The LuxMob Info Tags

School holidays offer a wonderful opportunity for mum and dad to get their little girls in the open air to indulge in fun, bonding exercises. Be sure to kit out your children in the correct attire when adventuring outdoors. Organic fabrics are very durable and wash well, making them the ideal selection for the summer months outings. Little girls are one of the highlights of any parent?s life on earth and therefore, you will want to benefit of each opportunity to participate with them in bonding exercises. The summer supplies a large chunk of time and wonderful weather in which to get outdoors and savour parent/child adventures with each other. Camping, park outings and times reserved for arts and crafts will all be welcome pastimes for your little girl through their school holidays. Camping. The great outdoors is most pleasurable when you can pitch a tent and extend your stay for an evening or two. Show your little girls to pick constellations out of the clear night sky, demonstrate to them how to fish in lakes and streams and instruct them on effectively navigating backcountry hiking trails. Camping offers an extended bonding experience amongst parents and their little girls, taking the family unit outside of the typical day-to-day routine and expanding the horizons of your children in the lazy, hazy days of summer season. Organic fibres breathe well in the heat of the sun and they are simple to wash when it comes to getting out the dirt from rustic camping settings. Parks. If you don’t have the time to get out of the city, numerous UK parks exist to offer young youngsters a place to run and play with their mothers and fathers and other children of the same age group. Massive slides, swings and monkey rings are just a few of the opportunities for play available at local parks. Furthermore, a lot of parks include grassy areas where you can sit and appreciate a picnic lunch with your kid. A full day of adventure at very little cost awaits you and your family at one of the a lot of parks in your town. Arts and Crafts. You do not need to go any further than the front garden to appreciate a day of arts and crafts in the sunlight. Whether it is making collages for the living room or melting down crayons to produce ?stained glass? art pieces to hang in the windows, arts and crafts are the ideal summer time pastime to bond mothers and fathers and their young girls. The greatest part of staging arts and crafts set ups in front of your home is that small breaks inside can be a part of the day; permitting for snacks, potty breaks, sleeps and clean up times. Make certain to kit out your little girls in the correct clothing while doing any of the above mentioned activities, so that you under no circumstances have to worry about undue wear and tear while out having fun. Organic materials are very recommended for the summer months outings, as these materials are both durable and easy to wash. Your little girls will enjoy increased freedom to ramble and roam in the outside when fitted with organic fabrics. Find more information about kitting your young lady out in organic girls clothing at Frugi

Safety regulations are obviously the paramount concern in getting a seat for your children, but the style variations aren’t just cosmetic, and you should be aware of what the exact effects of your choice are before it’s final.

To learn more, you are advised to take a gander at our reliable reliable source for where to buy toddler booster seats ideas

The safest infant safety seats, made by brands such as Safety 1st, Disney, to name but a few, are intended for babies up to twelve months or twenty pounds. Some seats are capable of being turned forward, however, most are purely designed to be used facing the rear - something to remember when buying. Every parent knows that getting your baby from the car into your house while they sleep almost inevitably leads to their stirring - that said, as these chairs often double up as baby carriers, the possibility of avoiding this improves.

These will fit your son from birth until they grow beyond car seats entirely, though these seats cost more than the alternatives. Reviews and parents are likely to warn you that chairs in these styles are less help carrying its user. Every chair is different, even inside their categories, and as a result of this reviews and review sites come into their own as they’ll highlight every feature of any given chair, meaning you can select the greatest seat on the market. Make your choice knowing that these reviews are unbiased pieces.

Larger children may depend on the booster seat while they weigh between around thirty to eighty pounds. At this age, your little ones have a part to play in picking out the seat - if you get them to test both major categories (divided by the method of keeping the child safe, using either the car’s inbuilt safety belt or a five-point harness design) and see which they find more comfortable. Toys are often an integral part of these seats, keeping your child quiet as you focus on the road.

Choosing the best car chairs can be a long process, with the need to balance the needs of your son against your wallet and lifestyle to reach your final decision. As a basic rule, the ratings available comprise the best guide you will find.

