women's health Archives - Happy Healthy Kids

When Parents Show Grit, Kids Follow Suit

September 28, 2017 by Kelley Leave a Comment

You know those days when everything is going wrong—and you just want to throw in the towel? As in, toss the printer that keeps jamming, beg off the work assignment that’s not coming together, and trade the running shoes for bath slippers? (Just spitballing, here; this certainly didn’t happen in our house this morning.)

Apparently, our kids are watching how we respond to difficulty more than we think.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently performed a study with 260 toddlers and their guardians. They split the child-parent pairs into three groups. The first watched their grown-ups pretend to struggle to remove a key chain from a carabiner—all the while verbalizing their frustration (“gosh this is hard!”)—and then succeed with the task. The second group of children watched their caregivers finish the task easily, and a third, the control group, didn’t watch adults perform a task at all. Afterwards, all the children got a music box with a big button that didn’t function, and a hidden button that did.

The MIT scientists were surprised by their findings: The children who watched their parents overcome difficulty moments before tried harder, and longer, to make the inert button work than the other toddlers. There was no difference in the amount of persistence the kids showed in the group who saw the caregivers succeed easily and those who didn’t watch the adults work on a task at all. Researchers’ takeaway: Parents shouldn’t be afraid of letting their kids see them struggle through a task, and in fact should embrace opportunities to try to overcome something tricky in front of them.

I like the idea that our kids might get something out of watching us flail a bit, whether it’s attempting a sport that’s out of our comfort zone or not giving up on the spaghetti jar lid. It’s liberating, really, to think that the Superwoman act might not be all that it’s cracked up to be. At least that’s what I plan to keep in mind as I stare down the busy month ahead.

Top photo courtesy of Mike Frizzell via Flickr

It’s Time to Take the HPV Vaccine Seriously

February 23, 2016 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Since it became available in 2006, the vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has had few passionate advocates outside medical circles, and no wonder: The vaccine was, after all, new, and therefore didn’t have an overwhelming volume of efficacy data behind it. Moreover, with so many parents still reluctant to immunize their children against diseases like measles, it would stand to reason that a good number might be skeptical of a vaccine that’s meant to protect 11 and 12-year-olds—some pre-pubescent, most sexually inactive— against an STD. “I realize it’s probably more about my squeamishness with the thought of (my daughter) becoming sexually active than the vaccination itself,” one mother told a reporter in a 2011 npr.org investigation. “It’s not the science. I think it’s my own issues around her developing sexually.”

And yet, some facts: Studies done before widespread HPV vaccination show that by the time they’re 15, nearly 10 percent of American girls are infected with HPV. By age 17, that has doubled to nearly 20 percent. And while not everyone who contracts HPV becomes very sick from it, 11,000 women in the U.S. do get HPV-related cervical cancer each year, and a growing number of men are developing head and throat cancers related to the virus. Anyone who has followed the heartbreaking story of country star Joey Feek, who’s battling end-stage cervical cancer, knows how devastating HPV-related cancer can be.

But for those who remain skeptical, some recent data shows that the HPV vaccine is not only safe, but working—and extremely well. Between 2011 and 2014, an array of large, controlled studies showed no association between the vaccine and serious side effects or adverse health problems. And just this week, data from a large, CDC-led study revealed that HPV infection rates among girls 14 to 19 years of age were 63% lower from 2009 to 2012 than before the vaccine was introduced in 2006; for women in their 20s, rates have dropped by a third.

So, even though none of us like to think about our kids becoming sexually active, much less contracting a terrible cancer, it’s time all of us with pre-teens start talking to pediatricians about the HPV vaccine. All boys and girls should get it, starting with a first dose at 11 or 12 years old, when they also get a meningitis shot and a Tdap booster. (They should get a second shot one month later, and then a third one after 6 months). Older teens who missed getting the vaccine earlier should try to get their shots by age 21 (men) and age 26 (women). According to the most recent U.S. statistics, four out of ten teen girls and six out of ten adolescent boys have not started the HPV vaccine series, and are vulnerable to cancers caused by HPV infections.

Think of it as not just an investment in the health of your own kids, but their future loved ones, too.

For more information, check out this HPV vaccine information page at the website for the Centers for Disease Control.

