The Positive Side of Bad Habits

We all have at least one or two bad habits, but did you know that these habits aren’t necessarily bad, and in fact can improve your life?

Nail Biting – although it’s considered a bad habit by society, humans have been biting their nails since the dawn of time. Nail biting prevents your nails from getting too long and breaking or cutting you and it exposes you to tiny amounts of bacteria from residue under your nails. Research shows that exposure to small amounts of bacteria on a regular basis actually strengthens the immune system.

Fidgeting Keeps You Alert – fidgeting is actually your brain trying to improve its focus and alertness in the same way that yawning is its way to get you more oxygen quickly. Shaking your legs, twiddling your thumbs, doodling, et”c, all help you focus when you’re tired or bored.

Cursing – most people would frown upon swearing and cursing, especially around young children, but it also has appropriate uses; Researchers discovered that swearing in stressful times actually helps reducing your risk of a heart attack by half! Just remember that there’s a time and a place for everything…

Daydreaming – daydreaming is the mind’s way to deal with complex problems by letting the conscious mind wander and allowing the subconscious to process and solve the issues. This also occurs if you’re doing a task which doesn’t require you to concentrate and allows your thoughts to roam.

Gossiping – research performed in Brown University discovered that gossiping for even 20 minutes with a friend helped reduce tension and anxiety and boost the subject’s mood for up to 4 hours. Gossip is great at creating and strengthening bonds between people, but don’t use it for malicious and hurtful reasons.

Being Disorganized – while some might think that disorganized people are lazy, the truth is that some people need a degree of chaos in their life and it helps them think outside the box. In a research performed a few years ago, students were put in tidy rooms and in messy rooms, and the ones in the messy rooms actually drew more creative pictures.

Sleeping In – endocrinologists recently discovered that waking up before 6:30am increases a person’s risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases. The best thing to do is go to bed when you’re naturally tired and letting your body wake up on its own.

Social Media – kids and their phones! Actually, also adults and their phones! Everyone seems to be hooked on social media, checking their Facebook and Twitter all the time. The benefit we draw from it is quite surprising; we tend to make statements on social media and people will hold us up to those statements just like we will do for them. This forces us and them to stay on track and achieve our goals together.

Tantrums – expressing your anger in small amounts will reduce tension and stress, and is much healthier than bottling up all that anger and frustration inside. Kids know it better than us and that’s why they naturally do it. Just make sure you express your anger in a healthy way – punch a pillow, go off on a short rant, etc.

Watching Cute Videos – if you think it’s nothing be procrastination, you’re dead-wrong. Watching videos helps the brain focus and complete tasks more effectively, and watching cute videos specifically increases our care-giving instincts and makes us take more care in the task we perform.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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How to defuse a child’s tantrum with one question

This isn't my story, but by a mother of a tantrum child.

This parenting tip could change the game with your little ones.

I have not read every child psychology book, nor did I take a course on how to avoid/stop/end a child’s tantrum. But because of a personal experience with my 5-year-old daughter, I really want to share a “formula” that I learned recently so that people can change course when kids insist on getting all worked up over something small.

But first, I need to tell you a story. My daughter started kindergarten and she was a little anxious. She kept saying she wasn’t going to be able to keep up. And this behavior ended up unfolding at home: she was increasingly throwing tantrums over anything, even the smallest most meaningless things. On the school’s recommendation, we booked a few sessions with a child psychologist so that the child could talk about what she was feeling in hopes things would calm down.

Among the many tips that psychologist  gave us, there was one that I found fantastic, although it was very simple — and that’s exactly why I feel it’s worth sharing.

The psychologist explained to me that we need to make children feel respected in the sense of acknowledging what they are feeling. And so, at the time of a crisis, whatever the reason for it, we need to help kids (ages 5 and up) think and figure out what is going on with them. When we acknowledge what they are going through, and at the same time make them participate in solving the problem, we can disarm the tantrum.

More objectively: When a tantrum starts — either because the doll’s arm came off, or because it’s time to go to bed, or because the homework did not come out the way she wanted, or because he did not want to do a chore — whatever the reason, we can ask them the following question, looking into their eyes and in a calm voice: “Is this a big problem, a medium problem, or a small problem?” 