If you have ever witnessed a child playing with an imaginary friend you really should take a step back and think about what is going on. The mind is very neat, and when we are older we often get caught up in the things that we view as very important and forget about our imagination. If this happens to you it could go back to your childhood years and not having enough time in the imagination realm.

It is kind of strange when a kid is spending all day long with an invisible person. You might want to tell them that there is no one there, but you shouldn’t. This is a great time for your kid to work on their communication. They get to make up and communicate the way that they want too, and this is very healthy. It is a good idea to go along with it, maybe even ask if they would like an extra chair at the dinner table for them. You could even talk to their imaginary friend to let your kid know that you support them and believe in them.

Taking care of kids takes a lot of work and consistency. To keep up and do the best job that you are capable of, take care of yourself. The better that you take care of yourself then you will be able to perform at your peak. This means eating healthy, sleeping, exercising, you could use Acceletrim’s diet product to help keep y our energy levels up through this, and it also means healthy relationships. Kids watch what is going on around them and if you are doing great things with your time, then they will be more likely to find happiness and joy in this lifetime.

Media has the power to model personalities, to shape the way we see and understand the world and the immediate reality. As grown-ups we can easily choose what we want to hear, read or see; we can also choose what to believe. And it’s a lot to choose from: newspapers and magazines, music and radio, television and movies, Internet and much more. While we can control our actions, yet we cannot control the media, what we hear and see may not be good for our children especially for those under the age of six.

Media is everywhere, it is a normal part of life. Many families cannot conceive an existence without a TV, radio or newspapers. More and more people depend on the Internet to read the news, gather information and download music and movies, to have fun and to work. This is the world we choose to live in. Let’s ensure we make the right choices for our children.

Children can see in the media sexual and violence related images; can hear “bad” words and mimic improper poses. Statistic children watching TV tend to act aggressively. Recently even obesity is added to the list of the consequences and there’s no wonder since watching TV means less physical exercise. Besides, media, while emphasizing the importance of eating and living healthy, still advertises for junk food, alcohol and tobacco. Although there are many laws stipulating what type of programs and commercials are proper for kids, they are often ignored. Parents and child-care providers should make all efforts to protect kids from undesirable media.

As already stated, you cannot control the media. Yet you can control what infants and children under the age of six see and hear, at least when you are around. Here are a few “must take” actions:

Watch TV and movies with your kids and make sure these programs are suitable for their age; - Know the content of a TV program before allowing your children to watch it; - Listen to the music they listen to and make sure the lyrics are appropriate; - Do not allow your kids to surf the web alone! - Limit the TV watching time, not more than two hours of quality programs per day. Children under the age of 2 should not watch TV, unless it’s for educational purposes. Don’t let your kids just hang in front of a TV just because you do not have enough time to take care of them! - Do not let newspapers and magazines lay all over the place, especially if they have violent or sex related images and headlines.

School-aged kids are more exposed to the media than children under the age of six. In addition, friends might influence them. There’s not too much you can do, except talking and using modern technology on your TV and computer to prevent the children from seeing certain websites and programs. Yet none of these programs are infallible.

The best you can do is to honestly explain to your children what sex really is and how to prevent undesired consequences (pregnancy, disease), why alcohol and cigarettes are not healthy, how junk food interacts, sooner or later, with their metabolism.

And maybe you should approach the “everyone does it” topic from a unique point of view: “that’s exactly why you should not do it”. Make your kids understand uniqueness is special.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Parenting

Last week in my newsletter, I mentioned that my children knew how to behave in nice restaurants because they had been exposed to the atmosphere at an early age. My idea of well behaved might be different from yours, however, I think there are certain basics that are important and universal.

When my daughters were babies, we would take them wherever we went. If they began to fuss or cry, one of us would promptly remove them from the room/restaurant/market/wherever. Not because we felt their crying or fussing was a bad thing. No, it’s a perfectly normal occurrence for infants and toddlers. We removed them as a courtesy to others who we felt did not need to be as tolerant as we were with our children’s noise. In consequence, my daughters know that other people are not as wildly in love with their racket or with them as we are. Nor should they be expected to be.

