Search Results for: blog ive given my child the family illness 1

Some Insightful Viewpoints on Special Needs

Often, when parents go online to find information about the special need, or health condition, that affects their children, they are seeking facts. This is perfectly reasonable. Sometimes, it is good to read some opinions, or blog posts, written by other parents or therapists that state their views of situations regarding children with special needs. Here are a few interesting ones to start with. The Huffington Post has a article that was written by Sean Bean. It is titled: “My Son Had Autism. Then He Did Not.” He discusses some of his son’s early behaviors that indicated that he appeared … Continue reading →

The Dirt on the Dirtiest Surfaces in America

If you are a parent, the following news may come as a huge relief to you, or it may send you running to the nearest soap dispenser: According to a new scientific survey, play areas at fast food restaurants are not the germiest places in America. Rather, that dubious distinction goes to gas stations. Specifically, gas pumps handles. Given that we are a third of the way through the annual cold and flu season, it seems fitting that we’d get the first look at test results that feature the nation’s most highly contaminated surfaces. Thanks to the folks at Kimberly-Clark … Continue reading →

Family Influence on Mental Health

I’ve been wondering and I’ve come to the conclusion that like so many other things in life, our mental health often represents our upbringing. I look at one side of my family. At my grandmother’s level of the family tree there were ten siblings. They were raised in a strong Catholic family, learned to help take care of one another (with ten of them, what more could you do), rely on one another, and be open and honest. Family was the focus of their lives. They had twelve people in a three bedroom house, so there was no choice but … Continue reading →

Help for Siblings

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Now that I’m the mother of two children, one with a chronic health condition, and one without, new concerns have arisen when it comes to how I parent. My eldest daughter will need extra attention throughout the course of everyday as there are hours of treatments and therapies that she will need my help with. My younger daughter will need my attention too, just as any child would. I’d like to believe that I will be able to balance the attention between them, giving extra attention to one during some parts of the day and extra to the other during … Continue reading →

Calendars for a Cause

It’s true that these days I can’t live without my cell phone / personal assistant. All of my appointments are in there safe and sound, unless of course I drop my phone in a puddle, which I have been known to do. So I also have my good, old-fashioned wall calendar hanging in the kitchen for those times when my phone is dead or missing. Everyone should have one. But, instead of buying one of those cartoon calendars or one loaded with pictures of Brad Pitt, I prefer ones that raise money for children with special needs. There are plenty … Continue reading →

Mothers Make Mistakes

Let’s face it. We are all human and we all make mistakes. Mothers may be, in the eyes of their children, superheroes, and single mothers seem to have even bigger shoes to fill. Our children look to us for answers, advice and knowledge. We shape their lives, but in doing so, we have to know how to deal with our own mistakes. Earlier today, I told my son that he couldn’t sit with me because I had to get some work done. I was worried about getting everything done on time because I had fallen behind due to an illness. … Continue reading →

Should Children be Given Anti-psychotic Drugs

With a 40-fold increase in bipolar diagnosis for children and adolescents over the last decade, I have to ask what percentage of these kids are really bipolar. The experts claim to be more aware than they were in the 1990’s of bipolar disorder in children. Others say there is more pressure to prescribe drugs. Either way, the statistics are troubling. “The label also gives doctors and desperate parents a quick way to try to manage children’s rages and outbursts in an era when long-term psychotherapy and hospital care are less accessible, they say. In addition, drug makers and company-sponsored psychiatrists … Continue reading →

Death in the Family

As I write this I am sitting not in Texas, but in Iowa. My wife’s grandfather passed away and we are back in town for the funeral. Our son’s great-grandfather has moved on. The difficulties were/are many: A near one-thousand mile car drive? CHECK. Missing a week of work? CHECK. Missing a week of school? CHECK. One three month old child? CHECK. …who isn’t “road-tested”? CHECK. With all of these really good reasons for not making the trip why would we actually decide to do it? Family. My wife was understandably close to all of her grandparents. This closeness also … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: October 2008

If you had an October baby, congratulations! I hope that you will spend some time with us here at Families.com, as we bring you the latest news and tips for you and your family. Here is the Baby Blog month in review for October. October 1st Insect Repellent and Young Children Protecting my children is the number one priority, but one thing that I tend to avoid is insect repellent. I figure that putting additional chemicals on my kids is not the best idea, that is until now. These days, a mosquito bite is not just an annoyance, but it … Continue reading →

Asperger’s or not Asperger’s?

We’ve all heard of common mental conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. We may also have knowledge of less mainstream disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, borderline personality disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. Yet there are many other conditions that affect humans that do not fall into such clear- cut categories but which nevertheless are indicative of problems in the sufferer. We discussed one such case in the article on Munchausen’s by Proxy. Many more strange and puzzling afflictions affect the general population and today’s blog describes one of them. It involves the diagnosis of … Continue reading →