Photo credit: photo credit: HPV vaccine via Photo Pin, cc

Holiday Goal #3: Be Kinder to Yourself

December 11, 2015 by Kelley Leave a Comment

As we go full-steam into the busy holiday season, we’re featuring guest posts from three wellness professionals who specialize in helping parents feel more centered and energized. On January 23, coaches Cory Halaby and Molly Maguire Shrewsberry and nutritionist Stacy Kennedy are also leading the Wellesley Wellness Retreat, where they’ll teach moms strategies for self-care and managing family life all year long. If you live anywhere near the Boston area, register now for the morning program as well as yoga, private coaching sessions, nutritional counseling, and massage in the afternoon. It’s sure to be a motivational and relaxing day.

In the final post of the week, wellness coach Molly Shrewsberry reminds us to be kind to just about the last person on our minds this month: ourselves. Molly is a health and wellness coach and creator of Love Well Live Well, a blog platform focused on the role of self-love and its impact on overall health and wellness.

During the holidays we tend to be extra hard on ourselves. The expectations we set are high: mailing out the perfect card, starting new traditions, attending every event we are invited to (and making sure we bring a delicious dish), finding meaningful gifts for all on our list, and creating a blissful atmosphere filled with nothing but positive, happy memories for our children.

These unrealistic expectations often end with disappointment, mixed with more than a few moments of guilt, negative self-talk, guilt, comparing, stress, irritation—and did I mention guilt?

This year, instead of giving into the madness, why not focus instead on giving yourself the gift of self-compassion. Parenting is hard work everyday, but extra challenging during the holidays. You are doing an amazing job…no matter how many things haven’t seemed to go your way or how long your to-do list is.

And when it comes to gifts for other people, let me simplify it for you: When it comes down to it, YOU are what people—in particular, your kids—want for the holidays. Spending time with mom and dad is more important to them than the toys on their list (as much as it doesn’t seem that way!) Don’t believe me? Watch this video. It’s a tear-jerker and great reminder.

As an added bonus, when you give yourself a break—and focus on things you need to do to be, above all, present and happy—you give the gift of modeling self-compassion for your kids. There’s nothing better than that.

How to start being more compassionate to yourself this month? Dr. Kristin Neff, the self-compassion guru, breaks this down to three elements.

1. Self-Kindness: “Self-compassion entails being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism.” Be gentle with yourself, like you would someone close to you. If your friend told you she wasn’t going to mail out holiday cards, you wouldn’t make her feel ashamed about it. Remind yourself that you are doing the best you can.

2. Common Humanity: Parenting is filled with inadequacies and they tend to be over-exaggerated during the holidays. Not to mention the childhood memories and feelings that come up. The good news is that you are not alone! Everyone struggles and nobody is perfect. It’s what makes being human so amazing. Getting in touch with a friend who can relate will take you out of your “everyone else is perfect” mentality and bring you back to reality. I love laughing with friends about our shortcomings and mistakes. Friends also help to bring perspective. Do you really have it so bad? With the busyness, it’s easy to lose sight of what we really want to gain from the holiday season. It’s helpful to step back and think, “What do I want my children to look back and remember from the holidays?” I’m guessing it won’t be toys and a stressed-out mom!

3. Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a beautiful balance of acknowledging your feelings, but not focusing on the negative. Being mindful makes it easier to acknowledge your feelings and negative self-talk, realize you are not alone and remember the steps to be kind to yourself.

Now, you that you know the three components of self-compassion, here’s how to implement it into your life this month. When you’re exhausted, have a to-do list a mile long and have just yelled like a crazy person at your kids (again) for fighting and not listening to you, find a quiet few minutes and try this Self-Compassion Break Exercise: Realize this is a moment of suffering that is painful; remember suffering is a part of life; and then put your hands over your heart and feel the warmth of your hands on your chest.

With your hand over your heart, say to yourself phrase or two along the lines of “may I be kind to myself.” Here is one a loving-kindness meditation to try:

May I be filled with love.
May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
May I be happy.

It’s amazing how things shift when we are as compassionate to ourselves, as we are with others.

Here’s to a self-compassionate, loving and accepting holiday…. however it may turn out!