As our children grew older, they were always told the rules of our outings, how to behave and to always speak softly if other adults were present. Sometimes, it’s fine to let them get a little crazy … just know your audience! If we are at a five star restaurant where many other diners have come to enjoy a gracious and expensive meal, would we expect everyone there to be enthralled with junior’s vocal or behavioral outbursts? Would we really expect them to care if our child is having a bout with walking pneumonia and coughing uncontrollably? Nope. It’s rude. And rudeness is basically nothing more than bad manners. If there is an emergency with your child, by all means don’t give a flying flamingo about what others think. But this is the exception. Besides, children who are that sick belong at home, not in public.

Last night, my girls and I were in a department store. There was a toddler carrying on and screaming for more than 15 minutes when my younger daughter said:

“Now his mommy is going to tell him to stop because there are other people in here that don’t want to hear it!”

Unfortunately, his mommy did not tell him any such thing. She let him wail and scream and cry, much to the chagrin and annoyance of everyone else in the store. You know what? As much as I love kids and cannot bear to see or hear them suffering, I disliked this kid immensely!

My reasoning is this: if our kids learn that they are free to trample on the peace, space or rose gardens of others, they will develop into spoiled and inconsiderate brats. And then who will like them? Who will want to spend time with them? Who, besides their forgiving parents, will be able to tolerate their lack of social graces and good manners? No one … except maybe another ill-mannered person who feels at home with a similarly clueless individual. Do we really want our children reduced to such horrible options? I think not.

We teach our children not to steal, lie or punch their brother in the nose. Shouldn’t we teach them respect for others at the same time? That their whining and out-of-control behavior is something no one really wants to hear or witness, especially strangers who have no vested interest in their developing minds or self-esteem?A simple reminder of the rules, consistently, works wonders … eventually.

Good luck. Kids need to learn manners and social graces. They will go farther in life if we teach them well.

Copyright - 2000-2004- Rexanne Mancini

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Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com - http://www.rexanne.com Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html

If your baby is suffering from eczema, you know how uncomfortable the itchy and dry skin can be, not to mention the sore spots. Since eczema usually goes hand in hand with sensitive skin, treating it can be a bit of a challenge. Thankfully there are quite a few home remedies for baby eczema you can try.

Moisturize
Keeping baby’s skin well moisturized should always be the first step in any eczema treatment. Use a natural aloe Vera lotion several times a day, especially after bathing baby. Reapply as often as need to keep baby’s skin from drying out. Avoid any harsh cleansers and make sure baby is getting plenty to drink to moisturize from the inside out as well. Incidentally breastfed babies experience fewer and milder episodes of eczema.

Oatmeal Bath
When baby’s skin gets very itchy, an oatmeal bath can be very soothing and help skin heal. Put two cups of oats in a food processor (or use a coffee grinder) and grind them into a powder. Add the oatmeal powder to a running bath of warm (not hot) water and stir well. Soak in the oatmeal bath for 15 minutes, rinse with clean water and dab the skin dry with a soft towel. When baby’s eczema breakouts are bad, it is safe to sooth them with an oatmeal bath twice daily.

Natural Skin Wash
As mentioned above, you want to avoid any harsh skin care for baby. The following natural skin wash is very gently and helps with the itch. Combine 1 tsp of comfrey root, 1 tsp of white oak bark, 1 tsp of slippery elm bark and two cups of water in a bowl. Mix well, and then pour it into a pot. Heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil, and then simmer for thirty minutes. Allow the mixture to cool, then strain out the solids and use the liquid like any face wash.

While this mixture may not completely clear up baby’s eczema, it is a natural, gentle and effective cleanser that will help reduce the itching and inflammation.

Healing Lotions
When eczema really flares up, you want to get baby’s skin healed back up as soon as possible. Healing lotions can help shorten the healing time and moisturize and protect your skin from future outbreaks at the same time.

Lotions to look for ate those made with blueberry leaves. Blueberry leaves are very good at relieving the inflammation of eczema and at improving the irritation that accompanies itching.

Zinc is another great ingredient. Apply zinc lotion directly on the affected area. Zinc can also be taken as a supplement in pills. Taking regularly, it can be an effective eczema treatment.

