My Son is Allergic to Dust

Since March of this year, my 7 year old son has had irregularities with his breathing. To be honest, when I first noticed it, I thought he was faking. He had been going through a rough patch and it seemed like it might be another way to get my attention.

A few weeks later, my mother noticed his sporadic laboured breathing as well. So, finally, I took him to our family doctor. At the initial appointment, our doctor brushed it off as viral and said it would pass in time. A month later, and it hadn't gotten any worse, but certainly wasn't any better. Back to the doctor we went. At this point he took things a little more seriously and suggested a pulmonary function test and allergy testing. It would be up to 8 weeks until we got him into the clinic.

Since we weren't going to get any immediate action, we decided to try a dairy elimination trial for 2 weeks, as dairy is the number one culprit for respiratory issues among children. The trial went well, and improved the foul aroma of his gas, but did not improve his breathing...at all. I can also say that his behavior has improved recently as well. Is this connected to the dairy elimination? Possibly.

Finally today, 5 weeks after the second doctor's appointment, we got him into the allergy clinic. Turns out that he is allergic to dust and dust mites. Now, is this the culprit to his breathing troubles? Only time will tell. In the meantime, we have removed all, but one, stuffed animals from his room, taken any unnecessary blankets off his bed, removed a shelf, many books and a bunch of extra clutter. We will also invest in anti-allergy mattress cover and pillow cases.

When the doctor first gave my son the news, he got a little choked up, because he thought this meant getting rid of all of his stuffed animals.I have to say that I am incredibly proud of my son today. He sat through the testing of maybe 20 pin pricks and didn't even complain. He then sat still for 20 minutes and didn't scratch when the the dust spots started to irritate his skin. When we got home, he helped me with his room and even came up with toys, books and little trinkets that he wants to donate.

I had hoped that the testing would give us a very definitive answer on what has been going on with my son, but instead it feels more like we are starting another trial. We're still waiting for the pulmonary function test. To be continued...

Dolls-Good or bad image role models?

Shopping with my daughters today, I felt absolutely sickened by the appearance of a particular doll my 4 year old pointed out. I thought Barbie sent the wrong message, but look at the above picture for just a moment. She looks to be dressed in a French maid's costume, highly malnourished and possibly leaning against a stripper pole. Is this a doll for adults or children??

There isn't a perfect design solution to these dolls, as someone or some group will always find fault, but she could certainly stand a few extra inches around the middle, less "sexy" attire and better positioning in the package. 

In 1997, when Barbie was redesigned, she went from having a tiny waist, big hips, long legs, small feet and large/cone shaped breasts to having a slightly larger waist, big head, big lips, big feet and loads of makeup. So, I ask you, was this an improvement? 

According to Wikipedia,"Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). At 5'9" tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 and fit the weight criteria for anorexia." Children are bombarded with so many poor role models through television, magazines, social media and even their dolls. They grow up idolizing figures that have come from  incredibly strict regimes of diet and exercise, or drug abuse and malnourishment. Kids need healthy body images to aspire to. 

I have so much respect for people like Gwen Stefani who make it very clear that she works incredibly hard to be so fit. She doesn't look that incredible without working hard for it. At least girls know, when they look at her, that she wasn't born with that figure. Barbie should be redesigned to look more like Gwen-healthy, fit and funky! Now that is a doll I could support buying!

When I was little, my Mom caught me making faces in the rear view mirror in our car. When she asked me what I was doing, I told her I was "practicing my smile." She smiled back at me and said, "But you already have a beautiful smile, Jacqueline, and it's what is inside that matters most." I thought very carefully about what Mom had told me and after a few minutes said, "Does that mean bones are more important than skin?" Children are so innocent. We have an absolute responsibility to them to teach them right from wrong and provide them with positive images and role models. They believe what we teach them and show them. They aren't born racist, judgemental or critical. They aren't born with a sense of fashion or body image. We, as a society, teach them what to aspire to and what to believe in.

Toy companies are getting worse rather than better, in terms of providing positive images for our children. Dolls are more scandalous and GI Joe is somehow even more violent. As long as we continue to buy these toys for our kids, companies will continue to make and sell them. Why don't more people care about what our kids are being exposed to? I know I'm not alone in this.

I have two main rules when buying toys for my kids. 1-No guns and 2-Dolls must be appropriately dressed. I don't think that's asking too much.

Where do you stand on all of this? I would love to hear from you!

Write for the Joy of it

I've always been told that writing is in my blood. My grandfather was both a journalist and novelist. He wrote for papers in both Ontario and New Brunswick. Some of my fondest memories of him involve him sitting in front of his trusty typewriter, refusing to learn how to use a computer. My father is a writer as well. He has a column every week in the local paper. It was given to him after his many, many letters to the editor, almost always on the topic of politics.

It has been suggested to me recently that I should "pick a couple of topics to write about and master them", but I can't help but feel that it would take away the joy of writing. I write to express my feelings on subjects that influence my life in one way or another. I write to wind down after a wild day of chasing around very energetic children. I write to escape.

So, from now on, I will be making zero effort to narrow down my blog. I won't be writing solely about nutrition, news or pet peeves. I will write whatever comes to me, because after all, this blog is for me and if it helps someone, motivates someone, informs someone, or simply puts a smile on someone's face...well that will be a great bonus.

So, thank you to those who have enjoyed reading my blog posts at one point or another. There will be many more to come...as I will be writing for the joy of it!

Texting While Driving

Dear Joe Texter,

Ever since New Brunswick made it illegal to text while driving you have become an even bigger hazard on the road. Instead of occasionally glancing down at your texts, you now feel the need to hang your head down low and not remotely discreetly check your texts, while driving, anyway. Who do you think you're fooling?!

