Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

How to Recover from Surgery When Raising Kids

Facing Surgery? How do You Recover When Kids Need You?


Surgery isn’t often a choice, it's a necessity. However, the procedure and recovery period can affect your everyday life when you're a parent. After all, experiencing plenty of rest doesn’t always come easy when caring for children. If you're set to undergo surgery and want to be back on your feet as soon as possible, here are some handy tips on how to recover from surgery when raising kids.

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How to Recover from Surgery When Raising Kids


Follow Your Doctor’s Instructions
After surgery, a doctor will provide you with various instructions on how to make a swift recovery, such as avoiding baths and swimming, or not lifting anything heavier than ten pounds. You know the drill, take it easy.
It's essential to follow his or her orders, which means not lifting your children up or carrying heavy loads of washing. If you fail to follow their orders, don’t be surprised if you need to return to hospital. Avoid lifting up heavy objects by having people help you around the house. Your kids can help too!

Attend All Follow-Up Appointments
Many patients fail to attend their follow-up appointments, as they might believe the worst is over. However, even if your wound is healing and you're feeling better each day, you must still attend each appointment set.
While it might stand in the way of cooking a homemade meal or a relaxed day with your children, a doctor will need to review your wound to check the incision is healing well and there are no signs of infection. They also might need to order follow-up blood work and identify if the surgery successfully treated the condition.
If, however, a doctor fails to schedule follow-up appointments, and you experienced an infection or impairment as a result, this will be viewed as inadequate care and you would be wise to turn to The Medical Negligence Experts to make a claim.

Prevent Infection
Every patient is at serious risk of developing an infection following surgery. Signs of an infection can include:
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Redness
  • Pain/soreness
  • Pus or drainage
  • An unpleasant smell from a wound
You can, however, prevent the problem by thoroughly washing your hands before touching an incision wound.

Enjoy a Healthy Diet
It's common for people to go off food after a surgical procedure, as they might feel constipated or nauseous. However, if you want to make a swift recovery for your children, you must eat a healthy diet and stay hydrated, as both will:
  • Promote healing
  • Alleviate anesthesia side effects
  • Reduce common complications
Remember, your body needs fuel for energy, so get back onto your feet by eating three meals a day and drinking eight glasses of water.

Walk

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pneumonia are both common complications after surgery. You can, however, reduce their likelihood by walking every hour or two, but talk to your doctor before embarking on any exercise. Walking is a gentle form of physical activity that can help you to eventually return to your daily activities. However, always walk at a slow, relaxed pace and stop or sit down when necessary.

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Need to Get Out of Debt? Make it a Math Lesson!

Homeschool Math: Steps to Get out of Debt 


If you're a busy family trying to make ends meet, you've probably struggled with debt at one time or another. A plan to get out of debt makes a excellent homeschool math lesson for your kids. Don't hide the struggle from them, but don't frighten them with all of the gory details either. If you need to get out of debt, you need a plan. The steps to get out of debt look different for everyone. Everyone has different debt, different income, and a different set of life issues. Talk about a family budget with your kids and then follow the steps below to get out of debt. Everyone working together toward the same goal is the first step on your debt free journey.


Need to Get Out of Debt? Make it a Math Lesson!


Debt to Income Ratio Calculator

You may want to take the steps to get out of debt if you are in the market for a new home. In this case, you'll want to start with a debt to income ratio calculator. Seeing it all laid out before you eyes puts it all in perspective. Where can you save, how can you improve your credit score, and how much money you will need to save. These questions can be overwhelming because the often contradict each other. To buy a new house, you'll want to pay down your debt, but you'll also want to save for a down payment for your home. Which should you do first? How long will it all take? This makes for a relevant and useful homeschool MATH LESSON. Wells Fargo offers instructions on how to figure your debt to income ratio and a free debt to income ratio calculator to check your work. Here's another debt free calculator from CNN.

Credit Score

Start with a credit app like Credit Karma. These aren't completely accurate, but they give you good idea of where you stand in the world of credit scores. You'll also see any negative marks against you. The big credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, allow you to check your scores and dispute anything that you find in error. Sometimes, you might find duplicates or items assigned to you that really belong to someone else. In this case, you'll want to speak to a legal firm that can quickly help you sort it all out. You can do it yourself, but it's much easier to pay for a service to do it for you. Lexington Law is inexpensive and gets the job done quickly and efficiently. You'll want to give yourself at least 3 months of the service (depending on how much work needs done.) They tend to work on one credit reporting agency at a time. It's fun and rewarding to watch your credit score improve. You'll also see weekly dips that will let you know where you need to cut back or do better.

