By Liz walker
Over the past few months, with the #MeToo campaign dominating the media, it has been impossible for the public to ignore the voices of women sharing their stories of harassment and abuse. Although we live in unsettling times, as parents, we are in a unique position to curb the ongoing sexual aggression and objectification that girls and women encounter daily, by building resilience and resistance in our kids to the onslaught of hypersexualized images. These images, that form the wallpaper of our lives, normalize and legitimize an atmosphere that promotes the kind of behaviors that women are protesting in the #MeToo campaign. (more…)

How to identify, treat and prevent head lice.

By Amy Chinian
We’ve all been there – your child starts scratching her head or you hear that she has been around someone who has it. But don’t fret! We talked to lice expert Amy Chinian, owner of My Hair Helpers, to get the scoop about how to get rid of these little creatures for good.

Q: What’s the best way to check my child for lice?
A: In a spray bottle, add water and peppermint conditioner (lice hate mint), and spray your child’s hair thoroughly – this stops anything from moving in the hair. Then, use the Lice Eliminator Comb (a spiral tooth metal comb) to comb through each section of the hair, looking for evidence of eggs, nits, or live bugs. If your child does have lice, notify family members, schools, friends, and acquaintances. (more…)

By Scott Myers
The numbers are scary. I mean, am I really old enough to have been working with children for 30 years? All kidding aside, the numbers about our children’s health and fitness are scary. I want to share some of the numbers and information:
• Obesity is the most prevalent nutritional disease of children and adolescents in the U. S.

• A child’s potential to develop strength, endurance and physical skill increases at an exponential rate the first two years of life.

• Children are motivated by fun. They’ll do just about anything if it’s playful, including exercise.

• Children who are physically fit are absent from school less frequently and may perform better academically.

• Research shows that children’s muscles develop in many different ways and perform specific roles and movements. Exercise and activity help a child activate all the muscles in his body, which helps him become more coordinated and able. (more…)

How to know when your child needs glasses.

Q: When is the right age for children to have a proper eye exam?

A: Dr. Super has examined children as young as newborns however we typically recommend that children come in for their first comprehensive eye exam around the time they’re starting school – say 4 or 5 years old.

Please note that a comprehensive eye exam is very different than the basic vision test your pediatrician might do. An optometrist like Dr. Super uses state of the art equipment to scan eyes for medical health in addition to being able to detect some learning disabilities, and to provide more accurate vision assessments.

Q: How long does the initial exam take?

A: An initial comprehensive eye exam typically takes about 30 minutes to an hour. (more…)

By Nancy Macnamara, M.Ed.
Getting back to the routine and rigor of school after a summer break that’s been filled with relaxation and fun-in-the-sun activities can be quite an adjustment, even for those kids who love school. Change can be difficult, no matter how exciting and happy we are to be going through it. You can help ease some of the anxiety that comes with this change by taking steps to anticipate what will trigger uneasiness in your child as the first day of school approaches. (more…)

By Tanya Streeter
I can’t protect my children. It’s as simple as that. In fact, it’s worse than that. I have unwittingly poisoned them….BEFORE THEY WERE BORN. That’s the reality of the human health impact of plastic pollution.

This stark fact turned my stomach and made my head spin. I was already a mother of one very lovely redheaded daughter, and wading through yet another round of IVF in my journey to conceive our sweet son when, whilst shooting scenes for “A Plastic Ocean” (available on iTunes), I learned there is one way it’s thought that we are able to reduce toxins already accumulated in our bodies: by reducing our exposure to plastics…really. I suppose that’s a little piece of good news: the possibility that we can reduce our levels of those toxins, right? Well, when I say “we”, I mean us women. You see, men can’t. Want to know why? Because they can’t have babies. (more…)

By Elissa Goodman
Every mom I know has a vacation horror story…sick kid on the plane, a little one that either can’t go or can’t stop going, the whole family that ended up with food poisoning. In my own experience, I have one child who was born to travel and another child that gets very thrown off by the change in routine.

It’s a balancing act every time we hit the road.

The combination of stress, exposure to travel germs, changing routines, and nutritional challenges take a toll on the health of the whole family. Along the way of managing my own travel schedule and bringing the kids along, I’ve picked up a few tips that make the process a little less stressful. (more…)