Stay Healthy this Flu Season

It is flu season again and at work people are dropping like flies!

Who you ask is getting ill well it is parents and grandparents of young children.  

How as a grandparents  and parents can we not pick up, kiss and cuddle an ill child?  

Yes, we then have to suffer the consequences!

What do the expert say we should do to keep the winter flu bug at bay?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers us three basic steps:

Get your flu vaccine as soon as they are available. 

 Click here for the CDC website

Did you get a flu vaccine this winter? 

The CDC website provides a list of why you should answer yes.

Take everyday preventative actions to stop the spread of germs.  

Click here for the CDC document on everyday prevention

Last year we got the flu from kissing our ill granddaughter.  At the time it seemed like the right thing to do but in hindsight we missed an important teachable moment.  We could have offered her physical comfort and taught her that when we are ill we do not kiss other people.  

Take Flu antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them.  

Click here for the CDC document on antiviral drugs

Grandparents we are joining the high risk category and with flu viruses becoming stronger and stronger these are lessons worth teaching and learning from.

When our grandchildren are ill, if possible, ask their parents to keep them home. 

We can call them on the phone or Skype with them to provide comfort and support.

If you have to provide direct care, which many of do, talk your ill grandchild about the reason you are washing your hands, or using alcohol wipes and in a loving way tell them up front that there will be no kissing and why.

Grandma Snyder

Note: I am not a doctor or an expert on flu please visit the CDC website and vet all medical advice through your physician.

Graphics without a source are from http://thegraphicsfairy.com/

©2013-2016 Twosnydergirls

Bike helmets for a safe summer

“We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate.”
― Brigham Young 

Have you ever observed a family out biking together the children are outfitted with bike helmets while Mom and Dad ride without?  They are looking after their children’s well-being while taking chances with their own. 

And a few weeks ago Grandpa Snyder was in the process of setting out with our grandchildren without his helmet.

 A wise woman once told me that parents should look after their needs first because who else will look after the children and this wisdom is replicated when you board a plane with a child.  Here you are told to put on your life jacket or place your oxygen mask on before you looking after your child.

We want our (grand)children to be safe and happy and they want us to be the same.

Keep yourself and your children safe while out enjoying exercise and fresh air together wear your helmet too.

I am not an authority on how to safely wear a bike helmet so I have included two link from institutions that are.  The first is to a link to the Ontario government's young cyclist PDF booklet.

And to Sick Children Hospital page on keeping our (grand)children safe this summer.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Keeping Children Safe on the Internet

Part one Computers and Tablets

There have been big news stories in the last year about children who have committed suicide because of internet bullying. What are some of the things we can do to keep our grandchildren safe while they use the internet?

Keeping our children safe takes two forms: teaching or instructing children on how to use the internet and being genuinely interested in your child’s use of the internet.

Microsoft’s web page Teach kids online security basics starts by discussing the need to teach children to keep their passwords private – private even from their friends but not their parents.     

 

Click here to visit Protecting your kids with Family Safety

Microsoft also provides information on how to store passwords, and provides information on how internet predators attempt to get passwords and other personal information.  This information is important to anyone who is new to the internet - as a grandparent I learned great deal.

All of the authorities on internet safety recommend that parents establish rules around internet usage and as a grandparent you need to establish the rules for your house:

1)    When children can be online – all sites encourage parents to ensure that their children do not use the internet after parents have gone to bed as this is often when predators seek out their victims this may mean parents/grandparents keep cell phones overnight.

2)  All internet usage happen in public areas in the home.  This is hard in the smartphone age!

3)   Never provide personal information 

4)  Never  arrange to meet with someone they met on the internet

5)   Communicate on social networks with only people they know off the internet

6)  Rules around what websites can be visited. Set age limits for joining social networking sets. Parents have passwords to such sites, depending on age of the child? These rules will reflect individual family values and child vulnerabilities.

 

Source

The National Centre For Missing &Exploited Children provides parents and grandparents with topics and questions that we can ask children about their internet usage without scaring them.

1)    Ask your child about the sites that they visit, what they find interesting about the site and then spend some time letting them show you around these site.

2)  Ask them about the social networking sites that they visit, who they are speaking with.  

3)   Be interested in what your child is interested in.

I would also like to direct you to the website In the Heart of my Home and their article on Screen Rules this article is well worth your time to read.

In the Heart of my Home: Screen Rules

 In part two on internet safety we will look at smart phones. 

I am not an expert on internet safety please visit the two websites provided, and keep your children safe on the internet.

 Teach kids online security basics

and

Basic Internet Safety

 Grandma Snyder

Microsoft. (2014). Teach kids online security basics. Retrieved from Microsoft Safety & Security Center: http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/childsafety-internet.aspx

National Centre For Missing & Exploited Children. (2014). Basic Internet Safety. Retrieved from National Centre For Missing & Exploited Children: http://www.netsmartz.org/internetsafety

© 2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Winter Flu

Stay Healthy this Flu Season

I am going to state up front that I am home from work for the second day with a winter flu.  How did I get it? Well, we can trace it back to our beautiful granddaughter.  

