Treat the children well

Few months present the number of multicultural events and celebrations that happen during December, here are some of the celebrations that occur around the world.

• Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)
• Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)
• St. Lucia Day (Swedish)
• Hanukkah (Jewish)
• Christmas Day (Christian)
• Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)
• Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)
• Kwanzaa (African American)
• Omisoka (Japanese)
• Yule (Pagan)
• Saturnalia (Pagan) 

In the Christian world, the celebrations are mostly about children and focucsed on gift-giving. However, today we seem not to cherish children, who are the future of our species but to detain them when the seek shelter and protection.  This is a time for us to reflect and to think about how we treat each other, and importantly how we treat our children.

The following is from a wonderful blog called Brain Picking 

“You must cherish one another. You must work — we all must work — to make this world worthy of its children,” Pablo Casals, the greatest cellist of the first half of the twentieth-century, counselled humanity in the final years of a long life filled with music as a conduit of beauty and cross-cultural understanding.

Casals’s words fall heavy on the heart in an era when the world’s children are not cherished but detained at national borders treated not as radiant beacons of our shared future but as criminals. To any conscionable human, witnessing such inhumanity is at once utterly infuriating and utterly helpless-making — a devastating syncopation of feelings.

The Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883–April 10, 1931) addressed these elemental questions with sensitivity in the Prophet

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful lady

Happy Birthday to my daughter, on this date many years ago, I fell crazy in love with a beautiful, magical, wonderful child who changed my life and over time made be a better man. 

When you were born, I became head over heals in love with you. Our first gift to you was your name, we had settled on a name before you were born, but when you arrived, we realized that the name we had chosen did not fit your personality so we found a name that fitted you. 

People in love do crazy things. I have pictures of you minutes after you were born, and in those days, this was not allowed, so I was in trouble with the doctors. 

Over the years you have, at times driven me crazy, made me laugh, made me cry, kept me awake at night and filled my heart with joy. You have always made me proud of you. 

I love you, miss you and wish that on this special birthday you find, peace and love and that your partner, your son and your friends throw you one heck of a party. Your mom and I wish we could be there for this day but remember we will see you soon.

Love Dad

Happy Birthday Canada Day!

Information on Canada for my Australian grandson.

Canada has a birthday on July 1st.  Canada Day is a national holiday in Canada that is celebrated with family picnics, barbeques, and fireworks.

Canada Day is always observed on July 1st unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case it is observed the following day.  (Though many people still celebrate on the Sunday).

A long time ago, Canada belonged to Great Britain, just like Australia.  Over time, parts of the country joined together and wanted to form their own government.

Australia and Canada

Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the large island continent of Australia, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Australia has six states, each of which has their own democratic parliament -- New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.  Australia also has two major mainland territories -- the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (which contains Australia's capital city of Canberra).

Canada is part of North America. Canada is a large country. There are 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada.  Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan,  Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut

The leader of both Canada and Australia is called the Prime Minister.


Some symbols of Canada are the beaver and the maple leaf. The word “Canada” comes from the aboriginal word “Kanata” which means village.  A village is a small community, but Canada is anything but small!  Canada is a very big country.  In fact, it is the second largest country (by area) in the world

On July 1, 1867, the British government (under Queen Victoria) approved a plan which allowed Canada to become an independent country with its own government.  This new nation, which remained loyal to Britain, was called the Dominion of Canada.  At that time, the new Dominion of Canada had only four provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).  

I've tried to provide a BRIEF history of Canada's Birthday that you can share with your friends on Canada Day.  If you're looking for more detail on Canadian history, check out the National Library of Canada's Confederation section or try a Canadian Trivia game. Celebrating Canada Day:

Canada Day is celebrated with a wide variety of parties, BBQ's, picnics and the like.  Mary Flynn from Songs4Teachers has kindly provided a simple song to learn for Canada Day.