—Molly

To find out more about the Wellesley Wellness Retreat and register yourself or a loved one, go to the website here. The event will be on January 23, with morning and afternoon sessions.

Holiday Goal #1: Find Real Joy

December 7, 2015 by Kelley Leave a Comment

As we go full-steam into the busy holiday season, we’re featuring guest posts from three wellness professionals who specialize in helping parents feel more centered and energized. On January 23, coaches Cory Halaby and Molly Shrewsberry and nutritionist Stacy Kennedy are also leading the Wellesley Wellness Retreat, where they’ll teach moms strategies for self-care and managing family life all year long. If you live anywhere near the Boston area, register now for the morning program as well as yoga, private coaching sessions, nutritional counseling, and massage in the afternoon. It’s sure to be a motivational and relaxing day. Consider it a holiday gift to yourself—and your loved ones.

This first guest post is by Cory Halaby, a yoga and meditation instructor and owner of Within Life Coaching. Learn more at her website.

The holidays are upon us! How are you doing? If you’re a mother of young children you might still be acclimating yourself to the role of show-runner and executive producer of your family’s holiday spectacular. You’re now in charge of allocating your limited resources (time, money, and effort) to things like gifts, decorations, holiday cards, hospitality, charity, travel, family time, social events, school pageants, religious observance, etcetera. You are shaping your growing family’s traditions, memories and values. No pressure, though. Just good cheer!

If at any point you feel overwhelmed, sleep deprived, or dangerously disconnected from your sense of humor, I have an simple centering exercise to offer. Set aside 10 or 15 minutes—if you’re honest with yourself, you know you can find them—and squirrel yourself away in a quiet spot. Stash away your phone and grab a pen and three pieces of paper. Write a heading at the top of each page:

PEACE during the holidays makes me think of….

JOY during the holidays makes me think of…

LOVE during the holidays makes me think of…

Then, using the prompts you’ve written, do a “quick-write”—meaning, write anything that occurs to you, stream of consciousness style, for 3-5 minutes without stopping.

Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, sounding smart, or even making sense. Unlike most writing, the goal here isn’t to express your ideas. The purpose of quick-writing is to discover the raw material of your own thoughts with no editor or filter. Nobody will read them but you. And you can toss them out when you’re done.

As you write, focus on holiday memories you associate with peace, love and joy, as well as ideas for this season and future years.

For some reason, long-hand writing works better than ruminating in your head. Usually, once you start writing, thoughts you didn’t know were there start to turn up on the page. You might be surprised to learn that you associate “peace” with pjs and a new book on Christmas morning, or “joy” with plotting with your cousins to sneak extra chocolate, or “love” with the photos in your grandparents’ living room.

When you put your pen down, take a moment to dwell in the feelings of peace, love and joy themselves.

From this peaceful place, take a fresh look at your lists and plans for the weeks to come. If there are items that stand out now in sharp contrast the those feelings of peace, love and joy, you have my permission to drop them.

If you find one or two meaningful ideas to add to your list, like playing more music or reaching out to someone in need, go ahead. You’re in charge.

Most likely, you’ll discover more space for peace, love and joy in the special moments you’ve already got nestled up your little elf sleeve.

Whatever you do or don’t do during these short days and long nights, check in often with the feelings of peace, love and joy and let them guide you like your own personal North Star.

And try to get enough sleep.

—Cory

To find out more about the Wellesley Wellness Retreat and register yourself or a loved one, go to the website here. The event will be on January 23, with morning and afternoon sessions.

9 Podcasts Worth Listening to Now

April 16, 2015 by Kelley Leave a Comment

In the #sorrynotsorry category of parenting, I admit that I listen to podcasts around the house all the time. When I discovered about two years ago that there was a way to stimulate my brain and funny bone while also slogging away on household minutia—and that it didn’t involve a screen, which causes my kids to drop everything stare, even if it were BBC—it was a revelation. I can deal with stuff at my desk, clean the kitchen, fold laundry, and even—ok, #justalittlesorry—play hide-and-seek—all while learning, from real, intelligent adults, about Isis, genomic testing, a great new slow cooker recipe, or really solid parenting advice. If my kids are otherwise engaged, they don’t seem to notice or really care, and I swear, if I really need to pay attention to what’s going on, I put just one earbud in. (Kidding! I really do have limits.) But seriously, I consider podcast listening to be multitasking for the mind and soul. It’s also a great distraction during a run.

