Health Archives - Page 14 of 20 - Forever In Mom Genes

Smoothie Cereal For Picky Eaters

Apr 04 2012

The only silver lining to being hit with a virus is possibly shedding a few unwanted pounds. Unless of course, you’re a teeny, at-the-bottom-of-the-growth-chart tyke like my little girl, who doesn’t have an ounce to spare. So when she’s sick, maintaining her hydration level and caloric intake is essential. Two weeks ago she caught that nasty bronchial infection going around — cough, fever, no appetite, no energy. For a child who is a picky eater on a good day, getting her to eat when she’s unwell is a major struggle. If only she would suck back a healthy smoothie. I’ve tried many times… unsuccessfully to entice her into enjoying a yogurty, fruity concoction served in fun glasses with funky straws. Total bust. Mind you… pitcher of untouched smoothie + coconut rum = a tasty caregiver cocktail. For later in the day. I do not drink Pina Colodas for breakfast. Or while getting caught in the rain. Yesterday, I had a stroke of brilliance. It happens so rarely, I thought I’d share. Avery loves her cereal so piggy backing on that, I replaced the milk with a calorie packed smoothie. Yes. It does look like someone threw up in[…]

Mar 23 2012

My husband helped run a March Break Sports Camp, which our son attended. They brought home some truly wonderful father/son memories but also, some weird bronchial virus. A week later Avery caught it. Her soft voice was soon replaced by what we call her “Jazz Singer” voice. My initial fear was that she had Cholera. What? She had been playing in the yard, frolicking and splashing in stagnant pond water. I thought maybe she had ventilated some bacteria. Sigh. I tend to jump to the most extreme circumstances. It was just a virus. Mind you, a temperature of 105 is something to be taken seriously. Also, when your child has a seizure disorder, any illness suddenly becomes extra alarming. What if this fever triggers another seizure? What if it’s a big one? These are thoughts that never go away once you’ve experienced the worst. So whenever Avery is sick, we follow protocol. Daddy ships out of our bedroom and Avery moves in with me, and I assemble the “Medi Ready Over-Night Kit” — a plastic shoebox filled with supplies including: pre-dosed meds (because who can read the dosage in the middle of the night?), pen and paper to write[…]

Feb 10 2012

Children love to share things with us, don’t they? Their stories, their dreams, their love and…their disgusting germs. My first few years as a teacher, I was sick ALL THE TIME. My newbie immune system hadn’t yet built up an adequate cooty defense system. And since I taught young children (who suck and lick things, touch EVERYTHING, pick their noses….often, and sneeze and cough without covering their mouths) I didn’t stand a chance. Tired, stressed and thus “immune system deprived” parents are also sitting ducks. Recently both of my children came home from school with library books, spelling homework, and…Fifth’s Disease. “Fifth disease, also called erythema infectiosum, or Slap Cheek, is a viral infection caused by human parvovirus B19. It occurs most commonly in children with up to 70% of all cases occurring in children 5 to 15 years old. It’s called fifth disease because it was historically the fifth childhood infectious rash to be named. There is no vaccine. However, once you’re infected with the virus, you’re immune for life against future infections. It’s transmitted from person to person the same way as any viral cold is spread. About 50% of people living with someone infected with[…]

Jan 11 2012

My girl likes to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the tah-hime! Well, NOW she does anyway. For the first 51/2 years of her life she wasn’t on board with the whole toilet sitch. Potty training ANY child takes time and patience and patience. Did I mention patience? Potty training a child with developmental delays is even more “special.” I wrote about past Herculean efforts to get this girl out of diapers and into some stylin’ Dora underpants here (tricks like these generally work wonders for most kids). Alas we tried, we failed, and we did a sh*t load of laundry. She just wasn’t ready. Over the Christmas holidays we tried again. This time instead of sinking into the bowels of hell, we were triumphant. It’s slightly ridiculous, but here’s what worked: We choose a quiet week where we would be at home most of the time. I told Avery there were lots of babies who needed diapers and asked if it would be okay to give them hers? Of course, she said NO! This girl has a serious Pull-Up addiction. When I hid her diapers anyway, she tore the house apart looking for them.[…]

Dec 16 2011

What is with my family’s inability to keep their teeth in their heads??? I knocked out a front tooth when I was four. The adult tooth eventually came in, but slowly over the years it turned brown, then black. I eventually had to have it replaced with a crown (or live life as a pirate). When my son was a toddler, he followed in my footsteps and knocked out a front tooth. Two actually. Turns out the two teeth were attached at the root. Show-off. The adult tooth came in and though it’s not brown, it came in so high his eye tooth is practically IN his eye. In keeping with our family tradition, my sweet girl fell face first into an ottoman—which is soft except for the 1x1mm metal stud she zeroed in on. Fortunately she didn’t lose a tooth, but it was wiggly. I took her to the dentist the next morning. We’d been to this office a few times before and didn’t care for the dentist or her staff. Sorry. For a pediatric dental clinic they were not great with kids. Especially kids with special needs. The minute we pulled into the parking lot my daughter began[…]

Category - Health

Smoothie Cereal For Picky Eaters

Honk, Honk

Slap Face

Use These Potty Training Incentives To Achieve Toiletting Triumph

See You Next Tooth-Day