How to Prevent Your Baby from Developing Scurvy

It is not often that you hear of someone developing scurvy in today’s world. Scurvy was once a disease that afflicted pirates and explorers in the 18th century. That doesn’t mean that people no longer catch this (now rare) disease. A baby in Spain was diagnosed with scurvy. How can you prevent your baby from developing this disease? A study was published in the journal Pediatrics that parents should take note of. Researchers found that a baby in Spain had developed scurvy, and set out to find out how that happened. In short, they determined that it was due to … Continue reading

Four Ways to Reduce Your Heating Bill

If the weather INSIDE is frightful because you are afraid of home heating bills, you won’t spend a very pleasant winter. A better solution is to stay warm by finding multiple ways of reducing your heating bill and then combine these strategies to reduce your heating bill to the lowest cost possible. Selective Heating Only heat the rooms you are actually using. Are there any rooms that can be closed off temporarily during the coldest part of the year? Even if your home isn’t zoned, you can make it warmer in the rest of the house by isolated unused rooms. … Continue reading

Getting Your Kids to Listen to You

I’ve been a little frustrated with my son lately. It seems like I have to ask him ten times to do anything, and even then he still won’t do it. He’s unbelievably stubborn; and too smart for his own good. That whole reverse psychology thing doesn’t work with him anymore. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve lost my cool with him before when he won’t do what he’s told, much less acknowledge that he’s even been asked to do anything. He’s a pro at ignoring. After our nightly shower battle, I finally decided to do a little research … Continue reading

Is Your Sofa Safe?

I often worry about the chemicals I use in my house.  I worry about what exactly is in the air freshener I use.  I freak out when my husband buys a Teflon skillet. But, I just read that another real threat in my house may be my sofa. My sofa?  A threat?  Yes. Since 1975, California has required that all furniture with foam such as sofas and baby products such as car seats be treated with flame retardant chemicals.  That standard, maybe because California is so large a state, became the standard for most other states. The problem is while … Continue reading

Don’t Forget to Take Care of Yourself

As a mother it is natural to put our children’s needs above our own. While there is nothing wrong with this, it is important to remember to take care of your needs as well. Your kids need a healthy mommy to take care of them, which means like it or not, you can’t push your needs aside anymore. You have to take care of yourself, so you are still around to take care of them in the future. As a woman yearly exams are crucial. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how healthy you think you may be, there’s … Continue reading

Don’t Sabotage Your Efforts

Have you been struggling with keeping your New Year’s resolutions?  There could be things you are doing or not doing that will sabotage all of your efforts, not only in the way of losing motivation but getting injured. Let’s consider some of the ways this can happen.  One way is by jumping too quickly into a fitness routine that your body isn’t ready for. I can’t help but chuckle as my husband and I discussed his ability (or should I say inability) to handle an insanity workout.  We were watching an infomercial and both of us agreed that the movements … Continue reading

Cold-Weather Gear for Your Pet

As the weather turns colder for most of us, it’s time to get our coats out of the back of the closet. Some of our pets require winter apparel as well, and ZooToo has a rundown of some of the latest products out on the market for keeping your pets warm. You can go with the traditional cute little sweaters and jackets that fill aisles at pet stores, or you can try something a bit different for your pets this winter. What you need depends on you and your pet’s lifestyle, so we’ll take a look at three different types. … Continue reading

Are Your Trust Issues Holding You Back?

After a divorce it is natural to have a few trust issues. The person you put all of your trust in betrayed you and hurt you deeply. It is difficult to open yourself up to the possibility of that kind of pain again. You don’t want to feel vulnerable, and understandably so. Nobody expects you to rush into anything, so give yourself some time to deal with these trust issues now, so that they don’t continue to hold you back in the future. I’ve had a fair number of bad men in my life, as a result it has been … Continue reading

Developing a Healthy Body Image

There tends to be a lot of mixed messages when it comes to body image. It makes me wonder how tweens and teens are able to digest it all. On one side we are being told that America has an obesity problem and the trend in overweight children is increasing. Yet on the other hand we are bombarded with images of skinny people and made to feel that unless you are stick-thin, you don’t measure up. Both sides of the coin aren’t healthy. We need to meet somewhere in the middle. But it’s difficult. I know because I have a … Continue reading

Introducing Your Kids to Someone New

One of things that many single parents wonder is when it is ok to introduce your children to someone new. While there is no straight forward answer, there are many things to consider as you are contemplating bringing someone new into your children’s lives. This is a tender time for children and can affect them in many different ways. Understand that this may be a difficult transition for your children and proceed with care. Before you introduce your children to someone, be sure to talk to them about it. Let them express their feelings to you about this new person. … Continue reading