To help heal the skin, use a lotion containing vitamin E, or apply vitamin E oil directly on the affected area. It will quickly reduce itching and improve healing. Continue applying the vitamin E oil until the skin is healed.

This article is provided for information purposes only. Please consult your baby’s health care provider before trying home remedies.

Visit www.NaturalBabyWorld.com to learn more ways to care for your baby naturally. Then have a listen to the free internet talk radio show at www.NaturalMomsTalkRadio.

Fist time parents are in for the experience of a lifetime!

After surviving 9 months of pregnancy, a wardrobe of maternity clothes, baby showers, and decorating the nursery with care, you have gone through the exciting, heroic experiences of labor and delivery. You are ready to leave the hospital to begin your new life as first-time parents!

Handling the First-Time Parent Jitters

For many first-time parents, bringing a baby home from the hospital is an exciting experience mixed with apprehension. Silent questions such as “How will I know…,” “How will I cope…,” and “But, what if…” mingle with exuberant joy as you look down at the precious bundle sleeping in your arms. You’ve got the first-time parent jitters!

Not to worry! Siblings and friends with children, parents, and in-laws have been waiting for this moment, too. They will offer expert advice on feeding, diapering, and proper baby care. Books galore are also available, written by baby doctors and psychologists offering guidance on parenting, and the latest in child development research.

When it comes to reading material, be prudent about book selection. And, don’t be afraid to set down boundaries on visiting times for over-eager friends and relatives. While you can learn proper baby care from the expertise of others, you and your spouse also need time alone with your baby, to bond.

Bonding with Baby

More frequently than not, bonding with baby will include touch. This is important, because it is through touch your baby will come to know you.

Cradling your baby in your lap, and gently stroking him or her is the most basic form of bonding between baby and parent. Nestling the newborn at your neck is another bonding-touch that provides baby with a sense of security. Support the baby’s head and neck with one hand, and his or her bottom with the other.

Forget the old wives’ tale that holding a baby too much will spoil the child. Yes, it is true a baby should not be picked up each and every time they cry. As long as they have been adequately fed, are clean and dry, warm and comfortable, a baby does need to learn there are times when they should rest, or entertain themselves.

However, quiet moments alone with baby without distractions are necessary to form the emotional connection between parent and child, essential to a healthy attachment. An important bonding process noted by pediatricians in the late 1970s. This process has been proved vital for both parent and child.

Parents who form this type attachment with their newborn make better parents. They are better equipped and more willing to make the necessary sacrifices to care for their child; during infancy as well as through childhood.

Newborns provided the benefit of gentle contact and tender touch by parents feel loved and secure. This sense of well-being impacts both their emotional growth and physical development.

The Importance of Touch

The importance of touch - gentle, loving contact when holding your baby, cannot be emphasized enough. Rough handing and harsh jostling, especially with a newborn, can not only frighten your baby, but be life-threatening, as well.

Always be careful to support your newborn’s head and neck when you pick them up, or lay them down. If you need to wake up your newborn, do not startle them by jostling or shaking them. Instead, gently tickle their feet, softly blow on their cheek, or tenderly rub the side of their head while speaking softly and saying their name.

Relish time with your baby. Gently cradle him or her in your arms, and tenderly rub his or her back using slow, wide circles. Or, caress your baby soothingly as you rock them.

Talk in a low, comforting tone, or quietly sing to them. When eye contact is made smile, even if you are not sure whether or not their eyesight has developed enough yet to see clearly.

At Savvy Baby Gear.com we care about you and your child! That is why we offer the very best in baby-related items, as well as child development tools, and articles of interest for parents of young children.

While it is true the importance of proper baby care (bathing, adequate nutrition, a safe, clean environment, play and nap time, and comfortable, warm clothing) cannot be over emphasized, neither can the healthy-bonding process between parent and child and the importance of touch.

Both vital ingredients that say, “You are loved!”

Lori S. Anton
Savvy Baby Gear editor
Writers Write Now

Lori S. Anton has been a published writer for nearly 30 years. She is founder and editor of Writers Write Now, offering original professionally written SEO custom content, quick content, and free content for web sites. Visit Writers Write Now.

