The Robo Pope

Any parent with two babies who are close to each other in age will know just how frustratingly difficult it can be to take a proper family outing whether it be a day out, trip to the park or shopping.

If you have a single baby buggy you will probably have had to trade off carrying one child and letting the other ride in the buggy. Especially difficult when you are shopping. If this is your situation, or if you have a youngster and are expecting another soon you should definitely look into up grading your single to a twin pushchair.

Luckily for parents there are more and more solutions to this problem coming onto the market every day. If you are thinking about getting a double pushchair now is a very good time to buy one. Just a trip to the park can be much more fun for the parents and the children alike. The extra storage space underneath the twin pushchairs can hold picnics, nappy sacks and toys for the little ones. There are even jogger friendly models for parents who like to take the opportunity to exercise while they take their young ones out.

If you’ve ever taken your kids to an amusement park with a single push chair, you know how difficult it can be to decide which child gets to ride and which has to walk. The youngest might be happy to ride but the oldest might get tired walking or simply decide they want a ride too. Also while you’re juggling your children you’re also having to deal with your bags, lunches, and all of the other things that you need to carry along to a park when you have children. Shopping can be a total nightmare with one child running around grabbing things off the shelves or knocking stacks over. You can make them hold your hand but with pushing the buggy you won’t have a hand free to collect any shopping. By using a double baby buggy you can solve all of these problems, by having places for both children to ride, and storing all of your belongings on the buggy itself.

These double travel systems are stylish and affordable. They are practical, yet full of safety features that can set any parents mind at ease. Many of the newer systems offer great features like being collapsible. You can unfold them when you need them and break them down for easy stowage in your boot when they aren’t in use. Also by using online shopping outlets you can find a double baby buggy that’s extremely affordable as well.

No matter what you’re going to be doing with your two children, we’ve seen how having a double baby buggy can really help make your family outings far more fun and enjoyable. Please consider purchasing one of these systems for you and your children. You will find some great examples and reviews at Buggy Pushchair

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One of the most everyday causes for being prescribed eyeglasses is shortsightedness

shortsightedness is another word for myopia. So a shortsighted person sees best when seeing up close, alternatively when looking into the distance - struggles to focus. Nobody really understands why one person becomes shortsighted, there is likely to be a combination of gene troubles and environmental factors.

The degree to which one is shortsighted depends on the powers of the cornea and the lens of the eye and the length of the eyeball. In a normal eye the incoming visual images meet on the retina in the back of the eye. If these visual images converge in front of the retina instead of on the retina, then one is myopic.

shortsightedness does decreases in later life. This appears not to be related to a decrease in close work as is often intimated but rather due to some ingredient intrinsically related to ageing. It has been hypothecated the power of the lens of the eye alters in later life.

About 1 in 4 Americans are nearsighted.

Using a variety of techniques, trained ophthalmic opticians can assess whether or not a child is able to focus clearly. They use play, retinoscopy and refraction to help them do this carefully.

To work out how badly nearsighted you are and the specific nature of your shortsightedness, more tests will need to be conducted. This will help to determine the type of eye spectacles that you will need. The optician will assess visual acuity, visual movements and the ability to focus on nearby targets. They may need to dilate the pupil to see if there are any rare or alarming complications.

There are many children who will be falsely assessed to be nearsighted, due to the fact that of their natural tendency to over focus. To counter this, a trained eye pratitioner will often elect to dilate the pupils with some eye drops to prevent the child’s lenses from over correcting.

specs will be needed to correct your shortsightedness. For children under the age of 4, glasses may not be needed though. .

For learning to take place at school, it is vital that they can focus on far away objects. So, if your child has myopia, make sure that they have their eyes formally assessed every 6 months or so to ensure that they have the correction spectacles that they require.

The eyeglasses are then usually worn full time, except for children with difficulty with convergence (esophoria), who may remove their specs for close work.

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Some children don’t like having bowel movements, perhaps because they have felt pain before, and now resist going. This resistance can cause constipation as the faeces become hard and compacted, making bowel movements even more painful.

Here are some questions you can ask to determine whether your child is constipated or not.

• have they had a bowel movement in the past few days?

• have they had less than their normal amount of bowel movements this week?

• were their stools hard and dry?

• was it painful for them to pass?

• do they have stomach cramps or a distended stomach?

• are they complaining of being nauseous?

• are they losing weight?

• have they been vomiting for no apparent reason?

• are their underpants regularly soiled with claylike or liquid faeces?

If you have answered yes to several of the above then you’ll know you need to take action and help your child. You can’t make your child have a bowel movement so what can you do?

Get your child to drink more fluids, preferably water.

