|
Roll up, roll up…..get your dvd's while you can! We are having a massive summer sale and are selling our Start a Daycare DVD Pack for only $39.95 (offer only applies in US) – that's Half the regular price folks! Offer valid until August 31st!! What are you waiting for?? Give the recession the old heave ho, get your cut price Start A Daycare Pack and you could be on your way to your own successful business in no time!!
Proper eating habits should start at an early age and begin at home. However, if young children are in daycare throughout a parent’s long work day, the “burden” of meeting a child’s dietary needs shifts to daycare providers. Just like with daycare licensing requirements and regulations that must be met, there are also nutritional requirements that must be met. It is important that daycare providers and preschool teachers meet the health and nutrition requirements for the children you care for.
We constantly hear the buzz words “all natural” “trans-fats” “free range” “organic”. What do these terms mean and are these types of foods more expensive? New studies and reports are released daily. These reports can contradict each other and become confusing and overwhelming.
There are companies such as Real Food for Real Kids, a Canadian company which offers healthy, organic, free range, refined sugar free, trans-fat free, meal delivery to childcare centers, but it is relatively expensive. While many daycare centers may not be able to afford delivery service, there are some things you can do. Daycare providers can arm themselves with knowledge and provide children or families in your daycare around you with knowledge. For parents who send their children to daycare with home lunches and for daycare providers who provide breakfast, lunch and snacks to children it is important to have knowledge of age appropriate, balanced nutrition.
Children’s Nutrition Guides
There are many guides that can help erase many of the confusions child care providers may have with respect to nutrition for young children. The Yale Guide to Children’s Nutrition by William Tamborlan, is a comprehensive guide to children’s nutrition and a good place to start to learn the basics. The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine. Lapine is also excellent. Lapine is really on to something with highly creative, healthy dishes that get finicky eaters to eat healthfully. How to Teach Nutrition to Kids by Connie Liakos Evers helps child care providers teach children about a balanced diet. And finally, Tidbits: A Quick and Healthy Guide to Kids’ Snacks by Gina La Monica and April Brimer is the go-to guide for snacks. It’s a colorful picture book chock full of healthy alternatives that kids will love.
Even making a few simple additions to daycare menus can make a big difference. One child care center designates two days each week as “salad bar days”. Get creative and really mix up the fruits and veggies. Be sure that you foods you serve in your daycare are age appropriate and fresh. Educate children about the benefits of eating healthy and then model healthy eating in the food you serve.
No related posts.
Good Morning!
Another week of Summer. This week we will be going swimming to the pool on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we will go to Scales Lake. There is no field trip on Friday.
Today we will try a new dish with the kids. It’s a cream cheese and sour cream dip with bacon and cheddar cheese and salsa. We think the kids will be crazy about this. For the reticent, we will have peanut butter on crackers. Lots of fresh fruit and a salad to go with this.
Regular school days on Monday and on Thursday.
Glad we will get a break in the weather for a few days.
On Wednesday, Miss Judy will talk about the Garden School at the Optimist’s Club down town in Evansville.
Have a great week!
Does it pay to have a newborn? Not if you live in the United States.
I was casually listening to the radio while driving to work the other day when I heard a short story that caught my full attention (and almost made me spill my morning coffee!). The United States is now the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t offer parents paid leave after they’ve had a baby.
That’s right, we’re now in the same company as Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. The rest of the world offers some degree of paid leave for parents. Under the Family Medical Leave Act, new parents here are guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but that’s it.
I hadn’t really ever looked into the breakdown of countries offering paid leave for parents before, but when I saw it, I was pretty shocked. In countries like Sweden, parents split up to 13 months of paid parental leave. There, by law, even new dads get at least two months off to spend time with their families.
Paid parental leave, something we help our employees with here at Care.com, is so important for new parents. Having a baby changes everything. When a new bundle of joy arrives, you need to know that your job will still be there when you return to work and you have everything you need to provide for your family in the meantime.
Not having paid leave hurts families and women in particular. With two-thirds of women now the breadwinner or co-breadwinner in their household, that kind of lost income can really be devastating. It hits low-income families and single parents especially hard.
This story of Selena tells it all. She was a working mom, pregnant with her second child, and she and her husband had worked out a way for her to take two-and-a-half weeks off once the baby arrived. But when the baby was born six weeks early, she faced a difficult decision:
"After their son stabilized, Selena’s husband James came back down to her room. They had another difficult talk about finances and Selena’s leave from work. They couldn’t afford for her to take more time off than originally planned, but both wanted Selena to have the most time possible to bond with her son. With her son stable in the hospital, but not knowing how long until he could come home, the choice was between Selena taking time off when he was in the hospital or waiting to take time off when the baby was released from the hospital and could come home. ‘There was no way we could afford for me to take off more than we planned,’ recalls Selena.
