Parenting

Smartphone Apps to Keep your Children Safe

May 16, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Children are easily distracted by people and activities around them which can lead parents to lose children in small crowds or where there are engaging activities taking place. Parents are always concerned about what their children are doing and their current location. It is, however, impossible to keep track due to various commitments. The good news is that different apps in the market can help paranoid parents monitor their children from wherever they are. With these apps, it becomes easy for parents to know the exact location of their children and the various activities that they are performing with their smartphones. Some of these phones are installed in the children’s phone without their knowledge while others are agreed upon especially when they are in a new neighborhood or traveling so as to alert the parents in case of danger.

Family Locator

The Verizon Family Locator app allows parents to monitor the whereabouts of their children as they go about their day’s activities. The app is in a position to alert you via email or text message when it recognizes an abnormality in the location of your children. When your child, for example, skips a lesson and decides to go out with friends, you can get a notification, and her smartphone signal will pinpoint the current location on an aerial map or photo.

Family Medical Info

The health of a growing child is one of the biggest concerns of a parent. Having the vital medical information of your baby stored in an app is a perfect way to stay stress-free regarding your child’s medical condition. This app stores some relevant medical history which includes the child’s vaccinations, allergies, blood type, a list of prescriptions, and other complicated conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. With this kind of information, you can contact your insurance rep or your family doctor with a tap of a button regardless of the distance between you and your child.

FamilyBase

Digital interactions via social media have become rampant among the young generation. Children are in a phase where their curiosity might lead them into accessing sites meant for adults. This app aids you in controlling how, when and with whom your child communicates with at all times. It also has an option where you can restrict the service hours, limiting the child’s text messages, calls, and purchase options. The FamilyBase app will also help you in controlling your internet bills by limiting your child’s data usage.

Child ID

According to the FBI, more than 400,000 are reported missing annually. The thought of losing a child in a mall without a trace is a nightmare for every parent. With this app, you can store some vital data that can help the authorities in identifying your children when you accidentally lose them. The app can be used to store your baby’s current photos, height, eye colour, weight, mannerism, and birthmarks. The information saved in this app should be able to distinguish your child from the rest for easier tracking by the security agents. This app also comes with advice and safety on what parents need to do when a crisis occurs.

Lassy Project

Most children disappear without trace due to the extended time taken by parents to realize that their child has gone missing. This app provides an instant alert when your child goes missing so as to facilitate an immediate rescue mission. Lassy Project provides an updated image of the missing child and a real-time map displaying the coordinates of the last recognized site. This app makes a perfect alert tool for notifying when a child goes missing as only relevant people in the immediate area are informed.

5 Ways to Treat Hypokalemia During Pregnancy

March 24, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Symptoms, Causes and Treatment of Hypokalemia During Pregnancy

Even though pregnancy is a pleasant experience, you’re also at a very delicate phase in your life. And fatigue and normal muscular weakness may be pretty normal during this period, but you still have to be very careful when it comes to your health. Muscle weakness may be brought about by hypokalemia, which is a deficiency of potassium in your bloodstream. This condition can prompt unpleasant complications and jeopardize your pregnancy as well as the health of your unborn baby. So let’s take a look at the causes, symptoms, and treatments for hypokalemia during pregnancy.

What causes hypokalemia?

During pregnancy, your potassium levels can decrease because of vomiting as a result of morning sickness. Another cause of this condition is increased levels of aldosterone, a hormone secreted by your adrenal gland and important for maintaining the pH and electrolyte level of blood. If you take diuretics that make you urinate more than usual, you may suffer from low potassium levels since potassium is filtered through your kidneys. Diarrhea can also lead to this condition, and antibiotics such as carbenicillin and gentamicin can cause hypokalemia.

What are the symptoms of hypokalemia?

It may be difficult to pinpoint the symptoms associated with hypokalemia in pregnant women because these are symptoms common during pregnancy. However, fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle pain, twitches, constipation, nausea, abdominal cramping, and irregular heart rhythms are some of the symptoms to look out for. Muscle pain and fatigue may be usual during pregnancy, but you should consult a physician if you undergo such symptoms in order for hypokalemia to be ruled out.