For my daughter, those moments of sincerely thinking about what was going on around her have become magical, at least here at home. And every time I ask the question and she answers, we find a way to solve the problem, starting from her perception of where to look for the solution. A small problem is always quick and simple to solve. There are some problems she considers medium. They will most likely be solved, but not at that instant, and she has to understand that there are things that need some time to happen. If a problem is serious — and obviously what is serious from a child’s point-of-view is not something to be dismissed, even though it may seem silly to us — you might need to talk it over more and help her understand that sometimes there are things that do not go exactly the way we want.
 
I can give many examples where I have used this little question recently. During one instance, we were choosing clothes for school. My daughter often makes a big fuss over her outfits, especially when it’s cooler out. To summarize: she wanted to wear her favorite pair of pants but they were in the wash. She started to melt down and I asked, “Alice, is this a big, medium, or small problem?” She looked at me sheepishly and said quietly, “Small.” And I once again explained that we already knew that small problems are easy to solve. I asked for her suggestions on how we would solve that small problem (I learned that it is important to give her time to think and respond) and she said, “Choosing other pants.” And I added, “And you have more than one pair of pants to choose from.” She smiled and went to get another pair of pants. I congratulated her on having solved the problem herself because, of course, valuing the solution is an essential aspect, to finish off the story.

I do not think there are any miraculous solutions for raising children. The other day I was thinking about how it is a real saga, this mission of putting people in the world: going through all the phases, walking along paths that sometimes lead us into an ambush, having the humility to turn back and try another way. In all honesty, this advice comes from my great desire to share a light that appeared on my path as a mother, and I hope from the heart that it will work for you too.


  this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement     

If your kids throw tantrum, consult a doctor

If your child often throws tantrums, consider it as any other medical problem and do consult your doctor, says a new study.

Many parents of children aged 5-17 wouldn't discuss behavioural or emotional issues that could be signs of potential health problems with their doctors.

"Behavioural and emotional health are closely tied to a child's physical health, well-being and development, but our findings suggest that we are often missing the boat in catching issues early," said Sarah J. Clark, associate director of the National Poll on Children's Health and associate research scientist in the University of Michigan department of paediatrics.

While more than 60 percent of parents definitely would talk to the doctor if their child was extremely sad for more than a month, only half would discuss temper tantrums that seemed worse than peers or if their child seemed more worried or anxious than normal.

Just 37 percent would tell the doctor if their child had trouble organising homework. Another 40 percent of parents say they would rather handle it themselves and about 30 percent would rather speak to someone other than a doctor.

Behavioural health problems, sometimes also called mental health problems, affect boys and girls of all ages, impacting their learning, social interactions and physical health.

While some behaviour and emotional issues are mild and short-lived, others are signs of longer-term problems like depression, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, mood and behaviour disorders, or substance abuse.

"This conversation between doctors and parents is an essential step that allows providers to assess the severity of the problem, offer parents guidance on strategies to deal with certain behaviours and help families get treatment if needed," Clark concluded.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.






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Sleep deprived tots have behavioral problems

A new study has found that 4-year-olds with shorter than average sleep times have increased rates of "externalizing" behaviour problems.

"Pre-school children with shorter night-time sleep duration had higher odds of parent-reported over-activity  anger, aggression, impulsivity, tantrums, and annoying behaviours " according to the new research.

They recommend that parents and health care providers discuss steps to improve sleep habits for preschool-age children with behaviour problems.

The researchers analysed parent responses from a nationally representative study of approximately 9,000 children, followed from birth through kindergarten age.

When the children were four years old, night-time sleep duration was estimated by asking the parents what time their child typically went to bed and woke on weekdays.

On a standard child behaviour questionnaire, parents rated their child on six different "externalizing" behaviour problems such as anger and aggression. (Externalizing behaviour problems are outward behaviours  distinguished from "internalizing" problems such as depression and anxiety.)

The relationship between sleep duration and behaviour scores was assessed, with adjustment for other factors that might affect sleep or behaviour.

The average bedtime was 8:39 pm and wake time 7:13 am, giving a mean night-time sleep duration of about 10 and a half hours. Eleven percent of children were considered to have "short sleep duration" of less than 9 hours 45 minutes (calculated as one standard deviation below the average).

On the child behaviour questionnaire, 16 percent of children had a high score for externalizing behaviour problems.

Behaviour problems were more common for boys, children who watched more than two hours of television daily, and those whose mothers reported feeling depressed.

After adjustment for other factors, "Children in the shortest sleep groups have significantly worse behaviour than children with longer sleep duration," Dr said.

The effect was greatest for aggressive behaviour problems, which were about 80 percent more likely for children with night-time sleep duration of less than 9 hours and 45 minutes.



ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.