Category: LIVE WELL

ladybug on sunflower

Thankful for all things great and small

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BY SARAH EYKYN

Sometimes it’s the smallest things – pollinators – that remind us of what’s really important in life.

When I first moved to America I was very lucky to call Boulder, Colorado my home. It was hard to find myself so far away from my family and friends as I began my new, married life. I turned to long walks in the stunning foothills to get to know my surroundings. As I wandered along in the shadow of the imposing Flatirons, I found a winding path lined with magnificent sunflowers. Nestled on the leaves of one was this beautiful Ladybug.

In England we call them Ladybirds, and there’s a nursery rhyme we used to sing as children that began, “Ladybird, ladybird fly away home.” I felt a bit tearful thinking how far away my family was, and how much I missed them. (Something many of us feel during the holidays when we are hundreds or thousands of miles away…).

Most of us know that the next line of the rhyme is, “Your house in on fire and your children are gone”. What I didn’t know is that farmers in England used to recite this rhyme before burning their fields. Why? Because these beneficial insects, which help to reduce pests and pollinate crops, were too valuable to be harmed.

(I must clarify that was not something we were taught at the Royal Agricultural University….)

As we approach the holidays, and we traipse the aisles of our local grocery store in search of ingredients for pies and puddings to go with the Roast Beast, it occurs to me that we really should be more thankful for the humble pollinators who are the real reason we can enjoy 35 percent of all the food crops in the world.

Without pollinators, traditional holiday fare simply would not be possible.

Unfortunately, our bee populations are in serious decline, and the sustainability of our food production systems is at risk.  For a variety of reasons that have no proven scientific cause – including pesticides, mites, viruses and nutrition – Colony Collapse Disorder is decimating bee populations.

Summer 2009 702

Pollinators play a vital role in our food system

The good news is that there are things we can do to help protect important pollinators, including providing natural habitats in our gardens and urban landscapes where they can find food, shelter and water. Just growing a mix of perennials and annual plants is a great place to start. The Pollinator Partnership has a lot of great suggestions.

Sometimes it really is the smallest things that remind us what we need to be most grateful for. Little insects who make our daily bread possible, for one. Which is why I plan to share seed packets with my friends and family as holiday gifts so that we can repay the pollinators with a feast of their own in the spring.

Until next time,

Sarah

An apple a day

An ounce of prevention

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Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  I found that out the hard way yesterday. Instead of receiving four free flu shots, my family was prescribed $200 of Tamiflu to treat and ward off the Type A flu my teenage daughter had just tested positive for. I guess even ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ isn’t enough to combat close-quartered high school cooties.

Most working moms are so busy running the show – plotting who has to be where, when and with what – that even with the best of intentions some things fall through the cracks. In our case, a busy fall season of soccer and cross-country meant that October’s schedule was just too full for a trip to the clinic so I had scheduled flu shots for the Thanksgiving break off school.

Usually, making costly a mistake guarantees that it won’t be repeated, but it would be much easier not to make it in the first place, wouldn’t it?  And yet, human nature makes us procrastinate and we end up avoiding important appointments (who really wants to spend time going to the dentist or accountant, or getting a mammogram?).

Of course we know we should. We know it’s in our best interests to take preventative care of our health, home, car, finances and pets. We know it’s more expensive to be sick, to make repairs, and to spend rather than save money.

So why do we leave things to the last minute? Why do we avoid the simple fix?

I just read an interesting article on why people procrastinate that suggests it’s a process of self-regulation rather than time management. Apparently cognitive behavioral therapy can provide assistance for chronic procrastinators.

Given that procrastination can be expensive, it’s helpful to acknowledge what kind of procrastinator you are – someone who lives for the adrenalin-induced rush of the last minute; an avoider whose fear of failure or success is the barrier; or, someone who shirks responsibility.