We're Proud to Be Canadians - song to Sing a Song of Sixpence

OR

O Canada! (in French and English) - try our National Anthem  

Canadian Fast Facts:  

O CANADA" was first sung on June 24, 1880.  But it was not officially proclaimed our national anthem until July 1, 1980

The Canadian Coat of Arms has a motto on it:  A Mari usque ad Mare -- this means from Sea to Sea.

The motto is based on biblical scripture: "He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth (Psalm 72:8)".

In our anthem we ask God to keep our land glorious and free.  Our anthem is part prayer. Although we do try to keep government and religion separate in day to day practice.

Understanding accents

I have had the opportunity over the past few months to be in more frequent contact with my grandson, via Skype and videos sent to me by my daughter. I have trouble understanding some of what he has to say because he has such a thick accent. So I wondered about accents and when we acquire them, here is some of what I found out.

Accents are in general imprinted by your environment. If you are young enough then your friends have a lot to do with this - you are fitting in to the local environment. - Hence Indian parents who bring children to the Canada  speak their national language but the children learn and speak with a Canadian, and often regional, accent.

Once the basic speech patterns have been established it takes considerable effort to over come them. Muscle memory take over from conscious effort and you have to re think these established patterns. Thus some people have the ability to mimic any accent quite well, but by no means all can do that.

Children start to acquire the syntax of their first language around two, and it ends around five or six. Once they reach that age, they've pretty well acquired all of the syntactical structures of their first language, and operate at the adult level in terms of grammar (but not vocabulary, obviously).

I would assume, therefore, that regional or dialectical pronunciation patterns would be mastered around the same time, if not much earlier.

Here are a couple of pages that explain the process of First Language Acquisition in more detail:

Cite 1
Cite 2

Imagination vs Realilty

Talking about your child’s imagination helps in defining its place in reality. When you acknowledge their imagination, you are basically stimulating it and teaching them to value honesty by taking responsibility that will help them see the fine line between lying and imagination Asking questions such as: “Your story was amazing, When did that happen”, ”was it in the school, in the house or in your mind?”, “your imaginative story is awesome”..

It is important but not necessary for parents to encourage fantasy play in their children. If the child already has an imaginary friend, for instance, parents should follow their children's lead and offer encouragement if they are comfortable doing so. Similarly, with Santa, if a child seems excited by the idea, parents can encourage it. However, if parents choose not to introduce or encourage the belief in fictitious characters, they should look for other ways to encourage their children's imaginations, such as by playing dress-up or reading fiction.

If a child asks if the Tooth Fairy or Santa is real, parents might want to assess their child's level of doubt. If the doubts appear strong then the child might be ready and it is time for the truth. Ideally, the child will find out for him or herself, like a little scientist, so parents might ask, "Is there something you saw or heard that makes you think Santa isn't real?" and "What do you think?"

Fantasy play is correlated with other positive attributes. In preschool children, for example, those who have imaginary friends are more creative, have greater social understanding, and are better at taking the perspective of others, according to Marjorie Taylor, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon and author of the book "Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them."

Imaginary friends can also be used to help children cope with stress, Dr. Taylor says. "This is a strength of children, their ability to pretend," she says. "They can fix the problem with their imagination."

As parents and caregivers, we know the coveted place that role-playing and dress-up holds in the lives of our children, but in addition to being just plain fun, imaginative role-play is one of the most important play patterns for your children.

Who doesn't remember turning their bath towel into a makeshift cape and battling all manner of beasts and bad people from the safety of our bedrooms? We did not know that we were onto something and probably neither did our parents; we just knew that it was fun to pretend to be someone else.

Role-play helps teach children about cooperation and taking turns, and as a result it encourages confidence and socialization. Research also tells us that children who are encouraged in imaginative play prove to be more creative, have a richer vocabulary, are less impulsive and aggressive and often become leaders with their playmates.
Role-play is exactly the type of imaginative play that child development experts recognize as preparation for learning and preparation for the rest of their lives.