Between the stage of our children leaving High School and becoming grandparents of school aged children we had a reprieve from the winter flu bug, or at least it seemed that way.

How as a grandparent can I not pick up and cuddle my ill granddaughter?  Yes, I did and now I have to suffer the consequences – I hate being sick!

What do the expert say we should do to keep the winter flu bug at bay?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers us three basic steps:

Source

Get your flu vaccine as soon as they are available. 

 Click here for the CDC website

Did I get a flu vaccine this winter? No! I came up with all the excuses listed by the CDC. Will I next year? Yes!

 

Source

Take everyday prevention actions to stop the spread of germs.  

Click here for the CDC document on everyday prevention

I did all of this and kissed my ill granddaughter.  At the time it seemed like the right thing to do but in hindsight I missed an important teachable moment.  I could have offered her physical comfort and taught her that when we are ill we do not kiss other people.  
 

Source

Take Flu antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them.  

Click here for the CDC document on antiviral drugs

Great Grandma came down with the same flu for the same reason and she was put on antibiotics.  I am suffering through with over the counter pain medication, copious amounts of water, Echinacea, Zinc, hot baths and sleep.

As we age we are joining the high risk category and with flu viruses becoming stronger and stronger it is a lesson worth teaching and learning from.

When our grandchildren are ill, if possible, ask their parents to keep them home. We can call them on the phone or Skype with them to provide comfort and support.

If you have to provide direct care, which many of you do, talk your ill grandchild about the reason you are washing your hands, or using alcohol wipes and in a loving way tell them up front that there will be no kissing and why.

Grandma Snyder

Note: I am not a doctor or an expert on flu please visit the CDC website and vet all medical advice through your physician.

Graphics without a source are from http://thegraphicsfairy.com/

©2013-2016 Twosnydergirls

Winter Readiness Home Survival Kits

The first big ice storm of 2013/2014 has struck Ontario CA.  Coating trees, gardens, fences and snowbanks with ice.  Turning the outdoors into a fantastical place that is both fun to play in and dangerous!

Our grandchildren have found it a magical place to play in with light reflecting off of ice crystals creating rainbows everywhere.  A place where they can run on top of snow banks only to crash through with shouts of laughter.  They proudly announce as them come in to warm up, “we have been to the Antarctic and seen the most amazing things”.   

After hot baths, warm dry clothing and hot chocolate with too many marshmallow they tell us about their adventure to Antarctic.  They saw polar bears, walrus, and penguins.  They also had an adventure as they avoiding falling into a crack in the ice.  

 

While the girls found the world created by the thick coat of ice fun to play in, for others it was and continues to be a dangerous place with down electrical lines, falling trees and broken limbs from falls on the ice.  A place that is both cold inside and out where getting water to make a hot drink is impossible because there is no electricity.

I have previously written two winter safety blog posts:

• What Our Children Should Wear Outside 
• Winter Car Survival Kit  and 

now it is time to turn attention to keeping ourselves safe at home in a winter weather disaster.   

FEMA, and the  Canadian Government both have websites dedicated to creating a household Disaster ready kit that will carry the family through 72 hours - Winter Readiness Home Survival Kits.  Please click on the links provided and become informed on what you need to do.

Winter Readiness Home Survival Kits

For every member in your home you need to have enough:

• food,
• water, 
• warm clothing and 
• personal medication to last 72 hours 

Why 72 hours?  That is the time it takes on average for relief efforts, repair crews, warming centers to mobilize: for help to get to you.

In a winter disaster there is one BIG NEVER! – Never bring a BBQ  gas or charcoal into the house for cooking or heat.  They give off carbon monoxide an odorless killer.

Have in your kit three-days’ worth of non-perishable food with the supplies necessary to open and prepare the food.  Remember having food on hand that your family will not eat is not helpful.  Foods that are high is salt like crackers will make your family thirsty and drain your drinking water supply.  If someone in your home has special dietary needs plan for these as well.

The FEMA website has suggestion on:

• Emergency Food Supplies
• Food Safety and Sanitation
• Cooking
• Managing Food without Power

 

Water is going to be the most difficult commodity and most essential element to your survival.  When the electricity fails so do household and municipal pumps.

It is recommended that you have on hand one gallon of water per person per day at a minimum and you need a three day supply.

Other supplies you will  depend on your family personal living circumstances and here is a basic list needed for winter:

• Candles for light and a fireproof tip resistant container to burn them in
• Matches
• Flashlight & extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Warm blankets and clothing
• Moist hand wipes
• Cell phone with chargers 

From the Canadian Preparing a Family Emergency Kit here is a short Video

 

I am not an expert in this area and strongly recommend that you go to the two websites provided to read what the experts have to say.  I pray everyone has a safe and happy winter of 2013/2014

Grandma Snyder

©2013 Twosnydergirls