For my part, I know I’m a last-minute thrill junkie…I work best under the pressure of being down-to-the-wire.  I tame this natural inclination with self-imposed deadlines, but it’s not a perfect remedy.

The fact that I can feel the chill of Type A flu creeping into my limbs is proof of that.  This is the only year we have not had an October flu shot, and I feel awful that it’s the first year at least one of my children has succumbed to it.

Next year, I will be sure to opt for the ounce of prevention and avoid the emotional, financial and physical expense of a pound of cure. In the meantime, I am going to take a long, hard look at my schedule to see if anything else is in danger of falling into the cracks.

Why We Procrastinate, July 2005, Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200507/why-we-procrastinate   

How to reduce stress when your child is sick

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BY SARAH EYKYN

It’s a fact of life: kids get sick, and they often take you down with them.

While every working mother dreads the words, “Mom, I don’t feel well”, the key to reducing the stress of sick days to create a plan A well ahead of time, and have a plan B ready if plan A falls through.  Share the plans with everyone who needs to know, including your children, so they know what to expect.

Plan A, for many fortunate women, is to call extended family for help. If daycare or school is not an option, having a grandparent or relative to call on can be a lifesaver.

For those, like me, whose family live hundreds or even thousands of miles away, Plan A looks a bit different. If you’re lucky, plan A can be as simple as working from home, but it may also mean a day of unpaid leave, a sick day, or negotiating with a partner for whose work day is the most expendable. In all of these cases, they key is to know what is possible. Make time to check in with HR/your boss to see what the official policy is at work (if you are the boss, hopefully have a family-friendly policy!) and with your partner if you have one, to see who has the most flexibility. Tag teaming for a half day each is another option to consider.

Before we had children, my husband and I decided that a nanny was essential if I was going to be able to work from home.  Thankfully we found the best nanny in the world – a real Mary Poppins – who was with us for five years and continues to be part of our family’s life to this day. If the children were ever sick, nanny NayNay was there for them.  It really was an ideal situation but of course the children eventually reached school age, and with that came the need for a new plan A and B.

Playing hooky?

To me, the most stressful part of having sick children is figuring out how ‘sick’ they really are (and whether, in fact, a day off from school is justified…).

While it may be fairly evident if a toddler or preschooler is too sick to go to daycare/needs to see a doctor (fever, throwing up, hacking cough, not eating, rash etc.), I have often found it harder to determine the same with my school age children.

Do they really have a headache that will prevent classroom time, or are they trying to pull a fast one in order to skip a test?  Is their tummy ache caused by anxiety or a stomach bug? And worse still…. are they being sick because they’ve got a stomach bug, or do they have appendicitis? (I found that one out the hard way…)

Teaching children to be resilient means not giving in to every little ache or stuffy nose – after all, as adults we have to just get on with it a lot of the time – but it’s important to do due diligence to ensure you don’t overlook something more serious…. or send them to school with something infectious that knocks out half the class. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a handy tool to consult when your child is sick at www.healthychildren.org, but never substitute this or any other advice for the advice of your personal physician.

In the short term, if they have no concerning symptoms and they look ‘ok’, I enlist my mother’s mantra to help my older children convince me that a sick day is in order: “Only you can tell how unwell you really feel”. As it turns out, it works almost all the time. My children know how much effort it takes to catch up on a whole day of missed classwork, quizzes and homework, and it’s not fun! Plus, sick days do not result in electronic time. If you’re too sick for school, the remedy is bed and a book in our house.

Of course, the key to reducing seasonal stress is to do what you can to keep everyone healthy. Insisting on adequate sleep for the whole family, regularly eating a wide range of colorful fruits and vegetables, and consistently your washing hands are all helpful ways to boost immunity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer some helpful tips on Stopping the Spread of Germs at Home, Work & School.

Ultimately, like a good scout, the trick for sick days is always to be prepared. They’re going to happen. Often. So, if you don’t have a good plan A (and B), now is the time to put one in place.

Until next time,
Sarah