C’mon get happy

Want your children to be cheerful, optimistic and resilient? Some suggestions from Parents magazine for helping them live on the bright side:

• Make little moments count. Instead of blasting the alarm or nagging her to get up every morning, initiate a wake-up routine of two hugs, three kisses and four tickles.
• Pass the paints. Exposing your little one to the arts — painting, music, dance and more — gives him a creative outlet and a chance to express his emotions.
• Get moving. Exercise does a body — and mind — good. Regular physical activity helps kids relieve stress and causes their brains to release mood-boosting endorphins.

Airing out the house? Keep an eye on the kids

Springtime means fresh air through open windows, but be especially vigilant if you have young children.

Every year, about 18 children aged 10 and under die from falls through windows, and nearly 5,000 are injured.

Don’t depend on window screens to prevent children from falling through an open window, says Seana Tamisea, injury prevention program manager at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Screens can easily give way under a child’s weight, so adult supervision is essential.

Tamisea recommends that parents consider installing window guards, available at hardware stores, on all windows that are not emergency exits. Move any furniture, chairs or beds away from windows to prevent a child from climbing on them to reach the window.

Most importantly, teach window safety and model safe behaviors, such as not sitting on open window ledges.

‘Finicky’ is no excuse

Here’s an interesting take on the argument that some kids just don’t like healthy foods, from Men’s Health magazine:

“You never hear a parent say, ‘My child doesn’t like to look both ways before he crosses the street.’ They tell him to do it,” says David Katz, an associate clinical professor of epidemiology and public health at the Yale medical school. “They should do the same thing with dangerous foods.

“More of today’s kids will die of complications from bad foods they eat than they will from tobacco, drugs and alcohol.”