What Really Matters

Hello Readers!

I just finished an amazing book on willpower and it has inspired me to get back on track with my writing. I think the most important aspect of writing is consistency, so I am going to dedicate half an hour everyday to this blog. For now, that will have to suffice, as after a rather nasty kidney infection my energy is quite low. But there you have it! The number one rule is I have to take half an hour a day to write. If in that half hour I do not write that is OK, but I am not allowed to do anything else. I can stare into space or just sit there quietly but that is the extent of it. So without further ado I am going to give this little experiment a shot. It can't hurt and it may just be what I need to jump start my writing again...

Nothing makes you appreciate your health more than having to deal with a health issue. For me it was what started as a rather innocuous bladder infection that progressively got worse and eventually ended up in my kidneys - not fun I tell you!! It has been over a week now and I am finally starting to feel like I am getting a handle on it. During this time my sleep was also affected having to take numerous trips to void my bladder in the middle of the night - I know too much information! But seriously, I had countless hours to lie in bed with my hot water bottle remembering what it felt like to feel normal and healthy. I vowed when I was over this illness, that I would NEVER take my health for granted again. I know we all make well meaning promises to ourselves and before long we are back to our old ways, but this time it is going to be different. I had just small taste of what many people deal with on a daily basis and I tell you it was a big wake up call!

There is nothing so precious in the world as good health and we should treasure it like the finest gold. It really doesn't take much to stay healthy. Add a few more vegetables and fruits to your diet, stay away from fast food except on rare occasions and move a bit more - not rocket science and the benefits are you will be around a lot longer. Hey, if you can't do it for yourself do it for your kids. They need strong healthy parents and caregivers to help get them get to adulthood.

Not too shabby! My half hour is up and I have blogged for the day. See ya tomorrow!

Happy Parenting,

Monicka

Stress 101

My day started off a bit stressful as I did not have the greatest sleep last night. I woke up feeling groggy and found it really hard to get out of bed. I was extremely klutzy and seemed to be dropping everything and even managed to knock the glass coffee carafe off the counter and it broke into hundreds of pieces :( Now I have to find a new one that will fit my coffee maker - I CANNOT go a day without my cup of joe! So far I am not having the best of days, but I am intending that it will improve from here on in.

As promised the topic for today's blog will be Healthy Stress Management for you and the kiddies. Before I get to the management part of it I thought it would be a good idea to talk about how detrimental stress can be to you and your children's health.

While a little bit of stress is OK, prolonged stress or chronic stress can be detrimental to our health, physically and mentally. When we are in peril, stress triggers the body's fight or flight response which leads to the release of the hormones adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones cause your heart beat to speed up, slows the digestion process and brings the blood flow to all your major muscles. This comes in handy when you are dealing with danger, but once the threat passes the body should return back to normal and no harm is done. With chronic stress the body does not return back to normal enough, which over time, has a negative impact on our health.

Chronic stress can cause headaches and body aches, make you more susceptible to colds, insomnia, obesity,, and extremely serious conditions like depression, heart disease, diabetes, ulcers, hyperthyroidism and even god forbid, the dreaded "C" word!!

This is why it is so crucial to find healthy ways to alleviate chronic stress. We also need to remember that our children may also be dealing with stress on a daily basis and it may be impacting their lives negatively. In tomorrows blog I will discuss "healthy" ways to help alleviate the stress in our lives as well as the lives of our children.

Happy stress-free day,

Monicka

WebMD mobile iphone app helps diagnose your kids illnesses

Came across this interesting review of a nifty little iphone application - WebMD on your phone. Packed with useful info, click here to check it out!