Before I was a mom I was a preschool teacher, and I was pretty hard on my students' parents. They didn't know that I was hard on them, but in my head I made a lot of unfair assumptions. I assumed that if one of my students was energetic and had a difficult time sitting still it was because his parents must let him watch TV all day, which was over-stimulating his brain. And if one of my students had a speech delay it was because she wasn't exposed to enough language at home. If a child was overly sensitive and cried easily it was because there was a situation at home that was emotionally draining. If a child at the grocery store threw a tantrum it was because the parents never disciplined. If a baby had a bald spot on the back of his head it was because he was rarely held. If a baby had dirt between his fingers it was because his parents didn't bathe him sufficiently. And if I visited someone's home and it was messy, it was because they were lazy. Now that I am a mom, and have also cared for close friends' children, I feel like such a horrible person for jumping to such conclusions about anyone.
All children are born with very unique personalities and challenges. Some children are more energetic than others, some are more sensitive, some are curious, and some are persistent. Even children who are exposed to a lot of language can be late talkers. A friend of mine has a 14 month old who hasn't said her first word, even though my friend constantly speaks, reads, and sings to her. Some children, on the other hand, can be exposed to very little language and vocabulary, but become early talkers. All kids move at their own pace. And if I see a child misbehaving at the store it could be because of a number of reasons. Maybe he didn't have a nap that day, or maybe he has an emotional disorder, or maybe something in his diet is triggering the behavior. It could also be that this was the very first time the child had ever misbehaved in public and the parents, caught off guard, didn't know how to respond. Who knows. I also now know that not every baby with a bald spot is rarely held. Some babies just have more delicate hair than others and some move their heads more vigorously than others. And all kids (especially the adventurous ones) just get dirty. Babies get dirt in between their fingers. Big deal. Their fingers are short, chubby, and get slobbered on all day. I also now understand that just because someone's house is messy when I visit doesn't mean that they're lazy. Maybe they were in the middle of de-cluttering, maybe the parent has an energy-zapping condition that I'm unaware of, or maybe they just stay home with their children all day long making memories. So basically what I'm saying is, let's try giving people a break more often and remind ourselves that we all have our own unique situations and families. And until we've walked a mile in their shoes let's just hush a bit.
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Pluggedin.com has been a favorite website of mine even before I had kids. If I want to know about a specific movie before watching it this site will tell me about any offensive elements it may contain. For example, if I wanted to see the movie The Hangover (which I never would) the review on pluggedin.com would tell me specifically about the spiritual, sexual, and violent content, the crude or profane language (F word is used 70+ times in The Hangover, by the way), drug and alcohol content, and other negatives. I would then know for sure, after reading this review, that I never ever want to watch The Hangover.
Pluggedin.com is a great website for parents. There have been times when I wanted to show my kids a "kid movie," but wasn't sure if it contained anything scary or controversial. For example, The Cat in the Hat is rated PG, and many would assume it's a kid movie. But after reading the pluggedin.com review I now know that there are many sexual innuendos. There is also plenty of alluding to profane language, like "a snot-nosed son-of-a- [Conrad’s mother walks in] wonderful woman," and the cat alluding to an acronym that spells out the S word. So never mind that movie. Pluggedin.com also has music, TV, and game reviews. I hope you check out their website! When I was in second grade my Grandma taught me some signs she had learned while working with children who were unable to speak (not necessarily deaf). She saw how much interest I took in it so she bought me a sign language book for children. During recess I would sit down and study that book until I learned the whole manual alphabet and a few other signs. For a long time I didn't do much with it until I was required to attend a certain number of seminars at a Head Start convention. They offered a Baby Signs seminar, and even though my students were five I chose to attend. I was pregnant with my son at the time, and was considering teaching him signs, so that was my real reason for attending that seminar. It intrigued me that babies as young as six months old could communicate with their parents by signing. When my son was three months old I began signing basic words to him (eat, more, diaper, sad). Then around one year old we bought the Baby Signing Time DVDs. He had never seen a TV show before so he was in total awe. We have learned so much from these videos. We also have the music CDs and dance to them all the time. Once my kids learned all the signs from Baby Signing Time we moved up to Signing Time. We watch two per week to keep the signs fresh, even though they already know all of them. We've learned hundreds of signs from these videos. And I bought a dictionary to continue learning more words. Both my son and daughter were able to communicate with us way before they could speak. I remember when my son was about one year old he signed "look, flowers, wind" to tell me to look at the flowers blowing in the wind. It was so cool. Some people are nervous about teaching their child sign language because they think it will delay the child's speech. I'm not sure if this is true or not. It didn't really matter to me. Eventually they will talk. My son was a late talker. My daughter was early. I don't think it has anything to do with the signing. I just think it's their uniqueness. You probably already know that probiotics are good for you. But you may not realize just how essential they are. The word probiotic literally means "for life." In our intestines live these good bacteria which prevent the bad bacteria, also in our intestines, from making us sick. They’re needed for the formation of normal stools, the digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals, tissue development, immunity, and protecting the intestines from pathogens like E. coli. Ideally, 85% of the bacteria in our intestines should be good bacteria, with the remaining 15% consisting of bad bacteria. However, most people have these percentages reversed. When we take antibiotics we destroy all of the bacteria in our intestines, good and bad. Unless we actively restore the good bacteria to 85% we will continue to get sick. Drinking chlorinated or fluoridated water, taking birth control pills, and eating food that contains antibiotics (most meat and dairy) also destroys good bacteria. Symptoms associated with dysbacteriosis (improper balance of good and bad bacteria) can include vaginal yeast infections, athlete's foot, thrush, ring worm, eczema, fatigue, migraines, muscle pains, constipation, diarrhea, stomach pains, decreased immunity, UTIs, menstrual irregularities, bladder inflammation, and so many more. Many people associate probiotics with yogurt. The American Dairy Association and yogurt companies work hard to promote yogurt as a magical healing food, and many Americans are fooled. A few years ago the yogurt company Dannon was sued for its claims that their products have been scientifically proven to aid in digestion and improve immunity. It is true that yogurt contains some probiotics, but we don't know how much or which strains live in these yogurt products. Just as a doctor prescribes specific antibiotics for certain ailments, each strain of probiotics also has a unique function. This is why it's important to take a multi-strain probiotic supplement. Additionally, the negatives of consuming the added sweeteners and chemical ingredients in most brands of yogurt outweigh the benefits of eating yogurt for its probiotic content. I take 200 billion CFUs of Klaire Labs Ther-biotic Complete Powder, which is a high dosage. My naturopath suggested this dosage due to the antibiotics I took as a teen to “cure” my acne, and the aggravation my intestinal lining has endured due to gluten intolerance. This probiotic contains twelve strains. For children age two and older, Klaire Labs makes children's chewable tablets, which contain 25 billion CFUs. This costs about $35 for 60 tablets. If you really can't afford this (and I recommend making sacrifices to be able to afford it), a cheaper alternative is Rainbow Light's Probiolicious Gummies, which cost about $13 for 50 gummies. These gummies only contain 1 billion CFUs. Therefore, Rainbow Light might be helpful for daily maintenance but if your child has taken antibiotics or has digestion or health issues I suggest either Klaire Labs Ther-biotic Complete Powder or Klaire Labs Children's Chewables. For infants under age two Klaire Labs offers an Infant Formula Powder. If you still feel confused as to what exactly you should take I recommend that you see a naturopathic doctor. But in the meantime, taking any probiotic would be better than no probiotic at all. Good luck! |