4 mins read

Ease the Stress of Dealing with Aging Parents

There comes a time in all of our lives when the roles reverse. Suddenly, we are no longer the child and the parenting skills weve so carefully honed with our own kids now need to be turned towards our aging parents. It can be one of the most emotionally trying times of your life, especially if you dont know how your parents feel about certain issues. Unfortunately, too many people wait until it is too late to sit down and have a discussion to learn their parents’ needs and wishes. Dont wait for an emergency just because you feel uncomfortable discussing topics like finances, wills and funerals. Nobody ever wants to watch their parents age, but if you have everything buttoned up ahead of time, it can ease some of the stress.

4 mins read

Dealing With Breast and Nipple Soreness When Breastfeeding

A highly rewarding experience with many health benefits for your child, breastfeeding may also come with its own set of problems for mothers, including breast and nipple soreness. Nipple pain is generally caused by nipple trauma such as cracks, abrasions, blanching, vasospasm (blood vessel constriction) and milk blisters. The baby’s latch traumatizes the nipple, causing painful injury or a blockage of pores and preventing the flow of milk. Breast pain problems include engorgement, plugged ducts, mastitis and thrush. Engorgement occurs when the breasts get very full and hard and sensitive. A plugged duct, in which the flow of breast milk gets blocked, may feel like a hard, tender area on one of your breasts. Plugged ducts are often a precursor to mastitis, which occurs when an infection leads to an inflammation of the breast. Mastitis can be very painful and is usually accompanied by a fever of 101.3 degrees F. According to Maureen Minchin in “Breastfeeding Matters,” mastitis occurs in 1/5 of breastfeeding women in the West. But, there are ways to relieve each of these problems, so that you can continue feeding and bonding with your baby.

3 mins read

The Effects of Academic Parental Pressure on Kids

As a parent, there are few pleasures greater than your child succeeding at school. However, if you put too much academic parental pressure on kids to do well, it can backfire severely and end up affecting them negatively in a number of different ways. Albert Einstein once said, "Education is what remains after one has…

6 mins read

Autism and the In-Between Parenting

Autism and the In-Between Parenting What is the In-Between Parenting? It’s a term I made up for the following situation. I have an eighteen-year-old with autism. He’s about to graduate high school and attend a local community college in the fall. We do not have a conservatorship with him. What is a conservatorship? It is…