Role-play is at the core of childhood, where there is no limit to where we can go or who we can become. Putting together a dress-up box for your child is a worthwhile activity. Fill it with clothes for both genders and jazz it up a bit with a few more glamorous items: a feather boa, some costume jewelry or a crown.

You can encourage your children to play, make suggestions, or even join in, but it won't be long before they leave you in their pixie dust as their imaginations run wild, taking them on a magical journey of learning and fun.

What does a preschooler need?

My daughter worries whether my grandson is learning everything he needs to know and I am sure she is like all young mothers.  We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn't be a race. This post is from http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/what-should-a-4-year-old-know/

So here, I offer my list of what a a pre-schooler year old should know.

• She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
• He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn't feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.
• She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.
• He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he’ll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.
• She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she’s wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it’s just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that– way more worthy.

But more important, here’s what parents need to know.

• That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.
• That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
• That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children “advantages” that we’re giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
• That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. 

Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children’s toys and they wouldn't be missed, but some things are important– building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. 

(Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.) They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too– to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it’s absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.

That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That’s not okay! Our children don’t need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US. They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they’re a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

And now back to those pre-school skills lists…..

I know it’s human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and to want to make sure we’re doing all we can for them. Here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool.

If there are areas where it seems your child is lacking, realize that it’s not an indication of failure for either you or your child. You just haven’t happened to cover that. Kids will learn whatever they’re exposed to, and the idea that they all need to know these 15 things at this precise age is rather silly. Still, if you want him to have those subjects covered then just work it into life and play with the subject and he’ll naturally pick it up. Count to 60 when you’re mixing a cake and he’ll pick up his numbers. Get fun books from the library about space or the alphabet. Experiment with everything from backyard snow to celery stalks in food coloring. It’ll all happen naturally, with much more fun and much less pressure.

What does a pre-schooler need?

Much less than we realize, and much more than we give

Back to school can stretch your budget

My thanks to retire happy for this idea. As a retired teacher I used to pay attention to this time of year, because I would be returning to work. Students are returning to school and for parents hard pressed to pay the bills, the start of school is an extra burden. Take a look at the following image.

I think that too much money is spent by parents getting their kids ready for school. So here are a few quick tips and thoughts on how to deal with back to school spending

• Set a budget –Averages can be very misleading. Now some people will say that the above average is high, while others say the above average is low. Whatever the case,  at the end of the day, spending is personal and it’s important to spend the number that makes the most sense for you.  Set a budget and do your best to stay in that budget.
• Only buy what you need – On similar lines, make sure you make a list of what you really need.  Impulsive buying is always to greatest key to overspending because retailers really know how to get you to spend more than what you intended.  The key is to make a list and do your best to stick you only what you need.  Go around the house to see if you have some items on the list that can be used without buying more.  When I was teaching I would see students coming to school with way more than what they needed because the family did not buy what you need. Many school supplies can be purchased throughout the year and do not need to be purchased in Sept.
• Some sales are not great deals – Staples was advertising their Staples brand paper was a super back to school sale price.  While it was slightly cheaper than the normal price, they neglected to advertise that the HP brand of paper was actually a better sale.  Some stores are great at packaging deals where you get 2 for $5 but if you just bought one, it’s $2.50.
• Are brand name supplies better?  In some cases, the answer may be yes but many time, the answer is a clear no.  
• Involve the kids – I think back to school spending is a great time to involve kids and use it as an opportunity to teach them about not only money but also to reinforce the relative value of money and that spending a little more here and there can really add up.

Do you believe in Santa?

It is interesting to me how my grandson is developing as he approaches his third birthday, so I thought I would do some research on how a child's mind develops and share some of what I found. We can see how children’s minds develop in stages by looking at what they cannot do at different ages. Following the discoveries of psychologist Jean Piaget in the mid–twentieth century, development experts have recognized many ways in which children do not think like adults. For instance, preschoolers consistently believe that a tall glass can hold more than a shorter one, even if the shorter glass is significantly wider, and that there are more books and toys if they are spread all over the floor than if they are stacked away. Not until about school age do children realize that different people can have different knowledge of the world. And researchers are still debating when  children can clearly sort out the real world from what they vividly imagine. Experience plays a role in moving children to the next level of cognitive development, but it seems that the brain has to be ready for that step as well. Parents and teachers can hurry a young child along only so much.