Treatment of hypokalemia

1. Potassium Supplements

The most common treatment for mild hypokalemia is oral potassium supplements. You can get these supplements in various forms, including tablets, capsules, powder, and liquid. With the powder form, you can mix it with food or water. The liquid supplement is great if you gag or experience nausea when you try to swallow pills. Your doctor will prescribe the manner in which you should take the potassium supplements. If you’re taking any medications, you should inform your physician before you take these supplements because they can react with some medications.

2. Eat foods rich in potassium

Another treatment option is to eat potassium-rich foods, which include potatoes, tomato, yogurt and white beans. Natural, whole foods are the best sources of potassium, and you can also eat peas, lima beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, avocado, bananas, and salmon. Grass-fed beef, raw milk, sardines, and grapefruit are other important sources of potassium.

3. Increase electrolyte intake

During pregnancy, it’s important to increase your intake of electrolytes to 2,000 mg per day in order to keep up your potassium levels as a result of raised blood volume while you are expecting a child. As a pregnant woman, you need potassium for your body to function properly. This mineral helps to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance. Also, it plays a major role in how your body transmits nerve impulses, contracts muscles and releases energy from fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It’s very common for pregnant women to crave pickles, which are rich in electrolytes. You can also take vitamin water, apple juice, and coconut water.

4. Medication

Medication may also be prescribed to treat hypokalemia. If your condition was caused by a thiazide or loop diuretic, and you have a proper renal function, your doctor can prescribe angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. However, ACE inhibitors can have some side effects, which can include a dry cough during pregnancy. If this happens, you should see your doctor in order to discontinue the treatment. Your cough will then be resolved within a few days. You can also be prescribed potassium-sparing diuretics. Your doctor can also prescribe oral potassium chloride, which is excellent for replenishing your potassium levels.

5. Surgical care

When you suffer from hypokalemia, it’s a medical condition and surgical intervention isn’t required. However, you may have to undergo surgery in case of certain etiologies. For instance, if you have renal artery stenosis, which is a narrowing of your arteries, surgery is required. Adrenal adenoma, villous adenoma and intestinal obstruction that produce massive vomiting are other conditions in which surgery is required.

Prevention of Hypokalemia

Prevention is better than cure and if you’re pregnant, you should eat a diet rich in potassium. If you’re using diuretics, you should have your serum potassium routinely monitored to catch hypokalemia during its early stages.

4 Tips to Encourage Creativity in Your Children

March 24, 2017 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

Creative thinking is a characteristic commonly found in successful business men and women. These people aren’t afraid to try new ideas or take chances. If you want to raise creative kids, but don’t know where to start, check out these four tips for encouraging creativity.

Create a Space Where Kids Can Get Messy

Image via Flickr by CCK_mom

It’s hard to keep your home clean when you have children. However, if your kids are always worrying about getting dirty, their creativity suffers. Instead of letting your kids run wild with the arts and craft supplies, create a space where it’s okay to be messy.

A sunroom or any tiled surface works great for a creative space because it’s easy to clean. Just make sure it’s free of allergens and stays at a comfortable temperature so your kids can play longer. During the summer, you can also set up some tables outdoors and let your kids make all the mess they want. Being messy isn’t really the problem; it’s being messy all over the place.

Schedule Time Each Day for Creativity

Most parents let their kids watch a little TV, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, TV doesn’t help stimulate creativity. When kids watch TV, they go into a semitrance and don’t rely on their own brains to come up with things to do. If you want your kids to be more creative, turn off the TV and give them something to do where they need to think and explore their surroundings.

Set aside time each day during which your kids participate in creative activities. When your kids know they need to do something creative every day, they’ll start to think of things to do on their own. Over time, creative time will become their favorite time of the day.

Provide Ample Arts and Craft Supplies

Image via Flickr by Carissa GoodNCrazy

Another way to encourage creativity in your kids is to make sure they have all the supplies they need. Some kids can take crayons and some paper and color for hours. Others kids need more prompting with drawing books and creative toys. You know what your kids like to do, so find ways to bring in creativity.

Beyond arts and craft supplies, it helps to model creativity for your kids. If they see you sewing, painting, or gardening, they’ll want to join in on the fun. If your kids show an interest in a creative activity, make sure they have time to learn.

