Is It Ok For Kids To Drink Coffee? - Caffeine and Kids

This is a post I have been mulling over for a few months ago.  Why?  Because I have been seeing/hearing of more and more parents letting children drink coffee with them and even ordering them coffee drinks at their favorite coffee spots.  I even had one woman tell me that she was told that coffee was good for children.  My first thought was: "Has something changed that I don't know about?".  So this is where I started last winter.  I asked 4 different pediatricians that I know proffessionally if something had changed and was it ok or even recommended now for children to drink  coffee or have caffeine.  I received a plain and simple answer from all 4 "no".  I then asked if there were any situations medically speaking that they would recommend to a parent that they give their child coffee or caffeine and again received the same answer.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my morning coffee.  However, that does not mean my children ever get it even watered down with milk.  If I go out for a coffee, they may share a juice and sometimes as a treat they get a steamer (steamed milk with a syrup flavoring) or a hot chocolate.  My oldest will be 12 in October.  Even on the rare occasion that they get soda as a treat, it is uncaffeinated - Root Beer, Sprite, Orange Soda...... 

I do want to debunk one myth that there is no evidence to support - coffee does not stunt a child's growth.  However, there are many other reasons as to why it is bad for kids to drink coffee.  In fact, the AAP (American Academy Of Pediatrics) makes it clear that they do not support any amount of caffeine as being safe for children's consumption on a daily basis.  The FDA is currently investigating products that contain caffeine with a focus on products aimed at children and adolescents.

Did you know that in healthcare and hospitals that caffeine is used as a drug?  In both kids and adults, too much caffeine can cause jitteriness and nervousness, upset stomach, nervousness, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, increased heart rate and increased blood pressure.  In young children it does not take a lot of caffeine to produce these effects.  Their bodies and brains are developing and vulnerable.

I have talked to many of our local Emergency Room staff that tell me it is amazing the number of children and teens they see and the results of their EKG's just from caffeine consumption.

So let's start out with insomnia.  Children ages 5-12 need at least 11 hours per day and teens need 9-10.  Caffeine in the body can last up to 8 hours.

Next, how about cavities?  Coffee is acidic and acidic drinks weaken teeth by ruining tooth enamel.

What about bone loss?  Coffee is a diuretic that increases urination which causes a loss of calcium and thus can lead to bone loss.  For every 100mg of caffeine ingested in a child, 6mg of calcium is lost.  Calcium is necessary for bone growth and development.

Then there is hyperactivity, restlessness and an inablility to concentrate that can be caused.  This can affect your child's whole school day where they are required to pay attention to focus, pay attention and sit still.  Could this lead to over diagnosing of ADD?  Just some food for thought.

Like I said towards towards the beginning of this post, I spoke to 4 local pediatricians,  Emergency Room staff, and have done extensive reading before writing this post and felt that this was a time when this information should be shared.

Summer Camp - Letting Go As They Grow

This week, my oldest son is at Boy Scout camp.  He will be 12 in October.  This is his first time away from home for more than one night.  So what were some things I took into consideration before deciding he was ready for camp?  I thought about his maturity.  Not just taking into consideration if he was mature enough to go, but also how this experience would help him to develop and gain more maturity/independance.  I think it is important for children to be able to grow and develop their sense of identity as they mature and are ready.  With my son being the oldest of 3 boys, I also saw how he deserved this experience this year.  He does very well at school, has been taking on more and more responsibilities and functioning well with those, and also puts up with a lot from his little brothers.  While his little brothers will tell you that they think he is an awesome big brother, I think he deserves a little break and some time to do something on his own while having some fun.  

