Health Highlight

Benefits of Physical Therapy

“No pain, no gain!” ~Cliché saying of unknown origins.

            October is Physical Therapy Month!  Yes, there is an entire month designated to the incredibly kind and cheerful people who with the slightest touch or pressure of a finger-tip, can inflict a deep and burning pain that makes one want to lash out in an irrationally primitive manner all with the purpose of helping their patients feel whole again.  My quote for today’s post, though a cliché statement, is also a true statement when it comes to physical therapy and the tremendous benefits that one obtains by utilizing the amazing talents of a skilled physical therapist.  The purpose of physical therapy (PT) is to strengthen, straighten and fix bodily aches and pains.  A physical therapist is trained to work with patients (like myself) who might be recovering from a surgery (like myself) or an injury in order to restore that patient to a level of health as good as if not better than before the event that brought the patient to PT.  To get there however, some discomfort will be experienced as the therapist cajoles the body into doing things it would rather not because of scar tissue from surgery or muscle injury from an accident.  Through temporary discomfort and pain, the physical therapist will often bring relief and healing and that is why we celebrate their talents and gifts at restoring patients to a better quality of life.

            There are many benefits to PT such as to reduce or eliminate joint pain, avoid surgery, improve mobility, recover from a stroke, recover from or prevent a sports injury, improve your balance and prevent falls, manage diabetes and vascular conditions, manage age-related issues, as well as manage heart and lung disease.  It’s almost like a wonder drug for improved health but unlike a pill that one washes down with a tall cool glass of water, this wonder drug takes a little bit more effort but the end results are very much worth the effort.  As for my own story, I am recovering from shoulder surgery and I visit my physical therapist twice a week but there is work for me to do at home every day and though it is uncomfortable now I know that the work to be done will ultimately help me gain the full use of my shoulder again.  So if you know anyone who is involved with helping patients with physical therapy (like all my friends at Oxford Physical Therapy), give them a high five and a hearty thanks, they deserve it.

            As always, thanks for reading and as we head into the weekend get out and enjoy the fall weather and colors…they will be gone before you know it.  If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

Medieval Medicine

            Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is one of the many “Super-Bugs” that are found in just about every hospital on the planet.  MRSA (sounds like the “mer” from mermaids and “sa” from the end of salsa…mer-sa) is a particularly nasty bacterial infection that is a root cause of thousands of deaths each year here in the United States and tens of thousands more around the world.  MRSA bacteria are “…resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and amoxicillin. A MRSA infection can be fatal, and is sometimes called the "Super Bug.",” (CNN, June 9, 2016).  It is this resistance to traditional forms of medication that make MRSA such a deadly bug.  The current numbers are staggering in the number of cases each year here in the United States, those numbers have fallen off significantly in the last ten years according to the CDC as awareness and education efforts are seeing positive results.  As modern medicine struggles to combat this super bug, scientist in England have stumbled upon a medieval remedy that has shown great promise in combating MRSA.

            A leather-bound book held in the collections of the British Library in the UK, a 10th-century manuscript known as “Bald’s Leechbook” is considered to be one of the first medical textbooks recorded.  One of its recipes designated as a cure for vision ailments was “…a potion of garlic, onion or leek, wine and oxgall (or bile taken from a cow’s stomach) brewed in a brass vessel can be used as an “eye salve” to treat styes and other eye infections,” (Pruitt, 2015).  The scientist “…had little hope the remedy would prove effective against such a superbug as MRS—but they were amazed at what they found. While none of the individual ingredients had any effect, when combined according to the recipe they killed up to 90 percent of MRSA bacteria,” (Pruitt, 2015).  Scientist have reproduced the study in different labs both tin the UK and here in the United States with equal success and they are now trying to refine it to see how this medieval miracle can be incorporated into modern medicine to help fight this deadly super-bug.  The scientific team that has made this startling break through is also investigating other cures promoted from the ancient text stating that the early practitioners of curing people knew about battling bacteria or certain illnesses long before the discovery of bacteria was ever made. 

