Search Results for: blog can you tell when your child is faking it

Right in the Kisser

How much would you pay to ensure that your child’s pearly whites are straight as an arrow when she flashes a winning smile? Depending on how crooked your kid’s teeth are to start, the cost of standard orthodontic care runs between $5,000 and $7,000 with most dental insurance plans covering only a fraction of the total. So, imagine how poor you’d be if your kid had to wear braces for 11 years. As in 11 years straight. Or, basically, your kid’s entire childhood. For the record, most kids wear braces for two to three years. I was forced to wear … Continue reading →

Go with Your Gut

If there is even the teeny-tiniest, itty-bittiest chance that strep throat or ear infections are going around my daughter’s school, there is a 96 percent chance that she will be leveled with one or both. It has happened. More than once. In fact, last year my daughter stunned not one, not two, but three pediatricians at our local clinic by contracting strep throat and hand-foot-and-mouth disease–at the same time. The days of having the doctor on speed dial and calling the second my daughter’s temperature inched above 100 are long gone. I now embrace a more reasonable and measured approach … Continue reading →

Braces on Babies

Okay, not teeny-tiny infants, but when a dentist recommends putting braces on an eight-year-old, I unabashedly ask, “Braces? On a baby?” Thankfully, my daughter has been blessed with very straight baby teeth. At six years old she has yet to loose a single tooth… much to her chagrin. Still, as a braces veteran (I wore braces for five years straight), I know that anything can happen once the tooth fairy makes her last visit. Permanent teeth are a whole new world and they are often the impetus for costly orthodontic work. “Permanent teeth” being the operative words here. Given the … Continue reading →

Help Build Your Kid’s Brain

Forget about preventing obesity and reducing the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes, getting your kids to exercise on a regular basis can actually make him smarter. According to a new study, exercise can make a child’s brain bigger. Translation: If you want a smarter kid, use your own brain and encourage him to get moving… and if you are really smart, you will run a few laps with him. This, according to researchers at the University of Illinois. The new study consisted of two parts: The first featured 9 and 10-year-olds, who were divided into two groups, one deemed … Continue reading →

Spare Your Children—Stay Away From Licorice

Do your children struggle in school? Are you sick of teachers categorizing your son or daughter as “test challenged?” Yes? Blame licorice. No kidding. The next time your child complains about failing yet another exam, consider how much licorice you consumed while you were pregnant. A new study published in the Journal of Epedimiology found that women, who consumed about 100 grams of pure licorice a week during their pregnancy, have children who perform poorly on tests. So, pregnant women + licorice = dumb kids? Kind of. According to researchers, glycyrrhizic acid found in licorice root is about 50 times … Continue reading →

Moms Get Sick Too

No offense to all the dads out there (especially to the superdads who are in a league all their own), but let’s face it, when moms get sick, the effect it has on a household is typically more noticeable than when a father is out of commission. With the swine flu scare reaching epic proportions I, along with the loyal group of playgroup moms I hang out with, couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if we were suddenly hit with fever, chills, aches and pains AND had still had to take care of kids and maintain a house. Granted, … Continue reading →

Are You Talking to Your Kids About Swine Flu?

Numerous schools in our area have closed due to the swine flu outbreak, and I’ve been thinking about the parents who have had to scramble to secure childcare for their students. My daughter is young and doesn’t attend school, so I didn’t have to explain why classes were temporarily cancelled. Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely out of the woods. Last night while I was watching the news and making dinner, I heard: “Swine flu, swine flu, all they talk about is swine flu.” I turned around to see my exasperated daughter staring at the TV with her hands placed firmly on … Continue reading →

Major Milestone Delayed

She can walk, talk, sing, dance, print words, read (some) books, heck, she can even beat an egg better than most of the guys I dated in college. But, there is one major age appropriate milestone my 4-year-old has yet to achieve: Blowing her nose. It’s true. One of the great givens of life is more than just a challenge for my darling daughter. Not only has she not mastered the art of nose blowing, she routinely turns the process into a major ordeal. A major ordeal… complete with tears that beget more mucus, which begets additional frustration and misery. … Continue reading →

Why Parents Should Say “NO” to the Real Life “Wonder Pets”

“Wonder Pets Wonder Pets We’re on our way To help a friend and save the day…” Parents with young children feel free to join in: “We’re not too big And we’re not too tough But when we work together We’ve got the right stuff… GOOOOOO Wonder Pets… YAY!!” I dare you to watch even half an episode of the popular animated Nickelodeon show about a determined guinea pig, an independent baby turtle, and an adventurous duckling without humming the theme song for the rest of the week. I should know. My preschooler has been a fan of the show for … Continue reading →

Can You Tell When Your Child is Faking It?

Does your son typically complain of a stomachache on spelling test Fridays? Or do notice that your daughter usually begins hacking up a lung on the Monday following a long weekend spent partying with friends? Unless a child has the obvious symptoms of a bad flu-—high temp, chills, projectile vomiting—-then parents are often left to use their own instincts to weed out the fakers from the truly feverish. In some cases it can be a tricky task. My own daughter has been sick with a bad cold for nearly two weeks. However, this is a child who is so deathly … Continue reading →