I also want him to start to trust himself to start making some decisions on his own and have confidence in those decisions, while he knows he can come to us if in need of advice to make some of the more difficult ones.  Sunday as he got ready to depart I helped him check all of his supplies to know he had all of the essential items for the week.  Upon taking him to where the group was leaving from, before we got out of the van, I told him we would pray for his week at camp.  We prayed for safe travels and experiences for all throughout the week along with asking for the boys to have lots of fun.  I helped him unload all of his stuff to take and as the group prepared to leave, I said a meaningful, but not overly emotional goodbye.  Quite often as parents I believe that we need the objectivity to not transfer our concerns/emotions to our children too much as we consider how this can increase anxiety and fear in them about what they are about to embark on.  Did I have concerns?  Of course!  However, I have to believe that if I have done my job as a parent, and that I have prepard him well.  I think it is important for him to see that I have confidence in him while reinforcing that if he needs me, I am there for him.

Monday night I did receive a phone call from him at about 10:00 pm.  This showed me that he heard what I told him when he left that if he was unsure about something he could ask to call me.  I was very fortunate that one of the adults that went had texted me a picture earlier in the day and let me know that he had done and passed his swim check.  I was able to share this with him and tell him how proud I was.  Then he was able to share his concern with me - bugs in the shower.  He is afraid of bugs.  I told him that he could wear the water shoes he had with him in the shower.  He then shared with me a situation with a peer that he had to make a decision about.  Since I could see that decision put him in an awkward position with his peer, I simply took the burden off of him and told him that he should simply say "My mom and dad said no".  This allowed it to be mine and my husband's fault for saying no and not his.

I am happy to say that the next morning I got a text from the leader what a great time he is having along with another picture.  This reassured me that he was able to move on and is having a great week.  I have to say that I am so appreciative of having technology and leaders that allows me to share in his week at a distance.  

Busy Summer Days, Hot Weather & Dinner

From time to time I will try to post a recipe that my family really enjoys and that is really easy to put together. Whether it be a day that I am at work or one where we are busy running around until right before dinner time, it is always nice to have something that is quick to get on the table.  Add in the hot summer weather and not wanting to heat up the house and a crockpot is wonderful.

One of my family’s favorites is Chicken Salsa Quesadilla’s. This is a recipe I made up.

3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts

1-16oz jar of La Victoria Cilantro salsa (can be substituted with any salsa of your choice) Flour Tortillas – Regular or Burrito sized depending on your preference (I use a whole wheat high fiber tortilla for myself)

Shredded Cheese (I use Colby Jack for the kids and Pepperjack for the adults)

Place the frozen chicken breasts in crock pot. Turn crockpot on low heat if early in morning or on high if noon or later. Pour jar of salsa over chicken. The chicken will cook in the salsa. If you are around at all while cooking, break apart chicken in salsa so that the flavor cooks through. If not around while cooking, break apart when you get home and scoop into separate bowl to soak while you get your griddle ready. When your griddle is heated up, spray Pam across griddle or whatever oil/butter you use. Place tortillas on griddle and scatter cheese. I use a pretty good layer of cheese. I like to buy my cheese in 2lb blocks and grate with my Kitchen Made attachment on my mixer so that I always have some cheese on hand.   If any of the kids don’t want the chicken with salsa on their quesadilla they get just cheese. For the rest of the family, when the cheese is melted, I place a layer of the chicken salsa mixture on the lower half of the tortilla and fold the top half over. I place cooked quesadillas on a cutting board while I start the next ones. Once they have cooled a minute or two I cut into sections with my pizza cutter. I place on plate and cover while finish making the rest. If my cheese is already grated, the total time I spend is about 15-20 minutes from the time I start placing tortillas on the griddle.  Super easy, fast and delicious!

Why It Is Not Too Soon To Get Ready For "Back To School"

Last night I ran into a friend at a local store where they were showcasing their "Back To School" section.  Her question to me was: "Don't you think it is crazy they are already pushing shopping for back to school?".  I told her not at all and went on to explain why.  

Each year I inevitably hear a couple of complaints from parents in the week before school goes back.  One is how they are scrambling to get everything.  They have waited until the last minute and now are trying to get a household of anywhere from 2-6 kids ready to go back in a week. This often means finding stores out of items and also tends to be very overwhelming.   