Lori is also editor for the Savvy Baby Gear web site at http://www.savvy-baby-gear.com, your one-stop shop for everything today’s parents of infants need: clothes, educational and fun toys and activities, care and safety products, clothing, nursery supplies, and educational aids for mom and dad. Visit Savvy Baby Gear - essentials for happy babies and parents.

Dealing with my troubled-teen is like trying to survive a hurricane!

No disrespect to the survivors and victims of Hurricane Katrina. My heart goes out to you, but right now, from where I’m sitting a hurricane is a very fitting metaphor to describe dealing with my adolescent daughter whose gone wild.

Just like a hurricane, my troubled-daughter’s poor decision-making flies in unexpectedly, yanking up the family foundation, and along with it, our hopes and dreams, sending her mother and I whirling about, caught up in her savage-winds.

Am I being a bit over-the-top?

Nope.

I’m sure any of you who are dealing with troubled teens can feel my pain. Those of you who might be in the eye of storm right now, trust me, you’re not alone. This bud’s for you. And to those of you who’ve never experienced life raising a troubled-teen; consider yourselves fortunate, very fortunate.

When I’m feeling more reasonable and less dramatically, I see my sweet daughter as a New Orleans resident without transportation. She’s engulfed in this raging hurricane inside herself. The hurricane is life threatening. The hurricane’s name is adolescence and it has a mind of its own.

I feel like Mayor Nagin.

I have limited power. I’m imperfect. I fear for my daughter’s safety, but honestly, I don’t have the resources to do everything I need to do to save her from this inner-hurricane. Where’s the federal assistance? Get FEMA on the line! Get the President, the National Guard; somebody! Buses? Who’s going to drive them? My wife and I are busy trying to fix the levee!

My mother is like all the knowledgeable-scientist’s who predicted the impending disaster. She saw it coming. She knew about the levee’s not being strong enough. She warned us. I can still see my mother shaking her head slowly as my wife chased after our sweet little princess who’d raced away on her tiny legs across the living room, hiding beneath a footstool with a remote control in her mouth full of slobber and toddler cooties.

“Come here Jazza Wazza….give it to mommy”
“No, mine”
“Jazza Wazza Snazza Pazzza, let mommy have it”
“No, mine. Mine, mine,…… mine”

Isn’t she cute?

That’s when my mother made that face. You parents know the face I’m talking about. The face of despair sprinkled with a touch of I told you so? It’s a scary face, but being a new parent you’re too dumb to grasp the full meaning of the face. If I’d known the truth behind my mother’s sullen face I would’ve grabbed my wife and ran away from home leaving that cute-pie toddler/future troubled-teen right there.

“You’re going to have your hands full Tim! She’s going to be a tough one”.

This is where I hold my mother partly responsible. A hand full isn’t a strong enough term to describe a parent attempting to employ damage control in a troubled-teens life. A hand full sounds like a slight irritation. Holding it only requires two hands which aren’t that hard to do because, I actually have two hands.
Now, if my mother had said :

“You’re going to be in for the fight of your lives!”

…then I would have listened.

I wonder how the scientist reported the problems with the levee. Did they speak in obscure scientist mumbo-jumbo academia speak? You know,

“…based on the longitude minus the latitude times the photosynthesis of the gravitational pull of the torrential winds collectively impacting the nougat density of the steel coupling coupled with the fragmentation of the incendiary Lake Pontchartrain downpours, and isolated occurrences converted into kilometers and miles per hour taking in account for the airborne reconnaissance, high-resolution ground-surface geophysics…you’ll have your hands full”.

After hearing that synopsis it’s possible Mayor Nagin thought like my wife and I,

“oh is that all? A handful isn’t too much to deal with. We’ll be fine”.

If the scientist and my mother were a bit more “obvious” with their diagnosis, I’m sure at least in my case, different actions would’ve been taken.

Imagine the scientist saying this:

“Almost Everyone and Almost Everything that’s in this Section of New Orleans will be GONE!!”

