Archive for the ‘In the News’ Category

The schoolrun has been challenging over the past few weeks, to say the least. I know that children with symptoms of ADD are often actually hyper sensitive kids, and Josh is no exception to that. She is so fed up with the bullying and the teasing, she is 100% sure she does not want to go to school anymore. But, the paperwork for the homeschooling is taking its time… So she still has to go. Every day with more trouble.

Going to school: Long whining stories about what happened in the last days and will happen for sure today. “If they call me names again, I phone you, OK, Mom? And then you come and pick me up, OK?”
“Sure, honey”.

Coming from school: “And then he said this, and then I said that, and then the teacher scolded me for using bad words, it is sooo unfair… Tomorrow I do not go to school, no way, they can stuff it, I am so sick of it, they are all “/%&”)$)”.
“I understand sweetheart”.

Anyway, this did not bring us anywhere, we just went round in the same circles, me telling her to hang in there, and she telling me she couldn’t.

Now I did listen during the last couple of days to The Vortex by Abraham, as channeled by Esther Hicks. Loads of wise words and insights, and what really got me was the knowledge, that we are the ones that form our world. In other words: Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want, and there will be more and more of what you want in your life. So, every time there is something unwanted in your awareness, turn your attention to what it is you DO want.

Right then, I started 3 days ago:
“Mom, they did ….”.
“OK, Honey, what would you have wanted them to do instead? When have they been nice to you? You want them to be like that don’t you?”
“Sure”. Smile. “I remember, the time when..” More smiles.
…
“Mom, he is just a $%#=/=.”
“Sure he is, but has he ever been pleasant to you? When was that? What if he would always be like that?”
“Yeah, in the beginning of the year, remember that I did sing for the class? Then he was nice to me”. Smile.
“See, you’re feeling better now already?”
Smile. “Yeah…”

Now, it’s 3 days later, and this morning we drove to school, singing together. I really look forward to pick her up in an hour’s time – see what her day has been like. Yesterday she had little to complain about, which was a big shift from the past 18 months…

Will keep you posted – and if you find yourself in the same situation, try it, and please comment on this post with your experiences!

Charlotte

Found on Networked blogs, a cool Facebook application which helps me to keep track what my fellow EFT practitioners and ADD/ADHD coaches write about. I would love you to become my friend on Facebook, so we can share thought and insights! See you on the other side! Click here: http://www.facebook.com/charkamman

The article I want to show you, is named “Make Do-Not-Do Lists for Better Productivity”, and is written by Lisa Hoover.

It is written for adults, but with a little imagination, it is easy to see how we can help our children to keep on track when we use the principles she talks about. My own thoughts are printed in italics, Lisa’s original article is in normal print.

“Nearly every time management system advocates to-do lists in some form to help keep us on track. Consider turning that advice on its head and make a do-not-do list instead.

Success Magazine blogger Chelsea Greenwood says to-do lists can be helpful, but only to a point. Eventually, they can get so long and unwieldy they start to take over our lives and sap our energy to get anything done. After all, who wants to confront a mile-long list of tasks staring them in the face?

Overwhelm is a very common emotion in children with symptoms of ADD or ADHD. They do not always show us, but you can be sure that they do feel that way. EFT tapping can help them to get over the overwhelm, and if combined with time management skills, it is obvious that the benefits will be numerous

Instead, take a hard look at how you spend your day and try to identify where your giant black holes of time are. Too many coffee breaks? Too much time spent surfing productivity sites (though we’ll give you a free pass on that)? Once you figure out where your time sinks are, write yourself a do-not-do list so you minimize how much time you spend doing things that aren’t particularly productive.

Fidgeting, reading comics, playing computer games, talking to friends on MSN… They are all very time consuming. We can help our children by allowing a certain amount of time for each of these activities. Children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD especially, also need time to just relax, preferably meditate and allow their busy minds to slow down for a moment. We need to help them to find this “off-time” – and we can only do that by showing them they do not need to do something the whole day long.

