Category Archives: Grandmas & Grandpas

Daylight Savings and Kids’ Sleep

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Finally Daylight Savings is here!

daylight savings

This popped up in my email today from Jen and Jill at Sleepy Planet. They are two of the best people I know to help parents and kids with sleep and Daylight Savings is one of those times.

 

Spring Ahead Without

Falling Behind on Sleep

 

Daylight Savings this Sunday, March 8

 

Before bed, turn clocks ahead 1 hour.  If your child normally sleeps till 6:30 AM, the next morning she will likely sleep till 7:30 AM.  Her entire schedule – naps and bedtime – will then shift one hour later.

If you’re happy about this change, great!  Just protect her room from too much light in the early morning (use room-darkening shades if necessary), and use white noise so she won’t wake with the birds.

If you’d rather help your child get back to her usual schedule, try the following:

1.  Put your child down at her regular bedtime, say 7:30 PM, on Saturday night.

2. Set your alarm for 6:30 AM (according to the new clock) and wake your child at this time.  To her, it will feel like it’s 5:30 AM, but don’t worry.  She’ll be tired, but she’ll adjust.

3.  If your child naps, put her down at her normal nap time according to the new clock and resume a normal schedule from there.  Don’t allow her to nap longer than usual.

4.  On Sunday night, put her down at her usual bedtime according to the new time.

 

Excerpt from The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent’s Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep — from Birth to Age 5.

 

Happy Daylight Savings!

TGIF-Weekend Reading

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Weekend Reading:

weekend chicago

Chicago

 

OMG…this weekend we may see the temperatures rise above freezing here in Chiberia (Chicagoland) and just perhaps some of this snow will melt and the ice on our stoop will disappear…FINALLY!

So many interesting articles appeared in my feed this week. I am excited to share some of them with you.

Morals, values, opinions and the Core Curriculum currently a hot topic is discussed here. This article really got me thinking. See what you think!

 So as a parent, I will teach the morals, the values and my opinions. The schools will teach my children to question me. In that way, we all end up on the right side of history.

Moral facts or mere opinions that vary from culture to culture, what do you think?

The Convent of the Sacred Heart Greenwich Middle School Parent Blog is on my favorite list. There are always some great posts that generate a lot of thought on my part about what my grandchildren will face in the future.

As a philosopher, I already knew that many college-aged students don’t believe in moral facts. While there are no national surveys quantifying this phenomenon, philosophy professors with whom I have spoken suggest that the overwhelming majority of college freshman in their classrooms view moral claims as mere opinions that are not true or are true only relative to a culture.

 

For me, sleep comes fairly easily and now that I am a grandmother, when I awake during the night, getting back to sleep is not usually a problem. But for many moms and women in general, this is not the case. Are you too stressed or worried to sleep well? Or do you know someone that is…then this NYTimes article may shed some light on why sleep is so evasive.

Why all the angst over bedtime, the one part of the day that, barring nightmares, ought to bring deeply needed peace? Many believe that sleep deprivation among women has worsened. In the “Women and Sleep” study, 80 percent of women reported being just too stressed or worried to turn out the proverbial lights.

Another weekend, my husband and I try to have dinner out on Fridays, most of the time with friends but sometimes just the two of us. We unwind at a local restaurant, where the waitstaff knows us and where we can enjoy eating and relaxing. I have to plug the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group because they have been a dependable favorite of ours for so many years here in Chicago. They do not disappoint!

Weekend

Lettuce Entertain You

 

 

Enjoy a meal with your significant others this weekend!

Rules for Visiting A Newborn Baby

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Visiting a Newborn Baby

visiting a newborn baby

Rule of Thumb:

When visiting a newborn  baby, it is so important to follow some simple etiquette so that you do not add to the stress of the new mom.

All mothers and fathers are different and appreciate different levels of support. While this list won’t be absolutely everyone’s cup of tea, they are points that are made many a time by new mothers. Put your feelers out, start with the list and ask for any feedback. The best thing you can do is to ask, not assume or take it upon yourself to do what you’d like for yourself. This is the key to maintaining strong, close relationships with those who have just had a baby.

 

  • Do not smoke- smoking including second hand is not good for baby
  • Do not hold hot drinks while holding the baby
  • Do not arrive late
  • Do not assume you can bring your children with you
  • Avoid visiting if you are sick
  • Avoid staying too long
  • Avoid giving unsolicited advice

Of course, this is only a synopsis but you can check out the above link to get a more extensive list of things to avoid when visiting a newborn baby.

I would also bring some food for the parents, as cooking can be difficult, if you know what I mean!

TGIF-Weekend Reading

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Weekend Reading:

Weekend Dog

My Favorite Weekend Pup!

There has just been too much snow in the past few weeks but here is some reading to catch up on if you have a Sunday free moment.