Short, yet highly effective. Who could ignore that type of warning?

That’s what I’d call a forecast. And just like the Mayor, or the Governor of New Orleans, My wife and I did the best we could; we crossed our fingers.

So much for finger crossing.

Our daughter is now in therapy. She has a mentor, a family therapist and a personal therapist. Last year she missed 50 days of school, this year so far she’s missed about 15.

“Well at least she’s making progress….” says the therapist.

Unbelievable, but in our world of dealing with a child who skipped 50 days last year and only 15 this year, this is actually considered progress.

“Oh, she’s not a bad kid. She just makes very bad decisions”, at least that’s what her therapist says.

When I was a teenager you were either bad or good. The good kids went to school, didn’t smoke or drink and made their curfews most of the time. The bad kids cut school, smoked cigarettes, drank cheap liquor, hung-out with other bad kids, and were eventually kicked out of the house until they learned to play by the rules. Today you can’t just kick your kids out. You must send them to therapy where they can sit around and blame you for their actions. These troubled-teenagers have it good don’t they?

Therapy?

A belt and no dinner was my therapy.

This brings me to another new concept: Troubled-Teen. What exactly is a troubled-teen? How about we make up a new term, call it troubled parents. Come on people, who’s really in trouble, the parent or the teenager? I’d say the parents, because we’re the ones who are stuck dealing with the troublesome-teen. Troublesome-teens will throw your entire family into a swirling, whirling hurricane of frustration and then cry themselves to sleep as if they’re the victim.

Luckily for us, we’ve taken actions to help our daughter deal with her personal Katrina or adolescence. This is adolescence and no one said it would be easy. As with most teenagers, the biggest obstacle is controlling her associations. The friends your child spends time with are usually the main source of the problem. No one likes doing bad things alone. In one session I recall my daughter saying to the therapist:

“I wish my parents were more like Sonya’s parents”
“Why”
“Sonya’s parents let her smoke and drink as long as she doesn’t do it in the house, that’s why!”
“You do understand that a parent who lets a child drink and smoke drugs doesn’t care about that child?”
“….I guess.”

Needless to say we’ve taken steps to eliminate Sonya from our daughter’s life. I don’t blame Sonya. I blame her parents, not for having a troubled-teenager, but for giving up.

Life with a troubled-teen travels quickly from “Peaceful” to “Chaos” to “Rebuilding” and then back to “Peaceful” again. Currently, we’re in the rebuilding stage. Trust has been all but destroyed. My wife and I are doing the right things, at least that’s what the mentor and therapists say. Most importantly, we haven’t given up on our daughter. There are tiny moments where our cutie-pie princess appears from within this trouble-causing teenager. The tiny signs of life from the daughter we used to know magically replenishes us with the extra incentive we need to muddle through the setbacks and frustration.

I love my troubled-teen. I want her to enjoy a bright-future. I want her to persevere through her adolescent years and go on to accomplish many great things, but in the end, her survival is her decision. With eyes of tears today she says she regrets skipping her English classes to visit the mall with friends. She says she wants to have a promising future. I guess I’m a pushover, because I still believe in her. What choice do I have? Giving up on our little jazza-wazza doesn’t seem like an option we can live with. As her parents we’ll helplessly wait until her dreams and her actions coincide, and in the interim, we’ll continue to drop supplies and keep a helicopter running on stand-by.

Timothy Crawford is an inspirational association event speaker who tailors his programs specifically for his audiences. Find out more about this creative, engaging inspirational - motivational speaker at his official website.(http://www.timothycrawford.com)

We’re having a baby!!! More often than not, that is the usual tone that people have when they’ve found out that their having a baby, specially the mothers. But with the joy that comes from welcoming a new life into this earth also comes the harsh realities that a woman must face during pregnancy. Behind the excitement of baby showers and picking names and wondering what the gender of the baby would be, there are the hardships that a woman must go through before she can experience the joys of motherhood. Such hardships include gaining weight, thus feeling fat and ugly, having morning sickness, and being irritable, just to name a few.