In movement, memory, and other functions, therefore, you will see your child develop preliminary skills, refine them, and then build on them to achieve more advanced skills. Inside your child’s brain at this time, neurons are firing signals, selected synaptic connections are growing stronger, and myelin is coating the nerves to make them more efficient. What educators see is potential: the more your child uses his or her brain, the more it grows. How can you facilitate this process? You can enrich your child’s environment and encourage him or her to explore it (even if that results in a few mistakes).

Child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Children’s imaginary friends are part of a healthy childhood development, which helps them learn more about their environment and build the connections in their brain to practice independent, autonomous thinking, so they gradually develop decision-making skills and master self-discipline. Parents should encourage their children’s creative and imaginative processes rather than threatening them with punishments.

Dr. Woolley's group at the Children's Research Laboratory has conducted a series of studies involving Santa, the Tooth Fairy and a newly made-up character known as the "Candy Witch" in order to examine the age at which children are able to distinguish between real and fictional entities and how they process contexts and cues when dealing with them.

In one study involving 91 children, Dr. Woolley asked young kids if a number of people and characters, including Santa and the garbage man, were real. She found that 70% of 3-year-olds reported that Santa Claus was real, while 78% believed in the garbage man. By age 5, kids' certainty about the garbage man grew, and Santa believers peaked at 83%. It wasn't until age 7 that belief in Santa declined. By 9, only a third believed in Santa while nearly all reported the garbage man was real.

So, "if kids have the basic distinction between real and not real when they're 3, why do they believe in Santa until they're 8?" says Dr. Woolley.

The researchers found that while children as young as 3 understand the concept of what is real and what isn't, until they are about 7 kids can be easily misled by adults' persuasive words or by "evidence." They hold onto their beliefs about some fantastical characters—like Santa—longer than others, such as monsters or dragons. Most of the kids in the study were Christian, and the numbers of those who believed in Santa would likely be smaller if there were children of other religious backgrounds in the sample, says Dr. Woolley

Logically, from what young kids observe, it makes sense to think that Santa is real, says Dr. Woolley. And Santa and the trash collector share certain characteristics. Both are people whom kids have heard about but have likely never met before. There is proof for Santa's existence—the gifts that appear on Christmas morning—as well as for the garbage man's—he makes trash disappear—even though kids don't usually see them in action. A 5-year-old has the cognitive skills to put together the pieces of evidence, but because the pieces are misleading, he or she comes to the wrong conclusion. Younger children may not have the cognitive skills to put the pieces of evidence together, so may in fact be less likely to believe in Santa's existence. The realness of some other characters, such as Sesame Street's Elmo, can perplex kids because they know Elmo is a puppet, but does that make him real or not?

All children are wired and ready to learn during their progress through childhood; it is important for parents to acknowledge and understand when children are using their imagination.

Drowning can be prevented

The following is taken from an article in Slate, which can be found here and is an important warning for parents who take their children swimming.  

The Instinctive Drowning Response—so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In some of those drowning, the adult will actually watch the child do it, having no idea it is happening.* Drowning does not look like drowning—Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene magazine, described the Instinctive Drowning Response like this:

1. “Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the Instinctive Drowning Response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long—but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs—vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Appear to be climbing an invisible ladde

The Shocking Truth About Candy Rewarding 2

Still not convinced?

Then brace yourself for what follows! Science has gone really far these days…It actually has gone so far, that it broke any natural law and forgot about common sense, in the name of selling cheap Franken-food with high profits. Many of these ingredients are listed as being “natural flavors and colorings” . I’ll let YOU be the judge in deciding  how “natural” they really are :

1. “Shiny” Carnauba Wax

Carnauba wax is a common ingredient in car waxes, shoe polish, cosmetics, floor polish, surfboard wax. It is also very common in Halloween candy. Talk about glowing in the dark!