You grandparents out there, this is for you, so you don’t wind up on a list. You all know what I mean. Although we are the old sages when it comes to wisdom, there are some things we should definitely leave to our grandkids’ parents. Don’t you agree?

Traveling with kids just made easier with a new contraption Lugabug. Check it out here. Anything to help is my motto!

 

Frequent flyer families need to check out Lugabug, which makes carting your kids through an airport as easy as rolling your luggage. Mainly because your kids roll along on your luggage.

Lugabug is a fully collapsible, portable travel chair that attaches to the front of a suitcase quickly and easily to turn any wheelie bag into a ride-on suitcase. Kids as young as two, and up to 70 pounds just sit, attach the optional seat belt, and you’re off. Although it’s probably best for parents of toddlers, considering our 40-something pound grade-schoolers are usually pretty capable of walking on their own.

 

Boy or Girl baby announcements during pregnancy, known as reveal parties have  really come a long way. Some of these I really like some are just too over the top! What do you think?

It seems the days of simply announcing whether your baby is a boy or girl seem to be long gone. The latest trend in baby showers that shows no signs of waning is the gender reveal party — personalized, meticulously planned, sometimes messy events with executions that can be so time-consuming, we can only imagine that these ideas are conceived by parents who know they will never, ever have this much free time available to them ever again.

 

Sorry for the lateness of this post I hope everyone had something that made the happy this weekend.

TGIF-Weekend Reading

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Weekend Reading: 

IMG_2493

Again this week, measles and vaccinations are all over the news. This article simply explains, why measles is so contagious and so easy to contract. How does it actually invade us? You might be surprised to learn about the miserable measles.

“It’s the most transmissible virus we know,” he says. Measles, it turns out, has a special way of invading that makes it really, really easy to get out of the host—and into other people.

 

Have you helped anyone recently, like someone you didn’t know? We all need help sometimes, especially when we are towing around some young children. As a mandated reporter, I am required by law to report a situation that puts a child in danger such as leaving a child in a car alone. Many parents do not realize that they can be arrested and their children can be put in protective custody for this type of  child endangerment. What would you do if you saw a child in a car alone? 

Although there are unfit, abusive parents out there, most of us want to succeed at this, and are doing the best that we can. But we get tired, we get frustrated, we feel isolated and a little desperate sometimes. We all do. So let’s have more empathy and try to help rather than punish parents we see in their less-than-perfect moments. Most people will thank you for it.

 

What is the bigger picture that parents on both sides of the vaccination issue are worried  about? I think, it is the worry about the unspeakable and unbearable loss of a child that puts parents on either side of this dilemma. Now that,”herd immunity” is in jeopardy, unvaccinated children are more at risk of becoming ill and possibly dying or having life long disabilities associated with the measles virus. Where are you in this discussion?

 

As the measles outbreak gathers worrisome steam in parallel to the explosion of passionate rants both pro and anti-vaccination, I find myself wondering; what is this really about? Rather than get bogged down in the myriad of issues on either side- though at the outset I will say that as a pediatrician I unequivocally recommend vaccination- I will aim to look at the bigger picture.

 

Weekend

As the weekend approaches, we are in the middle of a deep freeze here in “Chiberia” as we like to call Chicago at this time of year. So for those of you in the snow belt stay warm and cozy and those of you who are in the sunbelt, ENJOY!

Brrrrrr….

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Cold is getting to me…

cold

Bitter temperatures

Ice and snow covered everything.

Florida is looking good.

The lord and I know

I hate Florida.

Once, I moved

To the Sunshine State

From New York City.

I should have listened to my mother.

When she told me, I wasn’t going anywhere.

Pure culture shock

Oh, now I love vicarious Florida living.

Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Florida friends,

Keep posting your pictures

so

I can bask in the sun of your photos.

and

Please Pass the Hot Chocolate!

Hot chocolate

TGIF-Weekend Reading…

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Weekend Reading:

Measles has reared its ugly head again and some parents are in an uproar over unvaccinated kids in school and public places who put children with compromised immune systems at risk. Some of these vulnerable children are on chemotherapy and cannot be immunized, they rely on “herd immunity” which is affected by anti-vaxers.

California is having some serious outbreaks which has brought this problem to the forefront again where it belongs until something is resolved.

measles-Weekend

 

In Orange County, the highest rates of unvaccinated schoolchildren are in affluent and mostly white communities, especially in coastal South County.

For the first time since 2007, the number of Orange County kindergartners up to date on their vaccines did not fall this school year – instead, it rose almost 2 percentage points to 90.4 percent.

Still, that figure is below the 95 percent level of immunization coverage that health officials say is needed to prevent a widespread outbreak.