Debt Consolidation

Another option is debt consolidation. This is a great option for people who are overwhelmed by debt collectors calling, sending letters, and generally harassing you for payments. This can make anyone crazy. If you use a service to consolidate your debt, they'll set up a monthly payment and take care of notifying debtors and paying your debts each month. Many people feel overwhelmed at the amount of bills they have to pay and can't keep on top of it all without getting late fees. Rather than paying the debt collectors, some people put their head in the sand and do nothing. This, of course, ruins your credit and your chance for a car or a home in you future. So, if you have difficulty keeping organized letting the professionals deal with your debtors may be the best option for you. You also might want to check into these debt relief services.

Budget

It's better to come up with a long term plan that you can manage than to declare bankruptcy or ignore your obligations. A budget is a great way to stay on top of things. Teaching your kids how you budget the bills is a fun way to teach them about finances. Young adults are often surprised at the cost of utilities and groceries and don't plan for these things when they go to rent or buy a new home. Keep a worksheet of your weekly and monthly expenses on the fridge and let your kids see how that new video games fits into the bigger picture. Get a free printable household budget worksheet pdf.

You can open a child's bank account and connect it to your own. Our bank, sent the kids their own ATM cards for their accounts. I can easily move money from my account to theirs or vice versa if they've earned enough to buy the latest video game. If you aren't comfortable with that, there's nothing like a good old fashioned piggy bank or giant glass bottle to see your pennies adding up while saving for that big item.

So, make it a family affair. There's no better homeschool math lesson than the life lessons based on real life events. The more kids know about the real world, the better they will be able to navigate it as young adults.


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Quotes about Recycling: Lora's Law #6

Lora's Law #6: Quote to Share on Facebook

Recycling is so important. Is it more important than a clean vehicle? If you recycle, but rarely make it to the recycling bin, this quote is perfect to share on Facebook. Lora's Law #6 is all about those recyclables. Enjoy!

For Pinterest:

Quote about Recycling: Car full of trash, but kitchen isn't.
Quote about Recycling: Car full of trash, but kitchen isn't.


For Facebook:

Quotes about Recycling: Lora's Law #6
Quotes about Recycling: Lora's Law #6.

Lora's Law Number Six:

"Be happy the recyclables made it to the car. People may think your trunk is full of trash, but at least your kitchen isn't."

I recycle. My city doesn't. Maybe they do. If so, it isn't free. 

Recycling freed me from the inevitable fate of becoming a hoarder. I feel like recycling isn't throwing precious memories away it is allowing them to have a new life.

Yep, I couldn't part with my first child's ten-year-old, Tow Mater toddler scooter, but, after awhile, I was able to recycle him. 

The idea that he didn't end up in a landfill but maybe became a new toy, comforts me.

My kids are not future recyclers. They see it as a major burden. Hello, let's get with the times and recycle all of the trash.

What about you, recycle or no?



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Inspiring and Funny Quotes

Recycle Bottles for Kids' Juice











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Laundry Facebook Quotes about Life: Lora's Law #5

Life is Hard, Quote about Laundry


Looking for Facebook quotes about life. How about the laundry? Lora's Law #5 is all about the laundry. Do you bury your room in clean clothes? Enjoy!

Laundry Facebook Quotes about Life: Lora's Law #5
Laundry Facebook Quotes about Life: Lora's Law #5.

Lora's Law Number Five:

"If you're lucky enough to get the weekly laundry washed, you won't have time to put it away. Isn't that what bedroom floors are for?"


I'm always worried someone will come into my room without my permission, and stumble over a pile of laundry. What if they think it is dirty laundry and call the hoarder police on me? 

At any given day, you will find a very nice stack and a pile (or two) of clean clothes on my bedroom floor. 

Hey, I'm a work in progress. How about you?

I'm just grateful to have clean clothes to wear.

You can guess how I feel about the archaic iron!


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ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)


Step on a Crack Break Your Mother's Back Dealing with OCD

Dealing with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) ~ "Step on a crack break your mother's back"


Living with OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Step on a crack...
My musings on life and obsessive compulsive disorder.



Sunday Food for Thought

I write with the human spirit in mind - Christians, Agnostics, Atheists, and Others:

This Sunday, I take a moment to reflect on the eccentricities of me.  Please be gracious and ignore any typos or grammatical errors today.  I will edit them later after I've had a break from writing.  Read on to learn why-

Last week my little ones and myself were baptized.  We are four, six, and forty-one.  The other members of  our family were baptized as infants in the Catholic church long before we met. They stood up for us.

I am not a religious person.  I am, however, extremely spiritual.

You might be wondering, Why?  Why haven't we been baptized yet.  Or why do it at all?

I have some peculiar answers to those questions and I have decided to share the deepest interworkings of my brain on OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I am a recovering Obsessive Compulsive. These days, it has become a popular turn of phrase.  So many people joke about it- maybe they joke because they fear it.

I expect Tom Cruise has an opinion on OCD and religion, but I digress.