• If they are severely constipated and over nine months of age then some prune juice mixed with water should sort them out overnight.

• Make sure their diet is high in fibre - try giving them some dried fruit or grapes and reduce the amount of dairy they have.

• Reduce their sugar intake

• Licorice can have a laxative effect and is a better option than medication which should only be given with your physician’s approval.

• Make sure they are getting enough exercise - it may be reflection of a sluggish metabolism.

• Encourage them to go as soon as they feel the need.

• If they just don’t like it then talk about the importance of having regular bowel movements and how everyone does it.

• Encourage your child to sit on the potty for ten minutes an hour or so after each meal to see if you can encourage some regularity.

• Make sure your child can rest their feet on a stool or the floor so that they feel stable and balanced and can easily push.

• Try to make having a bowel movement more pleasant for your child by encouraging them to read a book or listen to music while they sit.

If the constipation doesn’t go away then it is best to see your family doctor for advice as it may be indicative of something more serious.

Find more information on how to handle potty training road blocks and what other potty training sites won’t tell you, visit Potty Training. There you will find the advice and resources you need to succeed with potty training in the long term. For more parenting information visit Jill’s Parenting Help blog.

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Creating and selecting ecards or greeting cards is an art. Ecards are used for different occasions. To wish Mother on Mother’s Day, to wish Birthday to a dear person or to convey Good Luck. Similarly ecards are designed for Father’s Day also. Both mother and Father are parents, but the ecards are very different for both. Why and How? Let us examine.

For most of the children, mother is always closer. The child looks at mother’s face and feels her body most during the infant days. That makes the child recognize mother as a protector and provider. During the early days of growth, children don’t interact with father more. It is only after they grow up a little that fathers get more interested and involved with children. During the initial infancy, most of the fathers don’t play with their children much as they don’t know what the child wants and how to communicate.

As child grows, father becomes a major figure. Father takes the child outdoors, teaches him/her fishing, plays with them and is always there to guide and protect with the physical activities of the child. Mother is still very much involved as a provider of comfort and food. Children rush to their mother when hurt during the early growth. As they grow more, both father and mother come to occupy equal space in the child’s mind. And as a child grows to an adult, he/she develops own personality.

The ecards for Mother and father are supposed to depict these differences in words and designs. The ecards for mothers are soft in color and talk more of love and affection. The ecards for father are manlier and the language is designed to convey more of what father taught and how he guided. Both father and mother are important for a child’s growth and both play different roles. These are clearly seen in the ecards for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

CDMohatta writes text for mothers day ecards, articles on relationship and also fun & quizzes on family.

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Q. I need your help with a question about my teen-age daughter. Getting her ears pierced was no big deal, but then she wanted to get a belly button ring and a tongue ring. We let her get the belly button one but not the tongue one.

Just the other night, we walked into her room and she was scratching on her leg with a pair of scissors. She was drawing a little blood, but she says it’s no big deal and no different from getting her belly button pierced and that her best friend does it, too.

This does not sound right, but I don’t want to overreact. Is it the same? Also, does this mean she is suicidal, and should I tell her friend’s parents about what is going on?

A. I applaud you for going with your instincts and not buying the con that cutting yourself with scissors is just like a navel ring and everyone else is doing it.

It’s not the same, and everyone else is not doing it.

Getting your ears, navel, tongue, lips, nose, etc., pierced for a ring, while it may look strange, is called self decorating.

What you caught your daughter doing is called self-harming.

From bobby socks to nose rings, teen-agers always have and always will decorate themselves. What scares some parents is that kids are running out of new ways to decorate themselves in ways that are shocking.

Body piercings and tattoos are the rage now. Each family needs to decide what is acceptable in the home.

I know some families that have made getting a navel ring a family event. I’m not necessarily recommending this across the board, but it seemed to work for them.

Cutting yourself is one of the most common forms of self-harm. Other common forms of self-harm include burning with lighters or matches, pulling out body hairs and picking at sores.

Signs and symptoms of self-harming behaviors include:

=>Finding sharp instruments (knives, razor blades, box cutters, even glass) hidden in their room, car or elsewhere.

=>Finding linens and clothes with blood stains, and the explanations don’t make sense.

=>Unexplained hair loss, bald patches.

=>Cut and/or burn marks on legs and arms, which are the most typical places, though they can show up anywhere.

=>Frequent isolation in bedroom, bathroom or elsewhere.

=>Lots and lots of bracelets on the wrists, that NEVER come off in front of you

Self-harming goes way beyond self-decorating. It is hurting yourself to relieve emotional pain.

It’s paradoxical, but self-harming is an attempt to deal with pain. The emotional logic goes something like this: “If I’m hurting physically, then maybe my feelings won’t hurt so much.”

