Make Exercise A Family Priority

Studies have indicated that children are 40% less active than they were just 30 years ago. This has negative effects for kids in physical, psychological, and social areas. So, being an active family needs to become a priority.  Fortunately, it’s actually easier than you may think. With a little planning, you can find ways to incorporate workouts into the time you spend with your children. Regardless of your children’s age, there’s a way to find time to workout (often even with your kids)! Here are some tips organized by age, which will add to your family time together and help to keep the whole family active!  

• Play a game of keep-away or tag. Occupy them for even 15 minutes with a video or toy while you do some toning exercises like squats and triceps dips. 
• Grab your stroller and go for a brisk walk. Or, buy a jogging stroller for more flexibility. With a jogging stroller, you can walk faster, jog or even run at a fast pace. And, for veteran rollerbladers, you can even use the stroller for some skating time. Don’t forget the kid helmets. 
• For younger children, you can use a back carrier to transport them while walking. This can burn even more calories as the extra weight makes it more challenging. Turn on some music and dance together. Toddlers love dancing, especially when their parents join in. 
• Play hopscotch – yes, you will work up a sweat. 
• Push your kid on a swing. And, after every push complete one squat. 
• Use an infant carrier or bike trailer to enjoy a bike ride together. 
• Try rollerblading or skating together. 
• Spend an afternoon at a park with a playground, but don’t spend the whole time relaxing on the sidelines – join in on the fun. 
• Spend some time swinging to help work out your legs. 
• Try making it across the monkey bars – even just once (it’s a great upper body workout and you’ll be amazed that your kid does it with such little ease). 
• Try some pull-ups using a bar on the playset. 
• Do some triceps dips on a nearby park bench. 
• Get a small group together for a kickball or softball game. 
• If your child can ride a bicycle at a moderate pace, jog alongside them. 
• Involve your kids while you strength train. Let them count your reps out loud for you and/or clock your rest time in-between sets.
• Try a game of marble pick-up. Set up a circle (or more than one) of marbles. Compete with each other to see who can pick them quicker following certain rules (e.g. not being able to bend from the waist but instead using a squatting technique to grab them). Adults will get an extra workout if they squat while balancing on just one foot.
• On rainy days that force you inside, walk or run up and down the stairs. You might even make it a contest to see who can finish 5 complete rounds first. 
• Register for a fun run (or walk) event and spend time together training for the event. 
• Set up an obstacle course in your backyard. Then try such things as quick sprints back and forth between two objects, hopping over a line of sticks, and running zig-zags around a line of cones. 
• Play tennis or basketball together. Consider joining a community volleyball or softball team that includes enthusiasts of all ages. 
• Don’t just sit and cheer your kids at their sporting events. Every few minutes do some walking or jumping jacks or squats. 
• Learn how to do strength training exercises that require partners. There are dozens of options that work both individuals’ bodies. For example, partner squats where two people stand facing each other, grasp each other around their forearms and squat simultaneously as if sitting in a chair. 
• Implement a daily family walk each day before or after dinner. 
• Work together in the yard raking leaves, planting flowers, trimming trees. 
• Sure, you may have a full plate but isn’t it time to throw out the “I’m a parent – I don’t have time to workout” excuse. 
• Don’t focus on the frequency or irregularity of your workouts. 
• Take the opportunities for physical activity when they arise. I
• f you implement these above activities for just 30 minutes three times per week, you can easily burn an extra 450 calories or more! 
• Plus, working out sets a great example for your children that will teach them at an early age how important (and easy) it is to make physical fitness a part of daily life. 
• Exercising with your kids also provides the extra bonus of spending quality time together.

Check out these wonderful resources - a lot of them free....

Toothache Tips

Cloves

Cloves can be found in the spice rack and are often used in apple dishes, but they are also one of the best-known home remedies for a toothache.

• To relieve the pain of a mild toothache, chew two cloves on the affected tooth. 
• If chewing is too painful, you can use oil of cloves. 
• Mix 3 drops oil of cloves with a quarter teaspoon of olive oil. 
• Soak a cotton ball or gauze pad in this mixture and rub it over the painful tooth and gum. 
• Then keep it against the affected tooth by biting down on it. 
• You should feel better within 10 minutes or less. 

Salt

Salt can be a very effective remedy for a toothache as well as any gum infection or sore in the mouth, especially where bacteria are at the root of the problem.

