Spending time with a Grandchild

It can be rewarding  to spend  time with your grandparents or your grandchildren.   With the thrill of Christmas in the air, everyone is of good cheer.    You don’t really have to do anything special with them,  just sit, visit (talk and or listen).  It is fun to reminisce  about the old days, you can even take a few notes, for future generations.  Doing so can help create family traditions that will last for generations.

 Having children spend time with grandparents can teach children positive attitudes toward aging and help them develop skills to enhance their own lifelong learning. 

 If you want  some  suggestions  here are a few: 

·         Going to see the lights

·         Going to a play

·         Decorating the house and wrapping presents

·         Playing games or puzzles

·         Going shopping

·         Make Christmas presents

·         Make Christmas cookies

·         Make snow angles

·         Watch a movie

At this Christmas time, take the time to  get to know each other and bond. This will help to create deep loving relationships.  There is something special about the bond between a grandparent and a grandchild; it has the special interaction on a level that is once removed from the day-to-day life of home.

Thanksgiving

November 22nd is Thanksgiving, a day to be with friends, family, and to give thanks for all that has been given to us.   While celebrating with friends and family this year, take advantage of the time together to share health information and update your family health history.

Health histories are the keys to understanding your family’s unique genetic make-up and your individual disease and health risks. An up-to-date family history can help you prevent diseases and/or detect diseases such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

This information will help your doctor screen more carefully for the diseases that you are at risk for and will help you reduce your health risks.

For help creating a family health history, go to https://familyhistory.hhs.gov, and use the “My Family Health Portrait,” a tool on the Surgeon General’s family health history website.

November 14 is World Diabetes Day

 November is Diabetes awareness month and World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14^th.    WDD was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to the growing threat diabetes is now posing.

WDD is striving to help save and improve the lives of millions of people on the 14^th of November. With education to the public of what diabetes is, the risk factors and specific lifestyle recommendations.

Nearly 50 percent of diabetics do not know that they are diabetic.  It is the leading cause of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation.

Here are some early warning signs of diabetes:

·         Infections that are more frequent and/or heal slowly

·         Fatigue

·         Hunger

·         Increased thirst

·         Increased urination

·         Pain or numbness in the feet or hands

·         Blurred vision

·         Weight loss

So let us all be more aware of diabetes and help protect our future and the future of our loved ones!

Decluttering for the Fall Challenge

 Simplify your  life by ridding it of unneeded clutter, and donate to charity at the same time. Following are some suggestions:

·         Set something aside every day.

·          Get a big box or bag. Set it somewhere out of sight .

·          Get the kids involved.  Ask them to go through their toys and decide on what they really love and what they would like to donate to good will.

·         Don't multitask. Doing so is usually counter-productive as it causes you to feel stressed out which limits your efficiency. Remember we're trying to simplify life, by decluttering!

Some good places to start are the kitchen and your closets. Go through the kitchen, and, if an appliance doesn't work or it is just taking up space (like that bread maker that you got as a gift and haven’t used for 5 years), get rid of it. Go through your closet, and, if you are keeping something that maybe someday you might wear again, get rid of it!  Go through the kids' closet. If they have out grown something and you are waiting for maybe some one to grow into it, get rid of it. Go through the coat closet and take out all of those old coats that you either don't like or they don't fit. 

By the end of the Fall Challenge you will have  things to take to charity, and your house will be decluttered and simplified.