            Sometimes the way forward is by looking back to see where we have been and taking that information to learn from it and to not just scorn it because it is information from the past.  I hope as the scientist of today sift through the work of the scientist from a thousand years ago, they can apply modern methods to help combat the super-bug that we have created today.  I found the article fascinating and can be found at www.history.com/news/researchers-use-medieval-remedy-to-kill-modern-superbug.  I hope everyone has a great week and as we celebrate our fifteenth year in business, we certainly welcome any comments or calls to see if we can meet any of your needs or the needs of a loved one.  Remember to take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Pruitt, S. (2015, June). History.com — American & World History. Researchers Use Medieval Remedy to Kill Modern Superbug - History in the Headlines. Retrieved 2016, from http://www.history.com/news/researchers-use-medieval-remedy-to-kill-modern-superbug

Just a Thought

What is Columbus Day?

“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain, He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day, He used the stars to find his way.”

~From the Poem “In 1492”  Author Unknown

            Indeed, in 1492 Columbus did sail the ocean blue with the sole purpose of finding a westward ocean passage to the rich spices from India and the Far-East.  What he unexpectedly found instead was a land rich with natural resources and indigenous cultures of whom he mistakenly called Indians for he thought he had found India. There are many different views on who Christopher Columbus was and have very strong feelings as a result of the consequences of his voyages and behaviors.  I am here to write about what is known and not to promote feelings one way or another but to rather try and understand what this represents for so many of us living in this land today.

            This year, I turned 47 years old which means that my childhood elementary education took place during the mid to late 1970’s.  Back then it was considered a hard fact by my teachers that Christopher Columbus was indeed the one who braved the unknown oceans and bravely sailed west beyond the edge of the world to discover America.  The earliest recognition of Columbus in America came in 1792 as several cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his voyage.  In 1893, Chicago was host of the World Columbus Expo, a widely popular world fair, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the voyage bringing more awareness of Columbus as an explorer.  The first state to recognize a day set aside for Columbus was the state of Colorado in 1905 and Columbus Day became a nationally recognized day in 1937 When President Roosevelt made it a Federal Holiday.  Today, we know that Columbus was not the first European to set foot on the eastern shores of the Americas, I just think he was the first one to write it down and sailing under the financing of the Queen of Spain, his voyage was a well-documented venture.  His successes opened the door for other explores to go forth and explore the oceans which ultimately lead to the settling of the Americas by the different European powers.  In the 1970’s, we celebrated the bravery and faith of Columbus for finding America…a child drinks in what the culture of the day feeds him and for me at the time, Columbus was a hero like the Apollo astronauts…an explorer searching the unknown.  As an adult who seeks historical truths, things are a bit different today than 40 years ago.

            The Indigenous peoples (who are left) that live in the Americas do not hail Columbus as a hero but a bringer of pain, suffering and death.  It was not only the illness of Europe that he brought to the Americas that brought death but under his leadership as a governor of various territories, tens of thousands (some report the number of being in the hundreds of thousands) of indigenous people died under his rule.  We may never know the full extent of the loss of life due to the introduction of the various illnesses that came from him and his crew and the explorers that followed. 

Generally, the first recognized European to come to the Americas (North America) was Leif Eriksson 492 years before Columbus.  The son of Erik the Red, a Norseman who was the first to settle present day Greenland, Leif took it upon himself to travel further west.  With a crew of 35 men it is believed to have made landfall in northern Newfoundland and little known about his interactions with the indigenous people of the time (if he had any at all) when he wintered his crew there.  What is known is that he and his crew hauled back a boat full of grapes they towed behind their ship to his home in Greenland to make wine which is why he named the new land Vineland.  

