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Family Files 2015

Distracted Dining? Steer clear of it!

A new University of Illinois study reveals that distracted dining may be as dangerous to your health as distracted driving is to your safety on the highway. "Being distracted during meals puts kids at added risk for obesity and increased consumption of unhealthy foods. In this study, we found that...
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Returning to the Nest

Mom and Dad, can I come back home for a while until I'm back on my feet again? or, "I really don't want to leave home until I save enough money to buy my own place."  Sound familiar?  This is a common living situation for many families, as more and more adult children are returning or remaining in...
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Live your bucket list

If I asked, "what's on your bucket list?" most people would know what I mean. If not, a bucket list is a list of things that you want to try, experience or accomplish in your lifetime. There are many benefits to creating and working on your own bucket list. A few benefits of...
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Choosy Eating: Just Relax, It's Probably Normal!

What's your greatest worry about your toddler's eating?  Not trying new foods?  Only wanting to eat certain foods over and over again (the "food jag")?  Refusing to eat entire groups of foods such as vegetables?  All of these behaviors by your toddler are very common and normal (although EXTREMELY...
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Making the Grade

School has been in full-swing for a while and…ready or not…the report cards will be coming home soon! Do you remember how nervous you were? Did you run home and joyfully hand it to your parents or did you want to feed it to the neighbor's dog? The anxiety caused by a piece of paper can be...
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Caregivers Need Care Too!

November is national Caregiver Awareness month.  Most of us are aware of someone who takes care of a friend or loved one.  If so, then this person may be in need of a "lift."  The October/November 2015 edition of AARP The Magazine lists 100 ways to do an act of kindness for a caregiver.  Some...
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Making the most of our time together on the road

How do you and your family spend time in the car? Does it matter whether you are driving across town or driving somewhere for a vacation or weekend road trip? Should it? American's spend a lot of time in the car. Looking at national statistics it is a little shocking at first. On average a person...
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Caregivers Experience Difficult Emotions

Many families are faced with the care of multiple generations. There are 43.5 million people in the U.S. providing care for someone aged 50 and older. Caregiving is often done with little understanding of the emotional strain it has on relationships. Caregivers may say they are managing okay, but...
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Get Into the Act: The Value of Volunteerism

  "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill The value of volunteerism for older adults is two-fold. First is the value to society.  According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (which oversees AmeriCorps and SeniorCorp) 20.7...
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Lack of Motivation - Are the Three P's to Blame?

Many years ago, when I was a lot younger, I was told by several seniors that life seems to go by faster as you get older. I didn't understand what they meant at the time, but as I get older, I know exactly what they were talking about! They would also tell me that as you age, your body wants to...
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Brain Awareness: Why You Need a Good Night's Sleep

To continue this month's highlighting of Brain Awareness week (March 16-22), this week's topic is on the benefits of slumber. Sleep affects both mental and physical health. According to Dr. Merrill Miller, a sleep expert and neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Sleep services...
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Early Years Are Learning Years

April 12th - 18th is the National Week of the Young Child, sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  The Week of the Young Child is a time to recognize the importance of early learning and early literacy.Each weekday during the Week of the Young Child has a...
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Stress–Less and Your Brain Will Thank You!

When you think of the word stress you can probably easily identify the areas of stress in your daily life - from balancing your family and work, to dealing with finances, to handling family and relationship issues – daily stress is all around us! It is also likely that you can effortlessly identify...
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Kids Toy Storage

Can you relate to the picture above?  If so, read on.  If not - if your house is a clutter free zone, then maybe you should be writing this instead of me!!Besides reducing clutter, adequate storage space for toys makes the job of clean-up easier for you and your child.  Some ideas:Hang Them...
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Stress–Less and Your Brain Will Thank You!

When you think of the word stress you can probably easily identify the areas of stress in your daily life - from balancing your family and work, to dealing with finances, to handling family and relationship issues – daily stress is all around us! It is also likely that you can effortlessly identify...
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March 16-22 is Brain Awareness Week

When someone asks you to think about health, wellness and fitness, you usually think about physical health, exercise or nutrition. As people age, they often concentrate on improving and maintaining their physical health, when they should also be working on their cognitive or brain health. Since...
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Back to School Routines – It’s not too early to start

Summertime for kids usually means fewer routines, later nights and sleeping in more, compared to during the school year. However, there are signs everywhere to show us that school is just around the corner. It is evident by the store ads, the school supplies that are spilling out in to the middle...
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November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month

November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Caregiver Month. After working in the field of aging for sixteen years, I have found that this is a topic no one wants to learn about until it affects them. Here are some facts about Alzheimer's disease: In...
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Toddlers Exploring the World

Today's blog entry is taken from the award winning Extension series, Your Young Child. When your child is between 1 and 3 years old, she will probably be interested in everything and everyone, especially if it's new or different.  She will want to be part of whatever you do.  She will try...
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Sharing Stories

"I remember when I was your age I would…" We all have stories to tell. We are the authors of our own life stories. The longer we live the more stories we accumulate! There was a time when story sharing by elders served as a community building function. It was a way for younger people to learn about...
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