By Ashley Taylor of DisabledParents.org Health and safety for your children require more work today than ever. Where health and safety once simply meant proper nutrition and good habits, modern life adds new layers of risk and need for protection. From the perils of substance abuse to online risks, children and teenagers are bombarded with potential problems. Minimizing these risks starts at home and requires planning and organizing for a healthy household. Addressing the potential risks for children at home and in their lives requires taking a closer look at the different aspects of their overall well-being. Kids today have physical, … [Read more...]
Challenges Parents with Disabilities Face in Raising Teenage Daughters
March 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
By Ashley Taylor of DisabledParents.org As you go through life with a disability, you become used to dealing with the outside world, its views of you, and how to redirect people’s misguided assumptions. However, once you become a parent, the game completely changes. When you have a baby, people look past you to try and figure out where the parent is. They also sometimes overstep their boundaries and put too much effort into letting you know what a great job you are doing, “considering.” There are some similarities between parents with and without disabilities. While a day in the life of a parent with disabilities has some … [Read more...]
A Problem with Today’s Parenting
February 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Many parents try to be far better parents than their parents were, yet their children grow up feeling lost and empty. Discover why in this article. There was an interesting article in The Atlantic, entitled “How to Land Your Kid in Therapy: Why the obsession with our kids’ happiness may be dooming them to unhappy adulthoods. A therapist and mother reports.” The article is about the way many parents focus much of their energy on being there for their children, but their children end up feeling lost and empty. One of the issues I’ve written about extensively is that half of good parenting is being there for our children, and the … [Read more...]
The Worst Food For Aging
February 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On Saturday afternoon I made the most luscious, gluten-free lemon bars that are actually easier to make than regular wheat-flour lemon bars. (I shared the lemon bars with a “foodie” neighbor, who praised them, and I’m sharing the recipe with you below.) Then on Sunday morning in my email inbox were two emails dealing with the subject of gluten. The first email was sent by Jesse Cannone of the Healthy Back Institute and the subject line read: “This is THE #1 WORST Food for Your Joints, Blood Sugar and Skin.” I was curious what this food was because I’m currently following a nutrition protocol that will improve my joints, connective tissue … [Read more...]
Going Gluten-Free – My Family’s Dramatic Response
February 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By Marianne Kring Removing gluten from my diet has been one of the most beneficial changes of my entire life. My two children and I are gluten-sensitive. My 16-year old daughter and my 19-year old son have been off gluten for almost three years now. Gluten-sensitivity is something you are born with, and it usually runs in families. I have been having trouble with my digestive system off and on throughout my life, but could not figure out the cause. When I was in my 30's I figured out I was lactose-intolerant, which is pretty easy to diagnose. But that didn't get rid of my symptoms, which included gas, bloating, intestinal cramps … [Read more...]
Adolescence – Is It Harder On Parents Than On Adolescents?
January 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I’ve read an interesting article in New York magazine recently that states that the period of life called adolescence can be harder on the parents of adolescents than it is on the adolescents themselves. The author of the article, Jennifer Senior (also author of the book, All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood), quotes a leading authority on puberty named Laurence Steinberg, a psychologist at Temple University and author of the book, Adolescence. Ms. Senior writes, It doesn’t seem to me like adolescence is a difficult time for the kids,” Steinberg says. “Most adolescents seem to be going through life in a very pleasant haze.” … [Read more...]
Three Ways Working Mothers Keep Teenagers Organized for School and Home
January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By Antoinette Capri. Do you get tired of asking your teen to clean their room? Or why the dishes are still in the sink? Or why they didn't start dinner? I Do. I don't want to wonder why things aren't getting done... I just need for them to get done. If we had time to find out why stuff didn't get done... we could have done it ourselves; RIGHT? Right. So, listed below are some simple ways to help get your teenager get more focused and ready for life, college and relationships: 1. Keep a journal or planner. If you have a teenager that is easily distracted by noise, people, movements, and electronics (tv, iPhone, iPad, … [Read more...]
My Medical Nutrition Experiment
January 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On January 1, 2014 I began a medical nutrition program designed to help support bone and joint issues, including a condition in my left hand called Dupuytren's contracture (sometimes called Viking syndrome). Besides supporting bone and joint health, because the program I've started on is holistic, it will also promote general health and should produce results such as increased energy, clearer skin, better mood, better vision, as well as greater mental clarity and cardiovascular health. Anyway, I decided I will go out on a limb and track my results every few weeks or so in this magazine--because as we parents get into our forties and fifties … [Read more...]
Parenting Teenage Girls – Challenges Parents Face
January 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Why is my daughter so different since she hit adolescence? The most obvious difference between boys and girls when they hit adolescence is that while boys tend to withdraw, girls engage and often they engage with a fight. That is not to say that girls don't spend enormous amounts of time in their rooms, on the computer, or talking on the phone, however, they tend to pick battles and fight with their parents more often than teenage boys. Teenage girls struggle to regulate their emotions which often times feel overwhelming, confusing and "all over the place". This is what creates those moments where you may witness (or more often be on the … [Read more...]
Goal Setting Tips For A More Joyful 2014
December 31, 2013 by
Are you ready for a more joyful 2014? Are you ready to experience real changes in your life that are long overdue? Rather than making New Year's resolutions that never seem to last more than a month, take some time out today before midnight strikes to review the past year and set a few goals that will help you experience a more joyful and gratifying 2014. The process should not take more than about a half hour and will get you on the right path to achieving your heart's desires in 2014. It's important to set your goals now, in these last few moments of 2013, especially since we have a New Moon this New Years Eve. I've read that new moons … [Read more...]