            Why do we still have Columbus Day?  It offends so many people and I’m curious what they tell students these days when there is so much evidence to prove Columbus was not the first explorer to discover North America but just one of several.  As always I encourage you to discover the facts for yourself and form your own thoughts, I just thought I would share.  Thanks for reading and have a good week, if you have any feedback I would love to hear from you.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Safety Highlight

Frauds, Scams, & Cheats, Oh My!

“In the old days, a con man would be good looking, suave, well dressed, well spoken and present themselves real well.  Those days are long gone because it’s not necessary.  The people committing these crimes are doing it from hundreds of miles away.”  ~Frank Abagnale

            This past week, the people of the United States heard a drop of good news among the seemingly downpour of bad.  Earlier this week, officials in India arrested dozens of individuals posing as representatives of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) who were demanding monetary payments over the phone via credit or debit card for “non-payment” of federal taxes.  According to the Wall Street Journal, this scam has cost over 8,800 people close to $47 million dollars that will never be recovered…and those numbers only represent the people who reported the fraud.  Think about that for a moment.  I bet everyone who reads this post has been called but these scammers or know someone who has, but how many have paid out of fear and how many have failed to report it out of shame or embarrassment?

            Last week while at the Fountain Place Health Fair I had a great conversation with Melissa Miller of the State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General, a specialist with victim assistance and outreach services.  She was there to help raise awareness of fraud that is committed day in and day out, typically against the elderly and the infirmed (but no one is immune).  Mrs. Miller’s efforts were in speaking about not only the IRS fraud but to remind people of the other common frauds and scams that are so prolific today.  The following frauds are the most common cheats that con artist try and pull; The Nigerian Scams, Tech-Support Scams, Lottery Scams, Disaster Relief Scams, Overpayment Scams, “Free” Trial Offer Scams, The Phishing Email Scams and of course The IRS Scam.  Unfortunately, thousands of people fall prey to these scams every year costing millions of hard earned dollars.  In discussing the IRS Scam, the individual pursuing the scam presses for payment right then and there over the phone but the IRS doesn’t work that way. The Internal Revenue Service has published five easy ways to spot scammers trying to cheat you out of your earnings and I have posted them here as well as the IRS website link.

The IRS will never:

·         Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.

·         Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.

·         Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.

·         Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

·         Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov.  (from https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-irs-identifies-five-easy-ways-to-spot-suspicious-calls)

            The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to be informed and aware.  Cheaters come in all forms and they attack from all directions be it over the phone, the internet and even in person.  If the scammer is pressuring you for immediate payment, chances are, it’s a scam.  The following link is to the State of Indiana Victim Service’s website, http://in.gov/attorneygeneral/2340.htm   As always, thanks for reading, if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to email me at wmreid@bhcshealth.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.  I hope everyone has a safe weekend, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

 Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Event Highlight

Coming Together: Community

“…if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."  ~Aesop’s Fables “The Bundle of Sticks

The Fountain Place Health Fair was a great success in my eyes as hundreds of the local community members came out to experience free health screenings by dozens of local healthcare providers and other interested partners in our community health.  The sense of community of all the providers was one that invoked an optimism for not only the people of Connersville but the people living in the area who might need services from any of the vendors that set up booths at the health fair.  Heath care is a benefit to not only the individual but it is to the benefit to the community at large and as a member of providers of care.  With that thought in mind, the staff at Best Home Care Services would like to thank Fountain Place for inviting us to their facility to be a part of this excellent experience.

Coming together as a community of people who care about the needs of those around us make us all stronger as a community…there is strength in numbers.  It is this concept of strength in numbers that reminded me of Aesop’s fable of the brothers and the bundle of sticks.  In short, a bundle of sticks bound together is almost impossible to break but individually, a stick is easily broken.  If we as a community of healthcare providers band together then we are stronger in unity than we can ever hope to be alone.  Over the next few weeks and months, I will share with you information and stories of some of the fantastic people that attended the health fair because in the end, we are all here for our community and each other.  Thanks for reading, I hope everyone has a great week and try to take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Event Highlight

Nothing like a Fair!

