Author Archive: Natasha McKenna

Children and Back-to-School Stress

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As you begin to reintroduce the prospect of school to your household, you may be expecting to get a general lack of enthusiasm in response. For some children, however, the thought of returning to the classroom goes far beyond disinclination. In fact, it can cause a great deal of discomfort, or even anxiety. If you’re concerned about your child’s attitude toward upcoming school year, the following article provides excellent advice on how to deal with their stress.

http://www.bcliving.ca/health/children-and-back-to-school-stress

Back to School Planning

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As the excitement of this sunny season carries on, you may be a bit hesitant to entertain the thought of your children returning to school. Starting your school preparations in July doesn’t mean you have to give up on the lovely break we introduced you to in June. The key to staying relaxed as you plan is balance. It’s a good idea to start off small, taking modest amounts of time out of your day to assess your situation and form the basis of your back to school to-do list. By setting aside these small time windows for thought, you can refrain from trying to accomplish everything at once while keeping any reluctance you may have at bay.

As you make this list, reflect on the past school year. Think about the things that went well and the things that went not so well. Where possible, develop plans to avoid repeating the trouble areas. If you will require childcare come autumn, it would be wise to settle an approach to this early on. Organize and prioritize a mental agenda of tasks that must be completed before September and begin working on them, but remember to do so at a healthy pace. The summer activities you hope to enjoy should not be interrupted for the sake of early preparation.

As the weeks go by, you may want to schedule a visit to your child’s new school or seek information about their teacher. If you sense your child has mixed feelings toward the upcoming school year, allowing them to spend time with a future classmate may ease their mind. Talking to other parents about their back to school plans may aid you as you make your own. Be sure to check your child’s closet and take inventory of what they already own before you buy new clothing. While school supplies don’t normally go on sale until August, winter coats will be especially cheap around this time of year.

Finally, don’t forget do an early roundup of all the supplies or other school utilities that you’ve stored away for the summer. It would be quite an unpleasant surprise not to be able to find them at the last minute!

Annual AGM – June 20th

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The Board of Directors of
Family Service PEI

Cordially invite you to attend their
2012 Annual General Meeting

FEATURING A SPECIAL PRESENTATION ON THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE

To be held at 6pm
Wednesday 20 June 2012
at the
Confederation Centre of the Arts, Boardroom
145 Richmond Street, Charlottetown PE, C1A 1J1
Light refreshments will be served.
For catering purposes please

RSVP: Sandra Henderson by 18 June 2012
Phone: 902-436-9171 or 1-866-892-2441
Or email: sandra.henderson@familyservice.pe.ca

Please Join Us for an Open House!

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Family Service PEI cordially invites you and a guest to take a tour of our new head office location in Charlottetown.

Please join us on Monday, June 25th as we celebrate our office move. Grab a friend or colleague and come on down for some light munchies and refreshments. Spread the word and drop in anytime between 9 AM and 3 PM.

We Look forward to seeing you there!

 ease Join Us for an Open House!

When: Monday, June 25th

Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Where: 155 Belvedere Avenue, Charlottetown

Light refreshments will be served.

10 Tips for Staying Healthy in the Summer

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The following is one in an ongoing series of columns entitled Staying Healthy Tips by Elson M. Haas MD

  1. Stay cool and hydrated. Drink water, at least two to four cups (16-32 ounces) upon rising, and similar amounts if you are going out for activities and exercise. Carry water with you in a hard plastic container (more stable polycarbonate rather than polyethylene that leaches plastic into the water). You may also use a traveling water filter. Most people need two to three quarts of liquid per day, and more in hot weather or with sweating and exercise.
  2. While enjoying the sun and outdoors, protect yourself from overexposure to sunlight by wearing a hat and using natural sunscreens without excessive chemicals. Carry Aloe Vera gel for overexposure and have an aloe plant growing in your home for any kind of burn. The cooling and healing gel inside the leaves will soothe any sunburn. It works great.
  3. Keep up or begin an exercise program. Aerobic activity is important for keeping the heart strong and healthy. If you only work out in a health club, take some time to do outdoor refreshing activities — hiking, biking, swimming, or tennis. Reconnecting with these activities will help keep your body and mind aligned.
  4. Enjoy Nature’s bounty – fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables at their organic best. Consuming foods that are cooling and light — fresh fruits, vegetable juices, raw vital salads, and lots of water — will nourish your body for summertime activities. Include some protein with one or two meals. There are a number of light, nourishing proteins that don’t require cooking. Most of these complement fruits and vegetables nicely– nuts, seeds, sprouted beans, soy products, yogurt, kefir, and cottage cheese. Fish and poultry can also be eaten.
  5. Take some special summer time with your family, kids, and friends who share the enjoyment of outdoors. Plan a fun trip if you’re able and motivated for a day or longer — hiking in the wild, camping, playing at the river, or a few days resting at the ocean. Rekindling our Earth connection has benefits that last beyond this season, continuing to enrich the whole of your life.
  6. Relax and breathe. You’ve been working hard. This is the season to slow the pace a bit and absorb the light that stimulates your hormonal message center. Leave your cell phone at home or take a week off from TV. In many European countries, most of the population has a month off during the summer.
  7. Sun teas are wonderful. Use flowers and leaves (or tea bags) in a clear half- or one-gallon glass jar filled with spring water. Hibiscus or red clover flowers, peppermint, chamomile, or lemon grass are all good choices, or use your local herbs and flowers that you learn are safe, flavorful, and even medicinal. Leave in the sun for two hours or up to a whole day. Moon teas can also be made to enhance your lunar, dreamy side by letting your herbs steep in the cooling, mystical moonlight. Add a little orange or lemon peel, or a sprig of rosemary and a few jasmine flowers.
  8. Nutritional supplements can support you with a greater amount of physical energy, enhancing your summer activities. The B-complex vitamins are calming to the nervous system and helpful for cellular energy production, while vitamin C and the other antioxidants protect your body from stress, chemical pollutants, and the biochemical by-products of exercise. Helpful summer herbs are Siberian ginseng as an energy tonic and stress protector, dong quai is a tonic for women, hawthorn berry is good for the heart, and licorice root will help energy balance and digestion.
  9. Use the summer months to deepen the your  spiritual awakening. Begin by checking your local bookstore or the web for ideas that interest you. Plan a vacation that incorporates these new interests and provides you time to read, relax, contemplate, and breathe.
  10. Above all, give yourself the time to truly experience Nature. This can happen, even in a city park, if you relax and let in your surroundings. When traveling, take activities for the family and your first aid kit for bites, bee stings, and injuries. Check for ticks after your hikes. Watch for overexposure, take time in the shade, and drink your water.