Let Your Kids Make Mistakes

Creativity comes when kids experiment and try new things. If your kids know you won’t be mad when they make a mistake, they won’t worry about trying something new.

Praise your kids when they try something new, but don’t make them feel like they’re under surveillance. Creativity happens when there’s freedom to explore without interruption or interrogation.

There are tons of ways to encourage creativity; there are just a few listed here. You just need to plan ahead and do what works for you and your kids. We’d love to hear what helps your child be creative in the comments below.

3 Ways to Be a Terrific Role Model for Your Kids

November 16, 2016 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

As a mom, knowing that you have young eyes and ears watching and listening to you all of the time can be daunting. From toddlers who gleefully repeat the salty words you exclaimed when you stubbed your toe really hard to teens who may seem like they barely pay attention to you but are actually watching you with hawk-like intensity 24/7, being a great role model is not always easy.

Fortunately, it is not as difficult as you might think to set a great example, which in turn can help you raise well-adjusted kids who are polite, empathetic and kind to others. Here are a few ways you can do it.

Put the phone down

If your kids are constantly attached to their electronics, it might be hard to accept that they probably learned this behavior from you. Chances are, you have a smartphone and you are on it checking emails, texting and posting updates on social media pretty frequently. In order to pay more attention to the real world that is by your side, and be a good example to your kids in the process, make a conscious effort to reduce your phone time. Those texts to your BFF can probably wait until your little ones are in bed, and the small beings you share your house with need you more than your online buddies on Facebook. Of course, there will certainly be times that you have to keep your phone handy, like if your teen is out with friends or you are waiting for an important call from the family doctor or your boss. To make checking your messages as quick as possible, you might consider upgrading your phone to a model like the Samsung Galaxy S7 from T-Mobile; its cutting-edge technology allows you to view your messages quickly in an emergency and then get right back to hanging with your kids.

Listen when they talk to you

Yes, kids can sometimes chatter endlessly about a wide variety of topics, and there will be days when you would give your right arm for 10 minutes of blessed silence. However, being engaged and an active listener is essential to making sure that you maintain open communication with your kiddos. Recognize that your child wanting to talk to you is a great sign — they will probably grow up to be teens who still want to communicate with mom, which in this day and age is essential. In addition to simply listening to your kids, ask them regularly how things are going, and answer any questions they have about any topic as honestly as they can. As a bonus, parents who are great listeners and make an effort not to tune out their kids when they are talking will probably be rewarded with children who also listen to them.

Follow the rules you set for them

One of the best ways to be a great role model for your children is to follow the same rules you have established for them. If your seemingly mouthy tween or teen wonders why she should have to put her shoes away when yours are under the kitchen table, try to see past the attitude and realize that she may have a point. If you do not tolerate whining or yelling from your kids, refrain from doing the same when your favorite team loses or your spouse gets on your nerves. When your children see you following household rules and being kind and patient, they will be more inclined to do the same.

Parents and Homework

March 2, 2015 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

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I guess everyone has been to school and knows pretty well how hard is the path of studying. Therefore, the educational system of USA suggests that parents should help kids with their homework. So, Homework-desk.com decided to check out how parents manage to tackle their kids homework. It turns out that around 40% of parents deal with their kids homework. Others either are too busy for this or just don’t understand the materials their kids bring home with them. The most problematic subjects for parents turn out to be math and English.

There is evidence though that it is extremely good when parents are involved in their kids studying lives. In such families children are more successful at school and get more fun with the studying process.

There are various ways of how parents can help their kids with home assignments. Among them are 5 the most important: parents should help their kid to choose the right place for doing homework, as well as, the right time. They should help with preparing of all the necessary materials for studying and remove all the possible distractions. And the last but not the least – they should be engaged themselves, show interest, and be a vivid example.

Another point here to discuss if parents should help kids with studies at all. Is it more of a hindrance than a help? But the key aspect here is that everything should be done moderately. Parents shouldn’t do the whole homework, as can be seen in one out of six families. Small hints and the simple expression of interest will boost the kids’ motivation to study and develop. It is important to explain how important the knowledge gained at school is. It is a ground, a so-called platform, for the further deeds. Therefore, be a vivid example for your kid, be engaged, and everything will be just in order.