Have you found your child’s passion?
building with blocksWhen you have a child with special needs, your mind tends to always center on the milestones you hope your child will achieve, and often forget that there are many things your child can already do, and often do very well. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in therapy and homework. Often, you only see the areas that need improvement, and don’t see (for lack of time or energy) the areas of talent or achievement. (Does this sound familiar?) When this happens, it is time to pause and breathe. And better yet, change your focus to take time to celebrate.

 

Do you take your child out of school for family vacations? This is another controversial topic this week. I did this with my own kids and they were fine but it really is a personal family and child issue. What do you think?

LEGO Water Tower Place

 

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted why taking your kids out of school for a family vacation can be beneficial for you, but a nightmare for teachers. Blogger Jessica Lahey, who is both a parent and teacher, says that while she’s taken her children out of school for events she deemed valuable enough to warrant a school absence, it’s also caused somewhat of a headache for those teachers who have to pre-plan packages of work for student absences. A few educators have even deemed it “illegal” and labeled such absences as truancy.

The subject seems like a hot debate. Some comments on the piece included:

Technically, it’s telling the truth. I am taking my kid out of school for what the state has deemed an “illegal absence.” That I talked to her teacher on meet the teacher night and emailed her about our upcoming trip doesn’t matter. Nor does the fact that said teacher is putting together a packet of homework to do on the trip.

It’s still “illegal.”

I don’t do anything illegal.

 

Another weekend is upon us and it is Super Bowl Sunday. Will you be watching? Have a great couple of days! Thanks for reading! Lorette

 

Measles Outbreak Continues

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Measles

measles

Are you and your family immunized against measles.

At last count, there were 78 cases in 11 states. Most of those cases originated at Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure theme park.

News Moms Need » Blog Archive » Measles 

What should you do?

If you are NOT vaccinated or your child is under12 months old:

  • Stay away from places where large numbers of people congregate.
  • If you are vaccinated you do not have to worry and it is safe to visit airports, shopping malls and tourist attractions.

The only way to protect yourself is vaccination. Women who are trying to get pregnant should check with their health care provider to see if they are immunized. Wait one month after the MMR vaccine before trying to get pregnant. If you are pregnant get the MMR after you give birth.

Last year, the U.S. had a record number of measles cases.

As many as one in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia. This is the most common cause of death from measles in young children, according to the CDC. Children under 5 and adults over 20 are at higher risk for getting complications from the measles virus, including hospitalization and death.

 

As a nurse, I am a pro-vaccine professional for many reasons. I simply believe in medical research and do not want herd immunity to disappear, which protects those children and people, who have diminished immune systems and cannot receive vaccines.

 

Storytelling through Photos

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Stories and Photos

Rainbow Cake-Birthday Photos

 

Ever since I can remember, photographs have been a source of joy for me.

I am now a grandmother and every time, I come across a box of photos that are stored away, I know that there will a ton of vignettes running through my brain like an old movie reel from the 50’s.

As a young girl, a camera was never far away from my hand. Kodak Brownie cameras were very popular when I was a child and my father made sure that I had one. He was always taking snapshots in Black and White and we were always facing the sun which made us squint something fierce in those days. Flash was not used often by my dad, but my second Brownie camera had a flash attached to it that used bulbs that would explode into a melted hot mess after a flash photo. They were inconvenient and somewhat expensive.

DSCN2480

Film was another story. You never knew whether your photo was a keeper until you developed it at the drugstore, it took a few days for that process. Kodak did most of the developing in those days, and it was up to them to decide whether to print a photo or not depending upon its quality. If it printed, you got charged, if not you received a negative to decide if in fact you still wanted to print it or not. Saving negatives became a chore, but you did it because if your wanted duplicates you needed the negative to get them.

With all of the rigmarole of photo taking came another rigmarole of storing and sharing photos. Albums were tedious, but kept us busy on a snowy weekend along with the corner stickers that held the photos in place and keeping the stories of the photos updated and chronological. I loved it when the clear page albums came along and then the ones that were archival quality made it possible to store photos without losing their quality.

A beautiful Anniversary dessert!

A beautiful Anniversary dessert!

The life of the family photographer was tedious but very rewarding and the stories that went along with the photos could keep me enveloped for hours at a time, in past vacations, family gatherings, and visits with relatives that were no longer around.  I relished and cherished these moments.

Along with the photographic times I have changed and absolutely love the fact that I can snap a photo anytime. It is as easy as breathing and as natural for me at this point in my life. A camera be it my phone or my DSLR is always at my side!

"From Our House to Your House!"

“From Our House to Your House!”

Thank goodness, I no longer have to go to the drugstore to develop my pictures. I download them to my computer and sometimes I make copies for my walls but most times not. I have CD’s full of photos along with digital cards, that I save as back ups and my photos are backed up to Carbonite to avoid a loss that would be tragic. Sometimes I feel that losing a picture is like losing a part of my history…it is something to grieve if you lose your precious photos.