They made a difficult decision: They decided it would be best if she waited to take time off until the baby came home. So after Selena had the baby on Thursday, she was released from the hospital Friday, and was back at her desk on Monday morning. ‘It was the hardest two and a half weeks of my life,’ she says recalling the ache of being away from her newborn son and the rigorous family schedule at that time.”
If we’re going to do a better job supporting working families, more companies need to step in and work to give new parents the help they need.
Have you had to face a situation like Selena’s? How did you arrange leave from work around the birth of a child?
Stories like these are so painful and too common, but hopefully we’ll be able to use them to create change so that our children won’t have to worry about things like paid parental leave.
Does it pay to have a newborn? Not if you live in the United States.
I was casually listening to the radio while driving to work the other day when I heard a short story that caught my full attention (and almost made me spill my morning coffee!). The United States is now the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t offer parents paid leave after they’ve had a baby.
That’s right, we’re now in the same company as Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. The rest of the world offers some degree of paid leave for parents. Under the Family Medical Leave Act, new parents here are guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but that’s it.
I hadn’t really ever looked into the breakdown of countries offering paid leave for parents before, but when I saw it, I was pretty shocked. In countries like Sweden, parents split up to 13 months of paid parental leave. There, by law, even new dads get at least two months off to spend time with their families.
Paid parental leave, something we help our employees with here at Care.com, is so important for new parents. Having a baby changes everything. When a new bundle of joy arrives, you need to know that your job will still be there when you return to work and you have everything you need to provide for your family in the meantime.
Not having paid leave hurts families and women in particular. With two-thirds of women now the breadwinner or co-breadwinner in their household, that kind of lost income can really be devastating. It hits low-income families and single parents especially hard.
This story of Selena tells it all. She was a working mom, pregnant with her second child, and she and her husband had worked out a way for her to take two-and-a-half weeks off once the baby arrived. But when the baby was born six weeks early, she faced a difficult decision:
"After their son stabilized, Selena’s husband James came back down to her room. They had another difficult talk about finances and Selena’s leave from work. They couldn’t afford for her to take more time off than originally planned, but both wanted Selena to have the most time possible to bond with her son. With her son stable in the hospital, but not knowing how long until he could come home, the choice was between Selena taking time off when he was in the hospital or waiting to take time off when the baby was released from the hospital and could come home. ‘There was no way we could afford for me to take off more than we planned,’ recalls Selena.
They made a difficult decision: They decided it would be best if she waited to take time off until the baby came home. So after Selena had the baby on Thursday, she was released from the hospital Friday, and was back at her desk on Monday morning. ‘It was the hardest two and a half weeks of my life,’ she says recalling the ache of being away from her newborn son and the rigorous family schedule at that time.”
If we’re going to do a better job supporting working families, more companies need to step in and work to give new parents the help they need.
Have you had to face a situation like Selena’s? How did you arrange leave from work around the birth of a child?
Stories like these are so painful and too common, but hopefully we’ll be able to use them to create change so that our children won’t have to worry about things like paid parental leave.
Have you been watching the World Cup? (How ‘bout those vuvuzelas?) We’ve followed the tournament a little bit in our house, and it’s become a great opportunity to talk to Adam about sportsmanship.
You’ve probably heard that two times in the United States’ first three games, the referees got the call wrong and disallowed an American goal. The first time it happened, it cost the U.S. a win and the chance to advance to the next round.
With soccer growing so much over the past ten years and more people watching the World Cup than ever before, it’s been a rough thing to handle for many fans here in the States. But the bad calls and subsequent great reactions from the American players have given parents a great chance to talk to kids about how to play the game and live life the right way.
Right at the end of the USA/Slovenia match, the U.S. seemed to score a game-winning goal. But the referee blew the whistle and called it off. Even after the game, there was no explanation for the call and announcers and commentators spent the next few days complaining about it.
Adam saw the replay and asked Ron about it.
“Dad, why can’t the referees change their call?” he asked. “They made a mistake and cost us the game.”
“Adam,” Ron told him, “believe me, I’ve been wondering the same thing.”
“Well, can’t they do something to fix it?”
“Sometimes, the calls go that way. Referees aren’t perfect, and they make mistakes. But as a player, you have to get past a bad call and play on.”