Most of us can find something about ourselves that is compulsive or even obsessive.  It may be embarassing but it is unlikely that it greatly reduces the quality of your life or well-being.  My brain on OCD stifled my quality of life in many ways.

For example, as a child I had been an avid reader.  I read most of the classics by the fourth grade.  I.E.  Jane Eyre,  Wuthering Heights, Tom Sawyer, Pollyanna, Of Mice and Men, etc.  I read the Communist Manifesto in sixth grade, you get the picture. 

In college, I became incapable of reading.  I could not read the Bible, a text book, a script, or even a newspaper.  My life had changed.  I sat in class and struggled to stay awake taking explicit notes that I would not be able to study later.  I had hoped writing the information down would help my brain retain it for the test.

Before this particular OCD trait afflicted me, I made the Dean's List with a 4.0.  I was accepted into the College of Architecture and Planning.  My future looked bright.

One day, I woke up with numerous health concerns all of which grew worse with stress.  Suddenly, I could no longer read.  As I read, the words would mock me and block me from reading any further.  A simple word like 'but' was impossible to get past.  In my head, the word didn't read correctly and I'd have to read it again until it fit the right pace. 

This is difficult to explain.  It makes no sense.  As I type, I can akin it to my typing issues.

I type a sentence. I type a sentne   I type a I type a sen   I type a senten   I type a sentence.  If I catch a typo, I must immediately correct it.  I do not erase only to the misspelling.  I must erase the entire word or sentence depending on my level of stress.   Currently, that level is low.  I misspelled level like this levle.  I deleted only the last l and completed the word lev- level.  Are you with me?

This type of compulsion is frustrating.  It slows me down and takes up time, but it does not affect the quality of my life- at this time.  If I were to become obessesed with writing this post perfectly and completing it quickly, conceivably I could sit here for hours without eating lunch or dinner or cleaning the house.

Luckily, I have learned to work around these blips in my brain.  Sharing the affliction with others helps too.  Family and friends can hold me accountable.  Jokes work but shame just aggravates the disorder.  It's a very fine line.

Remember in grade school when you said, (Yes, I am talking to YOU) "Step on a crack, break your Mother's back?"  Did you step on cracks?  I remember kids jumping over them on the sidewalk, I remember other kids stomping on the cracks, still others just walked across them without thinking anything of it at all.

What did I do? I struggled.  I didn't want people to stare at me.  I didn't believe if I stepped on a crack my mother's back would immediately break.  I shut my eyes.  Sometimes, I held my breath.  I had to step over the crack to get to class.  I couldn't draw attention to myself. 

When people teased me or even just looked at me funny, I turned pomegranate.  So, I developed a pace.  Walking with my stride paced perfectly I could avoid all pre-planned cracks. If the sidewalk had cracked from the elements I could not avoid jumping or bumping into my neighbor.

As a teenager, I tried switching off my bedroom light and jumping into my bed from across the room before the light went out.  Of course, I knew this was impossible. I hoped to avoid walking on the floor in the dark.  Apparently, the monsters under my bed stayed idle until the lights were off. 

Luckily, I was a smart cookie.  I would go to bed early and read until my brother or parents came to bed then I would holler at them, "Can you please turn my light off?"  Problem solved.

OCD has nothing to do with intelligence or the ability to tell right from wrong or sanity from insanity.

Intellectually, I knew the act of stepping on a crack would not break my mother's back.  Spiritually, I believed God was watching over me.  I could pray to save her back.

But there is always that 'What if?'  What if a coincidence occured and something bad happened after I stepped on a crack?  What if something bad happened if I stepped on my floor in the dark?  Perhaps, I'd step on a spider or a mouse?  What if I read the word wrong and I failed the test?  What if I made a mistake and someone I loved died.  What if...

Coincidences are grueling.  Oprah says there are no coincidences.  Don't tell that to an OCD.  The strand of logic is broken.  If this = that, then that caused this with no relative cause to rhyme or reason.

In fourth grade, (I've discussed this before) we were given a card to fill out.  One of the questions asked for religious affiliation.  My parents never went to church, occasionally I went with an Aunt.  Distraught over the question I took it home and asked my mother what to say.  I didn't want to write n/a.  What would people think? 

"We're Christians, write that."
"We don't go to church!"
"We believe in Jesus.  That makes us Christians."
"They want to know what church we go to!  I go to different churches."
"Just, put Protestant on the line.  It will be fine."
"I don't want them to know I'm Protestant!"
"We are not Catholic.  We believe in Jesus.  You are Protestant."

I didn't exactly understand.

"I haven't been baptized. I'm not Christian."
"You've been baptized."
"When?"
"Oh, I don't know, but you've been baptized."
"Were you there?"  "How come I don't remember?"
"It was a long time ago."  "Just drop it.  I'll fill out your card."

