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Archive for January, 2007
Mothers, Kids and Smoking
All of us are have heard about the dangers of smoking while pregnant. Yet, one quarter of all Americans had mothers who smoked during their pregnancy. Hard to believe in this day and age.
According to a new study, smoking while pregnant can be very harmful to your kids as they get older. Not only is there an increased risk to the fetus, but nicotine can affect brain development. These changes can make it very difficult for an adult to quit smoking once they have started.
Doctors recommend kicking the habit as soon as a woman knows she’s pregnant. This can be very difficult indeed. And to make it worse, they should not rely on any type of nicotine products (patch, gum, etc.) to ease the process. These products will have the same affect on their baby as if they were still smoking.
Just another way we can help protect our kids.
U.S. Lags Way Behind In Family/Work Policies
It’s hard to believe that this country is so far behind others when it comes to taking care of its employees with families! For any of you working moms out there, you know what I’m talking about.
The majority of “wealthy” countries provide guaranteed policies that the US has yet to adopt. Especially when it comes to paternity leave. Dad’s are not guaranteed any time off when their kids are born, it all depends on your company. You could actually lose your job for taking such time off!
There are also no laws ensuring time for a woman to breast feed her baby while she’s at work. You would think with all of the working moms in the US, we would be able to offer fairly good benefits when it comes to families and the people that take care of them.
According to this study, new legislation may be on its way, it just amazes me that it’s taken so long. There are definitely some tips this country can pick up on from others around the world.
Where Did the Season Go?
Wow, I can’t believe it’s 2007 already. I truly understand what they say about time flying by faster as you get older - and to top it off, it goes by even faster when you have kids Smile
With a blink of an eye the whole holiday season is over until next year. Someday I’ll actually enjoy the time without panicking about gifts and cooking and everything else that goes into it. It’s amazing how much work it is to pull off a successful celebration!
By the time I could sit down and look at the beautiful tree in our living room, it was time to figure out when I was going to take it all down. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed watching my daughter open her presents (which really meant finding as much tape as possible and seeing how long she could keep it sticky!). And I was absolutely amazed that my husband loved all his gifts - I only had to return 2 things.
I must also mention how awesome those after Christmas sales are. I think next year I’ll wait until then to buy everything, or at least consider more gift cards. I know, if I wasn’t running around shopping all week, I probably could have taken better advantage of the season, and think of some important new years resolutions - but it’s just so tempting.
Hey, it’s only Jan 2 - never too late to make the resolutions, I think I’ll start with better advance planning for Christmas this year.