‘Nashville’s Hayden Panettiere Opens up About Her PostPartum Depression

Posted on October 1, 2015

Nashville star Hayden Panetierre accepted the “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me” challenge and revealed a lot about her pregnancy and the fact she suffered from postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in December 2014.

From the list she posted inside an US Weekly piece, we now know:

She and her best friend had their babies 6 months apart, she gained 43 pounds during pregnancy, she delivered her daughter in Hawaii, and said daughter is in the 88 % for height already, probably because her dad world fighter champion Wladimir Klitschko is super tall.

The last item on her list of the 25 items: “I suffered a bit of postpartum depression. You’re not alone or crazy, ladies!”

The original Heroes alum opened up some more this week during a visit to Live with Kelly and Michael morning show. She revealed that she too had previous misconception about the condition:

“I can very much relate. It’s something a lot of women experience. When [you’re told] about postpartum depression you think it’s ‘I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child’ — I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do. But you don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone, and that it does heal.”

Postpartum depression is a condition that affects up to 80 percent of mothers in the US.

This ailment, sometimes called the “baby blues”, can vary from mild to severe depression and can last from weeks to months. Before you give birth, it is important to understand the warning signs of postpartum depression and know where to seek help if you suspect you have this condition. For most women, postpartum depression strikes within the first weeks after their baby is born.

The common symptoms are crying, mood swings, and a feeling of sadness. Some women experience decreased energy, a loss of interest in things they previously enjoyed, and sometimes trouble bonding with their new baby.

Postpartum depression usually fades away within weeks after the baby is born, but for some women it can last longer and be more severe than the simple “blues”. Women experiencing severe postpartum depression may feel irritable and irrational.

Some with extreme cases may even have thoughts and feelings of hurting themselves or their babies.

These are serious signs that need to be treated right away. If you suspect that you are suffering from postpartum depression the best thing you can do is seek your doctor immediately. She will have some suggestions for how to help cope with these feelings in the following weeks. Women suffering from severe depression may be given a prescription for an antidepressant medication that will help ease the symptoms.

If you are suffering from postpartum depression, remember that you are not alone. This common condition happens to most mothers shortly after birth. It is treatable and for most women it goes away easily within a few weeks. There is no reason to suffer in silence with this kind of depression. Talk to your doctor, seek help, and know that you are facing what millions of other mothers have also faced.

h/t I am not the babysitter

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Parenting

There is No Such Thing As ‘Having it All’ So Quit Asking Women About It

Posted on September 30, 2015

Salon writer Mary Elizabeth Williams wants people to stop asking working moms about “having it all” — and she wants women to stop answering

Let’s rewind a bit.

It all started with Facebook executive Margaret Gould Stewart‘s opinion piece in USA Today last Friday. In it, Stewart bemoans the obsession with the fertility of female executive, corporate figures and general managers in the workplace.

“When the venue is a tech conference, let’s talk about tech, for goodness sake. Making motherhood a required topic for women leaders minimizes their contributions to the industry…. It minimizes my expertise and accomplishments and those of my fellow women tech leaders.” she writes in the piece, suggesting one option for conference moderators. “As I see it, you have two choices: you can either ask everyone these questions about their private lives and their role as a parent, or you should ask no one.”

And the impetus for her column was witnessing a session at the Fortune Brainstorm conference when the interviewer on stage mentioned that the CEO of YouTube Susan Wojcicki, who was being interviewed, just had her fifth child. He then tells the audience to give her applause for that but didn’t ask them to give praise for her series of accomplishments he rattled off before talking about her children.

“The first four minutes of a 21-minute interview with the person some call the most influential woman in the industry was focused on parenting and pregnancy,” Stewart recalls.

She ends it with a series of pleas to PR people, Conference organizers and moderators to stick to the script, essentially, and not focus on the “work/life balance” so much for female execs in high ranking positions.

TV Producer and creator of wildly popular shows like Scandal Shonda Rhimes co-signed on Stewart’s article by retweeting it with the comment, “THIS!”