•  Dissolve one teaspoon of salt in a small glass of lukewarm (body temperature) water. 
• Take a sip and swirl it around the mouth, working it through the gaps between the teeth where possible. 
• Do not swallow. 
• Just spit it out and then take another sip and repeat. 
•  By the time you finish the glass your pain should be much less. 
• If it comes back later, just repeat. 
• Even if you stay pain-free, it is a good idea to do this after every meal for a few days. 
• It will help clear any bacteria that might be forming around food particles in the mouth and prevent the problem from recurring. 
•  If you have salt crystals, then alternatively you can take one or two and press them against the painful place with your tongue until they dissolve. 

Tea tree oil

Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic that can be used to relieve the agony of a toothache in much the same way as oil of cloves.

• Alternatively, add a few drops to a small glass of water and swirl around the mouth before spitting out. 

Ice

Ice can numb the pain and reduce swelling in the mouth as well as on joint sprains and strains.

• Either hold an ice cube against the painful tooth in the mouth or make an ice pack from ice wrapped in a cloth or a pack of frozen food and hold it against your cheek where you have pain. 
• If you use frozen food as an ice pack, you should throw it away when you are done. 
• It will have partially thawed and it is not safe to refreeze and eat. 

Lower The Head 

• Increase blood flow to the head by putting your head between your knees, as if you were feeling faint.
• Combined with other methods this will strengthen the body's ability to fight the infection.
• See your dentist or doctor if home remedies for a toothache do not resolve your problem.

Boost Your Child's Brainpower With Sudoku!

In less than a year the Sudoku bug has infected huge numbers of the population, and it is fast spreading across the world! Why has a simple logic puzzle become so popular, and how can your kids benefit?  Sudoku puzzles were first published in the US in the 1970s and are sometimes known as "Number Squares". They have been popular for many years in Japan, where the name "Sudoku" (meaning "single number") was coined.

The current craze was started late in 2004 when a UK newspaper started publishing the puzzles. Within weeks the puzzles were picked up in other newspapers and Sudoku became the pastime of choice for commuters, parents – and even kids!

From a parent’s point of view, Sudoku puzzles are perfect for long journeys, waiting rooms, and rainy afternoons. They are being found more and more in the classroom as teachers wake up to their benefits and use them as time-fillers for children who finish early, as a whole class activity, or as “homework”. Indeed, the UK government-produced Teachers magazine has recommended that Sudoku puzzles are used in the classroom as brain exercise!

As well as developing your child's logic and reasoning skills and concentration, Sudoku puzzles, if done at the right level, build your child's confidence. Children of all abilities enjoy the challenge of a Sudoku puzzle if the puzzle is age-appropriate. Bear in mind that many of the puzzles published in newspapers are too difficult for younger children, so it is worth seeking out puzzles made especially for kids. Children as young as five years old can try the 4x4 grids, then build up to the 6x6 grids and finally the traditional 9x9 grid.

Why is Sudoku so appealing? Firstly, although Sudoku grids usually use numbers, your child does not need mathematical skills to solve the puzzles – only logic. Using logical reasoning appropriate to his/her age, your child decides how to place numbers into a Sudoku grid. There is only one correct answer for each puzzle, no guessing is necessary, and the rules are easy to learn.

The more puzzles you do, the better you become. Each puzzle typically takes a child about 20-30 minutes to complete, and gives them a real sense of satisfaction when finished! And that, really, is the secret of their popularity. You feel good when you finish one! And then you want to try another one, and another ….

Celiac Disease and Diabetes

Managing one health problem can be difficult, particularly when it involves sticking rigidly to a restricted diet.

Having Celiac Disease and Diabetes is unfortunate but not impossible. There are strategies to combine both diets with the minimum of fuss. Living with multiple health problems can complicate things. As a diabetic, balancing the levels of carbohydrates, (starches and sugars) with the level of insulin requires thought and discipline. You should always consult your doctor and dietician for specific advice.

People with Type 1 Diabetes are at greater risk of developing Celiac Disease. It follows that they will need to manage a diet which controls both conditions. The diets do sit perfectly well together, but it needs careful planning. In principle, the same rules apply to your diet, whatever the problem.

As a Diabetic, you need to eat a well-balanced diet. The one area of difficulty is managing your carbohydrate intake with gluten-free versions.

