Category: Healthy Living

Want your kid to grow up with beautiful pearly white teeth? Teaching good dental habits now will help your kids to continue these habits later in life. It’s also important to make sure their toothbrush and toothpaste are suitable, and that they’re getting the dental treatment they need. Below are 7 tips that will help you to keep your kids’ teeth healthy.

Restrict their sugar consumption

Kids that consume too much sugar are more likely to develop cavities. Make sure that your children aren’t living on soft drinks and candy. By making sugar a treat, you can reduce the chance of your kids developing dental disease. 

Monitor their brushing routine

Do your kids brush their teeth morning and night? And do they spend enough time brushing their teeth? It’s important to keep monitoring your kids as they brush their teeth – ideally until the age of 8. You don’t have to brush their teeth for them, but you should be making sure they’re spending two minutes brushing and doing a thorough job. If kids tend to rush brushing their teeth, consider putting on a timer or brushing to music to motivate them. 

Make sure they’re using the right toothpaste

Kids require different fluoride levels as they get older. You should be careful of giving young kids adult toothpaste too early as the high fluoride levels may damage any milk teeth they still have. Similarly, make sure older kids aren’t using fluoride-free toothpaste for young kids – it may taste nicer, but it won’t be cleaning their teeth properly.

Know when to replace their toothbrush

Toothbrushes should be replaced every three months. Don’t let your child continue to use the same toothbrush – especially if the bristles are visibly damaged – as it will no longer be providing efficient cleaning. If your child uses an electric toothbrush, you should similarly make sure that electric brush heads are regularly changed. 

Get them into flossing early

Flossing can help to get rid of any plaque debris stuck between teeth – further helping to prevent cavities. Get your kids into flossing from an early age so that it becomes a normal part of their dental routine. You can buy dental floss that is designed for kids. 

Book regular dental check-ups

It’s important to sign up your kids with a family dental practice and go for check-ups at least once per year. Regular dental check-ups will be able to identify dental problems early so that they can be treated before they become too serious. Don’t wait until your child has a toothache or visible decay to book an appointment.

Know when to look into orthodontic treatment

Many kids eventually get braces fitted to straighten their teeth. This could be particularly worthwhile if your child has very misaligned teeth that make brushing properly difficult. Nowadays there are various different forms of orthodontic treatment to explore including traditional metal braces, lingual braces and clear aligners like Invisalign. The best form of orthodontic treatment may depend on how misaligned your kid’s teeth are and what treatment they prefer.

We’re starting to come down on the peak growth months for most gardeners in the northern hemisphere, as the weather’s likely to become cooler and wetter, except for a few late heatwaves. While you might feel like your rest can finally begin, fall can require just as much clean-up up and next year, you have to do it all over again. If you feel like you’re ready to quit, rather than letting the wilds reclaim your garden, how about making it much easier to take care, instead? Here, we’ll look at a few ways you can do just that.

Choose Low-Maintenance Plants

If you want to avoid all the work that comes with nurturing a plant through all manner of challenges, then pick plants that already thrive in your climate and soil type. From native species to drought-resistant varieties, there are plenty of plants that require less watering, less fertilizing, and less pest control, and are much better at adapting to changes in the seasons. Aside from good low-maintenance plants, you may want to consider perennials, which can return year after year without you having to replant. By planning your plant selection strategically, you can avoid the constant upkeep that high-maintenance flowers and vegetables require. The right mix of hardy, resilient plants will help your garden look vibrant with much less effort over the long term.

Use Mulch To Stay On Top Of The Weeds

If you’re sick and tired of having to get on your hands and knees to weed, then you can at least reduce how much ground you have to cover by investing a little time and energy into mulching at the start of the year. A good layer of organic mulch, such as shredded bark or compost, helps prevent weed seeds from germinating by blocking sunlight. It also retains soil moisture, meaning less frequent watering. Over time, mulch breaks down and enriches the soil, reducing the need for additional fertilizers. All you have to do is apply mulch around your flowers, shrubs, and vegetable beds, replacing it at the start of the next year, and you can spend a lot less time weeding.

Streamline Your Cleanup With The Right Tools

Taking care of your garden can be time-consuming, especially when it comes to the cleanup. Debris, leaves, branches, and grass clippings can take literal hours to rake or sweep. Using efficient tools like a leaf blower instead can help you keep your flower beds, lawn, patios, and pathways clean without disturbing mulch or damaging your plants. There are models that come with vacuums and mulchers, as well, helping you cut even more steps out of the cleanup process. Other tools, such as cordless trimmers and a garden cart, can make your routine garden upkeep much, much easier.

Make It A Family Affair

If you’re stuck out there, taking care of the garden alone, while your family is none the wiser about how much work you’re putting out, it might be time to make it a collaborative affair. Sharing garden duties among family members can turn maintenance into a collaborative activity rather than a solitary burden. Gardening can become a family activity; just make sure that you’re assigning tasks in a way that’s age-appropriate. Younger kids can be taught to collect fallen leaves and water plants, while the adults should do anything that requires potentially dangerous tools. Teenagers can be taught to use the lawn mower and leaf blower, as well. A schedule that assigns tasks to each family member and going out to do it together can help break the chore of managing your garden into a much easier joint effort.

