Author: Wish I Knew Before

Sharing all the (sometimes excessive) research I've done to raise my family
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What You Need to Know About a Health Savings Account (HSA)

Wish I Knew Before

Everywhere on the Internet, you will easily find the basics on health savings accounts (HSAs) about who is eligible, what the rules are, etc. However, as they say, “the devil is in the details,” both good and bad. Is an HSA right for you? Using an HSA is, in fact, a big pain in the ass. It’s not easy to manage and use it efficiently and a certain amount of administration is definitely involved. While financially beneficial, I have to view it as getting paid a decent amount of money to do some low-level administrative work.  Below are the things … Continue reading What You Need to Know About a Health Savings Account (HSA)

Allergies, General, Health, Product Research, Uncategorized, UTIsLeave a comment

Best Chinese Herbal Remedies for Medicine Cabinet

Wish I Knew Before

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been a part of my American upbringing because my parents grew up under TCM principles and philosophies. Our family healthcare approach has evolved to be a mix of both Western and Chinese medicine along with some skepticism for each of them (see “5 Reasons Not to Rely on Doctors“). However, through generations of family trial and error, we’ve come to find a few Chinese herbal remedies that are popular, commonplace, and often more effective than Western options. Here are our top Chinese herbal remedies: Best Chinese Medicine for Strains, Sprains, Bruising, and Soft Tissue Trauma: … Continue reading Best Chinese Herbal Remedies for Medicine Cabinet

General, UncategorizedLeave a comment

How to Heal Injuries Faster and Better

Wish I Knew Before

With two kids in contact sports and my own, easily injured, aging self, I’ve looked into ways to heal the body faster and more completely. I won’t ever be able to truly know whether Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) heals more quickly and/or completely since there’s no control version of me. However, I’ll do as much as I can to heal quickly, which often means doing more than just ice and rest. Below is the latest approach I’ve been using to heal soft tissue injuries – it combines ideas from recent Western sports medicine and TCM.  Don’t Use Ice on an … Continue reading How to Heal Injuries Faster and Better

Health, Myopia, UncategorizedLeave a comment

5 Tips for Reversing Myopia

Wish I Knew Before

In my experience so far with reversing myopia, I’ve learned a few things that have made a big difference for me. They’re mostly related to ways you can make this journey easier for yourself. If you’re still experimenting with reversing myopia, below are some tips you can consider, too.  #1 Use the Eye Chart Regularly Put up one or two eye charts in places that will be easy for you to use to check your vision casually and without much effort. (Get free printable eyecharts here.) This tip is actually CRITICAL because it keeps the idea of vision improvement in … Continue reading 5 Tips for Reversing Myopia

Kids, Parenting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

How to Be a Happier Parent

Wish I Knew Before

When I saw the title, “How to Be a Happier Parent” at my local library, I was curious. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to be happier! Written by KJ Dell’Antonia who is a former editor of a New York Times parenting column, the book has chapters on dealing with pain points, called: Mornings, Chores, Siblings, Sports and Activities, Homework, Screentime, Discipline, etc.   Even though it’s not the main or only message of the book, my biggest takeaway from this book is that taking care of myself will make me a happier parent. I used to poo-poo this idea when my children … Continue reading How to Be a Happier Parent

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Changing Jobs? Check the Impact to Your Medical Benefits

Wish I Knew Before

Updated as of 2/22/22 If you’re changing jobs, don’t forget to think about how to coordinate your benefits between the two jobs, so that: you’re not without coverage between the two  you maximize your benefits you minimize any forfeits in FSAs you coordinate your HSA contributions and providers (If you’re wanting to compare plans at your new job, check this post on health insurance plan comparison spreadsheets.) Below are the main things that I’ve learned to check during job changes: Fill the insurance gap between jobs If you and your partner are each insured through different employers, then whoever is … Continue reading Changing Jobs? Check the Impact to Your Medical Benefits

Education, Kids, Parenting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Raising Your Child to Be a Champion

Wish I Knew Before

Cultivate Interest – Less is More Hold Your Ground as a Parent Nurture a Second Passion  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 … Continue reading Raising Your Child to Be a Champion

Health, Uncategorized, UTIsLeave a comment

Chinese Herbal Medicine for UTIs

Wish I Knew Before

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

Wish I Knew Before

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

Food, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Goji Berry Chocolate Muffins

Wish I Knew Before

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

Updated 9/2/2021 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 … Continue reading How to Raise Good Eaters

Allergies, Food, Health, KidsLeave a comment

We Can Stop Food Allergies from Developing

Wish I Knew Before

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, Kids, MyopiaLeave a comment

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

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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

Education, Kids, Parenting, Product Research, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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

Reduce Your 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 Reduce Your 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