I’m listing my faves, here. Some are podcasts designed to inspire a listener to become a better parent; others indirectly inspire me to be a better parent because they give me more things to think about than what’s going on in my little house, in my little neighborhood, in my little town. They are all FREE, and easy to subscribe to or cherry pick interesting-looking episodes from, using the iTunes or Stitcher apps. Happy listening!

Mom and Dad are Fighting. Slate editors Allison Benedikt and Dan Kois are smart, dry, and hilariously honest about parenting life in our crazy-busy times. A highlight is their regular”Parenting Triumphs and Fails” segment.
Take a listen: Is My Kid a Narcissist?

Zen Parenting Radio. Though based outside of Chicago, ZPR is going to appeal to anyone who’d like to be more calm and balanced as a parent (or person). And Cathy and Todd Adams, who are married with three girls, are just about the nicest two people you’d ever hope to listen to on the radio. They’re also pop-culture junkies and have a funny, familiar rapport—you kind of feel like you’re sitting across from couple-friends at dinner while listening to them (is that a little stalker-ish?)
Take a listen: Actions Express Priorities

The Longest Shortest Time. What’s genius about this sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking podcast, which draws heavily from early parenthood experiences, is how host Hillary Frank often focuses on a single person’s (often very moving) story to illustrate a larger point about family life. And it’s fearless: One recent episode brought in sex columnist Dan Savage to talk about sex after parenthood, and it was no-holds-barred.
Take a listen: When Are You Gonna Be Normal Again?

Radiolab. Hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich are clearly endlessly curious and deeply intelligent guys who use episodes to explore a single, usually deeply puzzling phenomenon in the realm of science, art, history, law, or human nature. Some are appropriate for curious older kids (like the brilliant “Colors.“)
Take a listen: 23 Weeks, 6 Days

America’s Test Kitchen. This is more than a cooking show: Cook’s Illustrated founder Christopher Kimball, test kitchen guru Bridget Lancaster and the rest of their team do talk about cooking tips, kitchen gadgets and wine pairings, but also the history and culture of food.
Take a listen: The New Theory of Evolution: Cooking Made us Human!

Freakonomics Radio. Economist Steven Levitt and writer Stephen Dubner have used their bestselling 2005 book as a launchpad for this quirky, fascinating podcast in which they explore cultural phenomena through data and economic theory. It’s far from wonky—you’ll feel like you’ve just sat in the world’s most entertaining Econ lecture after every episode.
Take a listen: Is College Really Worth It?

This American Life. This hugely popular program has about a million listeners downloading it each week, and if you’re new to podcasts, this is a good place to start. Each week, Ira Glass and his crew share real-life stories around certain themes related to culture, psychology, politics, or just family life.
Take a listen: Switched at Birth

Serial. This American Life spinoff and now most-listened to podcast in the history of the genre will be back with a second season at some as-yet-to-be-announced date later the year, and for any of us who hung on host Sarah Koenig’s every word about the fascinating murder trial of teenager Adnan Syed in season 1, that time can’t come soon enough. The idea is that Koenig digs into the intricacies and unexplored mysteries of one true story over the course of entire season. Haven’t listened yet? You can listen to the entirety of Season 1 now—I challenge you to not binge-listen.
Take a listen: Season 1, Episode 1: The Alibi

Fresh Air. With her naturalness and curiosity and even sometimes-awkwardness, Terry Gross is the best interviewer in the business. For each one-hour show she gets a celebrity or writer or thinker to talk about his or her life and work, in depth.
Take a listen: Conversation with Maurice Sendak

Beauty is in the Eye of the Bear Holder

March 3, 2015 by Kelley Leave a Comment

This is not a scientific observation, but I think it’s safe to say that among most inhabitants of a northern latitude, body image doesn’t exactly peak this time of year. When the seasonal trends lean toward freezing temperatures, flu outbreaks, and post-Valentine’s day chocolate sales, many of us are tempted to put on yoga pants, put off exercise, and throw a drop cloth over the full-length mirrors.