Photos stir memories and memories are so important. Photos tell stories and stories are so important too.

Recently, Shutterfly contacted me to share this sad news about photos, memories and millennials.

Millennial Memories at Risk

Millennials are most at risk for losing memories, taking more photos than any other generation. Though millennials snap more than 100 photos each month on average, they’re unlikely to have looked at an old photo in the past month.

 

“Photos can be effective memory cues, but they only work if you revisit them. Shutterfly’s research shows that people are taking huge amounts of photos but our revisiting behavior isn’t scaling with our snapping behavior,” said Dr. Linda Henkel, a professor and cognitive psychologist at Fairfield University. “My earlier research showed that the act of taking photos actually makes us remember the moment less if we don’t take another glance at the picture. To truly keep a memory alive, revisiting the photo is as important as taking it.”

Both of these findings made me sick. I literally stopped and reread them to make sure I understood these findings correctly.

ice cream cone

If this information is true, it makes me sad that with all our technology and photo taking we are losing the ability to keep our memories alive if we don’t look at the photos we take after we snap them.

To keep our memories alive we must revisit our photos.

Does that mean, that we should not be always snapping but we should take a break and be present fully, without a camera?

I think so!

So there is a balance to maintain here.

I am still going to take pictures as it is something that I love. But each picture will have more importance to me. It will have a memory and a story.

That is my resolution for this year 2015…photo taking this year will be more discerning for me.

In that effort, I will need some help and I think I will turn to Shutterfly to help me with this goal.

“Storytelling and shared connections are part of Shutterfly’s DNA and giving consumers simple and intuitive ways to access, share, and celebrate their memories is the guiding principle in everything we do. Our goal is for the technology to make it easier to archive and share photos so that users can spend more time telling their stories.”

 

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I am grateful to Shutterfly for bringing this information to my attention. I am committed to memory making and sharing as well as storytelling on my blog where I try to use my own photos whenever I can.

I have chosen a few of my favorite food photos that tell stories for me of Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, summer ice cream, and farm stand glory!

Please join me in the year of making memories and storytelling. You do not have to be a writer to tell a story when you have  great photos.

Thank you Shutterfly!

this post was not sponsored or compensated in any way

via Shutterfly Research Reveals Americans Are Taking More Photos but Failing to Share Memories (NASDAQ:SFLY).

TGIF-Weekend Reading….

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Weekend Reading:

Weekend Sunrise

Weekend Sunrise

After a gloomy “warmish” in the 30’s week here in Chicago, I am ready for the weekend, along with a Friday night dinner with friends and a wishful but unlikely “rest filled” Saturday and Sunday and perhaps a sunrise like this one!

This essay from the back page of the Sunday Times Magazine is a nice read. I don’t know about you all, but I grew up in a large city that I hated, Yonkers, NY. Long ago, it was known as the “City of Gracious Living,” but to me, that never mattered. Thank goodness, it was right next to New York City, which was in my mind Yonkers’ only redeeming quality.

 

As we drove off, I was grateful for what Tujunga was for me: a hometown I wanted so desperately to leave, but that taught me to work for the ticket that would take me away.

“Free Range” parents, who allow their children freedom to walk to school at a young age are coming under fire not only on social media but also from local law enforcement and children’s protective services in some areas of the country.  Are you a “free range” or a “helicopter” parent?

 

Kids go to the park every day. But it’s not everyday the cops come calling because kids are spotted there, but that’s exactly what happened to the Meitiv family recently.

 

“We’re amazed this has become a national conversation because we’re just doing what our parents did or [what] was considered perfectly normal just one generation ago,” said Danielle Meitiv, who was investigated on two occasions by Child Protective Services (CPS) in Maryland after allowing her children, aged 6 and 10, to walk to and from school and the local playground alone.

 

As a nursing professional, who worked in labor and delivery, I am not a fan of home births. While I understand why moms would opt for this opportunity, I would not for just the reasons that appear in this mom’s story and post from Yummy Mummy Club.

 

Martin’s feelings are absolutely valid and an upsetting birth experience can have lasting effects on a mother and her family. But it’s wrong to scare women from wanting to go this route, because that decision is one which should come from research and discussion, not fear – one way or another. A certified, licensed midwife is a health care professional and they understand birthing risk. We can plan and hope for the best, but also be keenly aware (as I was throughout the labour) that it could easily go the other way, through no fault of our own. –

You probably notice that two topics above are from Yummy Mummy Club, which is one of my personal favorite sites. I follow YMC on Facebook and enjoy many of their posts. Go ahead and check them out!

Have a great weekend everyone! 🙂