Archive for the 'kids’ health' Tag
November 9th, 2009, 10:02 am by Michelle Reese
 A learned a valuable lesson from my daughter recently.
Did you know broccoli is best fresh, right in the store, right off the produce aisle?
Yea, I didn’t know that either because I’ve never tried it. But apparently my 4-year-old was out to prove it during a recent grocery trip.
My daughter and son can not be more different when it comes to food choices. She’ll eat every color of the rainbow if it’s a vegetable: raw peppers, carrots, celery, lettuce, broccoli.
I’ve seen the girl devour an entire container of cherry tomatoes in one sitting.
My son has eaten salad probably a handful of times this past year. If you give him a carrot – and make him take a bite – he sputters and coughs, almost like he’s being choked.
When we hit the produce aisle, my daughter up to each vegetable, asking to take it home, almost like it’s a sad-looking puppy.
So this particular day when she spotted the broccoli she pleaded: “PLEASE!” I grabbed a crown, stuck it in the bag, put it in the cart, and turned around to get the peppers.
When I came back to the cart, my daughter was just standing there.
You know the look, parents: GUILTY.
Me: “What did you do?”
Daughter: No comment.
Then I noticed tiny kernals of green surrounding her mouth.
I saw the broccoli bag at the bottom of the cart. There was NO WAY she could have reached it.
Then I looked at the display next to her.
YIKES!
“Which ONE did you bite?” I asked her.
She pointed. It was apparently near the bottom of the pile, but I couldn’t tell which broccoli crown has been chomped on by her teeth.
Even if I could, I knew if I pulled from the bottom, the whole thing would come tumbling down.
So I got down on her level, explained that I LOVE how she enjoys vegetables, but next time, could she wait until we get home?
Posted in: Michelle Reese • broccoli • eat your vegetables • food • kids' health • words of wisdom | Post a Comment »
August 25th, 2009, 4:54 pm by Michelle Reese
With the latest H1N1 flu news from the Feds - as many as half of us could get sick this fall from the virus - my fellow parents and I have started a discussion: Will you get an H1N1 vaccine for your child?
My kids always get a seasonal flu vaccine, and so do I. My husband isn’t always so proactive, but he also doesn’t seem to get as sick. My son and I both have a history of respiratory illness. So as soon as the shot is available each year, I gather up the kids (and the stickers and lollipops) and head to a clinic.
This year, some clinics are starting next week. And with all the news and the push from health officials to get a seasonal flu shot, I believe it will be busy.
But I wonder how many parents will hesitate when the new H1N1 vaccine is available in October? My son’s health condition means he should be one of the first to get it.
Should I do it? Should I wait to see how the first round goes?
Both health experts I talked to today said “Go for it.”
One even told me that when it’s his children’s turn, they will be there for the H1N1 vaccine.
What are your thoughts?
E-mail me at mreese@evtrib.com.
Stay healthy!
Posted in: Michelle Reese • Being a mom • kids' health | Post a Comment »
July 28th, 2009, 10:53 am by Michelle Reese
So when do you go with the desire of a child or make a decision for him?
My husband and I have always believed in exposing our two kids - now 4 and 7 - to a variety of activites. First, it keeps them physically active and second, it allows them to experience a number of sports to maybe make a decision to focus on one or two.
Plus, I don’t want the kids to have the option to come home every night with hours available to watch TV or play the Wii. Now and then is fine, but not every night.
 Wouldn't you want to do this, too? So in the past few years, we’ve done soccer, t-ball, football, swimming lessons, karate and dance.
Our incredibly busy summer is just about behind us, chasing on the heels of a sure-to-be-busy school year.
Though both kids did karate for a month in May, my work schedule didn’t allow us to keep it up. So we maintained just a once-a-week swim lesson this summer (and still managed to miss plenty of those).
I got a coupon to try a fitness center that offers karate, dance and gymnastics. I signed both kids up for sample classes: gymnastics for my daughter and karate for my son (who has earned a yellow belt in this sport).
We got there and - yup - my son wanted to throw karate out the window and join his sister on the gym floor. I can see the temptation - check out the photo of the pit!
Our swim lessons end this week and so far I haven’t enrolled for the next session. So I tried to convince my son, 7, to take gymnastics AND karate. I’m not sure he should give up the sport he’s been involved on-and-off with for the past few years.
