce.
5. Top with sliced mushrooms, zucchini, red peppers, and onion.
6. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is nice and brown and the center bubbly.
8. Serve warm.

Research shows that children who eat healthy foods for breakfast concentrate better in school and experience less variability in their daily moods. Here are some sites to help you in your quest.

www.eatwellbewell.org/
www.mypyramid.gov/
www.nutritiondata.com/
www.calorieking.com/
www.allrecipes.com/

The Family Coach Workshop: Managing Anger and Anxiety in Children

2008-07-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 16, 2008 9-10:15 am
Saturday October 4, 2008 9-10:15 am

Research suggests children experience frustration, anger, and anxiety from ages 3-12 with more frequency than in the past. Why might that be so and what can families do to help children feel calm and secure. We’ll earn about cavemen and thinkers then develop cognitive and sensory interventions to bring home with The Family Coach Dr. Lynne Kenney. Cost: $50.00 per couple, 30 participant limit. Sign-up at 480-860-8488 x 9 x 1. North Office.

a. The biology of anger and anxiety
b. Using our thinkers to manage our cavemen
c. How exercise and nutrition make a difference
d. Cognitive strategies for calmer kids
e. Sensory tools and equipment
e. Preparation, planning and prevention in your home

Think Positive

2008-07-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

Practice Positive Thinking

Research shows that your viewpoint and perspective affect your health. People who think positively live more healthful and happy lives.

You can shift your thoughts, first take inventory. What kind of thinker are you?

Keep a journal of your thoughts for 72 hours and reflect on whether your thoughts benefit your well-being or distract from your health. Carry the journal in your pocket, when you drop your children off at school, order lunch, or interact with a colleague, write down what you are thinking on the left side of the page and how you are feeling on the right. In the following 72 hours do the same activity but make a third column for thought replacement, write down alternate positive thoughts to replace your negative thoughts.

When you are late for an appointment and think, "This darn traffic." Replace the thought with "It's so nice to have some peace and quiet in the car for a few minutes."

When your children won't listen and you are thinking, "I am so tired of these squirts." Replace the thought with "I am raising such independent thinkers."

Come on, don't laugh just do it!

Summer Dinner Time is Family Time

2008-07-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing. Swimming, tennis, playdates, we're all so busy. The evenings are longer, the sun is brighter. What better time to get back to the family dinner table than tonight! Hey forget the table, it's summer, eat together where ever you are...

Family dinner around the table, at the soccer field or on the tailgate of your car is an important family ritual. Dinnertime is the perfect opportunity to relax, connect and talk about your day. It’s a non-threatening environment that can really help your kids open up to you and tell you what’s going on in their lives. Try to make the atmosphere low key and enjoyable – and make a rule that no one leaves the table until everyone has finished eating. If conversation seems stymied, talk about your own day, or ask some questions to get your kids talking.

What was the funnest part of your day today?
What did you and Annie do this morning?
What movie shall we see as a family this week?
What shall we play after dinner? Running bases or Hearts?

Dinnertime is your chance to get to know one another, learn about your likes and dislikes and create lifelong memories. So eat up and dive in!

The Family Meeting

2008-06-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Family meetings can be a valuable way to make family decisions, communicate information and discuss issues. Many families have never had a meeting, and aren’t really sure how to use this forum with their families. Your family meeting is the time to share opinions, reflect on current events, talk about life experiences, plan for the future and solve challenges. They can be structured or unstructured, just make sure that everyone has a say in how the meeting will be conducted. One family I know begins with an agenda, another passes around the "talking stick" so one person speaks at a time.

Here are some tips to get you started with your family meeting.

• They need not be a formal affair– Family meetings don’t require a lot of pomp and circumstance, just that everyone is present and tuned into the matter at hand. They can be held during dinner if that’s what’s most convenient.

• Use this time to praise in front of everyone– Offer congratulations for accomplishments at family meetings. Let everyone have the chance to recognize other family members.

• Keep it positive - Sometimes family meetings will have to address negative issues, but if you keep the tone of the meetings positive overall, they’re more likely to be viewed as helpful by your family.

• Family meetings are not group punishment – If your children are driving you nuts, busting their collective chops in a family meeting is not the answer. You don’t want your kids to dread family meetings. This is also not the time to single out a child for something they’ve done wrong. Do that in private.

• Family meetings are not for “laying down the law”, either – Successful family meetings involve everyone providing their opinion and input. Go around the table and ask for an opinion if someone’s not speaking up. If you plan to dictate change with no input from anyone else, use another venue.

• Do something fun once in a while – Throw in a surprise now and then. Why not have your family meeting at the bowling alley or the go kart track? Even playing a game at home at the end of the meeting can be a nice change.

• End on a happy note – Even if you’ve had to deliver bad news at this meeting, find something positive to end with. It will leave a better memory about the experience.

• Don’t have them too often – You don’t need to have a family meeting to discuss every little issue. They’ll carry more weight if you use them only for important issues.