Then Ron got to tell Adam about the way the U.S. players handled the situation. It was neat to see that none of them complained or blamed the referee for the mistake. Although they were given plenty of opportunities by the media, neither the coach nor the players said anything to disrespect the ref even though they didn’t agree with the outcome.
When you’re playing on the world’s biggest stage in an event that only happens once every four years and a call like that goes against you, it has to be hard not to be angry. Yet the team kept its cool and by doing so became a great example for kids all over the country.
We’ve written about playing sports before, and Ron and I have encouraged both our boys to get involved because they enjoy doing it and it’s a great way to teach teamwork and leadership. Sports also give kids the chance to practice good sportsmanship. In life as well as on the field, calls won’t always go your way and you’re left to choose how to respond.
It was great to see our team react with dignity and respect, put the past behind them, and really represent their country well. By doing so, they set an example for our kids on how to react when things don’t go their way. Great job, guys!
Have you been watching the World Cup? (How ‘bout those vuvuzelas?) We’ve followed the tournament a little bit in our house, and it’s become a great opportunity to talk to Adam about sportsmanship.
You’ve probably heard that two times in the United States’ first three games, the referees got the call wrong and disallowed an American goal. The first time it happened, it cost the U.S. a win and the chance to advance to the next round.
With soccer growing so much over the past ten years and more people watching the World Cup than ever before, it’s been a rough thing to handle for many fans here in the States. But the bad calls and subsequent great reactions from the American players have given parents a great chance to talk to kids about how to play the game and live life the right way.
Right at the end of the USA/Slovenia match, the U.S. seemed to score a game-winning goal. But the referee blew the whistle and called it off. Even after the game, there was no explanation for the call and announcers and commentators spent the next few days complaining about it.
Adam saw the replay and asked Ron about it.
“Dad, why can’t the referees change their call?” he asked. “They made a mistake and cost us the game.”
“Adam,” Ron told him, “believe me, I’ve been wondering the same thing.”
“Well, can’t they do something to fix it?”
“Sometimes, the calls go that way. Referees aren’t perfect, and they make mistakes. But as a player, you have to get past a bad call and play on.”
Then Ron got to tell Adam about the way the U.S. players handled the situation. It was neat to see that none of them complained or blamed the referee for the mistake. Although they were given plenty of opportunities by the media, neither the coach nor the players said anything to disrespect the ref even though they didn’t agree with the outcome.
When you’re playing on the world’s biggest stage in an event that only happens once every four years and a call like that goes against you, it has to be hard not to be angry. Yet the team kept its cool and by doing so became a great example for kids all over the country.
We’ve written about playing sports before, and Ron and I have encouraged both our boys to get involved because they enjoy doing it and it’s a great way to teach teamwork and leadership. Sports also give kids the chance to practice good sportsmanship. In life as well as on the field, calls won’t always go your way and you’re left to choose how to respond.
It was great to see our team react with dignity and respect, put the past behind them, and really represent their country well. By doing so, they set an example for our kids on how to react when things don’t go their way. Great job, guys!
Proper eating habits should start at an early age and begin at home. However, if young children are in daycare throughout a parent’s long work day, the “burden” of meeting a child’s dietary needs shifts to daycare providers. Just like with daycare licensing requirements and regulations that must be met, there are also nutritional requirements that must be met. It is important that daycare providers and preschool teachers meet the health and nutrition requirements for the children you care for.
We constantly hear the buzz words “all natural” “trans-fats” “free range” “organic”. What do these terms mean and are these types of foods more expensive? New studies and reports are released daily. These reports can contradict each other and become confusing and overwhelming.
There are companies such as Real Food for Real Kids, a Canadian company which offers healthy, organic, free range, refined sugar free, trans-fat free, meal delivery to childcare centers, but it is relatively expensive. While many daycare centers may not be able to afford delivery service, there are some things you can do. Daycare providers can arm themselves with knowledge and provide children or families in your daycare around you with knowledge. For parents who send their children to daycare with home lunches and for daycare providers who provide breakfast, lunch and snacks to children it is important to have knowledge of age appropriate, balanced nutrition.
Children’s Nutrition Guides
There are many guides that can help erase many of the confusions child care providers may have with respect to nutrition for young children. The Yale Guide to Children’s Nutrition by William Tamborlan, is a comprehensive guide to children’s nutrition and a good place to start to learn the basics. The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine. Lapine is also excellent. Lapine is really on to something with highly creative, healthy dishes that get finicky eaters to eat healthfully. How to Teach Nutrition to Kids by Connie Liakos Evers helps child care providers teach children about a balanced diet. And finally, Tidbits: A Quick and Healthy Guide to Kids’ Snacks by Gina La Monica and April Brimer is the go-to guide for snacks. It’s a colorful picture book chock full of healthy alternatives that kids will love.
