More and more families are choosing to have a family practitioner as their family health care provider.

Who are family practitioners? They are doctors who, following medical school, complete a three-year residency where they are trained to care for  patient populations that range from infants to the elderly in a variety of different medical areas. For instance, family practitioners are trained in bone and joint care; ear, nose and throat care; chronic conditions; emergency care and minor surgeries; behavioral and mental health; and eye care.

One of the primary responsibilities of family practitioners is to maintain their patients’ overall health. They often see their patients over the course of many years, unlike emergency doctors or surgeons who treat individuals for short periods of time. Because of this, general practitioners can build a lasting relationship with their patients and have a better understanding of their medical needs.

According to familydoctor.org, primary care physicians lower health care costs and death rates among their patients who regularly see them for preventive care and illnesses. Family practitioners, for example, can provide their patients with personal treatment plans and determine disease risk factors according to their medical histories. Also, for many individuals, family doctors are the first point of contact when they are ill. So family doctors can assess and treat most illness like respiratory infections, accidents like broken bones or diseases like asthma.

Family practitioners’ work environment can vary according to their geographic location and the size of the office. For example, family practice doctors can work in small and large cities or practice in rural areas. If they practice in the latter location, they might be the only family practitioner to treat all of the residents in a particular area. Also, family doctors can own their own practices, work at a large practice, in clinics or for government agencies.

Although family practitioners are trained to treat a broad range of medical problems, there are situations and conditions that they will not be able to treat. In these instances, it is the responsibility of the family practitioner to refer the patient to a specialist who can address the specific problem or condition.

On “Can Do” Street there are many kinds of families. There is racial diversity. It is an inclusive environment; a place where differences don’t matter.

Nellie and Willie live with their grandparents while their mom is in the military. They are just one of the many kinds of families on “Can Do” Street.

Jay lives with his parents but he spends summers with his grandparents in Dakota on the Indian reservation where they live. His tribe, the Chippewa Indians of Turtle Mountain, is also considered his family. So, you could say he has two families.

Hector and Maria’s parents both work. They participate in an after school program at the community center until their mom picks them up on her way home from work. Yundi and Wendy’s parents travel for business so they live part of the week with Grandma Sue.

Orrie, Annie, Bobby and Arthur Jay live with their mom and dad in a house next door to Grandma Maureen and Grandpa John.

There are 14 child characters on “Can Do” Street, three of whom have physical disabilities and one has a learning disability. Orrie uses a wheelchair. He is a computer wiz kid. He is active in sports, playing basketball, swimming, and horseback riding. Having Grandma Maureen and Grandpa John  next door is important to Orrie and his mom and dad. They are a big help with Orrie.

Nellie and Willie have a cousin, Mickey, who is visually disabled. He goes to a special school where he gets the help he needs to be independent. He has a service dog named Muggins. He comes home to his mom and dad, who live on “Can Do” Street, on holidays and for the summer. He plays the saxophone.

Annie has a hearing disability, so she wears a hearing aid. She is captain of the school Pee Wee basketball team.  Maria has a learning disability and needs extra help with reading, which she gets in school. She loves to draw and use graphics programs on the computer.

Having characters that are racially diverse, and include children with disabilities as well as different kinds of families is meant to raise a young child’s awareness of people and living situations different than his or her own. It also provides content and characters that can be used to teach disability sensitivity and cultural diversity.

It’s that time again…time to travel and visit with family and friends over the school holiday.

It’s time to think of ways to keep the kids comfortable and occupied during long trips. It’s time to prepare for the “just in case situation” which always seem to occur when we travel, such as motion sickness.

How to prepare for long car trips:

• If you’re going by car, plan a travel route with stops where your children can get out of the car and run around and blow off some steam from being cooped up in the car. Good places are parks and child play areas.
•  Get to where you are staying overnight early, before the kids get overtired, hungry and cranky.
• Pack some hand sanitizer as it’s a good alternative for hand washing if soap and water aren’t available at a toilet rest stop.
• Try to make your meal stops a little before the usual lunch or dinner rush hour – you’ll get better service and it won’t take quite so long.

What to take

Apart from the items you’d normally take on a trip, it can be helpful to take extra things just for car travel. Here are some ideas:

• Paper towels or wipes can be used in lots of ways.
• Take empty plastic bags for rubbish, dirty clothes and dirty diapers
• Take a change of clothes for each child. Depending on the season, you might also want to take hats or something warm to put on.
• Some families take an old ice cream container for accidents of any kind. It can also work as a potty if your child hasn’t been toilet trained for long and there are no toilets around.
• If you have a child who wets the bed, take a piece of plastic to protect mattresses.
• Take a bag of things to do on the trip
• Take some healthy food, such as fruit, to snack on.
• Bring water to drink, and try to avoid too many soft drinks. Small plastic water bottles with pop-tops can be very good for young children.

Bus or train travel

• Traveling on a bus or train can be very exciting for young children. But long trips can pose similar challenges to long car trips, as children can become bored with the scenery and of being stuck in a confined space. So, be sure to bring  food, drink, toys and books as you would for car travel.