Depending on how drastic your findings are, implementing your do-not-do list may require persistence and teamwork. Post the list in one or more visible areas to remind yourself what you should not be doing, and enlist the support of co-workers, friends or loved ones to keep you on track.

Now, no one’s recommending that you never take a break or waste time during the day—everybody needs a little down time. Instead, use your do-not-do list as a way to stay focused on your goals and realize that the more time you spend avoiding things on your new list bring you that much closer to getting where you want to be.”

So, program the down-time for your child, and allow for this down-time by limiting his activity time!

The Productivity Dilemma: To Do or Not to Do? [Success Magazine]

(Source: http://lifehacker.com

Hit up the post for tips on how to develop your do-not-do list. Do you keep a list like this? Does it help keep you on track? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Dr. Mercola talks about multi-vitamins. For parents with children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD, this is double important. Pay attention, and evaluate the vitamins you are using. One thing he mentions, and which you might overhear, is the decreased amount of vitamins and minerals that your vegetables and fruits contain, as compared to 50 years ago. Thanks to chemical fertilizers, greenhouses, herbicides, fungicides etc, our food is just a diluted version of what it was in the time of our grandparents… Isn’t that sad.

Which brings me to the thought that IF we would live like our grandparents did, we would probably not have so many children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD. Life was so much different back then! But, I am also pleased to have discovered, that it is still possibe to live life much more similar to our grandparents than I thought would be possible – only the good aspects of course!

Buy organic fruit and vegetables, read the labels of EVERYTHING you buy, be aware and praise yourself that you have this knowledge! Share it with others: your neighbours, family, friends, parents at school. It is shocking how many people are still stumbling in the dark when they try to give their children the best they can…

And now: Dr. Mercola.

There is a lot of polemic about children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD and candies. Whilst I normally do not recommend any sugar for children with hyperactivity, they do normally get one day per week when they can eat some sweet stuff. It is important that it’s just sugar, and no chemical additives, as these tend to upset the system for a couple of days at least – Sugar only gives effects for 24 hours.

Dr. Mercola writes about healthy choices in chocolate:

Few snack foods evoke as much passion and desire as chocolate.

And if you have children, Halloween provides you with a wide assortment of sugary chocolate temptations — all part of this family fun event.

Regardless of whether or not it’s Halloween… if you’re a chocolate lover, the idea of giving it up even for health reasons is often not an option you consider.

As far as your kids go… well, most kids love chocolate. Asking them not to eat any from their Halloween trick-or-treat stashes is pretty much wishful thinking.

Believe it or not, this is one instance when you can have your chocolate and eat it too… more and more studies confirm some types of chocolate are actually very good for you.

Since I realize many people simply refuse to give up their chocolate, and there are actually healthy versions of chocolate, I put my team to task to create guidelines to help you select and eat chocolate at a healthy level.

Especially at Halloween time, this could help give you some direction for the healthiest chocolate for you and your kids.

I do feel it’s important to remind you about wholesome foods like organic vegetables and fruits that provide you with healthy nutrients — without the sugar content of most chocolates.

With Halloween just around the corner, the potential for you and your family to consume even more chocolate is simply a reality that you will have to contend with. However, if you follow the guidelines my staff and I created for you, you can now enjoy one of your passions, and boost your health at the same time.

If you’re a chocolate lover, or even occasionally indulge, I strongly recommend you follow these guidelines… which will allow you to enjoy your chocolate and help you protect your health at the same time.

• Find chocolate made from the least destructive processing techniques — Organic is always best as over-processing reduces your healthy nutrients and can introduce lead contamination.
• Restrict your intake to dark, organic chocolate — Consuming chocolate as close to its original raw state (unprocessed cacao) provides you the best health benefits.
• Avoid chocolate made from milk or milk byproducts — Adding milk to the chocolate process can diminish your antioxidant benefits.
• Select chocolate with low sugar content — Sugar can seriously impact your immune system
• Consume chocolate in moderation — When you eat too much chocolate, you potentially diminish and defeat any health benefits due to the sugar.
• Avoid chocolate if you’re struggling with a health challenge — Sugar can suppress your immune system.
• Choose a chocolate made to the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility — Fair Trade certification should be part of your selection process.