After that, I went to church as much as I could. I had several offers to be baptized. I wanted to be baptized.  I didn't want to be a sinner.  I  had heard the stories.  But I felt my family should be there with me. I was also filled with fear.

I saw kids slammed in the head, and people immersed in creeks, and holy water splashed in faces, and hands hovered over heads...  Pastors, Preachers, Priests, Ministers, Reverends.  The only thing I didn't see was a Rabbi.

I didn't want to do something so important without my family there. 

They weren't coming.  People, asking me to persuade them to come, only stressed me out more and kicked in my fears that something bad would happen.  I couldn't think about that- it would greatly reduce my quality of life. 

Besides, what if I did get baptized and some ironic twist of fate took my life.  I know, I know, I know...   Christian friends.  Nothing to fear.  But I had something to fear, losing my family forever.
To believe or not to believe- That IS the question.

OCD was mostly controllable throughout my life; afflictions came and went.  If you'd like to learn more about them or share some of your own drop me a note and we'll swap odd stories.  thehollyjollyone@yahoo.com

In college and after, I did a bunch of Catholic stuff.  Marriage classes, counseling, and etc.  Not only must you have documentation of baptism but you must be confirmed and generally a member to take part in communion.  I'd sit in the pew as everyone filed past me.  Singled out as a sinner, oh the humiliation, oh the OCD reactions it would bring.

A twist of fate, a project  to design a church, introduced me to the Episcopalian Church.  The bridge between Catholics and Protestants.  Although I frequented many churches since the initial introduction, this version of Christianity had struck a chord of acceptance in me.

My mother once told me that she did not want to baptize me into a particular religion.  It would be my choice and not a label that someone else had imposed.

I grappled with this idea when my children were born.  I also feared death.  What if they die without being baptized.  Do I care?  Does it matter? 

The  twenty-minute ride home from the hospital after their birth was the longest drive of my life and the lowpoint of my OCD.  I am surprised that I lived through it without suffering a nervous breakdown.

I guess, I didn't.  It was insane. Totally insane... and I did it twice.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sit still, I couldn't look out the windows, I couldn't look away from my child, I couldn't live and enjoy the moment.  OCD had taken its toll and sheer panic had taken hold.  I didn't sleep for four years.  I had to make sure the children kept breathing throughout the night.  You laugh, you think surely I jest.  I can assure you this is no joke.

When the unreligious/unchurched die my mother often says, "Don't worry a preacher was there."  "They were baptized before they died."  Who is worrying me or you?  I suppose it matters somewhere to someone but does it matter to me?  I've heard a lot of people say, "Well, it can't hurt."  That's true, isn't it?

Forget about me, I wanted to baptized the children.  No matter what they decide later on they will be saved as long as they believe in their hearts, right?  But, OCD kept blocking me.  What if I baptize them and they get killed in a car accident on the way home?

Yeah, yeah, yeah - God and such.  BUT what IF?
Oh, the irony.  Oh, the dread, how could I live with myself?

Either way, I live in fear.  I live in shame.  What if they get sick and die before they've been baptized? 

Can you feel the stress building?  It's been six long years with very little sleep.

At the height of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I lived with an alcoholic.  I attended AA meetings. I took away the best lessons ever, "Let go and let God" and "Live and let Live".

Choose a phrase that best fits you - it works.

I am a recovering Obsessive Compulsive.  I lived in a funk.  A fog of worry hovered over my life.

I let it go for too long.  The biggest fear I had  last week, while getting baptized at the age of forty-one, "What would the congregation think of me?"  I have become an active member of the church.  I was embarassed and ashamed that I had waited for so long.

Irony is to blame but there is something else too -

My family and friends.  What if something happens to them before they get the chance?  Do I care?  Do they?  Does it matter?  The problem is, I just don't have an answer.

I don't care what you believe or where you go or where you don't go, but I want to go with the people I love and I want them to go with me.  Wherever.

I know some people don't like church.  I know some people fear it.  I know some people feel ashamed. I know some people don't care.  I know lots of those people have Jesus in their hearts and lots of them don't but most of them are good people, either way.  What I don't know is if any of it matters.

Some people need more.  I needed more.  A heavy weight has been lifted from my back.

Now, I can not only live and let live but also let go and let God.

If my children choose something different, that's okay. 
If they go astray and come back another day, that's okay too.

I no longer have to worry about the What if's.  For me, no matter how many cracks I step on, it's in God's hands now.  I can't change fate.

Years of habits will take years to break- don't be surprised if you catch me pacing my steps to avoid the cracks.

And what did the congregation say?  "Congratulations on your baptisms." 

That was that, so simple, so easy, and so many fears washed away with a simple splash.

This Sunday, I breathe easier than last. 

What's on your list?  Keep moving forward!