One of the less popular pains that pregnant women experience is edema. Well, actually no, it is not unpopular. It’s just that few people recognize the word. Edema is simply a medical term for the swelling that pregnant women experience usually in their feet, ankles, and legs. A simple explanation would be that as the baby grows inside the womb of a woman, more pressure is exerted in her pelvic veins and the vein that receives blood from her lower extremities, called the vena cava. As a result, circulation is somewhat impeded and blood pools in the leg area. Fluids are then forced into the feet and ankles, and the accumulation of which results to edema, or what is more commonly known as swelling. Sometimes, excess water retention that happens during pregnancy contributes even more to the swelling.

Edema usually occurs during the third trimester of pregnancy when the baby is big enough to exert enough pressure to actually slow down circulation. And although edema is not really a threatening disease or a cause to worry, it could bring a lot of discomfort to the already difficult situation that a pregnant woman is in. Thankfully, there are things you can do to somehow relieve the stress brought about by edema. Here are some tips:

As much as possible, keep your feet and legs in an elevated position. You can put it up in a chair, table, or whatever furniture/thing possible.

Always stretch your legs especially during prolonged sitting and while you’re at it, also try rotating your ankles and wiggling your toes.

Forget fashion and go for comfort, at least for the meantime. Wear comfortable shoes, big enough for the swelling in your feet and ankles.

Drink lots and lots of water!

Even if you’re pregnant, still do some light exercise regularly as much as your pregnancy can permit you.

Try to eat a balanced and nutritious diet and avoid sodium and salt, instead focus on the proteins.

As I said, edema is quite normal during pregnancies and it should not cause too much worry. However, you should also make sure that the symptoms you’re experiencing indicate that it is indeed edema and not something more complicated. If swelling occurs in your hands and face in a sudden manner, immediately consult your doctor as this may indicate preeclampsia, a disorder that also occurs during pregnancy but much more serious. Also, if swelling is not the same for both feet, it may be a symptom of a vascular problem and a doctor must be consulted as well.

Once you’re sure that it is edema, then there’s really no need to worry. Just follow the tips that were written above for the few months that you will be having edema. It should help a lot in improving how you feel during this time, plus you can always look ahead to the time when you would feel that all these pains and discomforts are nothing. That is the time when you get to bring into this world a beautiful being, someone that is special and someone that is your own, and everything you’ve experienced would just be worth it!

Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR’S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

Abstract: This fun science experience integrates writing, math, and science in a four-stage process. Students work in teams of two or three learners using peer interaction and writing to understand the concept.

Keywords: freshwater, saltwater, groundwater, water distribution, water conservation, water supply, glacier water consumption, direct water consumption

Lesson Plan Grade Level: fifth through ninth grade

Total Time Required for Lesson: 60 minutes

To the Teacher: This activity is a simulation of earth’s water distribution. Students will see the amount of fresh water compared to saltwater. This activity should follow a background lesson on water conservation or water supply and distribution for your local area.

Four-Stage Process:

1- Background Activity- completed prior to doing the activity

2- PreLab: questions to answer before doing the activity

3- InLab: completing the activity

4- PostLab: writing a lab report to promote scientific reasoning

Suggested Links for background activities:
The Groundwater Foundation Kids Corner.
http://www.groundwater.org/kc/kc.html

NASA earth observatory, “The Water Cycle.”
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/

USGS, “The water cycle: Water storage in ice and snow.”
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycleice.html

Sustainable Forestry, “Earth Water Distribution and Water Consumption.”
http://sftrc.cas.psu.edu/LessonPlans/Water/earthWater.html

United Nations Environmental Programme, “Freshwater issues.”
http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Issues/Freshwater.asp#index

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Water Distribution Activity

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Stage One: Background

Background Concepts:
Water is the only known substance that exists naturally as a solid, liquid and gas on the earth’s surface. Almost 97% of the earth’s water is too salty to drink. Most of the fresh water is in glaciers and ice caps. Less than 1% of the earth’s water is available for our use. We must conserve the water available to us.

Ground water flows underground through the soil and rocks. Ground water supplies wells and springs.

Surface water is above ground in lakes, swamps, rivers and ground ice.

