Health
Mental and physical health are both important components to wellness and whole body health. Better health is a goal to work towards over the course of a lifetime. This section of Thrifty Mommas Tips explores issues such as child poverty, infertility and disability. With a heavy focus on women's and children's health issues, you will find content about rare eye disease, infertility and invisible brain injuries. Health care advocacy is also discussed in this section. Learn how to advocate effectively for your child or parent within the health care and education systems. Caregiving is exhausting and rewarding work. I have several tools for supporting your child at camp, home, school and in after school activities. There's nothing simple about achieving or maintaining wellness. But knowledge is the key to making smart choices. Knowledge aids in building better health for you and your family. As a child diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel disorder, Crohn's disease, I have over 30 years of experience navigating systems and experts. All of that experience comes into play here as I share how I have learned to live with a chronic illness and chronic pain. In this health section of Thrifty Mommas Tips, there is heavy concentration of topics like anxiety disorder, Crohn's disease, infertility, in vitro fertilization and FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder also crops up from time to time. Use this section to increase your knowledge and arm yourself with tools to feel better and live with intention.
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103 Plus Books to Increase Brain Power Now!
These days, it’s hard to keep our brains active, much less increase brain power. I mean I feel like I am constantly stressed out here while parenting and working through the pandemic and cannot focus long enough on any one task to make it through without stumbling. This Increase Your Brain Power Post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. I make a small commission via qualifying links. Recently, I started using an app to focus hard in the mornings on exercise and learning. I need to keep my brain active and stimulated to be healthy and well. So, I also started looking for books that can increase brain…
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Online Prescription Refill Makes Managing Family Health Easier
This online prescription refill post has been sponsored by The Health Depot. I received compensation and my opinion is truthful. Prescriptions are the bane of my existence. Let me explain. Everyone here is on at least one prescription. My kids have anxiety disorder and FASD and ADHD and I have Crohn’s disease. I make no effort to hide our health care struggles and challenges. In fact, I talk about them often, because I know we are not alone and other parents need to know they are also not alone. Recently, I found a solution to a BIG health care pain point. Easy Solutions Give Me Time Back The Health Depot…
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Six of the Best ADHD Books for Parents
ADHD books for Parents can come in handy, especially at the start of your journey when trying to gather resources and facts. Parenting a child with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) can be extremely challenging. Impulsivity, distractibility, attention, focus and even explosivity are all symptoms that can be genuinely hard to manage and live with on a daily basis. As a parent of two girls who are opposites with these symptoms – one hyperactive and one inattentive, I often need to remind myself to find my calm side and approach parenting from that starting point. This ADHD Books for Parents post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. I…
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Free Online Fitness Classes To Try While Stuck at Home
My friends and family members know I am all about the fitness classes. I structure every work day around the gym. Before the Pandemic, I worked out a minimum of five days a week at the YMCA. Suddenly, I was hunting for online fitness classes to fill the gap. My morning and lunchtime workouts at the YMCA are necessary for me to maintain flexibility, strength, energy and balance. I have Crohn’s Disease and my joints tend to get very sore and stiff unless I move frequently. So, for me movement isn’t optional. When the Coronavirus started was distant news seemingly contained in Wuhan Province, I was working out. We were…
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Inspirational TED Talks for Teens
Inspirational TED Talks can be great for anyone, but teenagers, in particular can really benefit from these 18-minute or less talks that can cover almost any topic. Teen years are hard slogging and watching them struggle sometimes as parents is so challenging. If you can remember your teen years, you’ll probably easily recall the angst and fear and general uncertainty. Right now, that angst and anxiety is running even higher for most because of the pandemic. That’s where inspirational TED Talks come in. Inspirational TED Talks to Ease the Teen Years From zits and breakups to proms and makeups, the teen years are arguably some of the hardest anyone will…
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Mental Health Resources To Access Right Now
It’s no secret here to most of you that I have children with mental health diagnoses. One of my biggest concerns at the start of this pandemic was my older girl’s anxiety disorder and my younger girl’s aggression, which is a result of her FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.) Both teens do therapy on a regular basis and the youngest was in crisis for most of 2019. She might have turned a corner on that just recently due to therapy she’s finally been able to access. But jeopardizing any progress also was a concern for me. Keep These Mental Health Resources for Reference Now Staying on top of mental health…
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Best Inspirational Mental Health Quotes
I read a story this morning about a skier’s wife who committed suicide in 2016. That story reminded me again how fragile mental health is. I know too well how hard it is to secure mental health supports and help for young people who need treatment. In fact, I just wrote a CBC Parents piece about that precise issue and the unbearable weight of being waitlisted. But there has to be something that sometimes gives us the strength and the ability to get through the wait. Right? It’s completely undoable otherwise. What Can You Do to Get Through the Hard Days? So, what is the thing that gets you through?…
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Top 13 Sensory Toys for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder
This sensory toys post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. Purchases made via qualifying links mean a small commission for me. What do you give to kids who are anxious about a lot of things, whose brains seem to amplify sensations and noises? Good sensory toys can help them function and manage sensory input. My daughter has sensory processing disorder. I have written about that here a few times. Years ago I wrote about our journey to get a sensory processing disorder diagnosis for Today’s Parent magazine. These recommendations are based on what we have found that works. Sensory processing disorder is a condition that interferes with how…
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The Year of Clarity and Positivity
What are your plans and goals this year? Lately, my daughters and some of my friends have been talking about plans for 2020, the year of clarity. 2020 vision equals clarity. Get it? I really like that metaphor for the new year and the new decade. Perhaps, this decade will be one of clarity. One daughter has a goal to drink more water and frankly that’s clearly a goal I am all about. I think that’s a great ongoing goal for me, but I am already doing well there, so it’s not really my resolution. That same daughter, who has anxiety disorder, has a goal to be less hard on…
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10 Ways to Prevent Osteoporosis Now!
How to Prevent Osteoporosis post may contain affiliate links as a service to readers. According to the American Orthopaedic Association, more than 30 million Americans have a pronounced risk for developing osteoporosis, or low bone density. So, learning how to prevent osteoporosis should be top of mind for many people. Although women over the age of 65 are more likely to develop osteoporosis, this serious health problem affects men as well, and impacts nearly 10 million adults in the United States. In Canada, those statistics are also high. Two million Canadians are affected by osteoporosis. An estimated 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will suffer an osteoporotic…