Give Your Children A Taste Of Your Own Childhood!

05/25/2018 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

It might be worthwhile to give your children a taste of your own childhood! Not only is this a fun activity for the both of you, but it can help you bond and help them gain an understanding of your life at their age. The first step will be to remove all unnecessary devices on a weekend. This means planning in advance to go without phones, games consoles, laptops or any other form of electronic devices that swallows their time.

Now, children love these devices, meaning that this might be easier said than done. However, planning this in advance and ensuring a fun and long weekend of activities can help mitigate this a little. Next, consider the following:

Camping & Playing Outdoors

You might decide to embark upon an outdoor retreat, where you relax with your children, cook marshmallows on the fire, and tell spooky stories. You might simply do this in your backyard for ease of use, no need to head to the ends of the country to experience this unless you really need to. Then you might consider playing party games, having a party, or playing fun games like ‘army’ in the local woods. You might choose to buy a Spud Gun, the old classic weapon of children, and show them how it works. You might head on a nature trail, or play with a kite on the local beach, or build a treehouse with them out of planks of wood and nails. This can be an awesome thing to consider as long as you’re willing to put the effort in, but remember, it’s not exactly the safest thing you can construct for your child.

Movie Night

Why not have a movie night, spent watching the movies that were important to you as a child? You might even go all out and purchase a 4:3 boxed television and a VHS player to watch them in the quality you did as a child. Make your favorite childhood meal (and load up on the snacks and sweets,) and keep an indulgent evening relaxing with your children and experiencing something truly wonderful with them. After all, children know not what they have with the current movie effects they can see and take for granted, and the fact that Marvel’s cinematic universe is amazing and displays exactly what we had in our heads the whole time.

An Action Packed Day

What were the most important activities to you as a child? The ones that you truly enjoyed? Could it be bowling or go-karting? Paintball or fun outdoor sports? There’s more than likely going to be a center around you that offers this form of wonderful pursuit, and taking your children here can give you an incredible experience away from screens, maybe showing them the benefit of heading outside in the pursuit of sports or rough and tumble play.

With these tips, you are sure to give your children an excellent taste of your own childhood. Reminiscing has never felt so good.

Life

Ways To Relieve Back Pain At Home

05/22/2018 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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Back pain can be one of the most difficult types of pain to deal with on a day to day basis because we become tense and struggle to complete even normal daily tasks. If you have persistent back in which seems to plague you from day to day, there are plenty of things you can do to relieve it and allow yourself to stay healthy.

Chill it

The easiest thing you can do when you sustain an injury on your back is to put ice on it. In the first few days after a back injury, you need to think about touting some ice on the affected area for a while. Although you may think that heat is better for your back, it can actually make the area more inflamed in the first few days. Place ice on the area for about 20 minutes at a time to reduce inflammation and help you to heal the pain.

Get moving

Even though it might seem like the worst thing you can do when you have hurt your back, you need to keep it moving and stretch out your muscles as much as you can. In the first week after a back injury, you need to make sure that you try it move your muscles as much as you possibly can. Only do as much as is comfortable for you to avoid further injury, and this should help your back to heal quicker.

Keep your core strong

Your ab muscles are an important part of your overall health and fitness, and they play a vital role in the support of your back muscles during an injury. If you have hurt your back in any way, make sure that you still take the time to exercise your core with ab focused workouts. Some of the best exercises you do for your core without hurting your back are leg raises, flutter kicks and tabletop crunches. Keep your abs strong and your pain will be lessened.

Stay strong

Once your back pain starts to heal, you can prevent any injuries happening in the future by working on your back muscles and performing chest and back based exercises. Ideally, you will want to buy some 2 pound weights and use these to tone your shoulders and back and keep the muscles strong and resilient for the future.

Stretch

You can visit a Chirocare and Rehab center to help you stretch out any issues with your back, and once you have done this you can continue to stretch and strengthen your back to keep it healthy for the future. There are many ways you can stretch out your back to keep it healthier, and you can practice yoga for a couple of times a week for a stronger body overall. There are some yoga moves in particular which are great for your back such as downward dog, cobra, and warrior I.

Make your workspace comfortable

If you think that the cause of your back pain might be your workspace, you need to make some changes to ensure that it is completely comfortable. For example, one of the main things you can do is adjust the height of your computer monitor and ensure that you have a comfortable and supportive chair to work at. Keep a cushion with you just in case you ever need some extra back support. It is a good idea to make sure you have enough leg room underneath your desk too, to keep stress off your legs and lower back muscles.

Improve your posture

If you constantly slouch at your seat and slump when you stand, it can out a lot of unneeded pressure on your spine and it will often cause you to struggle with your back. To help with your posture you can practice standing tall when you walk and make sure to always sit upright when working. You can also practice a yoga pose called standing forward forward with interlaced hands which is incredibly good for your posture and can make you look taller. Slumping makes it harder for your back to support your weight. Be especially careful of your posture when lifting heavy objects. Never bend over from the waist. Instead, bend and straighten from the knees.

Wear better shoes

Sometimes the issue you face with your back can be down to the shoes you wear. If you often wear heels to work or out and about, try trading them in for shorter heels or flat shoes for a more comfortable walk. It will make a big difference to your back and allow you to walk around in comfort all day long.