The other big complaint I hear is how much it costs to get their kids ready to go back.  While you have the school supplies, you often hear about new clothes, shoes, and backpacks to add on as well.  I have had parents tell me that just for each child's school supplies they have spent a couple of hundred dollars.  I will be honest in telling you that this blows me away!  Before my kids started school I was totally freaked out by people telling me about their kids school supplies.  Now I know different and would love to help others. 

While I coupon and their are coupons that come out to help with school supplies, you don't have to even be a couponer to buy school supplies on a tight budget.  If all you do is get the Sunday paper, look at the weekly flyers and stop at 2 stores a week, you will be amazed at how well you can do.  Each week starting from a couple of weeks ago, store flyers start coming out with weekly deals just to get you into the store.  Office Max is one example as they come out with deals like what you see in the picture below.

Last Sunday, their flyer came out with deals where the pencil erasers, index cards, and pocket folders were 1 cent each with a minimum $5 purchase.  This meant that I bought the package of glue sticks, package of blue pens, and package of red pens (items on my oldest son's school list), as the items to give me the minimum of $5 and then was able to get 30 pocket folders, 9 packages of pencil erasers, and 9 packs of index cards for $7.78.  This week they have the scissors for 25 cents each, sharpies 25 cents each, and packs of 4 glue sticks for 25 cents each, which made my total $3.18.  I then went over to Fred Meyer's where the binders are on sale as well as buy one get one free, filler paper 79 cents each, bottles of Elmer's glue 59 cents each, Ticonderoga 24 packs of pencils $2.99 (half price), Crayola crayons 59 cents each, Crayola crayons 59 cents each, package of highlighters $1.00, and a package of 2 erasers for 49 cents.  All of the extra items that won't be needed for the boys this year, will be stored away in my plastic totes for when they run out or for next year.

Each year I stock up on these items when they are at their cheapest price point so that we are prepared.  Last year I had very few items that HAD to be bought.

If you start doing this, it can make it very easy and less stressful to be prepared as well as much easier on the pocket book.  I would tell you that with 3 boys in school, our school supplies come to maybe $60 a year if that.

What if I also told you that I have their pants and shoes for school next year?  This was done a few months ago when there was a sale on jeans on for $8.88 a pair as well as a clearance on shoes.  Believe me, with 3 boys, we wear through jeans and shoes so it would be insane to pay top dollar for these items!

An App/E-Mail Everyone Needs - Alert ID

I first heard about this a few weeks ago when a friend posted on facebook about a peeping tom in her neighborhood.  It is called Alert ID and is a website that also has an app that can be downloaded to your phone or tablet.  It allows you to see a map of your neighborhood or area you are in and all the incidences that have occured such as a peeping tom, suspicious vehicle, burglary etc.  It is a online neighborhood watch that will alert you and send you an e-mail whenever there is an incidence and also sends an alert whenever their is a new registered sex offender in the area.  So your are probably wondering how much this lovely little service costs right?  Guess what?  It is free!  It is basically a free neighborhood safety network, public safety database and sends out public safety alerts and more.  In just the past few weeks I have received alerts about sex offenders and suspicious vehicles.  It basically allows me to keep an eye on what is going on in my area and hopefully improve the safety of my family and home.  You can go to their site and sign up for e-mail notifications, but if you do have the ability to put the app on your phone, you will receive alerts right to your phone.

What My Boys Asked Me This Morning

.......... and why I answered them "Absolutely Not!"

This morning we were out of the house to run a few errands and on our one stop, the boys asked me "Mom, can't we just wait in the car?".  My answer was quite simple.  I said "Absolutely NOT!".  I then explained to them why.

