parenting tips

Back to School and Back to Germs

August 27, 2015 by amushro

Since it’s back to school time, you can bet it’s also back to germs time. I’m looking at you, kid that keeps coughing and refuses to cover his mouth, and you, kid that keeps picking his nose behind a book. You’re not fooling anyone! As those big yellow buses pull away from the bus stop and you realize you didn’t put your kid’s PB&J into his superhero lunch box and your hoping no one sees you are still wearing your PJs during preschool dropoff, let’s all send up a silent prayer that all those coughs, colds, sniffles, goopey eyes, and other strange illnesses stay far-far-far away from our kids.

Even though we will try and try very hard, someone is going to get sick in your house this school year. But it’s all cool because you’re a mom that knows what your family needs when they’re sick: a little rest, a lot Mom TLC, and if they need medicine to help them feel better, you’ll find the right ones. But let’s talk about putting those reading skills to good use when it comes to choosing and dosing medicines for your family. Reading the drug labels before you give medicine is something that my friends at Know Your OTCs knows all about. Even if this isn’t your first rodeo, here are the key things to remember:

Reading active ingredients- When you or your kids aren’t feeling well, you might feel tempted to grab several different medicines to help you knock out all of the symptoms, but be sure to read all of the active ingredients in each medicine. You might not realize it, but you might be taking or dosing too much of the same medicine. Taking a pain reliever and a cough and cold medicine at the same time may seem simple enough, but these medicines might have the same active ingredients so this means you have doubled the dose of medicine without realizing it. Double the dose could be harmful to you or your kids. This just means we need to read those medicine labels to make sure we know which active ingredients we’re dosing.

Uses – You know which OTC meds work well for your kids when they have fevers and which OTC meds can relieve your worst headaches, but we have to remember that most OTC meds only treat symptoms and do not cure illnesses. Also, make sure you are choosing OTC meds that only treat the symptoms your kids have. If they don’t have sinus pressure, you don’t need the medicine for sinus pressure, right?

Warnings– Keep it simple: Keep that medicine up and away from tiny hands. An easy way to remember all the dosing info is to set an alarm on your phone. And finally, if an OTC medicine gives a warning that is might make your child sleepy, just put it down and find another. We all love a good nap, or a napping child, but it’s best if that nap comes from some snuggles from mom and not an OTC.

Directions- Even if it’s a medicine you have used a million times, read those directions! Some medicines just aren’t made for your youngest patient. Cough and cold medications are labeled for children ages 4 and over. If you have questions, always call your doctor.
Other Information- To refrigerate or not refrigerate, that is the question. Check the labels for all this info!
Inactive Ingredients- Now that you are checking all the active ingredients, do a quick check of the inactive ingredients too (especially if your child has allergies).

If you are ever concerned that a child has gotten into an OTC medication accidentally, call poison control immediately: 1-800-222-1222

This post is sponsored by the CHPA educational foundation, KnowYourOTCs, but all opinions are my own.

6 Tips To Get Your Kids To Wear Sunscreen

May 19, 2015 by amushro

Today I’m sitting among suitcases, packing list, bathing suits, and sand and water toys and all I can think about are freckles. Since my kids are part fish, it’s quite convenient that we spend most of our summer at our family beach house. I watch my kids race into the waves for hours and they sequel with joy when the tide rolls in and swallows up their sandcastles, but all I can think about are freckles. You see, I’m a child of the 80’s and teenager of the 90’s. So that means in addition to awful hair choices and questionable styles in clothing, I shamelessly worshiped the sun, and now at the ripe old age of 35, I have the sun damage and the freckles, to prove it.

As a kid, sun protection for me was one bottle of sunscreen, only used while we were at the beach, applied only in the morning, and was probably used the next year and the year after that. There was no sunscreen when we rode our bikes or swam for hours and hours at our pool. As a teenager and in my early twenties, the tanning bed was my friend and constant companion between laying out with….wait for it…baby oil.

And now I have been entrusted with the precious skin of my children and friends, let me tell you, I take this job very seriously. Because their skin is just as fair as my own, I need to make sure their skin is protected and they’re not covered in freckles from years of being careless in the sun. But adding sunscreen to kids everyday can be a bit of a challenge because getting my kids to stand still long enough for me to actually apply the sunscreen is pretty ridiculous.

For beach, bike rides, pool time, playgrounds, and prolonged exposure to the sun, we need to be protected with sunscreen. Here are six ways to get your kids to actually wear sunscreen.

1. Sunscreen Train: Everyone needs sunscreen before we head out and everyone needs to get on the train! Create a line and let everyone apply sunscreen to each other. Just be sure you go back over the kids to make sure they have the correct coverage and enough sunscreen.

2. Connect the dots: Apply the sunscreen in a dot pattern on their arms and legs. Let your kids use their fingers to connect the dots while you apply to other body parts.

3. Set a Timer: Grab an egg timer or set a timer on your phone and have a race with your kids to see how fast you can apply sunscreen everywhere. Make sure you start with their feet and legs and work your way up since their faces tend to be where kids fight sunscreen the most!

4. Simon Says Sunscreen- Put some sunscreen in your child’s hands and play a quick game of Simon Says Sunscreen. Simon Says put sunscreen on your belly! Simon Says put sunscreen on your right leg! Of course, re-check for coverage when the game ends.