Air travel

Things to consider when travel is by plane:

• If you’re going overseas, check with your doctor in advance so you can all get the vaccinations you need.
• Dress children lightly for air travel, and check that you can get blankets from the cabin staff if needed. Layers of clothes that you can take on and off are a good idea.
• Some airlines are better at supporting parents traveling with children. It can be helpful to ask other parents about which airlines they preferred to fly with.
• If you’re able to organize the timing so your trip back home happens during night time, you’re more likely not to disturb your children’s sleep pattern.
•  If you have a toddler, it can be handy to take a fold-up stroller for him to sit in at airports.

Seating
If you’re traveling with a baby you can ask to have a bulkhead seat, which gives you more leg room and a place for a bassinet. There may already be a bassinet in the bulkhead, but check with the airline when booking – you might have to bring your own, and a size and weight limit applies. Bassinets also offer a place for your baby to sit while you have your meal, or when you just want a break from holding  him or her.

Airline staff
When the airline staff ask at the start of your flight if you’ll need any help, tell them you’ll need a hand to heat bottles and/or solids, and that you might need help at meal times so you can eat.

Toys
Pack a comfort or cuddle toy your child likes for the plane trip. Small toys – such as little dolls, cars, trucks and trains – are good for playing on the tray top.

Some children are more prone to travel sickness than others.

What to do to avoid travel sickness

• Before leaving, don’t eat fatty foods, but do eat something – it seems worse on an empty stomach.
• Encourage those with travel sickness to look outside the vehicle, not inside. They shouldn’t look at moving things, like other cars – instead, they should try to look at something that’s still, such as the same spot on the horizon.
• Make sure there’s a breeze and fresh air – it’s a good idea to have the window open a little bit.
• Don’t read in a moving vehicle.
• Some people find that keeping their head as still as possible can help.
• Try to distract travel sick children by getting them to think about other things.
• If your child goes pale, gets very quiet or complains of feeling sick, stop and let her have a walk in the fresh air.
• Speak to your doctor about medicines for travel sickness
• If your children are often sick, take a container, wipes, a towel and a change of clothes in case of accidents.

Source: Child and Youth Health

Scooters have stood the test of time, with each generation enjoying scooters in one form or another. A scooter can be great fun…a speedy way to get around. Today, there are even scooters for toddlers!

Kids need to practice scooter safety; accidents are on the rise. Over one third of all scooter accidents occur in children under eight years of age.

With the promise of fun comes the reminder that scooter safety is a very important consideration.

 Scooter safety for young children is best summed up as follows:

• A helmet, knee pads and elbow pads must be worn whenever a child rides a scooter. No matter if it is summer and hot or they are just going a short distance
• Children under eight must be supervised when riding a scooter.
• Scooters need to be ridden on smooth, paved surfaces schoolyards, parks and sidewalks
• Riders must remember that the street is not a safe place to ride.
• If they ride on sidewalks, people walking on the sidewalk have the right of way.

To insure scooter safety, children need to learn how to scoot from an adult, just as they do for bike riding and skateboarding.

For as long as I can remember I have been making and gifting braided fabric wreaths. When my child was in the early years in grade school, he would enjoy helping stuff the fabric tubes and braiding the tubes for the wreaths. Most of all, he enjoyed talking about the role he played in its creation!

For friends who celebrated Christmas there were wreaths made of Christmas scene patterns braided with a solid red or green. Friends who didn’t celebrate Christmas were happy to receive wreaths that were suitable for hanging year round.

You will need to sew up the fabric tubes and the bows for the wreaths on a sewing machine, but children can help with the other parts of the wreath making.

Materials for One Wreath:

3 strips of Fabric (assorted/solid colors) cut 72 inches long by 10 inches wide

1 strip of a solid color/print for the bow cut 60 inches long by 10 inches wide

1 circular wire ring 12 inches in diameter (a large clothing hanger will do – bend to shape* )

Thread to match the color of the fabric

Sewing needles for hand sewing

Use of a sewing machine to make the strips into tubes for stuffing

2 bag of 100% Poly-fil for stuffing -20 ounces

1 long stick about 1 and ½ inches wide to use for pushing the fiber-fil into the tubing

Cutting Directions:

Cut 3 strips of fabric 72“long by 10” wide

Cut one strip of cloth for the bow – 60” long by 10“wide

Sewing Directions:

Wreath

• Turn 3 strips (tubes) to be used for the wreath to the wrong side, pin or baste stitch one ½ inch from the edge. Leave openings every 12 inches to make stuffing easier. Machine stitch to openings (every 12 inches, leaving 4 inches open for stuffing, machine stitch for 12 inches, leave 4’ open…repeat until finished.
• Turn tubes right side out, begin stuffing, use stick to help position stuffing in the tube, stuff each open section then hand stitch closed until you finish each tube.
• Secure 3 tubes with a pin or stitch together at one end. Begin to braid until the 3 tubes have only 4 inches to the end ( use this to join with that part of the wreath that is held together with a pin or stitching)
• Shape into a circle, join beginning and end of wreath together, hand sew.
• Mount on wire ring by sewing wreath tubes to the wire at a few inch intervals

Bow

• Turn bow fabric wrong side out, baste ½ inch from the edge, machine stitch the long side and one short side, turn inside out, press, hand stitch or machine stitch the open end closed.
• Tie bow around the wreath at the point where you joined the top and bottom of the wreath , be sure to include the wire

Note: You can purchase wire rings for your wreaths at a hardware store or online.*

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