I’ll get into more details on each of these selection and consumption criteria in just a minute…

But first do this — very thoroughly…

In addition to the above guidelines, there are certain “spooky” ingredients you should stay far away from when choosing your chocolate.

If you have kids, you might want to take a closer look at the chocolate they bring home from Halloween trick-or-treating. Not an easy task, I realize… but these ingredients are just plain bad for you.

Even many so-called “natural” chocolates may contain some of these unhealthy ingredients — avoid them at all costs…

• Trans fat — An artery-clogging type of fat that forms when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening.
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — Contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals, and leeches micronutrients from your body. Raises your blood sugar levels beyond acceptability, and leads to insulin resistance and weight gain. It really is a metabolic poison and, in many ways, acts identical to alcohol with chronic exposure when eaten in high amounts.
• Artificial sweeteners — Never allow anything “artificial” in your chocolate.
• Soy proteins — Unfermented soy can cause digestive distress and a weakened immune system.
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) — An excitotoxin, which over-excites your cells to the point of damage or total destruction. Can potentially cause brain damage and other disabilities to varying degrees.
• Preservatives and stabilizers — Avoid anything artificial and look for only organic ingredients.
• Milk or milk byproducts — Could impact how well you absorb the healthy antioxidants in the chocolate.

The bottom line — you need to carefully read the label on chocolate packages. By ‘reading’ the label, I mean, ‘thoroughly scrutinize the nutrition facts and ingredients’. Not just a cursory glance.

To enjoy the healthiest chocolate possible, always look for selections with wholesome, organic ingredients — artificial ingredients are just too risky. (…)

Source: http://products.mercola.com/organic-dark-chocolate/

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Omega 3 fatty acids are a vital building blocks for our brain, and many children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD actually have a shortage of essential building blocks in their body.

Why does the ADD/ADHD brain have an extra need for Omega-3 fatty acids?
The brain has the most active metabolism of all the organs in the body, and it uses enormous amounts of energy; it never is completely at rest. The more active the metabolism, the more free radicals, and the brain thus has one of the highest rates of free radical production. These free radicals destroy the connections between the cells, the cells themselves and the structure of the brain. The brain starts to function less and less effectively, if it has not enough resources to repair itself.

If you are deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids, your brain changes it’s structure already within 2 weeks.

The role of sugar in Omega-3 deficiency
Apart from the role sugar plays in the blood sugar level, it also increases free radical generation. Sugar produces cross linking of the proteins in all cells, which means that the free radicals can do much more damage in a much bigger group of cells. Through the influence of free radicals, your cells age faster; and your braincells are even more prone to this process. Research at the University of Connecticut in 1986 by Dr. Jane Goldman showed that sugar, equal to one Coke, produces a significant decline in mental performance. (Students were making twice as many mistakes on tests.)

Other vitamins and minerals also play a role in the health of our brain, and particularly in children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD, one can often find shortages of essential micro-elements and vitamins. On the other hand, ADHD and ADD symptoms have been linked to an overload of toxic substances suchs as lead in the blood of the affected children. Apart from lead, also aspartame, MSG, pesticides, herbicides in food, aluminum in deodorants, fluoride in the water and mercury in vaccines have been proven to have a major role in brain toxicity and brain function decline.

What does this mean in everyday life?
Make sure your child does not eat refined sugar is the obvious step one, because it is easy to do. Avoid aspartame and other additives, buy and eat organic fruit and vegetables, be very cautious with vaccines and get yourself very well informed about the risks and the benefits of every single vaccination.
Give your kid a healthy balanced diet, and give additional nutrients as needed, but be very aware of food colorings and other additives that hide in vitamin pills and other supplements! They will probably increase the symptoms of ADD and ADHD: the detrimental effect of these substances is manyfold bigger than the beneficial effects of the essential nutrients your child is probably lacking.

If you like this article, please share it on one or more of the social bookmarking sites below; that way you help other parents with children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD, to find this information!
I look forward to read your comments, experiences and questions!

Image by Kriss Szkurlatowski