Suffice it to say, I was a little mopey this morning when attempting to find suitable attire for a trip to an indoor water park with the boys at the end of the week (a prospect gloomier to many than mid-winter thigh exposure, I realize). I dug around the bathing drawer and pulled out the black Speedo that’s seen me through seven years of Mommy-and-Me swim classes, and pulled it on.

“Ugh!” I muttered to myself, catching a glimpse in the mirror.

A little voice piped up behind me. It was my three-year-old son, who was holding a stuffed bear in the crook of one arm, and a box of Mini Wheats in the other. “Fast!” he said, reaching a tiny hand up to touch the shiny black material that stretched over my hip. “You look fast, mommy!”

I had to laugh. My son didn’t see the flaws that were obvious to me. He saw a material that resembled something worn by Catwoman in the book we had read the night before, Feline Felonies, and maybe even a not-yet-totally-atrophied muscle or two. What is a Speedo for, after all, but speed? To my pre-pubescent boys, a bathing suit—whether for them or mom or the sassy 18-year-old lifeguard at the pool—still has nothing to do with looking good, and everything to do with what you can do in it.

Unfortunately, kids of both sexes seem to be losing sight of this at earlier and earlier ages. A few years ago, I wrote a Parents magazine article, “Kids Who Won’t Eat”, and found that rising awareness about childhood obesity has been a bit of a double-edged sword, as an obsession for body and diet perfection in some circles seems to be trickling down from parents to kids. A recent report by Common Sense Media, meanwhile, showed that half of girls and one-third of boys ages 6 to 8 think the ideal body size is thinner than the one they have. Some of this has to do with what kids see on their phones and TVs, with the rise of the Photoshopped selfie and increasingly unrealistic media portrayals (a whopping 87 percent of teenage TV characters are underweight). But some of it has to do with the way we respond to those media images, directly or indirectly, ourselves. According to Common Sense’s data, five-to-eight year olds who think their moms are dissatisfied with their bodies are more likely to be bummed out by their own bodies, too.

Parenting experts talk a lot about role modeling behavior for our kids: that the best way to get them to do something is to do it ourselves. Clearly, this extends to treating our bodies with respect. This means eating well, not smoking, and exercising, yes, but also not bad-mouthing the body parts that have served us—and them!—through childhood, childbirth, and child-rearing. In another recent study, when kidshealth.org and Discovery Girls magazine asked 2,400 women if they thought they were beautiful, only 41 percent of moms responded yes. But when their daughters were asked if their mothers were beautiful, 91 percent said yes. How else are they going to feel about the person who’s created them, fed them, stayed up all night with them when they were sick or scared, and hurdled waves to save a broken toy pail they loved? My guess is that when these children say their moms are beautiful, they aren’t considering rock-hard abs or perfectly groomed eyebrows in the mix.

As winter turns to spring and we emerge from our homes and our chunky sweaters, I’m going to think back to my three-year-old’s comment whenever I start to question whether I have any business wearing a certain article of clothing, or trying a new exercise class, or jumping off the golf club diving board. There are few things that wear better than contentedness and confidence, and they can be passed down, to girls and boys, both.

Keep Your Head this Holiday Season

December 9, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

This time of year, it’s tempting to throw routines and good judgment out the window and let the fun times, cocoa, and endless Nick Jr. holiday episodes flow. But the American Academy of Pediatrics, in their infinite and sober wisdom, knows that an emphasis on making the holidays perfectly “merry” can backfire, and have come up with some helpful reminders for staying sane even when you’re on the verge of descending into holiday madness. I came across these tips today and am thinking about tattooing them to my (Amazon one-click-ordering) hand for the remainder of December. Here they are, slightly condensed, via the AAP site Healthy Children.

Holiday Mental Health Tips

1. Take care of yourself. Just like they say on the airplane, “In the event of an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first, and then help children traveling with you to put theirs on.” Children respond to the emotional tone of their important adults, so managing your emotions successfully can help your children handle theirs better, too.

2. Make a plan to focus on one thing at a time. Try a few ideas from mindfulness as a strategy to balance the hustle and bustle of things like shopping, cooking, and family get-togethers during the holidays: Stop and pay attention to what is happening at the moment, focus your attention on one thing about it, notice how you are feeling at the time, withhold immediate judgment, and instead be curious about the experience.