But he insists - he just wants to do gymnastics.
He’s very happy with it. Last night was our second class and I couldn’t believe what he was doing on the rings.
After swimming finishes this week, we’ll be down to just one activity a week - the gymnastics class - for a few months. My daughter starts soccer in October, but my son didn’t want to do a team sport.
I’m not sure what we’ll do. We could do nothing, add another gymnastics class each week or start another session of swimming. I may try again in a week or two to see if my son wants to add karate.
I’m hoping the start of school will give me a better picture of what we should do to achieve the right balance. There’s a lot to be said about down time and play time at home.
Posted in: Blogroll • Michelle Reese • Being a mom • busy kids • kids' health | 1 Comment »
March 23rd, 2009, 9:34 am by Michelle Reese
Forgive my absence! My 6-year-old son had his tonsils removed and I took a week off work following the surgery. He did amazing. He slept through the night the last two nights - the first time in a long time that has happened. His post-surgery instructions meant he had to lay low for a week. We stocked up on a few new Lego sets and family came to visit. We rented movies. Just this past weekend we ventured outside. He flew a kite. We have had that kite in the garage for more than a year and it was finally put to good use.
I sat in the waiting room a week ago with my mom during the nearly 45-minute procedure. Was I a nervous wreck? Well, yes! But when we were invited back to the recovery room, he was sleeping soundly. A few long minutes later he came out of it and just looked at us for a while. Once they gave him the first dose of his oral pain medicine (he received some via his IV), he spoke. He even smiled. I couldn’t believe it. It took about five hours before we had a room, but he let us read books to him and when the nurse brought the recovery room DVD player over (a Mickey Mouse one no less), he really perked up.
Kudos to the hospital staff. He didn’t want to leave the next day (it may have had something to do with the fact that we don’t have cable and in the hospital, he had access to the Cartoon Network). When I told him last night he was returning to school, he even said “Yes!” Spring break is over. He’s ready to see some friends.
Posted in: Michelle Reese • kids' health | 1 Comment »
March 13th, 2009, 4:01 pm by Michelle Reese
Well, my son is a bit more anxious about his surgery next week. He’s getting his tonsils and adenoids out. A sleep study showed what my husband and I have known for years - he doesn’t sleep at night. He suffers from sleep apnea and wakes at least twice AN HOUR.
So the ENT scheduled his surgery and since telling my son about it he’s had one main question: Do I have to get a shot?
Well, I told him, no and yes. It’s not a shot. But it is a poke. I figured they would give him an IV. So I didn’t want to lie!
I got great news from the hospital today - they’re going to knock my son out before putting in the IV for the surgery. He will have to keep the IV in overnight, but I think he will be able to handle that. In the meantime, my husband and I are stocking up on a few new Lego sets to keep him busy while he recovers.
Posted in: Michelle Reese • kids' health • life with kids | Post a Comment »
March 11th, 2009, 4:38 pm by Michelle Reese
My house has been through the wringer the last few weeks. At one point it smelled like disinfectant, Vicks vapor rub and, I hate to say it, vomit all at once.
And me? Big black bags under my eyes from nights up with a sick kid coughing so hard she throws up.
I think we’re over the hump. I’ve gotten sleep the last two nights - solid hours of sleep. I’m quite sure - after writing a story about it this week - that it all started with RSV.
Hopefully she’s close to being done with it (if not, the doc has an round of steroids planned).
Next week, my son goes in to get his tonsils and adenoids out. While normally a routine surgery, the fact that he suffers from sleep apnea means he gets to stay overnight at the hospital.
I wasn’t sure how to approach him about it. Two weeks ago we started talking. On Monday, he reminded me - “Mom, I need to go get my tonsils out.”
Ok, he knows about it for sure. He keeps asking if he’s getting a shot (probably, I said, knowing he may be an IV). That part he’s worried about. We looked at the hospital’s Web site to show him where he’ll stay.
Mommy and daddy will be there, I promised. And we have cool toys for you to play with when you’re done.
No one in my family has had this done, so I’m not sure what to expect. Everyone tells me, “Oh, I remember having ice cream for days. It was great.”
My son doesn’t like ice cream, nor anything sweet for that matter.
Sometimes I can get him to eat an ice pop, so that’s what I’m stocking up on this weekend.
Posted in: Michelle Reese • kids' health | Post a Comment »
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