Even making a few simple additions to daycare menus can make a big difference. One child care center designates two days each week as “salad bar days”. Get creative and really mix up the fruits and veggies. Be sure that you foods you serve in your daycare are age appropriate and fresh. Educate children about the benefits of eating healthy and then model healthy eating in the food you serve.
No related posts.
My Internet service is up a minute and then down a minute. It’s enough to make you scream. So my Sundays sans service has made this column a bit unreliable.
In my talks with several friends lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people don’t even think about the nutrition, the quality, or the long term effects of what they eat. High fat, high calorie, glutenous, over cooked food is the preferred food.
In this column, the idea is to learn to make simple, palatable, quality foods that will impact the body for the good. Food should not make us unhealthy, for goodness sake. It should make us healthy.
Today we will make a Quiche. Whoa! Quiche? It’s simple, so don’t freak out.
First step is to make the crust. You will need a rolling pin or can and a place to roll. Best crusts are made with lard, but lard is about the worst thing you can eat, so we will use either Crisco or butter. I usually use butter because it’s a dairy food and used in moderation, it’s saturated fat, but unlike margarine, it’s free of chemicals. Margarine is one molecule away from plastic. It should not only never be eaten, it should never be purchased. Crisco makes better crust than butter, but crisco is man made and is suspect.
The best crust is half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, but you can make it with 100% whole wheat flour for a healthier meal. You will need 2 cups of flour and a stick of butter.
In a food processor, combine flour and butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil a little water and slowly pour about 1/4 cup boiling water into the flour-butter-salt mix while processor is on and when it balls up into one lump, it’s ready to be rolled. If the dough fails to ball up it is either too dry or you added too much water. Either add more water – carefully – or add more flour.
A crust which is flaky will have a lot of butter in it. Too much water, and the crust will be tough.
Once the dough is balled, let it sit on the counter for about ten minutes to rest. Now using a well floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a plate sized piece. Use plenty of flour to make sure your dough does not stick to the counter or board.
Fold the circle in half and half again and lift into your pie plate. Trim the edges and make sure the dough fits the whole pie pan.
Now for the fun part.
A quiche is really an egg pie made with left overs. Go to the refrigerator and find all the left over fresh vegetables you have and cut them into pieces about the size of a teaspoon and tumble those into the bottom of your unbaked crust. Almost any vegetable can be put into a quiche: yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, green and red peppers, tomatoes – whatever.
If you have left over bacon, roast, chicken, meat balls, or anything without a bone, you can cube it into pieces and tumble into the bottom of your crust. If you don’t have any left overs, you can go meatless. You can also zap a chicken breast or a little bacon in the microwave and cube that.
Next part is eggs. Just like you are making scrambled eggs, mix five eggs and a cup of milk together until they are light and frothy. Pour the eggs over the meat and vegetables.
Over the top of your quiche, put a couple of cups of grated cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your quiche will have a nice brown top, and the crust edge will be brown as well.
There is plenty of protein with this meal. It does not need any other food to go with it. It is complete. If the quiche is made with fresh vegetables, it has no preservatives, no chemicals, and aside from some cholesterol, it’s not only filling and delicious, it’s good for you.
My Internet service is up a minute and then down a minute. It’s enough to make you scream. So my Sundays sans service has made this column a bit unreliable.
In my talks with several friends lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people don’t even think about the nutrition, the quality, or the long term effects of what they eat. High fat, high calorie, glutenous, over cooked food is the preferred food.
In this column, the idea is to learn to make simple, palatable, quality foods that will impact the body for the good. Food should not make us unhealthy, for goodness sake. It should make us healthy.
Today we will make a Quiche. Whoa! Quiche? It’s simple, so don’t freak out.
First step is to make the crust. You will need a rolling pin or can and a place to roll. Best crusts are made with lard, but lard is about the worst thing you can eat, so we will use either Crisco or butter. I usually use butter because it’s a dairy food and used in moderation, it’s saturated fat, but unlike margarine, it’s free of chemicals. Margarine is one molecule away from plastic. It should not only never be eaten, it should never be purchased. Crisco makes better crust than butter, but crisco is man made and is suspect.
The best crust is half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, but you can make it with 100% whole wheat flour for a healthier meal. You will need 2 cups of flour and a stick of butter.
In a food processor, combine flour and butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil a little water and slowly pour about 1/4 cup boiling water into the flour-butter-salt mix while processor is on and when it balls up into one lump, it’s ready to be rolled. If the dough fails to ball up it is either too dry or you added too much water. Either add more water – carefully – or add more flour.
