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Raising Your Child to Be a Champion

Wish I Knew Before

The title of my recent read is a bit misleading for its true value – bold letters state “Raising Your Child to be a Champion” and in smaller letters, “in Athletics, Arts, and Academics.” This seemingly trite, short, and simple parenting book is authored by Wayne Bryan, the father of the Bryan twins, who grew up to be world doubles champions in men’s tennis. There’s not much scientific evidence backed strategies, but instead, refreshingly straightforward, actionable ideas from a dad who found success with his approach and philosophy. I liked a lot of his practical advice, and I find myself … Continue reading Raising Your Child to Be a Champion

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Free Printable Eye Charts

Wish I Knew Before

Since I started trying to reverse my myopia and control my child’s myopia progression, I’ve found eye charts to be handy. During the pandemic with distance learning and increase in computer use, I have used eye charts as a way to check my kids’ vision regularly. However, I’ve also found that those sneaky kids have memorized the eye charts so it’s harder for me to check their vision accurately! So below I’ve included links to the best free printable eye charts that I found online as well as links to some eye charts that I can customize.  Standard charts typically … Continue reading Free Printable Eye Charts

Education, Health, Health Insurance, Product Research, Uncategorized4 Comments
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Health Insurance Plan Comparison Spreadsheets

Wish I Knew Before

Updated June 1, 2021 Changing jobs? Open enrollment? Recently, we were choosing between a variety of health insurance plans. Before I thought to look online, I had already made my own, but I guess that’s all well and good because it was a nice, eye-opening experience to think through the ridiculous rules of each of the health insurance plans myself. Even the plan representatives barely understand the rules.  Later on, I found a few different health plans spreadsheets online that I thought were helpful and collected the links below. There are also various calculators and comparison widgets on health websites, … Continue reading Health Insurance Plan Comparison Spreadsheets

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Got Body Odor? And Will Your Child, Too?

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I’d been sniffing the hair on my children’s heads – yes, moms do that. And found that they smell very different. I can’t even describe the smell though – one like vanilla soup and the other like citrus tea. That got me wondering what they might smell like as teenagers and then adults. Would my deliciously smelling kids become stinky people with various body odors? Would I need to arm them with deodorants? Was I going to need to do a 3 week research project on finding the best, non-toxic deodorants?  I’ve noticed that men and women and folks of … Continue reading Got Body Odor? And Will Your Child, Too?

General, Health, Kids, Parenting, Uncategorized1 Comment
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To Ice or Not to Ice (Injuries)?

Wish I Knew Before

Updated as of 5/7/2021 My child sprained an ankle and immediately, every well-meaning person around us kept at us with ice, and more ice. The day after the injury, our sporty, super-fit friends quizzed me, double-checking that we were continuing to ice the ankle. All this emphasis on ice gave me pause, because in traditional Chinese medicine (whose philosophy I have followed growing up), ice is never used for an injury. These opposing views sent me running to Google.   It turns out that recent research suggests icing an injury may not be the best way to heal an injury. In fact, … Continue reading To Ice or Not to Ice (Injuries)?

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Minimalist, Athletic Shoes for Kids

Wish I Knew Before

In another post, I wrote about how I decided to lean towards minimalist footwear for my kids and for myself. Well, I didn’t realize that finding children’s minimalist, athletic footwear (and there are definitely degrees of minimalism here) would be so difficult! In fact, most popular brands had very thick soles and were heavy. Others were too rigid and narrow, particularly in the toebox, and even others also had positive inclines, so much that I was effectively putting my child in a slight heel. None of those made any sense to me and yet those were the majority that I … Continue reading Minimalist, Athletic Shoes for Kids

Allergies, Health, Kids, Parenting, Uncategorized1 Comment
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10+ Things to Know About OIT for Food Allergies

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Recently, we decided to have our children try oral immunotherapy (OIT) for nuts. OIT is just one of many treatment options emerging. This was a huge, agonizing decision for us and we went back and forth several times for months before we finally committed. Read this post, “Stopping OIT at One Nut,” for where we are with OIT today. My takeaway This post is a summary of the key information (but a long list, nevertheless) that I found helpful in making our decision and knowing what to expect once we started OIT. I gathered it through reading online resources, quizzing … Continue reading 10+ Things to Know About OIT for Food Allergies

Dental Health, Health, Kids, ParentingLeave a comment
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Kids and Teeth Brushing (Q & A)

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I was wondering how important it was to personally brush my kids’ teeth, especially since they have the black stain problem, but also because I HATE brushing their teeth, and the process of yelling at them to come to the bathroom, and getting them to stand still, so I can brush their teeth. I was really hoping to find out that I don’t need to brush my kids teeth anymore. Instead, I just found way more than I had planned to know.  #1 Up to what age should you help brush your child’s teeth? My own dentist claims that I … Continue reading Kids and Teeth Brushing (Q & A)