There is a certain release and relief from the bad feelings that are experienced by the person self-harming. Those feelings are followed by guilt about what has been done. This sets up a vicious cycle of doing it again to stop feeling bad, guilt, etc.

A key question is: What is the person feeling that hurts so bad?

I urge parents to not take this stuff lightly and treat it like the serious problem that it is.

People who cut themselves or cause other physical harm to relieve emotional pain need help. I suggest you schedule an appointment with both your family physician and a family therapist who has experience treating these kind of problems.

You also asked if this could mean your daughter is suicidal. It’s a crucial question, yet difficult to answer on the little I know.

According to the latest consumer update from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy “self-harming adolescents are rarely suicidal.”

Yet, I urge parents to take anything that even looks a little bit like suicidal thinking or behavior very seriously; there is no margin for error.

Finally, many parents who discover negative information about other children struggle with whether they should notify their parents.

My rule of thumb is: If it were your child, would you want to know?

Of course you would.

Notifying other parents will not make you popular with your daughter, but there are more important issues here. It also can be intimidating. Some words you might want to use are: “Listen, Mr./Mrs. Smith. I’ve come across some information about your daughter that, if she were my child, I would want to know.”

Leading parenting expert Jeff Herring is a teen and family therapist, parenting coach, speaker and syndicated parenting and relationship columnist. Jeff invites you to visit ParentingYourTeenager.com for 100’s of tips and tools for parenting through the teenage years. You can also subscribe to his f’ree weekly internet newsletter “ParenitngYourTeenager.”

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If you are pregnant, there are things you should know about pregnancy and tanning booths. Tanning beds safety while pregnant has become very questionable. A better choice might be to use the sunless tanning spray booth equipment to keep your golden tan.

Initially it was believed that the use of a tanning bed after the first trimester was okay. During the first trimester the concern was about overheating yourself and the baby. However, in the past few years health officials are taking a harder stance and are encouraging pregnant women to not use the tanning bed at all.

You’re pregnant, feeling a little less attractive than you normally would. Well you shouldn’t! Pregnant women look beautiful with a glow that cannot be achieved any other way.

However, if you are a little down and missing that sun-kissed skin of previous years, the safest tan you can achieve is from a bottle or a booth. The ingredients in self tanners are harmless to you and your baby. So you can get that golden tan without worrying about hurting your baby.

Not only are sunless tanners safe, they’ve come a long way in the past few years. No more orange skin or weird uneven finishes. You can choose from spray, lotions, or mousse. Apply evenly and within a few hours you’ll be golden gorgeous!

Although there is no conclusive evidence that a tanning bed will harm your baby, there is plenty of proof that it’s harmful to you. So if its harmful to you it only makes sense it could be harmful to your baby. So error on the side of caution and don’t do anything to harm your baby.

Tanning beds have been directly linked to skin cancer. So if you can increase your risk of skin cancer, doctors are becoming concerned that you may also increase your baby’s risk.

One very big concern with direct implications to your baby is “heat”. Lying in a tanning bed raises your body temperature. The increase in body temperature can be hazardous, even deadly to your baby. Studies have shown the first trimester to be the period of highest risk. However, many doctors believe that risk continues throughout the pregnancy.

Having a temperature above 102 degrees F during pregnancy has been associated with spinal malformations on developing babies. Your body temperature in a tanning bed always exceeds 102 degrees F. So why would you want to take the chance of causing a serious birth defect to your baby?

There are also concerns that lying on your back too long can restrict blood to your heart and thus to your baby. When this happens, you’ll know because you’ll become light headed. Restricting blood to your baby can have serious consequences.

Finally, pregnant woman with sensitive skin are more prone to chloasma. Chloasma are those dark skin splotches that appear on the face and arms during pregnancy. Perhaps not dangerous to the baby but certainly not attractive and that’s what this tanning thing is all about right? Looking better.

From the moment you found out you were pregnant, the health of your baby became your biggest concern. You stopped socially drink, if you were a smoker you quit smoking. You started eating healthier and exercising regularly. You started taking better care of yourself for both of you.

So why would you risk the unknown, just to have a tan. Yes I admit a tan does make you feel good about yourself. There’s something about deeply tanned skin that makes one feel attractive. But you can get that beautiful tan right from a bottle or from a spray tan booth. The sunless tanning has been shown to have no bad effects to your baby. So you can have the best of both worlds.

You can have that wonderful glow that pregnancy brings to a woman and you can have that tan you so desire. Take good care of yourself and your baby!

M.D. Stracener from Home Tanning Beds has been serving customers for over 20 years, providing valuable information to keep you beautiful and healthy. Please visit us at Home Tanning Beds

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