A crust which is flaky will have a lot of butter in it. Too much water, and the crust will be tough.
Once the dough is balled, let it sit on the counter for about ten minutes to rest. Now using a well floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a plate sized piece. Use plenty of flour to make sure your dough does not stick to the counter or board.
Fold the circle in half and half again and lift into your pie plate. Trim the edges and make sure the dough fits the whole pie pan.
Now for the fun part.
A quiche is really an egg pie made with left overs. Go to the refrigerator and find all the left over fresh vegetables you have and cut them into pieces about the size of a teaspoon and tumble those into the bottom of your unbaked crust. Almost any vegetable can be put into a quiche: yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, green and red peppers, tomatoes – whatever.
If you have left over bacon, roast, chicken, meat balls, or anything without a bone, you can cube it into pieces and tumble into the bottom of your crust. If you don’t have any left overs, you can go meatless. You can also zap a chicken breast or a little bacon in the microwave and cube that.
Next part is eggs. Just like you are making scrambled eggs, mix five eggs and a cup of milk together until they are light and frothy. Pour the eggs over the meat and vegetables.
Over the top of your quiche, put a couple of cups of grated cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your quiche will have a nice brown top, and the crust edge will be brown as well.
There is plenty of protein with this meal. It does not need any other food to go with it. It is complete. If the quiche is made with fresh vegetables, it has no preservatives, no chemicals, and aside from some cholesterol, it’s not only filling and delicious, it’s good for you.
Photo: naydeeyah, Flickr
I mentioned it last year, and now that it’s summertime 2010, I’ll say it again: Free movies. So, call around, or Google your city, and find out whether or not theaters in your area are sponsoring a free movie festival over the out-of-school months. Our theater is showing Hotel for Dogs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters vs. Aliens, and more. No charge whatsoever — unless you want snacks and drinks — and three movies are shown each week, over the span of three days! We love it, and we think you will, too.
Summer Safety photo by Yatmandu
Infants, toddlers, and preschool aged children are at greater risk for heat related conditions like dehydration and heat exhaustion so it is important to take the proper precautions. Daycare providers, preschool teachers, and parents must make careful decisions about when to let kids play outside and when to keep them indoors.
Keeping Kids Safe during Extreme Summer Heat
Some key points to remember during times of extreme heat:
Indoor Preschool Activities for Hot Days
If there is an ozone warning, or the weather is just entirely too severe, keep children indoors as much as possible. If you must keep children indoors they can become bored and finicky. To combat this:
The lazy days of summer are fun but it is important to be mindful about how the sun affects small children. One of the most important daycare jobs is to keep kids protected. Be creative with your activities, and always have fun with it!
An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.
He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. About an hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is, and ask if you are aware that every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar : “He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?’
We had a great time at Scales Lake. We packed up and headed up there early. The beach was beautiful around the lake. The kids found the water warm and inviting especially since the it’s been so hot. The top of the water was bathtub warm. This is a VERY shallow lake and teachers always stand at the limit so children are very very safe.
Several of the kids found they could swim better in the lake than at the pool. I spent a lot of time with Isaac, who found he had a lot more water power at the lake. He could go longer and do more in the natural water. I told him it was time he went off the board at the pool, and I think the wheels are turning.
Savannah was thrilled and solitary as she discovered and re-discovered the water and found she could propel herself pretty much at will.
Jayce was thrilled to go as deep as he could – no fear on his part!
It was interesting to watch the kids this first time at the lake. Some were bound to play with each other, and some kids just wanted to go off by themselves to see what they could see.
We had a nice lunch, and the kids ate everything. We went back to the lake after lunch and by about 2:00 the kids were done. We left the park with a brief stop at the little zoo, and the children enjoyed visiting with the goats and the ducks.
Once on the way home, we had five sleepers within seconds of our departure.
At home the children feasted on cantaloupe, juice pops, whole grain chocolate chip cookies and water. All in all it was a great day.
How can I teach my child what to do in case of fire? Fire safety is one of the most important things that a child should learn from a young age. The first thing to tell your child is “stop, drop and roll”. This mantra will stick with them throughout their lifetime. Second, you should teach your child that if there is a fire they need to get the attention of ANY adult by yelling “Fire” and not “Help”. Finally, teach them to get outside and to run to a neighbor’s home to call 911. Arranging a meeting place where you can check to see that all family members got to safety.
