Yesterday we got a call from our daughter's school... actually I missed the call when it came in, but checked my message immediately. It went like this, "Hi Colleen. This is ____ from school. Jacqueline has been in an accident, has cut open her head and is bleeding pretty badly. She needs you."
Holy crap! There is nothing that compares to the intensity of emotions that a parent feels when their child has been hurt, or is ill.
Thank GOD my husband was home at the time... I think I would have had a heart attack, had he not been there! We woke our son up form his nap (which is always a lovely experience!), stuck him in his car seat, and drove like he** to get to her school at warp speed.
A little background: this is the THIRD time in a year and a half that this kid has split her head open!!! Unbelievable! I swear, anytime I hear a scream or a cry in a room full of children, I automatically assume that it's most likely my daughter!
Anyhow, ultimately, she's fine. This time, they were able to "glue" her. Good thing - I'm sure I would have passed out if I had to watch the whole needle into her forehead and stitches thing again! Not my strong suit!
Some 'funny' things happened during this little adventure with her yesterday.
First, it was her third time at this emergency clinic... and her fourth time at any doctor's office or clinic since birth. She's almost 6.
She was at a family doc we personally know when she was one. We took her in to confirm that she had Rubella... and wanted a 2nd opinion about whether or not we should proceed with our plans to travel to a seminar the following day. He confirmed that it was indeed Rubella... "most likely contracted by exposure to another child who had been recently vaccinated". He agreed with us that she was absolutely fine to travel, as the virus was already passing through her system quite efficiently. No treatment of any sort - more like a visit with a trusted friend.
Interesting, he also commented on how lucky she was to have contracted this... "Now she's immune for life... easy! 3 days from beginning to end for the virus to pass through the body, then you're done! I don't know we vaccinate for this."
So, when we started this little parade of head injury trips to the emergency clinic, we had to deal with the shock, disbelief, disdain and disapproval of everyone involved in the process - from check in to consultation to examination and treatment to check out.
We just laugh now! We're used to it.
The dialogue usually goes something like this:
"Immunizations up to date?"
"No."
"Pardon?"
"No. She has no vaccinations." (The pen goes down, the head comes up. The look of confusion appears! The entire consultation comes to a screeching halt... and we're only 15 seconds into it... this is gonna' be interesting!)
"What, you don't believe in immunizations?"
"Oh, no. We believe vaccinations are real. We choose not to give them to our children."
"Do you care to explain?"
"No."
(Believe me, we could give you a 12 hour scientific dissertation reviewing and dissecting every shred of evidence and research pertaining to vaccines and their entire progression throughout history... but our daughter might bleed to death in the process! We're not trying to pick a fight here ... can we stop talking about this now???)
"Hmm... " (Head goes down. Writing begins.)
"Immunizations are very, very important you know."
"We've done our research and choose not to. We're here to have her injury treated, that's all."
"So, I suppose you don't want a tetanus shot for the open wound she has, either?" (not the most approving tone at this point.)
"No thank you. Just proper wound cleaning, then whatever she needs - stitches or glue."
"OK. What about previous medical history? Any problems?"
"No."
"What medications does she take?"
"None." (Suspicious eyes comes up from the paper again...)
"Any allergies to medications?"
"None that we know of. .. she's never taken any."
(They're now certain that we have stepped right off another planet!! Guess what? We feel the same!)
We add, "She's never needed any." (hoping to make the note taker feel better!)
... the interrogation goes on for awhile... we're pretty sure the note taker has pressed a secret button to have the police and child protective services come and take us away!!!
Fast forward to dismissal instructions. "If she asks for it, or looks mopey, give her Motrin." My daughter begins to question me... I 'shush' her and say "I'll tell you later."
Moments later, when we've been released, she asks, "What's Motrin?" I tell her. She says, "Why would I give my body drugs when it's already injured and working so hard to heal?" I say, "I'm sure there's a time and a place for Motrin honey... I just can't think of it off the top of my head." She asks if we even have any. Nope.
On our way out, we walked by the vending machine in the waiting room. My daughter turns to me and asks, "Mommy, isn't it mostly sick or injured people who come here?" I answer affirmatively. She astutley observes, "Then they shouldn't have all that junk here for those people to eat. How can their bodies heal properly if they're putting all that junk in?"
Well spoken, little Scar Face! I say, "Someday, when you rule the world, you can fix all that!"
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
You Drank WHAT???
The other day, my daughter spent a couple of hours playing outside with a friend in the neighborhood. At one point, they went inside her friend's house for a bathroom break. Or, so I thought.
Let me interject a critical piece of background information here....
We have gone over and over the "food and drink" ground rules for visiting a friend's house. Real simple, it's something like this: "Sweetie, you will be offered food and drinks that we don't have at home. As long as you have filled up with health first (eaten clean protein, veggies, fruit and water), then you may try a bit of what is offered, if you choose. EXCEPT when it comes to drinks. ONLY water, unless you know for certain that it's organic 'real' juice, then you may have that. Absolutely no milk, pop, sports drinks or juice drinks."