2. Beetle Juice, anyone?

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug. It is processed and sold as dry flakes, which are dissolved in etyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Just perfect to glaze candies like Skittles, or sprinkles on cupcakes and ice cream sundaes!

3. Insect Powder as Red Food Coloring

Carmine (carminic acid) is used in the manufacture of artificial flowers, paints, crimson ink, rouge, and other cosmetics, and is routinely added to food products such as yogurt and certain brands of juice, the most notable ones being those of the ruby-red variety.

To prepare carmine, the powdered scale insect bodies are boiled in ammonia or a sodium carbonate solution, followed by a variety of treatments. This ingredient might be listed as “natural color”.

4. Have some Coal Tar with Cotton Candy?

Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity.  It is among the by-products when coal is carbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas. Coal tar is listed as number 199 on the United Nations list of “dangerous goods,” but that doesn’t stop people from using it in food. The coloring Allura Red AC is derived from coal tar and is commonly found in red-colored candies, sodas and other sweets. It is banned in Europe. Allura Red AC was originally introduced in the US as a replacement for the use of amaranth as a food coloring.

5. A fancy word for Beaver Anal Glands – Castoreum!

Castoreum extract is a natural product prepared by direct hot-alcohol extraction of castoreum, the dried and macerated castor sac scent glands (and their secretions) from the male or female beaver. It has been used extensively in perfumery. In the US castoreum has been approved by the FDA as a food additive, often referenced simply as “natural flavoring”. You’ll find it in candy as a vanilla, raspberry and strawberry flavoring.

To find out which are the specific foods your metabolism thrives on and obtain a customized, CLEAN, non-toxic diet plan that can help you reverse disease and keep you healthy, visit this page.

Article Sources

1. Natural Health News

2. Wikipedia

3. Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan MD

4. 141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health by Nancy Appleton

5. Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward. Lenoir M. PLos ONE. 2007; 2(8):e698)

About the Author

Raluca Schachter is a passionate Nutritionist and Metabolic Typing Advisor®, with a background in both nutrition and communication/PR. She believes in traditional, unaltered food, ancestral wisdom, sustainable farming and living. Raluca was able to naturally reverse chronic health conditions she was struggling with most of her life, and now uses her knowledge to help as many people as possible do the same. Her health programs and diet plans offer a very unique and comprehensive approach to health, where individual nutritional and biochemical requirements are firstly met using specific nutrients and foods that each metabolism thrives on. This approach reveals why and how ‘one diet/herb doesn’t fit all’ and why ‘one man’s food is another one’s poison.. For more information visit her website and blog guide2health.net  

The Shocking Truth About Candy Rewarding 1

By Raluca Schachter

Guest writer for Wake Up World

A pat on the back and a big smile of appreciation. A hand-made crown of flowers and twigs. Longer times to play and a visit to the park. These were the types of rewards I received from my teachers and parents when I was a child. Guess what? I went through more than 20 years of school with NO CANDY or KIDDIE FOOD as rewards! I survived! Oh my, how was that possible?

Seriously, CANDY-MANIA is out of control. I’m so tired of people offering me and my family CANDY everywhere I go, no matter what the occasion! It became more than a simple indulgence. It grew deep addictive roots around it.

Studies have shown that sugar is actually more addicting than cocaine, since it tastes better!

“In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars and are thus not adapted to high concentrations of sweet compounds. The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal rewards signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.”

Here is how a typical day for a typical family looks like, in a society that became addicted to CANDY:

Morning. Mom takes her kid to school where she receives rewarding CANDY because she wears her school spirit t-shirt on that particular day.

Birthday celebration in class. Since  parents can’t bring treats that get messy and require too much cleaning, everybody will have a CANDY-type of “treat”, pre-packaged, never-goes-bad, fluorescent non-food, most likely in the form of muffins.