Stop smoking

Smoking might seem like a completely unrelated issue when talking about back pain, but it can be a big contributing factor to your back and its strength. Smoking increases the risk of your getting osteoporosis which can lead to serious spinal and bone issues. If you can quit smoking you cut the risk of osteoporosis down by a huge amount.

Watch your weight

If you think about it, this next tip is just common sense. The more you weigh, the more weight you are putting onto your back. When you have fat building up around your body you are losing muscle strength, and this can lead to you being at a higher risk of back pain and issues later in life. If you can eat a balanced, healthy diet and exercise regularly it will make a difference in your life and allow you to be much healthier overall.

Buy pain reliever

Sometimes the easiest way you can deal with persistent back pain is by buying some over-the-counter medicines to relieve your pain. There are plenty of different medicines you can use for your back pain such as Advil, Aleve, Panadol and even Paracetamol. If you want a quick fix for your pain this is the most simple thing you can do. Take a trip to the chemist and ask for the best solution to your back pain if you aren’t sure what to choose.

Parenting

Getting To The Bottom Of Your Child’s Never-Ending Naughtiness

05/21/2018 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

When you go out with the kids, the chances are that you’d do anything not to be the parent with THAT child. You likely have nightmares of trips which end in temper tantrums and disapproving stares. Ahh, the joys of parenting. It’s enough to leave you wanting to lock the doors and never set foot outside again.

But, despite your best efforts, your child may start to misbehave in just the way you fear. As well as being a nightmare come true, this can cause a real strain on familial relationships. Obviously, you love your child without end. But, it can be pretty hard to like them when they’re throwing themselves on the floor and kicking your ankles. In front of everyone, no less.

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Behavior like this is clearly unacceptable. And, there’s no denying that you need to do what you can to let your child know that. But, if things have been this way for a while, and your punishments aren’t having an effect, it might be time to change your approach. For the most part, children who are acting out for no real reason do respond to punishment. Even if your efforts don’t have an effect the first few times, things will change over the course of a few weeks. Your child will soon know that the price they pay for misbehavior isn’t worth the thrill.

Unless this has been happening for months. That’s a sure sign something else is going on. Often, there’s an underlying cause for naughty behavior. And, as the parent, it’s your job to determine what that is. So, read on to find out how can you get to the bottom of that seemingly never-ending naughtiness.

Consider if a medical condition is to blame

More parents than ever now know about conditions like ADHD (attention deficit disorder). Studies have shown that at least 5% of American children between the ages of 4-17 have the condition. Though, the CDC considers that this number could be even higher. Either way, that’s a whole load of kids. And, as you’ll learn from sites like Parenting Pod, misbehavior is one of the first symptoms, with children suffering from ADHD unable to control their emotions from their early years. As well as making your child more liable to temper tantrums, ADHD can mean an inability to listen to instruction. And, that would explain why your child is failing to respond to your punishments.

And, ADHD isn’t the only medical condition worth attention. Anxiety is another leading cause for unruly children. After all, anxiety manifests in nervous energy. And, children with nervous energy often feel no way to release that feeling than to throw a screaming fit. Anxiety-induced naughtiness could also become prevalent in an attempt to seek reassurance. It may be that your child feels anxious when you’re focusing elsewhere, and thus throws a tantrum to detract your attention back on themselves.

Obviously, it’d be unfair to punish your child for any of the above issues. These are medical problems which need medical attention. And, it’s your responsibility to get it. So, take the time to do more research into these conditions and others like them. Then, book an appointment and speak things through with a doctor.

Is there an underlying cause?

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We’ve all heard about the bully who acts out because of a bad home life, right?. Well, the same could be true for your child. Not that they have a bad home life exactly, but that something at home is causing their misbehavior. If, for instance, you leave your child with a minder often, they may feel as though you don’t give them any attention. In an attempt to change that, they could get into the habit of playing up while you’re away so their minder has to call you back. This could also lead to misbehavior when you’re around in an attempt to get as much attention as they can. Equally, if you and your partner are arguing, they may misbehave to distract you both.

Or, it may be that the underlying cause isn’t at home at all. If children are being bullied, there’s also more chance of playing up at home. Their frustration about what’s happening at school could easily build and explode once they’re safe in the family unit. Even if bullying isn’t an issue, falling outs with friends can also cause this kind of behavior. And, again, with any of these issues, it wouldn’t be fair to punish your child. If you suspect something like this, take the time to talk to your child and get to the bottom of things. Then, set about either making changes at home, or speaking with their teacher. As soon as your child feels safe again, you may find that their behavior improves.

Is the fault with your reactions?

None of us likes to think that we’ve gone wrong somewhere on the parenting journey. But, if you react to each tantrum by giving your child what they want, you may need to look at yourself a little closer. We’ve all been there. Your child is screaming, parents are watching, and you want the ground to swallow you whole. On those days, it can seem so much easier to let them have the sweets already. You’re only human, and your days are hard enough as it is. But, if you give in to a tantrum even once, you’ll do untold damage. In no time, your child will associate bad behavior with positive reinforcement, rather than punishment. Even if you send them to their room when you get home, their tantrum served its purpose. Not to mention that this is giving crossed messages which are sure to lead to confusion about what’s acceptable. To make sure this doesn’t happen, always stick to your guns when it comes to bad behavior. Set in place reliable punishment methods, and stick with them no matter how embarrassed you get. Your child will soon learn that they can’t win you over by screaming.