Preventing Jet Lag For You and Kids

The holiday season is coming up and since my folks live across the ocean it looks like we are all going to be dealing with some jet lag. However over the years I have practiced a few tips which have helped prevent it from getting too bad.
Before you get on the plane …
Make sure that you and your kids drink drink plenty of water whilst flying – at least 8 – 12 fluid ounces every hour, preferably mineral water.
Avoid coffee and alcohol on the plane, as both are diuretics and they can therefore cause you a dehydration problem.
If you are due to arrive at your destination in the morning, try to sleep on the plane. Use a mask, earplugs and an inflatable neck support if these things help to induce a sleepy condition or increase your comfort so that it is more likely that you can sleep.
If on the other hand you are due to arrive in the evening, try to stay awake on the plane. Keep yourself busy by watching the in-flight movies, listening to music or doing something reasonably active like puzzle solving. Give the kids coloring books or let them play with a Sony PSP.
Avoid taking sleeping tablets if you have kids with you. They need looking after!
After you arrive…
•If at all possible, try not to go to bed until the nighttime after you have arrived. Do this and it really does minimize your jetlag problems, probably the single most effective step for doing so.
In the arrival airport, use the stairs and walk about as much as possible to get your body moving and back to normality as quickly as possible.
Your body has a natural electromagnetic system which will have been thrown out of synch by flying. Try to swim in the ocean (for the salt water), take a warm Epsom salts bath or walk barefoot on the ground in an effort to return your system to its normal state.
Get outside and go for a walk, especially if you can do so in the sunshine. Both the sunshine and the exercise help to reinvigorate you, meaning that you will feel less tired or jaded.
Take a nice long relaxing shower or bath as a way of rehydrating your body, and keep drinking plenty of water. In the first few hours after arriving, it will probably help if you can avoid coffee, tea and alcohol for exactly the same reasons as highlighted previously.
These tips are both for adults and kids and can go a long way towards preventing the terrible fatigue of jet lag.

Parenting Tips
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Attention Develops Kid’s Minds

One of the most effective ways to develop the dexterity of your child's minds is to simply spend as much time with them as you can. In your child's early years the bonding between the two of you is very important as they learn to develop their own sense of identity, confidence and trust. The stronger that is the more likely they are to do well when presented with one of life's many challenges – such as the proverbial IQ test. =
A child that can trust and that has faith in the world is likely to be more alert, aware and happy. This faith in others and especially in you frees up the child's mind from psychological and mental problems that might prevent him or her from learning. They are more able to develop a healthy curiosity about the world around them.
Being attentive to your child helps you learn about what makes him or her tick. It can help you head off any difficulties in the future.
Lots of times we suspect that our child is prodigy and sometimes that is really true. Many children are ahead of their peer group in one way or another. For instance, if your child learns how to play the guitar at a very young age he or she may be gifted musically.
Pay attention to your child and you will notice that some skill sets are stronger than others. However — just because a child is struggling with one aspect of education it does not mean that he or she is of a lower intelligence.
In fact the only real way to figure out what unique gifts and talents your child has is to spend as much quality time with him or her as possible. This not only strengthens a loving bond between you but it also helps you personally assess where you think your child's weaknesses are so you can try and enhance them before any IQ test is administered to him or her.
Children who are talked to from an early age learn to talk and read faster than those left on their own. This means that they will do much better on an IQ test because it is in essence a literacy test.
This is why you should make a conscious effort to talk to your child as much as possible. You might think that talking to a newborn is a waste of time but that is a fallacy. The only way an infant can learn is through the mimicking of speech.
One approach is to simply and consistently describe what it is you are doing. For instance if you are bathing the baby say, 'Now we are taking a bath!' If you are feeding he or she go – 'Now we are having dinner.' This keeps the baby engaged, attentive and learning about life.
Describing each and every little action to a baby goes a long way to helping him or her identify things, develop logic and understand sequences of events. In fact the ability to string sequential thoughts is vital for any child's mental development over the long term.

Parenting Tips
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