How can I teach my child what to do in an emergency? Teaching your young child to dial 911, and explaining repeatedly that the number is only for use in a serious emergency is a good start. Older children will understand that they should only call 911 if their parent is unconscious or they are alone in the home. In addition to knowing how to call 911, even young children should learn their home address and phone number along with the full names of their parents. Remind your child that staying calm in an emergency is the most effective way to make clear judgments, but keep your own expectations realistic and know that children will panic. If you are leaving your child alone for an extended period of time, ask a trusted adult to check in on them occasionally.
What should I do to keep my child safe around water? All children need to know about the dangers of water and drowning. If you have a backyard swimming pool, put up a fence and raise the ladder if possible. A pool alarm is inexpensive and takes only a few minutes to install. Never allow your child to swim, or be near water, alone and be sure to teach them about the buddy system. These are lessons that will stick with them through their life and allow them to always be safe around water. Finally, enroll your child in swimming lessons. Neighborhood pools and schools often provide these. Knowing how to swim is the best defense against drowning or being injured in the water.
How can I keep my child safe around a hot tub? More and more families are installing hot tubs in and around their homes. Because of the shallow depth, many people overlook the importance of covers. Don’t make this mistake. Use a cover with a lock every time you get out of the hot tub. When children use the hot tub, it is important to let them in the water for only a few moments at a time, because the elevated water temperature can be dangerous for young bodies and lead to burns or dehydration. As with all dangerous household items, keep your hot tub chemicals under lock and key, because they can be very harmful if ingested or spilled.
How can I keep my child safe on the playground? Never allow your child to use playground equipment that is in need of repair. And, unless the equipment is placed on a base of mulch or rubber padding of at least 12 inches there is a significant risk of injury resulting from falls. Never leave your child alone at the playground, because if they should become injured you need to be there to assist them. Teach your child that pushing other children on the equipment is absolutely unacceptable, and do not allow other children to push your child either.
How can I keep my child safe when playing inside? You should never allow your child to run in the house because injuries can occur due to stairs and falls. And many parents have made a clear distinction between indoor and outdoor toys in order to avoid children throwing balls and other objects in the house. If you allow your child to play hide and seek inside of the house, make sure that they understand that freezers and refrigerators are off limits, along with other potentially hazardous locations such as storage closets that are used for chemicals or cleaning products. Have plenty of indoor friendly toys, games and activities available for young children in order to keep them safe inside your home.
What should I do to keep my child safe from poisons? The first rule of thumb for parents is to keep cleaning products and other chemicals out of the reach of children. This may be on a high shelf or in a locked cupboard. It also means not using your medicine cabinet for medication storage. Keep medications out of the view and reach of children at all times. Have the poison control number handy by every phone in the house in case of accidental ingestion, and never induce vomiting until you have spoken with a professional.
How can I keep my child safe when there are firearms in the home? The best option is simply to not have firearms in the home. But, if you must have them you should always keep them in a locked cabinet. Keep ammunition locked in a different location and NEVER tell your child where it is kept. Teach your children about firearms, and the dangers that they pose. Be honest with your child, because curiosity results in more firearms injuries than anything else. Toy guns are a bad idea, and if your child asks for a BB gun, dart gun or other firearm toy – tell them no.
What can I do to teach my child to leave houseplants alone? There are many varieties of houseplants that are poisonous to children and animals, so be aware of what types of plants you are growing in your home. If you know that a specific plant is dangerous, keep it well out of the reach of your child. Knowing what is growing in your home is important, because if your child should eat a piece of your plant and become ill – you will need to tell the poison control center or pediatrician exactly what the child ate that made them ill.
How will I know when it’s time to move my toddler out of his crib? Once they reach 30 inches tall, children should be moved out of their crib and into a bed. This is a safety concern, because taller children are prone to falling over the edge of crib rails. If you are worried that your child will fall out of a bed, use a guardrail. There are many options available, and the best is a rail that slides between the mattress and box spring for stabilization. Another option is a toddler bed, which places your child just a few inches off of the floor.
How would I know if my home contained lead paint? Any home that was built before 1978 could potentially contain lead based paint. Intact paint that is not peeling in any location is most likely not a hazard, however if your home is older and has peeling walls you will need to be aware of the dangers of lead poisoning. If you suspect that your home contains lead-based paint, you can request that a certified lead inspector perform tests to determine whether there is lead present and give you advice on what you need to do in order to keep your child safe.
How can I prevent staircase injuries? The best way to prevent your child from falling down stairs is to keep them away from the top. You should have a door, or locking gate in place on all staircases when your child is young. Teach your child to navigate stairs correctly as soon as he or she is crawling in order to make sure that they know how to go up and down should they find themselves on the stairs. Don’t allow your children of any age to run in the house, otherwise an accidental stair fall could result.