Install An Irrigation System

One of the biggest time-wasting activities required to keep your garden healthy is watering by hand. Rather than having to stand out there with a hose, making sure that you get every inch of the garden, consider installing an automated irrigation system, whether it’s a drip setup, soaker hoses, or sprinklers. Drip irrigation is particularly efficient, delivering water directly to the roots where it’s needed most. This reduces water waste and discourages weeds. Timers can ensure consistent watering, even when you’re away. You can adjust the system as the seasons change, too, allowing you to keep up with changing plant needs without having to keep an eye on them constantly.

Design The Garden For Easy Access

The layout of the garden itself can make a big difference when it comes to how much work, exactly, it requires. Arrange beds and pathways so that every plant is within easy reach without stepping on the soil, which compacts it and makes upkeep harder. Adding a raised bed or two can be even more helpful, as they improve drainage and help you better control your planting areas, which can prevent overgrowth and weed issues from being quite as common. If you group plants that have similar care needs close to one another, then you can prune, water, and fertilize much more quickly, as well, rather than constantly having to adjust your approach as you work.

Break It Down By Season

Having a pre-determined, seasonal schedule that outlines what you have to do and when makes it a lot easier to give your garden the work that it needs, when it needs it, instead of letting it all build up until you have a huge chore to take care of. For example, in early spring, focus on soil prep, pruning, and mulching. In late fall, concentrate on leaf removal, tool cleaning, and protecting plants for winter. Having a predictable routine helps you stay organized and ensures your garden gets consistent attention without constant daily effort. You don’t have to get out there every day, nor do you have to wait until it becomes a huge effort. Routine, scheduled maintenance keeps things light and easy.

If you want to keep your garden neat, it’s going to take some work. If you want to keep it neat and low-maintenance, it’s going to take some smarts. Start with the ideas above and see how you get on.

We live in a world that is constantly putting us under pressure for one reason or another. Our lives have pretty much become like a race towards success, or towards making ends meet, and taking care of our health in the process can be rather difficult. Especially when it comes to mental health. It is, therefore, important for us all to understand when it may be time for us to see a psychologist or a therapist, and thus find better ways to cope.

Perhaps this could help you choose a professional: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jan/09/how-to-find-the-right-therapist 

The good thing is that the world is changing a bit in this regard. Meaning that people are no longer ashamed to ask for help when they are struggling psychologically. We are increasingly realizing that asking for help doesn’t equate to being weak, and that it is sometimes the strongest move that a person can make. And we are also encouraging people around us to do the same thing, often setting an example when we start seeing a psychologist or a therapist ourselves.

Hopefully, there will come a time when people will completely understand the importance of taking care of their mental health, and the importance of seeing professionals that can help them with that. After all, if we have a pain in our chest, we are sure to go see a doctor, and we should have the same attitude when it comes to seeing psychologists and therapists for our mental health struggles. Anyway, I believe that we have come a long way already, and that we’ve made great progress in raising awareness on this topic, which should encourage more people to seek for help when they need it.

But, the tricky part sometimes, and for some people, is actually understanding when they may need help. In other words, you could be struggling a bit, but you could be under the impression that you don’t really need to see a psychologist. So, you may be wondering when it is that you should actually see one of these professionals. Let me, thus, tell you more about that. Maybe you can read more about it on this page as well.

When Should You See a Psychologist?

A common misconception nowadays is that you have to be in an acute crisis in order to see a psychologist, or a therapist, or a psychiatrist for that matter. All different professions, but definitely intertwined, as these experts often work together to provide the patients with the best possible care. As mentioned, though, this is a misconception, because you don’t have to wait until you are in a crisis to actually contact one of these pros and get help.

Sure, psychological counselling, or psychotherapy, can be highly beneficial during those moments of crisis. But, the truth is that those services can be rather helpful outside the crisis as well. For one thing, they can help you get to know yourself better, understand your functioning, your defense mechanisms, and help you improve the areas that need improvement. And then, they can also be a preventative tool, helping you learn how to cope with some stressful situations without them overwhelming you. Put simply, in addition to helping you overcome crises, these services can also be preventative, as well as growth-oriented.

Let us now get a bit more concrete. For starters, if you have been feeling sad or hopeless for a while now, that could be a sign of an underlying mental health condition, such as depression. Of course, you don’t need to really be able to recognize if you’re, say, depressed, but you do need to admit to yourself that you’re not feeling well. And, you do need to get help from the professionals I’ve mentioned in such a case.

Furthermore, if you have relationship problems, or you’re having a hard time dealing with some major life changes, a psychologist, or a therapist, can provide you with some helpful insights, and thus help you look at things from a different perspective. Of course, during those times, they will also provide you with a safe space, supporting you and helping you regain stability.

Now, if you have some more serious mental health problems or disorders, you could also benefit from seeing these professionals. Often times, however, psychiatrists may need to be involved as well, to further help stabilize you. When comparing a psychologist to a psychiatrist, you will realize that both of them play a role in helping you get better and maintain your health. Thus, working with both of these experts can often be the right thing to do.

How to Choose One?

If you’ve decided to start seeing a psychologist, the next thing you’ll want to do is figure out how to choose the right one. Well, checking credentials is, naturally, the most important thing to do. And, if you want psychotherapy services, you should check if the psychologist has gained the necessary education in that field, as it’s a separate field and not all psychologists are therapists. So, ask around, get recommendations, but do your own research as well, to choose a reliable and trusted professional.