3. Give to others. Make a new holiday tradition to share your time with families who have less than you do. Encourage an older child to join you in volunteering to serve a holiday meal at your local food bank or shelter. Help your child write a letter to members of the armed forces stationed abroad who can’t be home with their own family during the holidays. (More HHK ideas for this next week.)

4. Keep routines the same. Stick to your child’s usual sleep and mealtime schedules when you can to reduce stress and help your child and you enjoy the holidays.

5. Keep your household rules in effect. Adults still have to pay the bills and kids still need to brush their teeth before bedtime!

6. Teach the skills that children will need for the holidays in the weeks and months ahead. For example, if you plan to have a formal, sit-down dinner, practice in advance by having a formal sit-down dinner every Sunday night.

7. Don’t feel pressured to overspend. Think about making one or two gifts instead of buying everything. Help your child make a gift for his or her other parent, grandparents, or other important adults and friends. Chances are, those gifts will be the most treasured ones and will teach your child many important lessons that purchasing presents can’t.

8. Most important of all, enjoy the holidays for what they are – time to enjoy with your family. So, be a family, do things together like sledding or playing board games, spend time visiting with relatives, neighbors and friends.

Photo credit: Cat Planet Rocks My Socks via Photo Pin, cc

Do You Have Exercise Guilt?

November 24, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Pre-kids, “exercise guilt” might have been induced by a long weekend morning reading The Times rather than jogging around Central Park, or sabotaging a 6 p.m. spin class with a second piece of conference-room birthday cake. Barring a seriously pressing work assignment, whether I worked out or not on most days stemmed from a simple question: Do I feel like it?

Nowadays, there are so many compelling reasons to bag exercise, starting with the two big hazel eyes that tear up as soon as I start to lace up my running shoes on a Saturday or Sunday morning. With three kids, an extra-busy husband, writing assignments, school commitments, and a household to manage, even a short run around the neighborhood can feel like a selfish luxury. Exercise guilt comes not from skipping a workout, but making (precious) time for it.

On the weekends, my husband and I try to trade off, shoehorning exercise between hockey practices or during Dora. Weekdays, I usually make it work on two mornings when all the three boys are in school, an alignment of stars that would have seemed freaking incredible to my newer-mom self a few years ago, when I once actually tried to do calf raises while nursing one day, in a moment of sleep-deprived delirium. But everything is relative, of course, and these days, I often find myself filling that time with extra writing, extra school volunteer projects, or extra time trying to figure out whether Pull-ups are a better deal at Target or Amazon. Before I know it, I’m late to toddler time pickup, and by day’s end, those exercise pants I pulled on that morning will have been pointless.

I realize that this is a first-world problem, and a much bigger issue for full-time working parents with inflexible work schedules. And yet, exercise guilt is incredibly common, says Happy Healthy Kids’s adviser Monique Tello, M.D. A mom of two who specializes in women’s health in her primary care practice in Boston, Dr. Tello deals with exercise guilt on a personal and professional level. Her kids, too, grab her legs when she’s about to head out the door for a run, and her patients often reveal that when they say they’re “too busy to exercise,” they really mean that they feel guilty for taking time that could be spent with their family or at their job.

“Believe it or not, this has actually been studied,” says Dr. Tello, who’s also writing on the topic this week in her own blog, Generally Medicine. “Research has shown that physical activity consistently declines with parenthood.” In a study just last month, Kansas State researchers asked parents why that they think that’s the case, and both dads and moms pointed mainly to a lack of time and, yes, guilt. (One interesting difference: While all parents felt that fitness cut into family time, dads were more likely to feel guilty about exercising in the evening, because it took away from time with their spouse; moms were more likely to feel guilty about exercising during the workday, because it took time away from their job.)

The thing is, while it may seem that “just one more story” or an extra half-hour fielding work emails can feel critical in the moment, a long run might be better for the whole family in the, well, long run. Fitness can help protect against all sort of health problems, from heart failure to depression, and, by and large, happy, healthy parents raise happy, healthy kids. If missing a run or a boot camp class is going to make you cranky, you won’t be a fun person to be around, no matter how many pancakes or Rainbow Loom bracelets you make.