When she came home from the friend's house, she told me that, while inside their home, she had eaten a few homemade cookies that her friend's mom had just made. OK. Not the healthiest choice, but totally understandable, I thought.
It wasn't until much later that night, in the bathtub actually, that my daughter 'slipped' and told me that she actually had at least 6 cookies!! OK, I can still understand. Afterall, they sounded like really yummy cookies! But, I did remind her that the more toxins you put in, the less health is created.
Then it occurred to me, all those cookies must have made her really thirsty. That's when she dropped the bomb!!
She had 2 or 3 glasses of MILK!!!!
YOU DRANK WHAT???
Oh my goodness... you would have thought she had just confessed to smoking pot with her friends!!! I couldn't believe she would put that stuff in her little body! I was horrified!!!
I'll make the very long version of this story much shorter...
We obviously had three issues:
1) we needed to review making healthy choices even when mommy and daddy aren't around;
2) we needed to have a frank conversation about MILK.
My daughter's eyes just about popped out of her little head when I told her that the milk she had chugged was loaded with drugs! (I had to get her attention!) We talked about the steroids, hormones and antibiotics it's loaded with.
I know she just about threw it up when she heard this!
3) finally, we needed to discuss the contradictory nature of "healthy" food. She was very confused (again) by other people in her life saying that milk is very healthy for her (her friends, other parents, teachers, etc.) and that having cookies, cake and other sweets really isn't so bad.
She looked at me, wondering why her father and I are the only two grown-ups on the planet that disagree! I told her that, unfortunately for her, this was something she'd have to get used to! I told her she could choose whatever she wanted to when she is a grown-up... but for now, it's MY responsibility to protect and enhance her health. Period.
I am absolutely certain that this is only the beginning of our healthy choice journey with our kids! I'm sure we'll be re-visiting this quite often!
Poor kid. I think she's rather have parents that own a candy store!
Let me interject a critical piece of background information here....
We have gone over and over the "food and drink" ground rules for visiting a friend's house. Real simple, it's something like this: "Sweetie, you will be offered food and drinks that we don't have at home. As long as you have filled up with health first (eaten clean protein, veggies, fruit and water), then you may try a bit of what is offered, if you choose. EXCEPT when it comes to drinks. ONLY water, unless you know for certain that it's organic 'real' juice, then you may have that. Absolutely no milk, pop, sports drinks or juice drinks."
When she came home from the friend's house, she told me that, while inside their home, she had eaten a few homemade cookies that her friend's mom had just made. OK. Not the healthiest choice, but totally understandable, I thought.
It wasn't until much later that night, in the bathtub actually, that my daughter 'slipped' and told me that she actually had at least 6 cookies!! OK, I can still understand. Afterall, they sounded like really yummy cookies! But, I did remind her that the more toxins you put in, the less health is created.
Then it occurred to me, all those cookies must have made her really thirsty. That's when she dropped the bomb!!
She had 2 or 3 glasses of MILK!!!!
YOU DRANK WHAT???
Oh my goodness... you would have thought she had just confessed to smoking pot with her friends!!! I couldn't believe she would put that stuff in her little body! I was horrified!!!
I'll make the very long version of this story much shorter...
We obviously had three issues:
1) we needed to review making healthy choices even when mommy and daddy aren't around;
2) we needed to have a frank conversation about MILK.
My daughter's eyes just about popped out of her little head when I told her that the milk she had chugged was loaded with drugs! (I had to get her attention!) We talked about the steroids, hormones and antibiotics it's loaded with.
I know she just about threw it up when she heard this!
3) finally, we needed to discuss the contradictory nature of "healthy" food. She was very confused (again) by other people in her life saying that milk is very healthy for her (her friends, other parents, teachers, etc.) and that having cookies, cake and other sweets really isn't so bad.
She looked at me, wondering why her father and I are the only two grown-ups on the planet that disagree! I told her that, unfortunately for her, this was something she'd have to get used to! I told her she could choose whatever she wanted to when she is a grown-up... but for now, it's MY responsibility to protect and enhance her health. Period.
I am absolutely certain that this is only the beginning of our healthy choice journey with our kids! I'm sure we'll be re-visiting this quite often!
Poor kid. I think she's rather have parents that own a candy store!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
What Type Of Physical Activity Are We Really "Wired" For?
Earlier this afternoon, my daughter and I took off for one of our adventure walks. It has been such a beautiful spring day here, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to spend some 'girl' time with her, as well as get some exercise in the warm sunshine.
About half way into our journey, I realized how differently a 5 year old and a grown-up approach "exercise"! For years I've read that our hunter/gatherer ancestors moved their bodies in an incredibly varied way... sometimes it was full-out running, either for food or for sake of not becoming someone's food, sometimes climbing, balancing, walking, squatting, jumping, throwing, etc.
It has been said that the average adult 'back in the day' was in the same condition as our modern day elite, Olympic decathletes. Wow, how far we've strayed from our innate movement patterns!