EARTH’S WATER

Saltwater:
Oceans, seas, and bays 96.5%
Freshwater: 3.5%
Icecaps, glaciers and permanent snow 1.74%
Ground water 1.7 0%
Lakes 0.013%
Swamp water and rivers 0.001%
Soil moisture and atmosphere 0.002%
Ground Ice 0.022%
Other 0.022%

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Stage Two: PreLab
Answer questions before completing the activity

1. Carefully read the directions for the activity. Read everything. Don’t just skim it.

2. Write at least one question you have about the activity.

3. Brainstorm everything that you know about water distribution. Write as much as you can. Don’t be concerned about spelling or editing.

4. What is the overall purpose of the activity? Write one sentence describing how what you are being asked to do today will help you learn about water distribution. What will completing this activity teach you about water supply and distribution?

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Stage Three: InLab
Complete during the activity

Materials:
1000 mL beaker
100 mL graduated cylinder
6 small jars
Food coloring
Eyedropper
Seven 3 X 5 cards

Procedure: Check off each step after you complete it.

____ 1. Fill the 1000 mL beaker with tap water. The full beaker represents all of earth’s water.

____ 2. Pour 35 mL of water from the beaker into the 100 mL graduated cylinder. The 35 mL represents all of earth’s fresh water. The 965 mL left in the beaker represents the saltwater in the oceans.

____ 3. Add a few drops of food coloring to both beakers. Make saltwater and fresh water different colors.

____ 4. Divide the 35 mL of fresh water by pouring it into the smaller jars.

____A. Pour 174 mL into the first jar. This represents the fresh water in glaciers and icecaps.

____B. Pour 170 mL into the second jar to represent groundwater.

____C. Pour 13 mL into the third jar to represent water in lakes.

____D. Place 1 drops into the fourth jar to represent water in rivers and swamps.

____E. Place 2 drops into the fifth jar to represent the water in the atmosphere and soil.

____F. Pour 22 mL into the sixth jar to represent ground ice.

____ 5. Label a 3 x 5 card with:
A. glaciers and icecaps
B. underground
C. lakes
D. rivers and swamps
E. atmosphere and soil
F. ground ice
G. saltwater

____ 6. Place each 3 x 5 card you made in front of the jar or beaker it goes with. Draw a picture of your jars and beaker under observations.

____ 7. Use your results to answer these questions.

1. Where is most of earth’s water?

2. Where is most of earth’s fresh water?

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Stage Four: PostLab
Write a lab report
You will begin by describing in writing the materials and methods you used and then your results. You will write a summarizing paragraph.

Section One
Materials and Methods: Describing the procedure

Write one paragraph describing the procedure you followed during this activity. Make sure to use enough detail about your materials and methods that someone else could repeat your procedure.

Hint: Refer to your PreLab, this handout, background materials, the textbook and any notes you took during the activity.

Section Two

Results: Making sense of your data for yourself and others

Step 1: Review all the data from your experiment. Summarize the main finding of the activity in one sentence.

Step 2: Conclusions
Answer the questions in complete sentences.
1. Should cities near the ocean use the water from the ocean for household and industry? Explain your answer.

2. Should saltwater be treated to remove the salt and then used as fresh water?

3. Is water in icecaps and glaciers accessible to humans? Why or why not?

4. How can we conserve our fresh water?

Section Three
Discussion: Interpreting the results

Step 1: Write a one-sentence statement of your conclusion(s) about the results.

Step 2: Write a paragraph stating how the data from your activity should influence future decisions about water conservation, use and supply?

Note: This activity incorporates the premise of the college LabWrite program developed by North Carolina State University: http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/

I am a freelance writer and editor who gave up a career as a successful middle school teacher to write full time. I started the Storm of Thought Writing Center and am currently working on a thriller novel, several short stories and a children’s novel. My publications include Dana Literary Society, and Thunder Sandwich. My articles about teaching, curricular materials and presentations have appeared in educational magazines such as Science Scope.

To learn more about my writing or the Storm of Thought Writing Center, visit http://www.trinaallen.com or http://spaces.msn.com/members/stormofthought/