Which doesn’t mean that some very real obstacles—sick kids, traveling spouses, pressing deadlines, pregnancy—aren’t going to prevent you from maintaining the type of hardcore exercise regimen you might have followed as a singleton. But this, says Dr. Tello, is where a little can go a long way, especially when it comes to exercise’s mental benefits. On days she’s unavoidably busy, she’ll do, say, 5 minutes of core work on her bedroom floor after the kids fall asleep, and take the stairs rather than the elevator at the hospital where she works. “When kids see their parents value exercise, they are more likely to value exercise,” she says. “We sometimes do things as a family, like hiking, or kicking a soccer ball around. Someday, I hope we can all run races. Thinking about all that doesn’t just ease the guilt, it erases it.”

I like that line of thinking. During the crazy-busy month ahead, I’m going to resolve to keep doing at least just a little bit most days, no matter how much I have on my plate. (Especially if that plate contains extra Christmas cookies.) Because no one really gains anything if I skip exercise, except for maybe me, and not in a good way.

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk via Photo Pin, cc

What’s in Your Medicine Cabinet, Dr. Tello?

September 12, 2014 by Kelley 2 Comments

It recently dawned on me that since having kids, I’ve spent more money on medications and toiletries for them than myself. Their bathrooms are stocked with a variety of fever relievers, potions, lotions, and de-grimers: A quick peek revealed, for instance, five bottles of liquid ibuprofen, some sticky, honey-based homeopathic remedy for coughing, four boxes of Band-Aids in an evolving array of favorite characters, and a “soothing vapors” bubble bath for stuffy noses. I’ve even taken the time, recently, to painstakingly organize their medicine cabinet to make middle-of-the-night dispensing easier.

My “medicine cabinet” (the upper shelf of my closet, actually) is a comparative wasteland of expired or rejected products. There’s Sudafed with a 2008 expiration date, prenatal vitamins from my third pregnancy three years ago, and lots of lotion and creams that were purchased, tried, and left to languish. What did this say about my investment in my own health and wellness?, I wondered. It was time for an overhaul.

After chucking the expired medications, I asked HHK adviser Monique Tello, M.D., what she keeps in her own medicine cabinet. As a primary care physician who specializes in women’s health issues at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a busy, practical mom, she knows what products are essential, and which just hog precious bathroom space. Here’s her list and comments, with links in case you too are in a stocking-up sort of mood.

Dr. Tello's Must-Haves (for Adults, Not Kids)

Naproxen (i.e. Aleve)	"For headaches, muscle aches. Not for those with a history of ulcers, and not for taking every day."	<br />
Acetaminophen (i.e. Tylenol)	"When you’ve already taken Aleve. To be used sparingly, to spare the liver."	<br />
Diphenhydramine (i.e. Benadryl)	"For nighttime post-nasal drip cough."	<br />
Nighttime cough syrup (i.e. Nyquil)	"When Benadryl is not enough."	<br />
Neti pot with non-iodized salt packets	"Best sinus infection prevention ever."	<br />
Docusate (i.e. Colace, a stool softener)	"Because two pregnancies left me with a condition that demands regularity."	<br />
Magnesium hydroxide/ Simethicone (i.e. Maalox Anti-Gas)	"My go-to after a poor food choice, or a too- large dinner out."	<br />
Bismuth subsalicylate (i.e. Pepto-Bismol)	"Because the kids bring home GI bugs every winter." (Note: Pepto has a children's version that doesn't contain subsalicylate, which may be harmful for kids.)	<br />
Hydrocortisone cream (i.e. Cortaid)	"For itchy bug bites that are keeping you up at night."	<br />
Diphenhydramine cream (i.e. Benadryl topical)	"When Cortaid is not enough."	<br />
Triple antibiotic ointment (Polysporin)	"For hangnails and cat scratches, so they don’t progress to something requiring a doctor’s visit."	<br />
Hypoallergenic facial moisturizer cream (i.e. Eucerin)	"For daily use, wonderful for the skin."	<br />
Lip balm with SPF	"A swipe on the lips and nose on sunny or cold days goes miles in prevention."	<br />
Epsom salts	"Not only for sore muscle tub soaks, also a soothing tub soak for painful conditions in hard-to-reach areas."	<br />