I see you at every single stop light, traffic jam and driving 120 km/hr on the highway. I see you in parking lots, running stop signs, nearly rear ending the person in front of you... YOU are everywhere!

What will it take for you to get that it's illegal for a reason? A bigger fine? Or will you only learn this lesson when it's already too late?

When I drive my precious cargo around, aka my kids, I don't want to see you. I don't want to take every precaution to get my kids around safely, just to have you screw it up.

People die for all kinds of reasons everyday, but this killer is 100% avoidable. So, next time you get into your car, turn your cell off and put it in your glove box because your texts can wait!

Sincerely,

FRUSTRATED

Miss Bree at k945-welcome!

Miss Bree is a welcomed new addition to the k945 Moncton team! This morning Josh made a comment about his love of bacon and how it would make a nice birthday present. Bree responded with "I like you too much to buy you bacon" and followed it up with a lesson on nitrates in bacon and other processed meats.Radio hosts have an incredible opportunity to educate and be positive role models. Go Bree!!

Tragic:Forgotten Babies Die in Sweltering Hot Cars

In the United States alone, 506 children have died, between 1998 and present, as a result of being left in a hot vehicle. 52% of these children were deemed "forgotten" by their caregivers. (http://www.ggweather.com/heat/)

A 12 month old baby girl  has died after being left in a sweltering hot car. The mother is being charged with Second Degree Felony Child Abandonment. The incident took place outside an elementary school, where the mother is a teacher. This was just yesterday, May 17, 2013, in Dallas, Texas.

On May 16, 2013, an 11 month old baby boy was found dead in the family vehicle, after the mother left him there and went inside their home. Six months prior to this incident, the mother was charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Child Neglect. She had been found passed out in the car with the baby beside her, the car was still in drive. She is charged with Aggravated Manslaughter. This took place in Miami,  Florida.

On May 10, 2013, a 5 month old baby girl was found dead in a parked car outside of a highschool in El Paso, Texas. The mother is a teacher there. No charges have yet been laid.

On May 8, 2013. a 2 year old boy was found dead in an over heated car in Sweden. He was found 8 hours after his father forgot to drop him off at daycare. He could be charged with Aggravated Manslaughter.

In more than half of the cases of children dying in heated cars, the parents have claimed to have forgotten their child, specifically when doing things outside of their routines. The most common scenario is of a parent who doesn't normally take their child to daycare and forgets the child, goes to work, and only realizes what they've done once it is already too late. As for the other 48%, 29% die from getting into an unattended vehicle and become trapped, 18% are left intentionally and 1% is unknown. This tells me that 81% of these deaths could have easily been avoided.

When we live our lives by a very strict routine, we do things without thinking. We wake up, have a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush our teeth, grab our bag and head out the door. Sometimes we perform all of our daily tasks and hardly have any recollection of doing them because they are such ingrained parts of our daily existence. But lets say tomorrow you wake up and your spouse asks you, amidst morning household chaos, to take your son or daughter to daycare. They even go so far as to strap him or her into their carseat for you and while you finish putting your shoes on, your child falls asleep in their seat. This scenario is all it takes for a child to be forgotten. 

So, I ask you, does this make you a bad person? Does forgetting your child in the car make you a child killer? Isn't the heart ache enough punishment to this families? But that said, how do you prove it was an accident?

My heart aches for the families who lost their babies in situations just like these. We, as parents, have to devise our own reminder systems to insure that no baby is ever forgotten. 

Our First Family Organic Garden

Do you ever wander around the grocery store, over-thinking every purchase decision you make? Whether it's because of the pesticides used or the unpronounceable ingredient list, most of us have second guessed our grocery purchases at one point or another. This has become even more true for me since I started making homemade baby food and organic carrots became no longer available at our grocery store.So, I decided to take matters into my own hands...literally.

After taking Holistic Nutrition last year, I had every intention on starting a vegetable garden with my family, but something about being enormously pregnant, and the extreme heat, made me keep putting it off.

So finally, last weekend, me and my family chose a variety of organic seeds and a little dome with pods of soil to start some seeds before planting them outside. Most of the packages said that germination (when the plant starts to grow from the seed) would take place between 7 and 14 days. After only 5 days, our cucumber plants are already an inch above the soil and our tomato plants are roughly half that size.  So exciting! My kids are so interested in watching them grow and keep asking how long until they can see the vegetables. What a great experience for them! We're still waiting on the cayenne peppers and green peppers to make an appearance, but I'm sure they're on their way.

Once the final frost has come and gone, we will be transplanting our mini plants into our new garden and also planting zucchini, green beans, carrots, lettuce, snow peas, garlic chives and chives. There is something so thrilling about knowing that we will be growing our own food, in organic soil, in our very own backyard! Up until recently, I knew absolutely nothing about gardening, but after researching online, and having a great conversation with a seasoned gardener, we're off and running!

When gardening, you can have a fair amount of success with little to no prior knowledge, but one thing I recommend looking into is companion planting. There are plants that are best grown near each other and others that should be kept at a distance. For example, planting basil near tomatoes can actually help improve their taste. Planting onions near carrots help repel carrot flies, etc. There is so much information on the internet on this topic. Just type "companion planting" and you will have tons of sites to reference.

I have no expectations for our first garden, but with the amount of positive attention these little plants are getting, I'm sure it's going to be great. I highly recommend planting a garden with your family. It's a great activity for everyone to be involved in and the kids love to see what can grow out of even the tiniest little seed.

Happy gardening!