Health, Uncategorized, UTIsLeave a comment

Chinese Herbal Medicine for UTIs

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You may have tried a lot of different things to treat UTIs by now (e.g. D-mannose, garlic, cranberry, oregano, etc.). We certainly have, and have battled UTIs for 10 years without lasting success. In yet another bid to avoid antibiotics which cause all kinds of issues, I’ve looked into how Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) might help. Since both my kids seemed to resolve their problems (cough-variant asthma and clammy/sweaty hands respectively) with a tailored course of CHM, we decided to try Chinese herbal medicine to treat UTIs as well. In this post, I share a list of formulas I found … Continue reading Chinese Herbal Medicine for UTIs

Allergies, General, Health, Health Insurance, Product Research, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Find the Lowest Price for EpiPens

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We have food allergies and we need to carry around EpiPens. But we also don’t have spectacular health insurance, so below is a rundown of the options I went through. My takeaway is that if you can’t get an EpiPen or EpiPen alternative for free, you should only pay in the range of $5-low $100s in the U.S. #1 Health Insurance When we had excellent health insurance, I was able to buy a pack of two generic EpiPens for as little as $30. I’ve also seen online that some people have health insurance that can bring the cost down to … Continue reading Find the Lowest Price for EpiPens

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Goji Berry Chocolate Muffins

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This is a muffin that is like a chocolate cupcake, mixed with some goji berries and whole wheat that make you feel like it’s slightly healthier. Goji berries are a bittersweet berry that are supposedly a superfood.  We normally snack on them or put them in chrysanthemum tea, but I wanted to give the kids a little variety in how we get this superfood, so I made Goji Berry Chocolate Muffins. Ingredients Makes 12 muffins / cupcakes 1 ¼  cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup whole wheat flour ½ cup cacao powder 2 tbsp cornstarch (optional – I added this to … Continue reading Goji Berry Chocolate Muffins

Education, Food, Health, Kids, Parenting4 Comments

How to Raise Good Eaters

Wish I Knew Before

Feeding our children in this day and age is challenging – unhealthy food is too readily available and social norms of accommodating children can cultivate picky eaters. As parents, we’re met with a plethora of feedback from grandparents, pediatricians, parenting books, media, peers, societal norms, and social pressures and expectations.   My kids, ages and 7 and 9, are good eaters, in the sense that they eat a wide variety of foods (meats, vegetables, grains), and will try new foods. Some of this may be luck, but it’s also due to habits. There are constant “turning points” in their eating … Continue reading How to Raise Good Eaters

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We Can Stop Food Allergies from Developing

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It may be too late for my children in some respect, but it seems there are more things that we now know about how food allergies develop that would have COMPLETELY changed the way we approached our kids’ diets at birth. If you’re concerned about your baby or child possibly developing allergies, below are some things you should absolutely consider. Actually, there are an increasing number of individuals who are developing allergies as adults, so it’s worth taking a read below even if you’re no spring chicken.  Food Allergy Epidemic   First, some statistics that I came across recently – according … Continue reading We Can Stop Food Allergies from Developing

General, Health, Myopia, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Eye Massage and Eye Acupressure Points for Myopia

Wish I Knew Before

I reviewed some online literature on eye massage to add to my repertoire of things to try for slowing / reversing myopia. As an acupressure layman, I found the acupressure points and techniques seemed to vary just enough from site to site to confuse me initially. Finally, I cobbled together some basics.  (Note: there are also eye exercises and acupressure points on other parts of the body that directly affect the eyes. I think I will have to review those thoroughly another time.) My basic takeaway The theory is that eye massage improves the blood circulation to the eyes and … Continue reading Eye Massage and Eye Acupressure Points for Myopia

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Reversing Myopia – One Year Update

Wish I Knew Before

It has been about one year since I began trying to reverse myopia and I am relatively encouraged by the results after visiting the optometrist to validate my progress. If you’re new to trying to reduce your myopia, check out this post first:  Going off of the contact lens prescription, my right eye improved by -1.00 diopter. My left eye improved by -1.25 diopters.  Going off of the spectacle prescription, both my eyes improved by about -0.50 diopters (SPH), and neither eye needs astigmatism correction -0.50 (CYL) to see 20/20.  I read on this post that the average rate of … Continue reading Reversing Myopia – One Year Update

Allergies, Food, Health, MyopiaLeave a comment

Chrysanthemum and Goji Berries Tea Recipe for the Eyes

Wish I Knew Before

Are you trying to bolster your eye health? In our family, we are definitely doing what we can to strengthen the eyes. At any given time, members of our family will have red and/or itchy eyes, dry eye, or blurry / myopic vision. While we use artificial tears and allergy eye drops, we also do what we can to help address the root cause. In traditional Chinese medicine, chrysanthemum (菊花, ju hua) is the go to herb for clearing and strengthening the liver which is apparently closely tied to our eye health, among other things. While there are extracts and … Continue reading Chrysanthemum and Goji Berries Tea Recipe for the Eyes

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My Favorite Free Printables

Wish I Knew Before

Since the pandemic began, I’ve been supplementing home learning for the kids here and there. I’ve found a few free printables that we really like – because they print well, and have an interface that is easy to use. (There are a lot of interactive sites that can supplement learning as well, but with all the Zoom and other digital resources that the schools are requiring the children to use, I’m trying to dial it back and reduce screen time for the kids.)  Here’s a running list in the various categories of what I’ve found and used: Favorite Free Math … Continue reading My Favorite Free Printables

