When Your Girl Wants to Be Like Barbie

It can be dismaying to hear from your little girl that she wants to look just like Barbie. She is not exactly a feminist icon. However she is not such a bad role model if you want to look at Barbie in terms of being a mover and a shaker who is motivated and practices good hygiene. In fact you can use the example of Barbie to teach your little girl about how to look good.

For instance, to look like Barbie your little girl has to have long hair. You can use the example of how well-cared for Barbie's hair must be to get so long and shiny. This helps teach your girl to wash, condition, comb out and style her own hair. There are also products you can buy that make hair shiny that are not toxic and that your child can simply smooth on her hair.

One thing to keep noting about Barbie is how clean she is. Tell her that Barbie takes a shower every day and brushes her teeth. She always washes her face and hangs up her clothes at the end of the day. Make your little girl feel the need to be organized in order to look good.

You can also teach your child how to put on sunscreen so she can have unblemished skin like Barbie. It is also a nice idea to teach your little girls how to moisturize or oil their skin after a bath so they can have smooth skin like Barbie too.

Barbie also gives your child a lot of ideas about how to wear make-up. Buy the bright oranges and pinks and the blue or green eye shadows that Barbie wears so she can identify with her look. A powder puff with translucent powder can also help your kid look fantastic. Most little girls who get to wear make-up like this become very happy.

You can also buy special make-up kits for younger girls that have the brand name Barbie on them. This prevents your child from making herself up to look like a whore. Older girls can shop with you for Barbie like colors so they learn how to buy make-up. If your kid is too young to wear lipstick you can buy them tinted lip balm.

Most Barbies have pink or coral colored nail polish on their fingers. You can spend quality time with your little girl by taking the time to apply nail polish with her.

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Get Rid of Gluten

If your kids have energy problems, stomach aches or other physical problems then consider getting rid of the gluten in their diet. Gluten can also make an otherwise healthy kid obese.

Gluten is also not great for moms either. It can cause cravings, colitis and belly blot Gluten is, in fact the source of most ongoing digestive problems causing everything from gas to bloating to irritable bowel syndrome. Just cutting out gluten has been known to make the body healthier within days.

Gluten is the key component in most types of bread, and it’s found in a number of grains—namely wheat, rye, and barley. It is part protein, part starch or carbohydrate.

We generally think of gluten as being only in bread and pasta, but in fact it is now widely used in processed foods, with negative consequences to many people’s overall health. It’s important to check labels and read ingredients carefully.

Other names for gluten include: modified food starch (though this sometimes refers to corn on a food label), hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, textured vegetable protein, and, of course, wheat.

The rule of thumb is that the more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is that these ingredients will show up on the labels.

Gluten is often present in:
• Bagels
• Beer
• Bread and bread rolls
• Cake
• Cookies
• Couscous
• Crackers
• Deli meats (which are heavily processed)
• Flour, including wheat, spelt, semolina, and rye
• Muffins
• Noodles
• Pancakes
• Pasta
• Pizza Sauces (often thickened with flour)

There are gluten-free versions of these products available made from beans, rice, corn, nuts, soy, and potatoes.

Gluten is not a naturally occurring protein in the human body. In fact, some researchers call gluten protein a toxin.

How could something that we eat so much of be classified as a toxin? Some studies suggest that gluten damages the small intestine and allows food proteins to be released into the body, and the immune system then interprets these proteins as invasive and goes into high gear to defend itself.

In other words, you get an overblown immune response. This kind of immune response can possibly contribute to or mimic diseases like lupus, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

Problems with digesting gluten can also cause headaches, asthma, skin rashes and hives, weight gain and/or loss, bloating, fatigue, and behavioral problems such as depression.

At the most harmful end of the spectrum is celiac disease. Commonly thought of as an allergy, it is actually an immune-system response to gluten.

Gluten can be hard to avoid. Just do the best you can!

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