You can find gluten-free carbohydrates in

• wild rice, 
• buckwheat, 
• maize, 
• millet, 
• sago, 
• tapioca, 
• corn flour, 
• soya, 
• polenta, 
• flax, 
• sorghum, 
• linseed, 
• whole wheat flour, 
• carrageenan, 
• channa (chickpea flour), 
• quinoa, 
• arrowroot, 
• wheat starch, 
• corn 
• pasta and 
• pure rice noodles. 

Here are 5 rules to ensure you get the most out of your life:

1. Become well informed about both conditions. 
2. Be clear what you can and cannot eat, what alternatives there are and where you can get them. 
3. Plan ahead - always take a supply of suitable gluten-free carbohydrates and insulin with you. (Planning ahead includes involving school, friends and other organizations of your needs). 
4. Take control of your life, you are a person who happens to have celiac disease and diabetes.
5. You are not defined by these conditions. Confidence grows out of knowing what you can and cannot eat. 

Instead of tackling the conditions as two sets of restrictions, combine the needs of both. Gluten-free pasta is available, as are gluten-free versions of bread.

Live life to the full. 

Try new things, push out the boundaries and the sky is the limit!

The Five Best Gifts to Give Your Family

When we think of giving gifts, we usually think of things to buy for people. Yet if you think back on gifts you’ve been given, it might not be the material gifts you received that are foremost in your mind – it might be the kind of gifts that deeply touched your heart and soul. It might be various ways, other than material things, that people expressed their love to you.  There are five gifts of love that we can give to our families that can make a huge difference in their lives.  

THE GIFT OF CARING AND COMPASSION  

When we have the courage to face conflict and tell the truth, we not only provide our family with a role model for courage, but we provide opportunities for our loved ones to step up to the plate in the face of our truth and learn to be courageous too. We all yearn to feel cared for, yet many of us withhold caring and compassion for others. A profound gift we can give to our loved ones is to listen with our heart, to understand and accept rather than to judge, and to stay open to learning rather than to protect against being hurt. Think about the last time someone actually listened to you and gave you understanding and acceptance. The feeling of being understood and accepted with caring and compassion is one of the best feelings in the world. Instead of focusing on getting this from others, why not focus on giving it to others? You might be surprised at how wonderful you feel in giving this gift to your family. 

THE  GIFT OF COURAGE  

One of the best gifts we can give our loved ones is our own courage. This means being having the courage to stand in our truth, to be honest about what we want and don’t want, what we will do and won’t do, what is and what is not acceptable to us. It means having the courage to take good care of ourselves, even if others don’t like it. It means not succumbing to our controlling behaviors that come from fear: anger, withdrawal, compliance, resistance, but instead being honest and above-board about ourselves. It means being willing to face conflict rather than give ourselves up to avoid it.  

THE GIFT OF SERVICE  

 We are on this planet to learn to love ourselves and each other and to help each other. One of the best gifts we can give our family is to role model this by doing service. Helping others fills the heart and soul in ways that nothing else can. If children do not see their parents doing service and helping others, they may never learn the great joy and fulfillment that comes from giving. One of the best gifts we can give to our family is to provide ways of doing service.  

THE GIFT OF CREATIVITY  

All of us are born with various ways of expressing our creativity. Expressing creativity is a profound way of connecting with Spirit, since expressed creativity is a direct expression of Spirit. Providing your family with many ways of expressing their creativity is a great gift. Creativity can be expressed in so many ways – cooking, crafts, building things, music, art, movement, telling stories, writing, humor, photography, and video – the possibilities are endless! Creative family projects are especially wonderful in creating family closeness.  

THE GIFT OF LIGHTNESS OF BEING  

A lightness of being – fun, joy, laughter, playfulness – is a great gift to give to others. Lightness of being is infectious – our laughter and playfulness can help others take life less seriously and “lighten up.” Lightness of being is one the results of all the other gifts – of caring, courage, service and creativity. When we give these gifts, we feel a wonderful lightness within, the lightness that is the result of fully giving from the heart. Our own lightness of being can bring lightness into our whole family. Children love it when their parents are playful, fun loving and joyful. Laughing together as a family is one of the most precious experiences in life. We need to focus on giving these gifts each day, not just during a holiday season or special occasions. These gifts are far more important than any material thing we can buy for someone. In fact, we might not be so focused on material gifts if we frequently give the gift of love – of caring, compassion, courage, service, creativity, and lightness of being.