First off, let me explain some background.  I have never at any age left my children in the car.  It really isn't ok at any age or any time of the year. We hear about incidences of babies being left in the car accidentally and that is why it should be routine to always get your children out of the car.  I have seen and heard of incidences of vehicles being stolen with an infant or child in the car and so even if you don't think it is too hot out, it is not OK! Even when you think you can leave your car running if it is hot out, you are making it even easier for your vehicle to be stolen, or for your children to think they are playing in the car and to engage a gear shift.  When there is an outside temperature of 75 degrees, within 10 minutes, the inside of a car heats up to 100 degrees.  In 30 minutes it heats up to 120 degrees.  When the outside temperature is 85 degrees, it only takes 5 minutes for the inside temperature to reach 90 degrees and 7-10 minutes to reach 100 degrees!  At 100 degrees outside, it only takes 15 minutes for the inside of a vehicle to reach 140 degrees.  Unfortunately we hear about incidences with pets and children in hot vehicles all too often.  I even know of one situation that a mother got home from grocery shopping and with baby sleeping decided to unload the groceries first.  The car was parked in the garage and in the process of unloading groceries she got a phone call.  By the time she got done on the phone, she had moved onto something else in the home and by the time she remembered baby sleeping in the car, it was too late.  A very sad and heartbreaking situation.  So that is why with my boys being the ages of 11, 9 and almost 6, I will not let them or ask them to wait in the car.  They go with me where I go and I ask you to do the same.

Hair Care - Reverse Washing Your Hair

Have you heard of reverse washing your hair before? I have been wanting to post about it for a while A couple of years ago I was on Pinterest and an image of a woman's long, silky, shiny hair caught my attention so I clicked on it and it lead me to a post on reverse washing.  It described to me the process of fully wetting down your hair, using conditioner in your hair with mainly focusing on the ends (to add moisture and seal in those ends) and letting the conditioner sit for about 5 minutes, and then shampooing your hair with focusing on mainly the roots and scalp as the oiliness mainly comes from your scalp.  I had already been asking my hairdresser what I could do to get my hair to look smoother and silkier so when I saw this I figured that it was an idea that wouldn't cost me anything to at least try.  The hardest part for me was to put conditioner on my hair first because it was so ingrained in me to shampoo and then use conditioner.  I did this the first time and was amazed at how wonderful my hair felt after.  I was worried that by shampooing after, the conditioner and its effects would be washed away.  My hair was smoother, silkier and had even more volume.  At that point it was normal for me to wash my hair about 3 times a week. I stopped washing my hair on a daily basis years ago because I had read and been told how bad it is to wash your hair on a daily basis.  Hair is fiber and the more you wash it the frizzier it is going to get and the worse it is going to look.  Especially the longer your hair is because the oils from the scalp do not travel down the shaft as quickly.  The next time I washed my hair like normal - shampooing first and then using conditioner.  I was shocked at how my hair didn't feel near as wonderful and didn't style as nicely.  That is what converted me to fully changing over to this method. Now, the only time I shampoo first, is if I make a mistake and grab the shampoo first instead of the conditioner.  I have found that I can even go a day longer between washes because my hair feels/looks great, which means that I only usually wash my hair twice a week now!

So as I was getting ready to do this post today, I decided to google reverse washing since it has been a couple of years since I first read about it.  I was amazed to find posts that as more women are trying it, it has become quite the trend!  Women with fine limp hair, describe their hair as shinier and having more volume.  Those with thick hair, describe their hair as feeling healthier, looking shinier and less frizzy (I am one of those).  It seems like a win win situation doesn't it?  The hardest part those of you that wash your hair daily, may be to get used to having not to wash daily and for others to get into the routine of grabbing your conditioner before the shampoo!

I will also share that I let my hair air dry so that it isn't suffering extra heat damage since I use a ceramic straightening iron on my hair.  However, I also find that with the reverse washing, I also find that after my initial styling I only spend a few minutes each morning smoothing my hair with my iron to get ready for the day.

I also use a little leave in conditioner that has a UV protectant in it to protect my hair a little more from the sun.

Miss Mom Speak Is Now On Facebook!

Miss Mom Speak now has a page on Facebook.  I would love it if you were able to like my new page!  Just click on Miss Mom Speak to come on over and then click "like".  You can also follow me on Twitter if you haven't already under @missmomspeak.