Photo: sovgunga, Flickr
On Fridays, we list the links we love and point to the hot topics at our favorite sites.
Ah, the binkie. Is your babe — or big kid — having a hard time giving it up?
Or maybe your kids do OK with quitting things — like ballet class, the basketball team, you know what we mean, right? So, when is it OK to give up?
Six exercises that will keep you in shape at home: check them out!
Got twins? Need answers? Head on over to the Twins Doctor.
Games, homework help, movies, TV, pets and animals. KOL.com has it all.
With summertime officially upon us, it’s that time of year for pool safety tips. Whether taking the kids to a public pool or swimming at home, it’s important to sit the kiddos down for brief talk about safety and go over rules before heading to the pool. If you’re swimming at home, you may also [...]
From the New York Times
TONY HAYWARD, the chief executive of BP, made an astounding admission before Congress last week: after nearly two months of failure, the company and the Coast Guard have no further plans to plug the Macondo oil well leaking into the Gulf. Instead, the goal is merely to contain the leak until a relief well comes online, a process that could take months.
With tens of thousands of barrels of oil leaking from the well each day, this absence of a backup plan highlights a lack of leadership, resources and expertise on the part of the Coast
Guard, which from the beginning was compelled to give BP complete control over the leaking wellhead.
Instead, President Obama needs to create a new command structure that places responsibility for plugging the leak with the Navy, the only organization in the world that can muster the necessary team. Then the Navy needs to demolish the well.
The Coast Guard, of course, should continue to play a role. But it should focus on what it can do well, like containing the oil already in the Gulf and protecting the coast with oil booms and skimmers. It should also use this crisis to establish permanent collaborations with other maritime forces around the globe, particularly those that can get to a disaster area quickly.
But control of the well itself should fall to the Navy — it alone has the resources to stop the flow. For starters, the Office of Naval Research controls numerous vehicles like Alvin, the famed submersible used to locate the Titanic. Had such submersibles been deployed earlier, we could have gotten real-time information about the wellhead, instead of waiting for BP to release critical details.
The Navy also commands explosives experts who have vast knowledge of underwater demolitions. And it has some of the world’s finest underwater engineers at Naval Reactors, the secretive program that is responsible for designing nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines. With the help of scientists in our national weapons laboratories and experts from private companies, these engineers can be let loose on the well.
To allay any concerns over militarizing the crisis, the Navy and Coast Guard should be placed in a task-force structure alongside a corps of experts, including independent oil engineers, drilling experts with dedicated equipment, geologists, energy analysts and environmentalists, who could provide pragmatic options for emergency action.
With this new structure in place, the Navy could focus on stopping the leak with a conventional demolition. This means more than simply “blowing it up”: it means drilling a hole parallel to the leaking well and lowering charges to form an explosive column.
Upon detonating several tons of explosives, a pressure wave of hundreds of thousands of pounds per square inch would spread outward in the same way that light spreads from a tubular fluorescent bulb, evenly and far. Such a sidelong explosion would implode the oil well upstream of the leak by crushing it under a layer of impermeable rock, much as stepping on a garden hose stops the stream of water.
It’s true that the primary blast of a conventional explosion is less effective underwater than on land because of the intense back-pressure that muffles the shock wave. But as a submariner who studied the detonation of torpedoes, I learned that an underwater explosion also creates rapid follow-on shockwaves. In this case, the expansion and collapse of explosive gases inside the hole would act like a hydraulic jackhammer, further pulverizing the rock.
The idea of detonating the well already has serious advocates. A few people have even called for using a nuclear device to plug the well, as the Soviet Union has done several times. But that would be overkill. Smartly placed conventional explosives could achieve the same results, and avoid setting an unacceptable international precedent for the “peaceful” use of nuclear weapons.
At best, a conventional demolition would seal the leaking well completely and permanently without damaging the oil reservoir. At worst, oil might seep through a tortuous flow-path that would complicate long-term cleanup efforts. But given the size and makeup of the geological structures between the seabed and the reservoir, it’s virtually inconceivable that an explosive could blast a bigger hole than already exists and release even more oil.
The task force could prepare for demolition without forgoing the current efforts to drill relief wells. And even if the ongoing efforts succeed and a demolition proves unnecessary, the non-nuclear option would give President Obama an ace in the hole and a clear signal that he’s in charge — not BP.
Christopher Brownfield is a former nuclear submarine officer and the author of the forthcoming memoir “My Nuclear Family.”
