World’s Best Parents 2008
June 30th 2008
Archive for June, 2008
Maintaining the Marital Relationship
June 30th 2008
Provided by Mark Herranen, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, Interface-Samaritan Counseling Centers, Houston Texas,
With the demands of parenting, it can be difficult to maintain a balance between being a parent and a partner with your spouse. Yet it is important to maintain this balance. By showing your children that you have a loving and secure relationship with your partner, you are providing many signs that their parents will continue to be there for them. In addition, you are modeling what a successful (though not perfect) intimate relationship between two adults looks like.
The book Growing Kids God’s Way (2007), by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo offer several tips for parents to maintain their partner relationship.
- Go out once a week on a date.
- Continue doing special things that you did for each other before you became parents, such as bringing home flowers or cooking a special meal.
- Invite friends over for an evening of socializing.
- Express your affection for each other when the children are around, such as holding hands when sitting together.
In observing these activities children learn how their parents nurture their couple relationship. Children also will feel more secure knowing that their parents love each other. The bonds between children and parents inevitably are strengthened as a couple maintains and develops their affection for each other.
Take Care of Self First
June 30th 2008
When was the last time you yelled at your child or spouse? Before you experience this reaction again, reflecting on your own needs may eliminate the desire to strike out at another loved loved one.
Mark Herranen, a licensed marriage and family therapist associate with Interface-Samaritan Counseling Centers, in Houston, Texas offers several techniques to prevent unwarranted family outbursts. Mark suggests that when you find yourself lashing out at a family member, ask yourself if you have been giving all your time and energy to meeting the needs of family members, and therefore, lack the energy to deal presently with a minor agitation.
The key is self evaluation. By doing some personal discovery we are likely to find some hidden attitudes which prevent us from taking care of self. These attitudes include, thinking it is selfish to put self first or that we don’t deserve it whatever “it” may be. Or maybe the time you’d like to spend on self conflicts with your “To Do List” for the day and would therefore be a waste.
To overcome these self defeating attitudes, Mark suggests considering the benefits of some down time for oneself:
- Renewed energy and creativity for handling issues.
- A desire to be with our children.
- Setting an example of the importance of caring for oneself.
In Kathryn Kvols’ book Redirecting Children’s Behavior (1998) we are reminded of the need to examine how our internal state affects our parenting behavior. Maintaining the inner composure when dealing with our children is made easier when we regularly take time to care for ourselves.
Judge Not
June 30th 2008
I was shocked, confused, bewildered as I entered Heaven’s door, not by the beauty of it all, nor the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven who made me sputter and gasp, the thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics, the trash.
There stood the kid from 7th grade who swiped my lunch money twice. Next to him was my old neighbor who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought was rotting away in hell, was sitting pretty on cloud 9, looking incredibly well.
I nudge Jesus, “What’s the deal? I would love to hear your take. How’d all these sinners get up here? God must’ve made a mistake.”
“And why’s everyone so quiet, so somber? Give me a clue.” “Hush, child,” said He, “they’re all in shock. No one thought they’d be seeing you!”
Judge Not!
U.S. Leads the world in Preventable Deaths
June 25th 2008
The U.S. ranked dead last among developed nations in preventable deaths, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published in the Journal Health Affairs.
Preventable death is defined as one which the patient would have survived if they had access to timely and effective health care.
According to researcher Ellen Nolte, the number of U.S. residents which lack health insurance caused the poor results.
New Research on Calcium Intake
June 25th 2008
Agricultural News Service (ANS) released a new study showing that calcium alone does not reduce bone fractures. The study points out that the amount of calcium you consume is not what’s important, its your calcium balance. Calcium balance reflects not only the amount of calcium you consume but also how much calcium is released. Therefore if you consume more than you lose you’re doing pretty good.
Fact number 2 about calcium is that it works best when it’s combined with other minerals and vitamins, which help it get into the bone.
This doesn’t mean taking calcium is waste of time and money. When you do take calcium supplements make sure it’s a well designed formula, like Osteo Sheath, OsteoPrime Forte or Cal 6 Mag these contain the balance of nutrients needed like magnesium, manganese, boron, silica and vitamin D.
Remember that weight bearing exercise is still the best bone strengtherner and it does more for you than simply popping a pill.
Thing in your diet which robs your body of calcium; sugar and sodas.
How do you get Drinkable Water to the World’s Thirstiest?
June 25th 2008
The man who invented the Segway, Dean Kamen, the 2 wheeled self balancing, automatic steering scooter has developed the technology. It’s called the Slingshot. The Slingshot is basically a distiller. What makes this distiller unique is the cost of operation and the amount of clean water it can produce. The Slingshot is expected to sale for about $1,500 and is able to filter roughly 1,000 liters of water per day, using only 500 watts of electricity per hour. That’s less than the power your toaster uses.
The Slingshot can purify any source of water; ocean, urine or mud. It does all it’s work without the use filters, charcoal or any other parts that must be replaced.
The Slingshot is expected to be released in the 2nd half of 2009.
Training Info
June 19th 2008
Over the counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen can help build muscle strength if taken after a workout. Be aware that some pain relievers do come with serious side affects. Muscle strength is a by product of intense weight lifting, not cardiovascular exercise. This study revealed that strength gain can occur due to an excellerated recovery process aided by over the counter pain relievers. Another helpful tip CoQ10 can fight muscle fatigue during prolonged exercise bouts.
I feel I must add this caveat, if you’re walking and drinking coffee skip the above information. When you’re ready and able to increase your intensity to where you experience frequent shortnesses of breathe revisit this information.