Search Results for: blog exercise amp trauma

Your Kids are Ready for Sleep-Away Camp. Are You?

Reading a recent article at Huffington Post about sleep away camp has me in a bit of a tizzy. The writer (Tina Traster) described a camp information session she was recently at where parents worried about peanuts, and junk food, and socializing with other kids. She also recalled the reality of her own camp days were counselors weren’t screened and she experienced “the most unadulterated part of childhood”. At 13 and 15, my kids have never been to sleep away camp unless you count a few 4-day church youth retreats and a couple of trips to Bob Jones University for … Continue reading →

The Fitness Blog Week in Review June 2 – June 8

Posted on by

Is it Saturday already? This has been a crazy week and our plans were sidetracked hard because the daughter was sick all week. She suffered from a high fever for five days and now she has a full-fledged head cold. Hopefully next week will see us back out on our bikes and swimming again. In the meanwhile, here is our week in review: Saturday, June 2 Does Becoming a Parent Means Becoming Sedentary? Studies suggest that with the shifting priorities and lack of sleep after a baby is born, parents are less likely to exercise than they were before they … Continue reading →

Exercise & Trauma

Posted on by

A few years ago, when I lived in Virginia we faced 9/11 with fear and uncertainty. I remember the absolute silence in the skies as all planes were grounded. I remember worrying about the friend of ours who worked at the Pentagon and the hours it took to find out whether he was still alive or not. I remember with cold, crystal clarity the sickening realization that my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and nephew were originally going to fly out that morning, but changed their flights to later in the day because my sister-in-law didn’t want to have to get up so … Continue reading →

Stress Busting for Men & Women

According to John Gray, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, but they are both down here on Earth when stress strikes. In fact, stress is the one area where men and women are actually both on the same page because they need some of the same stress busting even if their stress comes from different sources or is demonstrated in different ways. Among the best stress relievers shared by men and women both: Regular sleep Reducing caffeine Regular exercise But there are some differences between men and women, besides the obvious. Among those differences are that women … Continue reading →

Curbing Bad Behavior: Biting

Once bitten, twice shy. Or in my daughter’s case, indefinitely shy. And in my case, infinitely outraged. Last year, my child was on the receiving end of a serious bite.  Not by a spider, a dog, nor a snake, but by a boy diagnosed with a developmental disorder. My daughter’s bloody injury required emergency medical treatment.  Fortunately, her tetanus shot was up-to-date, so she wasn’t forced to endure a booster. Despite the passage of time, the details of that traumatic day are still seared in my memory.  As I learned from the attending physician, human bites can be far more dangerous than … Continue reading →

Author Interview: Haley Hatch Freeman

Today I am joined by Haley Hatch Freeman, author of the new book “A Future for Tomorrow.” Haley suffered with anorexia as a teenager, and was able to overcome this struggle with counseling and through the help of the Lord. She wrote “A Future for Tomorrow” in the hopes that sharing her story would help other young women and their parents understand this disorder and realize that help is available. Haley spoke with me candidly about her experiences and I’d like to share that conversation with you. Haley, your story is deeply personal and not everyone would have the courage … Continue reading →

Different Types of Stress

Stress isn’t just stress. Researchers have identified several different kinds of stress! Stress can be divided into two basic categories: short term stress and long term stress. Each of these categories can be further broken down into different types. Types of short term stress include: Acute time-limited stressors come on suddenly (acute) and are over relatively quickly. Situations like public speaking and doing math in your head fall into this category. These things may come on without warning but are short in duration. Brief naturalistic stressors are similar — they are relatively short in duration. Think of a classroom test … Continue reading →

Suggested New Year’s Resolutions for Adoptive Parents

I’m not going to look at my last year’s New Year’s Resolutions blog before I write this one. I’m just going to go with what’s on my mind now. So what is on my mind now? Too much, that’s what. I want to have more meaningful family conversations at the dinner hour. I want to find a book that the whole family can enjoy reading by the fireside in the evenings—and keep reading age-appropriate books with each child individually too. I want to do all my physical therapy exercises and see if I can finally quit re-injuring myself. I want … Continue reading →

Media Review: With Eyes Wide Open: A Workbook for Parents Adopting International Children

With Eyes Wide Open is a workbook sometimes used in required pre-adoption preparation courses or given to pre-adoptive parents of international children. It is intended for parents adopting children who are several months old or older. These are children with life experiences, which the authors define as a child who has recognizes caregivers or caregiving patterns such as voices, words, gestures, who has attempted to attach to a caregiver, who is aware of smells, sounds, and sights in the environment. This workbook intends to make you think about your child’s likely past experiences and what is likely to be most … Continue reading →

How to Recover From Surgery

Are you someone who can’t stand to sit still for days on end? Then this is the blog for you. I am speaking from experience because this is what I am going through right now. I’ve had surgeries in the past, but I always seemed to bounce back from those with relative speed – apparently because what I experienced this time was a major surgery, my bouncing back is a lot slower than I expected. Great Plans of Mice and Men It’s said that there are great plans to be made – and that we base all of those plans … Continue reading →