And seeing that, Williams was inspired to write her piece which says that there is no such a thing as having it all. In fact, that’s what she called it, “Stop asking working moms about “having it all” — and women, stop answering.”

She suggest that the question is really just a means of telling women that they shouldn’t strive for the pinnacles of success in the workplace.

“They’re supposed to come up short and serve as cautionary tales of what happens when women want things, especially things in addition to babies…” Williams wraps up the post.

Love it and couldn’t agree more. Check out her entire column Here!

I’m not in the corporate world, but I am an entrepreneur and run my own business and people ask me all the time “how do I do it.” And the answer always is because I love what I do, but as to having it all- Negative.

When you pour your all into your children, you cannot focus on your relationship with your spouse as much. When you are spending late nights at work or on travel constantly, then you miss important moments in your kid’s life.

I am a mess and as much as I give advice on how to keep it together, I am a far way from having all my ish together my darn self.

Scurrying out the house and in between meets and practices and games and school events and managing my media company and blogging and attending networking functions and events I cover when I’m freelancing and working on a few clients work, I find I’ve lost myself and don’t have time to enjoy each moment.

I show up late often and get overwhelmed with all the due dates and everything coming at me at once.

Thus, it is true that there is no such a thing as “having it all” but that shouldn’t stop women from doing what they want, striving to the highest achievement or taking a path less traveled…with or without kids.

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Parenting

8 Ways to Tame Your Kid’s Tech Obsession

Posted on September 29, 2015

Guest Post

by Michele Kambolis

Technology is changing childhood, with as many opinions on healthy usage as there are gadgets to distract us.

While technology holds possibilities and benefits, there are known drawbacks associated with over-usage. According to the latest release from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average 8 to 10 year old may be in front of a screen up to eight hours a day. Teens top the list as excessive tech users, with many dedicating up to 11 hours a day to texting and other screen activity. With technology use changing so rapidly, the old rules simply no longer fit the world we live in. Parents are left wondering whether a healthy balance exists. It is important to sit down and discuss tech usage with children and teens, and try to find the right balance.

1.Talk About a Healthy Media Diet

When children understand that what we feed our mind is equally important as what we feed our body, they become more mindful about what they are consuming. Talk to your child about what they are seeing, hearing, and doing. Ask, has this time on technology been helpful or meaningful in some way? What have they discovered or learned? Co-viewing programs and talking with your kids about the pros and cons, all the ways technology helps improve lives, or threatens your quality of life, can get them thinking about the kind of impact technology might be having.

2. Set Guidelines

Parents are all too aware of the need for technology guidelines. However, setting limits on something so pervasive in our homes can be easier said than done. The American Academy of Pediatrics has looked closely at the issue and recently set new standards; children under 2 should have little to no screen exposure, and children and teens should have no more than 2 entertainment hours of screen time per day. That’s a far cry from the current average. Just like any house rule, be specific and consistent with your expectations, including when, where and how they should be using it. Here’s the key: when a child understands why a rule is in place, they are far more accepting of the guideline. You’ll get further by saying, ‘I notice it’s time to power down so we can make room for family time’, rather than, ‘You need to turn off your computer now’. As they become better critical thinkers, kids come to understand their own limits, planning a healthy tech-life balance and making wise choices.

3. Safety First

The types of activities children engage in while using technology can range from creative and educational to downright destructive. Work with your child to educate them about responsible technology use, including acceptable and safe behaviours. And while you don’t need to spy on your child’s every move, it is important that children understand you are aware and monitoring their online safety. Get curios about what is happening on your child’s screen; children love to be regarded as experts, especially by their parents.

4. Disconnect to Connect

Disconnecting from technology gives children the kind of brain rest they need to synthesize information, become creative, explore and even connect with their sense of self. But it’s important to work together. Disconnecting should include parents too. Powering down all electronics at dinnertime, in the car, and when company is over is an easy standard for most. Even better, create technology free zones to promote play, creativity and connection. Crowding out screen time with other enjoyable activities sends the message that disconnecting is not a negative thing, but rather something to look forward to.