5. Apply before you go: Once you hit the outdoors, your chances of successfully adding sunscreen are dwindling. So apply before you leave the house!

6. Distraction: Come on, you’re good at this! A quick snack, a show on TV, maybe a few minutes on the beloved iPad. Sometimes our distractions aren’t pretty, but whatever it takes!

Here’s a really important tip: just applying sunscreen isn’t enough. There are quite a few things I learned from KnowYourOTCs.org about sunscreen and how and when we need to apply. Here’s what they say are the most important tips to remember about applying sunscreen:

Re-apply every 2 hours or more if your child has been in the water

Use sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum” — it means it protects against UVA and UVB radiation

Make sure you are using the right amount of sunscreen–think the size of a golf ball

For more summer survival tips, be sure to check out KnowYourOTCs.org

Now I know applying and reapplying sunscreen to younger kids can be difficult. Tell me what fun ways have you used to apply and reapply sunscreen on your kids?

This post was sponsored by KnowYourOTCs but all opinions and ideas are 100% my own

Visit Consumer Healthcare Products Association's profile on Pinterest.

The Today Show’s Parenting Team and my Life Hacks!

March 29, 2015 by amushro

*Hangs head in shame* Friends, I committed the cardinal sin of parenting: I bragged on social media about my “super healthy kids” and BOOM every freaking cold, cough, flu, and virus within 20 miles hit our house for MONTHS. Ugh, waiting for the health department to drop a bubble on this house any minute. Silver lining, the Today Show Show (yes the Today Show!!!) is featuring my Life Hacks for Keeping Your Sanity When Your Kids Are Sick! So please do me a solid and hop on over to read it and click the vote button. I promise I won’t cough on you! Click Right Here to read and vote!

Easing the Parenting Power Struggle with MomAssembly

July 31, 2014 by amushro

Here are a few things I know about my three-year-old daughter:

1. The type of day she will have can be judged by how crazy her hair is when she wakes up in the morning. For instance, if I see this mop, I know it’s going to be a rough day…for everyone:

2. She has been described as a “free spirit” in dance class (read: has no need for the dance teacher and makes up her own dances). And while she isn’t the best listener when she should be tap, tap, perching, she makes a tutu look good:

3. When it comes to standoffs with her, they are often epic, one sided, and hard fought. I’m talking full on, code red, hide yo’ wife, hide yo’ kids meltdowns. And even though I pull out my Mommy-bag-o’-tricks, she can break me by 9AM. And while I thought age two brought some interesting “quirks”, I was not fully prepared for the tantrums of a three year old.

Most days I can handle the tantrums, and I’ve learned what does and doesn’t work for her

Stern Mommy voice works.
Idle threats do not.
Bribary works sometimes but the spoils must be worth her while.
Negotiating is worthless
Tantrums are always worse when she is tired or we have to get out the door in hurry

Because we all want a happier house, I’m learning that the best offense is a good defense. So I’m looking for ways to make life in this house a little more peaceful.

There is no doubt in my mind it that it truly takes a village to raise a baby; however, I really think that village is for us as moms, not just our kids. So I’m so glad to have found MomAssembly and to have them as part of my village.

We’ve all been to tons of parenting websites, right? And I’m sure your searches were the same as mine: some good info, some bad info, some REALLY bad info, and lots information from people that have no idea what they’re talking about. However, at MomAssembly, I have access to over 70 hours of expert parenting videos taught by nationally-renowned experts. When I was checking out the videos on preschoolers, the newborn and infant videos covered so many topics like sleep solutions and feedings that would have been really helpful when I was a new mom. They even have videos just about our health and well being, because if no on takes care of mom, this ship is going down!

Because my house is a madhouse, I can watch videos on my computer, notebook, or my phone and can switch back and forth because the video player always starts where I left off, not matter what device I’m using. Don’t you just love when technology just makes your life easier?

When I saw a course called Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Children Without Bribes, Threats, and Negotiations or Meltdowns, I assumed they created this course just for me. Turns out, lots of moms are in the same boat. I LOVE the ideas I’ve learned in this course and already it’s making a difference in how we deal with tantrums. Here is a clip from part of the course:

The ladies behind MomAssembly have really created something special here, friends. Jill Spivack and Jennifer Waldburger have nearly two decades of experience as family and parent educators. They are the co-founders of Sleepy Planet Parenting in Los Angeles, where they offer guidance, support and community to help moms address the entire constellation of parenting interests, including everything from sleep, feeding, and child development to sibling issues, marriage and refining one’s individual parenting philosophy

So listen, mom, join this village and let MomAssembly help you. For only $7.99/month or $3.99/month the whole year, you’ll have over 500 classes and over 50 downloadable handouts & workbooks at your fingertips. And you can add up to 4 family members and caregivers to your account for free. Not sure you can commit? That’s cool, because both options come with a 7 day free trial. Most videos are under 10 minutes, so take that ten minutes to hide from the kids, maybe drink your reheated coffee and get some great tips for surviving this motherhood gig.

How about trying out MomAssembly for a month for FREE? My first ten readers who sign up will get a month trial for free.

Click here to sign up

*Please note that you actually have to sign up for a plan and enter your credit card – but the card will NOT be charged until the end of your free trial. You will receive an email from Jill or Jennifer notifying you that you are the winner!*

While I was compensated for this post BELIEVE me, I can use all the help I can get raising my kids and all opinions are my own!