 

4 Tips to Save Your Family Money This Summer

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by Tim of Faith & Finance

For our family, summer promises fun, a break, a vacation, and relaxation. We can plant flowers, grow gardens, spend time at our local farmer’s market, and travel.

But summer can be expensive for families who try to “do it all.” Along with some planned activities, unexpected summer fun can pop up out of nowhere – and so can the expenses! Here’s how you can manage the finances of your family’s summer fun without breaking the bank.

1. Prepare for the Unexpected!

Already having cash stashed away for both planned and unexpected summer fun is a great feeling. Even if you can only put away $20 each month, you would still have the pool membership covered, or all of the kids’ summer activity fees covered, perhaps. Of course, if you can put away more, great! If you haven’t already started, begin saving a monthly amount for the summer goals like vacations and family parties. We use the goals feature at Betterment.com to automatically save for different categories each month. It keeps us on track and automates our savings each month.

2. Create a Spending Plan for Vacations

You may have an aversion to budgets, but you probably also dislike credit card payments too. In order to avoid paying for your summer fun long after it is over, plan how much cash to spend and stick to it.

If your summer budget feels tight, don’t give up just yet! Here are a couple ideas to help you save money while having fun this summer:

Staycations. Due to the recent downturn in the economy, many families choose to take time off from work and stay home for vacation. If you enjoy working on your home but never have the time, a staycation could be a great opportunity to tackle DIY projects without feeling pressured to work around your busy work schedule.

  • Plan a trip to a fairly close destination. People who live far away in other states might just visit your area for vacation! So, how about you find those local attractions, and enjoy them yourself? Pretend you are a tourist in your own area, visit the hotels and pick up brochures of where “tourists” go when they visit. Or, plan an overnight trip to a state park nearby and camp out or rent a cabin.
  • Look for deals. If you can be flexible with travel dates and times, “name your own price” sites like Priceline.com can save you hundreds of dollars. If you can travel on very short notice, you can score some great deals too. Planning trips around non-peak travel dates can give you the most for your rewards miles as well. We recently combined miles from our American airlines rewards card and Hilton hotel card for a vacation in the Caribbean. The only thing we’ll need to pay for is food!

3. Weigh the Benefits of All-Inclusive Vacations

For some families, all-inclusive vacation deals prove to be an incredible value. Knowing the cost upfront, paying for it, and then being done with the money part of it all, allows everyone (especially the parents) to relax and enjoy their vacation. If you have teenagers who eat more than their share to fill up their growing bodies, or adventurous family members who want to try everything once, or a few in the family who will sign up for every spa treatment available, then all-inclusive vacations could be your best bet.

4. Keep Saving Money Once You Are There

If you do find somewhere to go that is affordable, keep your eyes open for deals at your destination too. Look for restaurants that offer early bird specials, take advantage of kids eat free deals, and search through your entertainment book for deals to use as well.

Of course, you can always save by packing your own food for the day at the beach or a park. The more you can stock up at grocery stores rather than stopping at convenience stores, the more money you will save. Whatever you do, enjoy the summer and make memories!

Time For A Break – Getting Ready For Summer

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By Elizabeth Scott, M.S.

With summer almost upon us, new stresses and stress relief options present themselves. In the interest of helping you take full advantage of what summer has to offer (and to manage what summer may throw at you), this blog brings you information you can use now to make this summer a relaxing one.

Get-In-Shape Help For the Stressed
Feeling stress about wearing less in the coming months because you find yourself eating more when stressed? Here are some tips for dealing with emotional eating, stress cravings and more. (Plus: how does stress affect the eating patterns of my other readers? Find out and weigh in here–so to speak.)

Secret Causes of Summer Stress
Yes, summer may feel like a time of fun, but there can be additional stressors lurking with the good times. Find out what they are so you can be prepared to manage them!

Rebuild Your Life
Did you know that June is “Rebuild Your Life Month”? (Well, now you do!) For more information on why and how to rebuild your life, now is the time to click the link and read more.