5. Quality over Quantity

Recent studies show that active technology and screen time can actually help develop key skills; hand-eye coordination, language skills, social skills, memory and critical thinking can all improve when quality tech programs are used in moderation. Balance out social media and computer games with eBooks and educational programming; have your child choose a program that offers educational value during the first half of tech time, then leave room for them to choose something with sheer entertainment value. Keep in mind, technology should be used to enhance our knowledge, not replace real-life experiences, so link programs with meaningful conversation.

6. Technology and the Brain

There is little yet known about the impact of technology on the brain, but we do know this: technology can improve visual-spatial ability, reaction time, increase focused-attention and the ability to identify details. On the flip side, playing violent video games or watching violent television is linked to lower brain activity in regions responsible for emotions and impulse control. Some studies show that more than four hours of screen time a day is connected to anxiety and depression, low levels of physical activity and social interaction. And lower levels of face-to-face connection means less of the kind of right-brain activity so critical to empathy development. The more technology a child engages in, the less room they have for key activities needed for brain development, like outdoor play, reading, hobbies, imaginative play and relationships.

7. The Sleep Solution

If you’re worried about the impact of technology use before bed, your instincts are well tuned. The blue light from most screens decreases melatonin levels, contributing to poor sleep and increased anxiety. Consider giving technology its own curfew, placing all gadgets on their chargers at the same time each night, and lay them to rest well away from bedrooms. As a guideline, cut out screen time at least one hour before bed. Your child will not only sleep better, they will live better.

8. Technology for Mindful Living

The most powerful tool we have for creating a healthy relationship with technology is our self-awareness. Internal cues tell us when we are distracted, disconnected or revved up from a computer game and when something on social media is making us feel ‘less than’ or inadequate. Ask what your child is aware of when they use technology; what thoughts enter their mind, what they are feeling, and what is happening in their body. You can even enlist technology itself; there are many apps that can aid in calming the mind, and clearing it of negative thoughts, creating mind-body balance. Smiling Mind, MindShift and The Thought Room all guide the user towards mindfulness skills and other tools for resiliency.

While our electronic universe has us working even harder to make sure our kids have everything they need, radical cultural shifts call in radical parenting attention. With small daily changes you really can create big results, cultivating a well balanced, tech aware, generation.

Michele Kambolis, family therapist and author of Generation Stressed: Play-Based Tools to Help Your Child Overcome Anxiety

Michele Kambolis (MA) is a registered Child and Family Therapist and Parent Educator and a Registered Clinical Counselor dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues. Kambolis writes a popular weekly parenting advice column, “Parent Traps” for The Vancouver Sun and Postmedia Network chain of newspapers and is the author of Generation Stressed: Play-Based Tools to Help Your Child Overcome Anxiety.

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Chelsea Clinton Shares Daughter’s Fave Book

Posted on September 29, 2015

Reprinted with permission from E! News

When it comes to family time, Chelsea Clinton always makes it a priority.

Whether it’s supporting mom Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail or helping Former President Bill Clinton with the Clinton Initiative Project, Chelsea likes to keep her loved ones close.

So it should come as no surprise that when the author and activist celebrated her daughter’s first birthday over the weekend, it was family that was at the center of the fun.

“It was great. We had lots of balloons,” she told E! News exclusively. “[Charlotte] loves balloons, lots of bubbles and lots of books.”

Bill added, “The whole thing was a hoot. Oh my gosh, she is unbelievable.”

On Saturday evening, Chelsea even shared a candid snapshot of some mommy-daughter time that included a special story before bed. It’s the simple, but oh-so-sweet moments that Chelsea cherishes every day.

“It was actually “Where Is the Green Sheep?,” which at the moment is one of her favorite books,” the proud mom explained. “She loves to read, which as a mom just makes me so happy.”