Allergies, Health, Kids, Parenting, Product Research, UncategorizedLeave a comment

4 Ways to Reduce Allergies Naturally

Wish I Knew Before

Maybe Zyrtec doesn’t work for you lately or perhaps you don’t like its side effects. Personally, I fear that we don’t know much about the long-term use of these “safe” OTC antihistamines for allergy relief. Instead, I’m hoping to treat my sneezing family as naturally as possible. Below are some of the things that I’ve been reading about (and in some cases, trying out): 1. Avoid Antibiotics as Much as Possible Scientists are increasingly looking at an imbalance in the microbiome as the root cause of many of the problems we have with our immune systems not working properly. These … Continue reading 4 Ways to Reduce Allergies Naturally

Allergies, Health, Parenting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

7 Ways to Reduce Physical Exposure to Environmental Allergens

Wish I Knew Before

I try to avoid the use of allergy medications as much as possible, so I’ve tested out a variety of non-medical ways to reduce my family’s environmental allergic reactions to tree pollens, grass pollens, and dust mites. Here are the things that we do that seem to have helped in order of suspected effectiveness. 1) Run the air purifier We have serious dust mite allergies, so I run an air purifier on high in my children’s carpeted bedroom about 1 hour before their bedtime, then I switch it to low for the remainder of the night. We’ve been told to … Continue reading 7 Ways to Reduce Physical Exposure to Environmental Allergens

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Simple Dang Gui Soup or Tea Recipe

Wish I Knew Before

As I mentioned before, dang gui (angelica sinensis, 当归) soup is my go-to Chinese herbal tonic for whenever I have any issues that I suspect may be remotely related to blood, circulation, or hormones. Men can benefit from this tonic in the same way, too. Whenever I drink it, I feel revitalized and relaxed at the same time, helping my sleep and energy. I swear by it, and so do 2,200+ years of traditional Chinese medicine. (Whenever I think about how Western medicine would never suggest this as a simple remedy because it’s not evidence-based, I’m frustrated by how many … Continue reading Simple Dang Gui Soup or Tea Recipe

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Keeping Produce and Cheese Fresh

Wish I Knew Before

It’s probably obvious why I’ve been researching how to make fresh food last as long as possible (not including freezing, pickling, cooking, etc.). In an effort to go grocery shopping just once every two weeks, I’ve discovered my Achilles heel in my desire for fresh produce. Below are the methods I’ve found so far for some fresh food that I recently bought. How to store cucumbers as long as possible I found conflicting opinions. Epicurious says to clean, dry, and wrap them in a dry paper towel, tucked inside a plastic bag. However, kitchn.com begs to differ. Its writer says … Continue reading Keeping Produce and Cheese Fresh

Education, Kids, Parenting, Uncategorized3 Comments

Revisiting “13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do”

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During this time of “shelter in place,” I’m tempted to give myself a bigger break than usual when it comes to parenting. Then I remember two things: one, we don’t know how long we’re going to be dealing with this, if this is, in fact, the “new normal,” and two, if I relax my parenting now, I might be giving myself more work for later to fix habits I’ve undone in a couple of weeks (screen time, anyone?). So to help me stay “strong,” I’m falling back on some great guidance I once found in “13 Things Mentally Strong Parents … Continue reading Revisiting “13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do”

Education, General, Health, Kids, Parenting8 Comments

Lessons Learned in the Time of Coronavirus

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I’m home with my family this morning, following guidelines for self-isolation and social distancing. It is so surreal, but here are the actionable items that I’ve learned so far from living in the time of coronavirus. Most of us will survive the coronavirus, and this is why these learnings are important to me. #1 Respond at the first hint of trouble, not at panic time Determining what constitutes as “the first hint of trouble” is open to debate, but I will say that I responded somewhere in the middle between “the first hint of trouble” and “panic time.”  I went … Continue reading Lessons Learned in the Time of Coronavirus

Allergies, Health, Kids, Parenting, Uncategorized7 Comments

Stopping OIT at One Nut

Wish I Knew Before

I have to take my mind off coronavirus somehow, so I thought I would provide the latest update on our experience with oral immunotherapy for food allergies.  We’re done for now We have stopped oral immunotherapy updosing, after having reached a dose of 1 whole nut for each child (see why in the section below, “New information since we started OIT”). So now we are entering maintenance phase at a daily peanut for one child and a daily cashew for the other. Our allergist said that after about 3 months on the 1 nut dose, they would be protected from … Continue reading Stopping OIT at One Nut

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5 Tips for Dealing with Health Insurance

Wish I Knew Before

I’m still on my health insurance rant. How many ways can the health insurance system screw you? If you’re a health insurance user, chances are you’ve been scammed, duped, or basically not given the coverage that you paid for because the health insurance system in this country has been intentionally/unintentionally designed to make sure that you won’t know how to use it and getting enough reliable information to avoid costly errors is practically impossible. (Help fight this by choosing the most cost-effective health insurance for you with some of these comparison spreadsheets.) Here are five things I’ve learned about when … Continue reading 5 Tips for Dealing with Health Insurance