So today, I saw first hand how truly amazing kids are! Left to their own devices, without the distraction of a pesky television or video game, they naturally move their bodies in a much more holistic way than us fuddy-duddy grown-ups tend to.
For a solid hour, this child of mine was performing an entertaining, energetic combination of sprints, skipping, walking, throwing rocks, climbing a tree, rolling down a hill, dancing the "booty-shake", balancing on and walking effortlessly along a fallen tree, puddle jumping, more sprints and WAY more skipping!
It was some of the best and definitely the most fun interval training I've ever done! I couldn't help but think, "no wonder this kid has such a lean, toned body with hardly an ounce of fat on her!"
I think exercise programs should be designed by 5 year olds! We'd all be more carefree, definitely more fit... and we'd certainly smile a LOT more since we'd all be skipping everywhere we go!
About half way into our journey, I realized how differently a 5 year old and a grown-up approach "exercise"! For years I've read that our hunter/gatherer ancestors moved their bodies in an incredibly varied way... sometimes it was full-out running, either for food or for sake of not becoming someone's food, sometimes climbing, balancing, walking, squatting, jumping, throwing, etc.
It has been said that the average adult 'back in the day' was in the same condition as our modern day elite, Olympic decathletes. Wow, how far we've strayed from our innate movement patterns!
So today, I saw first hand how truly amazing kids are! Left to their own devices, without the distraction of a pesky television or video game, they naturally move their bodies in a much more holistic way than us fuddy-duddy grown-ups tend to.
For a solid hour, this child of mine was performing an entertaining, energetic combination of sprints, skipping, walking, throwing rocks, climbing a tree, rolling down a hill, dancing the "booty-shake", balancing on and walking effortlessly along a fallen tree, puddle jumping, more sprints and WAY more skipping!
It was some of the best and definitely the most fun interval training I've ever done! I couldn't help but think, "no wonder this kid has such a lean, toned body with hardly an ounce of fat on her!"
I think exercise programs should be designed by 5 year olds! We'd all be more carefree, definitely more fit... and we'd certainly smile a LOT more since we'd all be skipping everywhere we go!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Can You Calculate Your Real Age By The Number Of Times You Eat Out Each Week?
Check this out...
Do you enjoy eating out in restaurants? I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy the idea of a nice dinner in a restaurant... someone else preparing it, setting the table, and doing all the dishes! Aaaahhhh, how relaxing...
BUT, it doesn't really work like that in my real life because I can't effectively come to terms with the amount of toxic, nutrient-lacking "food" served in our local restaurants. It just seems like empty, dead food. Oh sure, some of it tastes totally fabulous... but that has nothing to do with health!
I know this is very much a geographic issue as well. I'm in the wrong town... probably the wrong state to expect wholesome, pure, sufficient, fresh foods!
As I've said before, when our family is headed out to a resturant, I feel the need to plan ahead and make sure the kids and I (my husband is on his own!) have filled up with health first! We have a healthy source of protein and some fresh greens... relieves some mommy guilt!
Plenty of times, I'll pack our own purified water (especially in one particular local town where the city tap water has very high levels of arsenic) and fresh veggies for the kids to munch on while waiting for their meal. I couldn't care less about some of the glares I get from waitstaff... MY kids... their health is MY responsibility.
So, can you actually calculate your real age based upon how often you eat out? The theory, of course, would be that the more you eat out, the less healthy you are, the more accelerated your aging process would be.
Check out this Dr. Mercola link to find out how this is done... and be sure to read his comments after the article!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/04/01/can-you-calculate-your-age-by-how-often-you-eat-out.aspx
Do you enjoy eating out in restaurants? I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy the idea of a nice dinner in a restaurant... someone else preparing it, setting the table, and doing all the dishes! Aaaahhhh, how relaxing...
BUT, it doesn't really work like that in my real life because I can't effectively come to terms with the amount of toxic, nutrient-lacking "food" served in our local restaurants. It just seems like empty, dead food. Oh sure, some of it tastes totally fabulous... but that has nothing to do with health!
I know this is very much a geographic issue as well. I'm in the wrong town... probably the wrong state to expect wholesome, pure, sufficient, fresh foods!
As I've said before, when our family is headed out to a resturant, I feel the need to plan ahead and make sure the kids and I (my husband is on his own!) have filled up with health first! We have a healthy source of protein and some fresh greens... relieves some mommy guilt!
Plenty of times, I'll pack our own purified water (especially in one particular local town where the city tap water has very high levels of arsenic) and fresh veggies for the kids to munch on while waiting for their meal. I couldn't care less about some of the glares I get from waitstaff... MY kids... their health is MY responsibility.
So, can you actually calculate your real age based upon how often you eat out? The theory, of course, would be that the more you eat out, the less healthy you are, the more accelerated your aging process would be.
Check out this Dr. Mercola link to find out how this is done... and be sure to read his comments after the article!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/04/01/can-you-calculate-your-age-by-how-often-you-eat-out.aspx
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