In between parenting duties, the author of “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!” continues to make time to support the Clinton Global Initiative. As the nonprofit celebrates its 10-year anniversary, E! News’ Maria Menounos couldn’t help but ask about some of the many accomplishments the foundation has made.

“One of the things I am most proud of is all the work the Haiti Action Network has done,” Chelsea explained. “We’re talking about the five million trees that have been planted, tens of thousands of women that have been educated, the 50 schools that now have solar energy.”

Bill added, “I believe the most important thing is we’ve changed the nature of philanthropy. For example, two years ago the Starkey Hearing Aid Foundation was giving out 50,000 hearing aids a year. This year, they are already over 200,000.”

And while the next few months may be extra busy for the Clintons—Decision 2016 anyone?—it certainly won’t stop the family from making a difference.

“I hope in the next 10 years the number of people that we’ve helped will be in the billions,” Bill shared.

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Parenting

Want to Know What Makes a Good Nanny? (INFOGRAPHIC)

Posted on September 29, 2015

Have you ever considered getting a nanny but wasn’t too sure what it entails or what traits make a good nanny?

Have a look at this curated graphic from Sleeping Angels that gets into the history of the nanny and nanny growth in the childcare industry and hopefully, you’ll have some of your questions answered.

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SRC’s Medical Grade Compression Leggings Supports, Eases leg & Back Pain (WIN A PAIR $199)

Posted on September 28, 2015

Here’s What Props To Use for Your Baby-Bump Photo Shoot

Posted on September 28, 2015

Pregnancy is a beautiful moment in a family. Many expectant mothers will document their growing belly bump in photos that capture the excitement and anticipation. These photos can be glamorous, fun, sweet or sentimental with the right setting and the perfect props. Here are some prop ideas that will help make your maternity photo shoot stand out from the rest.

Family

Use dad as a prop or secondary subject, for your maternity photos. While the main attraction is the mother’s growing belly, incorporation of the father will make these photos special as they will be your first family portraits. The excitement in the new dad’s face will add depth and emotion. Be careful with close-up shots of the dad’s hands on the belly — they may become confused for the mother’s and might look like she has masculine hands. If you have children, bring them into the photograph as well. You can have the siblings carry numbers, in the order they were born, with the largest number held in front of your baby bump. The more family members you incorporate the more exciting and personable your photos will feel.

Chalkboard

A chalkboard is a kitschy and cute way for the incorporation of any sayings or announcements. Many couples will write the due date on a chalkboard, the gender of the baby or a fun quote. There are many ideas for what you can write on your chalkboard maternity photo prop on Pinterest. Make sure the handwriting on the board looks clean and stylish, so poor handwriting doesn’t distract from the rest of the beautiful photo. If your handwriting doesn’t make the cut, enlist a crafty friend or email a local artist for help.

Letters

Utilize letters of all shapes and sizes that will create a one-letter word to your photo. Some couples have purchased alphabet blocks and spelled the gender or their baby or their baby’s name on top of the mother’s protruding baby bump. You could also purchase large letters and use the mother’s baby bump as a stand-in for the letter “O.” With large letters, the father and mother could hold them and spell out “BOY” or “LOVE”. Many of these props can be found at local craft stores or ordered online from craft stores like Jo-Ann and Michaels.

Flowers

For a more soft and elegant maternity photo shoot, use a simple white backdrop, some white sheets and roses. Create a breath-taking studio-style photo where your body is strategically covered in rose petals with an exposed baby bump. This look can be achieved lying on the ground, preferably a white floor or studio drop sheet, wearing a nude-color, strapless swimsuit. Have a friend or studio assistant scatter the petals over the swimsuit areas and around where you lay. For an extra glamorous element, have your hair and make up professionally done for the photo shoot.

Balloons

Balloons are a fantastic addition for your photo as they can enhance the overall composition. The shape of large, circular balloons matches that of your growing baby belly and adds artistry to the photo. Balloon color variations can also be used to brighten the color composition of the photograph or for the indication of the child’s gender. For example, blue balloons for a boy and pink colors for a girl.