From Food Navigator
Comment: My suggestion here is to make toothpick holders with your child’s favorite character and see if this helps him eat foods he is not fond of. I think if more parents ate WITH their child, more children would eat more food. Mom and Dad are the original role models, and when a cartoon character is more influential than a parent, that says a lot.
By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 22-Jun-2010
Related topics: The obesity problem, Science & Nutrition
Children prefer the taste of foods branded with images of popular cartoon characters and choose those foods more often than unbranded ones, according to research from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
The researchers presented a group of 40 four- to six-year-old children with three different snacks – graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks and carrots – each in two different packages. Half the packages were branded with popular cartoon characters Dora the Explorer, Shrek, and Scooby Doo while the other half were unbranded. They found that children were significantly more likely to choose the cartoon-branded products over the unbranded ones – and to prefer the taste of the branded food.
In addition, the researchers found that the effect was weaker for carrots than it was for gummy fruit snacks and graham crackers.
Lead author Christina Roberto wrote: “Our results provide evidence that licensed characters can influence children’s eating habits negatively by increasing positive taste perceptions and preferences for junk food. Given that 13 percent of marketing expenditures targeting youths are spent on character licensing and other forms of cross-promotion, our findings suggest that the use of licensed characters on junk food packaging should be restricted.”
Childhood obesity is at record levels, with 32 percent of US children and adolescents overweight or obese, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers highlighted that the increase in childhood obesity – which has more than tripled since the 1970s – has coincided with increased marketing of products to children. Food and beverage companies spend more than $1.6bn a year on marketing products to younger consumers, according to Federal Trade Commission figures.
“Rather than advocating the use of licensed characters in the marketing of healthy foods, these findings suggest a need for regulation to curtail the use of licensed characters in the marketing of low-nutrient, high-energy foods,” the researchers wrote.
Despite finding no statistically significant preference for the taste of character-branded carrots, children were much more likely to choose all three foods if they were labeled with a cartoon character. A range of 72.5 percent to 87.5 percent of children selected the character-associated carrots, gummy fruit snacks, and graham crackers.
Source: Pediatrics
Published online ahead of print
“Influence of Licensed Characters on Children’s Taste and Snack Preferences”
Authors: Christina Roberto, Jenny Baik, Jennifer Harris and Kelly Brownell
Eventually kids in daycare centers will get tired of the same old peanut butter and jelly or mac and cheese from a box for lunch. Mix it up with these quick, creative, nutritious toddler lunches and snack ideas:
Veggie Pasta Sauce
One way to get children to eat more vegetables is to add them to pasta sauce. Serve this delicious sauce over fun pasta shapes.
Ingredients:
1 can 28oz crushed tomatoes
1 T olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup frozen carrots
1 cup thinly sliced yellow summer squash
1 can 14.5 oz Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
1 cup baby spinach leaves
2 roasted red peppers (from a jar)
Heat crushed tomatoes, olive oil and garlic salt in a saucepan over medium high heat. Place carrots and squash in microwave safe bowl and cook for 5 minutes. Puree carrots and squash in a food processor with diced tomatoes, spinach leaves, and roasted red peppers. Add pureed mixture to tomato mixture cooking in saucepan. Cook 10 more minutes or heated through. Serve over cooked pasta.
*Recipe adapted from toddlermag.com
Hummus
Hummus is a delicious, nutritious dip made of chickpeas. Hummus is great with veggie sticks, crackers, or pita bread.
2 cups canned organic chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup tahini sauce (sesame seed paste)
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Drain and rinse the chickpeas thoroughly until water is clear. In a food processor, puree chickpeas, garlic, lemon, one tablespoon of EVOO and cumin in food processor. Scrape down sides of food processing bowl and add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Continue to process until paste-like.
Baked Potatoes with Fun Fillings
Baked potatoes are rich in vitamin B and C and potassium. Topping baked potatoes with a variety of toppings keep baked potatoes interesting for toddlers. It also is an easy way to serve a complete meal. Prick potatoes with a fork and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the potato. You may also use sweet potatos or yams.
Topping Ideas:
Diced or shredded chicken with sautéed peppers
Diced sautéed veggies and cheese of your choice
Hummus dip or avocado dip
Last night’s leftovers – very quick and convenient
Quick and Easy Snacks for Toddlers
Slices of cucumber and whole grain crackers with hummus
Apple slices and cubes of low fat cheese
Whole Fruit smoothie and pretzels
Carrot sticks and whole grain crackers with cream cheese
Banana chunks with a handful of dry cheerios