After she drops off her kid, mom checks out the school’s up-coming events and makes a list of things she needs to buy for all these. Let’s see: it has to be cheap, known and loved by everyone and in big quantity. She runs to the local grocery store where she buys packages of CANDY like gummi bears, M & Ms, loli pops and fruit rolls. Done!

She goes to the bank where the teller is so nice and offers her a CANDY, just to show her how much the bank is appreciating her as a customer.

After a few more errands she runs back to school to pick up her kid. The kid comes out of the class with a big smile, holding in one hand CANDY leftovers from the birthday celebration and in the other…you guessed! another rewarding CANDY, a “licorice” that she received for exceptional behavior in class! (as you noticed, “licorice” is in commas, because there is nothing in this toxic candy that resembles the healthy licorice plant!)

Afternoon. Mom and child get ready to go to the pediatrician. Child throws a fit in the car (no wonder after all the candy and school hours, a recipe for disaster is in place). Mom tries to focus on driving and throws another CANDY to her child in the back, to “calm” her down…

They reach the doctor’s office. All goes well and because the child puts herself together and stops crying, hence presenting such a good behavior, the nurse is rewarding her with…you guessed again! Another CANDY!

It’s evening now and the whole family just had dinner. They all agree they had such a full, hard day. They look at the cupboard thinking the same thing: well, we all deserve a “treat” today, we  worked so hard and did our best… Don’t you think it’s about time we had some…CANDY???

I hope you see the big picture here…And for the non-believers that still invent excuses to have CANDY, here is a glimpse of the top 4 toxic ingredients these contain and how they affect our health:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

HFCS is in virtually every candy and hard to avoid. It is strongly connected to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and liver problems. Plus, it comes from Genetically Modified Corn (GMO) – no, that doesn’t feed the world, it feeds your disease.

2. Artificial colors

Food coloring (especially Blues 1 and 2, Red 3, Green 3, and Yellow 5) are associated with a handful of cancers, allergic reactions and asthma. Many of them have been banned in various countries around the world. You can still find plenty in US.

3. Trans fat

Very common in most candy bars. They lead to clogged arteries and overall inflammation in the body. Trans fats generate a multitude of imbalances in the body and are one of the major reasons for poor health. There is no safe amount of trans fat in your diet and you should avoid it like the plague.

4. Sodium

To counteract the nauseating sweetness of HFCS-supercharged candies, most are balanced with a hefty dose of salt. Often high amounts of processed salt leads to high blood pressure and stroke. There is a big difference between this type of salt and the healthy variety like Celtic and Himalyan Salt.

Still not convinced?

Then brace yourself for what follows!

32 Ways to Keep the Kids Occupied

My grandson will be visiting us soon, and I began to think about how you can keep kids occupied when they start to get a little bit bored. Throughout the years, we’ve come up with lots of things we can do together as a family that don’t cost the earth. A lot of them are even free, so over the next few days I am going to focus my posts on these ideas.

Some things we’ve thought up ourselves, other things are ideas passed down through generations and yet other things are what we have been lucky enough to learn about from various books, people and situations.

At first I thought it would be hard work coming up with so many ideas for you to use and adapt to suit your own needs, but once I got started it actually turned out to be quite easy.

I’m sure both you and your child/children (or even your grandchildren) will find lots of great things to do together.   

Great Ideas for Indoor Activities

1. Story time:

Read and discuss a book or a chapter of a book, make up your own endings. You can even make up your own stories by sitting the kids in a ring and letting them "add a sentence". We've made up lots of really funny stories this way.

 2. Giant Easel:
Go to a charity shop or wallpaper shop and buy leftover rolls of wallpaper. Cover a wall with the paper, back to front; stick it up with blu-tac or drawing pins.

Give the kids paints, crayons, chalks pens etc and let them create their own frieze. The little ones reach the bottom, whilst the big ones can reach up to the top.