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All National Parks are FREE Today

Posted on September 26, 2015

Today, admission is free to all National Parks!

And to celebrate the upcoming centennial of the National Park Service in 2016, the National Park Foundation (NPF) launched to its Find Your Park campaign to encourage everyone to get up, get out there and #FindYourPark.

You can check out all the ways for you and your family to participate in National Public Lands Day, in order to help preserve and protect our national parks, by clicking here.

When you’re out there, grab your camera and when share your favorite park with your family and friends on social media add the hashtag #FindYourPark.

Get inspired for fun outdoor activities and learn more info at FindYourPark.com.

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Arizona Family Claims Pope Francis Cured Their Baby’s Heart Problems

Posted on September 25, 2015

This week, many in America on the East Coast are scrambling about for a chance to see or touch the Pope Francis during the pontif’s first official visit to the United States as the head of the Catholic Church

And now Reuters is reporting that a family in Phoenix, Arizona believes the Pope cured their ill baby with multiple health problems.

“The Pope healed our baby’s heart,” Lynn Cassidy told the service, explaining how her then 3-month old daughter, Ave, got better right after meeting the Pope.

She called the incident “as close to a miracle as we’ll ever see, I’m sure.”

Ave has Down syndrome and was born with eye problems, hearing complications and two holes in her heart.

During an Easter of 2014 family trip to Rome to see Francis in person during the canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII, they got in a rope line for a chance to meet him.

“It was raining,” Cassidy said, she tells USA Today. “We were told that if we stood on a barricade in St. Peter’s Square, the metal fences in front, the Pope would come by in his ‘Pope’-mobile.”

They waited long before the motorcade turned into union square and Ave’s dad held her up in the air, reports say.

“It was like the Lion King,” Cassidy said of the encounter. “The secret service person, Johnny, stopped and took her from Scott and held her up to the Pope. The Pope asked my husband, ‘How old is she?

What’s her name?’ He told [the Pope] she has two holes in her heart. When we got home in May, we went back to the cardiologist for a check-up. One of the holes was completely closed and one was half the size.”

The family has a photo of the moment in their living room.

“I mean it’s possible that it closes just over time,” she said. “But when you see the picture that the professional photographer took, his hand is here and he’s a servant of God.”

After two eye surgeries, Ave now has two hearing aids, but her heart is healthy.

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Parenting

Here’s How to Connect to Your Child Using his Emotional Intelligence

Posted on September 22, 2015

We’ve all heard of educational games that improve children’s intelligence but with new research scientists are also stating that games can also improve their emotional intelligence.

Playing games with your child is great for them. Playing is the method by which most animals learn social and physical cues which help them reach their potential within the group. Humans are no different.

Our children also learn by playing and they can learn how to express their emotions through play.

Teaching your children that emotions are constructive and not destructive will help them on their journey to becoming well-rounded adults.

Hugging your child is one of the most clichéd ways to calm them down after they become upset or irate but you can use games to turn their mood around and save you embarrassment in a crowded shopping mall, for example. Ask for a hug by letting your child know you are running low on hugs. This action shifts up and distracts from whatever annoyance has led to a melt down. You can even tickle them and see if you can get them to give you a chuckle.

Mood altering games can help pick up a child who is sad. Here is an example of one: Start by each selecting a word that you say to your child commanding your kid to repeat after you in the same tone. Start out in a grumpy tone and then move up to a happy and cheery tone. In no time, your child will find herself repeating back in a similar way. As the game progresses start to say it in more of a happier way and they’ll follow, which will start to make your child feel happier as well.

Another great idea for a game we got from Bingosweets is to have some quiet time to recharge by sitting with an iPad or tablet and learning some interesting facts. This time taken away from physical games can help your child unwind calm after a run around and can even be used as some chill out time before bed. You can transform your nightly routine from tears and screaming to a relaxing trip to bed without any tantrums.

Implementing these strategies will help you better manage your child’s emotions for greatest positive impact.

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Parenting

Family

Chalkboard

Letters

Flowers

Balloons