December 11th, 2009 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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With the holidays upon us and our country still facing a challenging economic crisis, many families are struggling with how to balance celebrating and spending without disappointing their children.
From news stories to Facebook postings, families are expressing clear concern for how to celebrate this year, what to buy for their kids and how much money to spend. They want to be honest with their kids yet shelter them from their adult financial concerns at the same time. Moreover, they feel guilty because this year was supposed to be different because last year they had the same stresses and concerns. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr Gwenn Is In*
December 9th, 2009 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
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Three of my children love to play the game ‘Life,’ where players choose college or career and are paid, take out loans, pay taxes, have families and all the rest as they navigate towards retirement. I especially love playing with them when they each become frantic, not for the highest income, but to finish the game with the most children. Along the way, my daughter is even naming her kids as the tiny blue and pink pegs fill up her little plastic car. (Talk about your parental validation!)
But after playing, then thinking back on my week at work, I fear that we could easily make a new game that was more familiar to many modern kids. I suppose we’d have to call it ‘The Game of Death,’ or maybe just ‘The Game of Pain.’ Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
November 22nd, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Research
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I know I have said this before, but now there is more research to back it up. A recent report on the results from the “back-to-school” survey (September 2009) done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reports a decade of research finding that the more often children have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink, or use drugs.
Bottom line – compared to teens who have family dinners 5+ times a week, those who do not are twice as likely to use tobacco and marijuana and 1.5 times likelier to use alcohol. They also get significantly better grades and report that it is easier to talk to their parents. Read more »
This post, How To Reduce Teen Drug Use: Dinner With Parents, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
November 20th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, True Stories
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Your child seems half dead to you, but you’re frozen with uncertainty. Are they just being whiny? Is that fever going to pass quickly? When do I know if my child needs an emergency assessment? When do I know if they need emergency medical care?
I recently got involved in just a situation with one of Mrs. Happy’s friends. She has a young child, about four years old who came down with a fever a week ago. The child has a history of asthma and a history of supraventricular tachycardia. The child was meandering along doing fine when one day his condition changed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
November 15th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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As a parent, sometimes it is hard to know how our teens perceive us. We all want to be there for our children and have a great relationship with each of them, but sometimes they might not perceive our actions the same way we intend them to, so here is what a group of teens have to say about the perfect relationship with a parent. Just food for thought.
The perfect parent would …
- Male, age 18: Listen. Everything else hinges upon listening.
- Female, age 17: Be open to talk and understand me.
- Male, age 17: Talk, express what they want and show affection, not think affection is understood, or a given. Read more »
This post, Teens Describe Their Ideal Realtionship With A Parent, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