The Fountain Place Health Fair is Thursday, September 29th starting at 10:00 am lasting until 1:00pm.  The address is 701 Fountain Pl. Connersville, IN 47331

This Thursday as we celebrate World Heart Day sponsored by the World Heart Federation, Best Home Care Services will be celebrating the Fountain Place Health Fair here in Connersville, IN as well.  Learning about the state of one’s health can be a frightening and uncertain prospect if a patient feels that they are not the perfect picture of health but we all need to start somewhere.  For some folks, the idea of going to the doctor’s office for a simple check-up is beyond the financial abilities due to a lack of health insurance or insurance that has such a high deductible that it is just not possible for a patient to find their way to the doctor’s office for a simple wellness check.  If you or someone you know is unsure about the ability to visit healthcare professionals to ask important questions, then the health fair would be a great place to visit and gather information. The Fountain Place Health Fair can give people the chance to meet dozens of healthcare providers from the surrounding area and many will be providing information about the services they offer and some basic health screening tests like checking blood pressure and glucose levels.  I encourage you to stop on by and help us celebrate improving the health of our local communities by asking questions and seeing how you can start the road to improved health and a better quality of life.  I’ll see you there with my fellow Best Home Care Services co-workers! 

As always, thanks for reading, I always appreciate it and I thank you for your feedback.  I’m keeping it short today as to not lose the importance of the message encouraging everyone to visit the Health Fair this Thursday, September 29th at 701 Fountain Pl. Connersville, IN.  You will find us in the common area, stop by and say hello.  Have a great week and take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

Slips, Trips & Falls

            The month of September is the time of year when we look to raise awareness of the risks and dangers of falling down.  Most of us have at one point or time seen or heard of the commercial promoting a life-saving service where the camera zooms in on an elderly woman writhing in pain on the floor as she moans, “Help!  I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”  The commercial has provided fodder for comedians for years but the grim truth of the reality is that thousands of elderly people die every year from the simple act of falling down in their home with no help available to assist. It sounds almost ridiculous that a person should die from falling on their kitchen floor but it happens…every day.

            According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximately 2.8 million elderly persons (age 65 or older) are admitted to the emergency room each year to receive treatment for slips, trips and falls.  Of that 2.8 million, almost a third of those fall patient end up staying in the hospital because of the seriousness of the fall.  Most cases where the patient is admitted to the hospital for at least an overnight observation those falls have resulted in a hip or head injury.  Over twelve thousand elderly men and women die each year from complications directly due to a fall.  That is a thousand people a month…roughly 33 people per day all because they fell down and the shock to their body was too much.  The leading risk factors as described by the CDC are weakness in lower body strength, vitamin D deficiency, medication that affects balance, poor vision and walking hazards like rugs, uneven floor surface or lack of handrails for stairways.  Most falls occur when a combination of risk factors are present but any of these risk factors is enough to cause a serious fall and injury.

            In order to combat these risk factors there are steps that an individual could take in order to help reduce or even eliminate some of these risks.  The first step in reducing the risk of falling is talking to your family physician and discussing the risks of falling…discuss the medications you’re on and how they make you feel and modify the dosage if needed.  Taking a vitamin “D” supplement can also help reduce the risk of falling.  Developing an exercise routine that allows the strengthening of the lower body, working on balance skills and having eyesight checked can also greatly reduce the risk factors of falling.  The most obvious and often most overlooked way of reducing risks are the physical environmental factors of the individuals home.  By removing tripping hazards such as area rugs, fixing poor floor or walkway surfaces and reducing clutter this allows for better walkways.  Installing better lighting for improved visibility as well as making sure handrails are secure or installing additional handrails for added security can also alleviate risks in the home.  For people who live on their own, having a bracelet or other such devise that is on the body at all times could also be an added measure for those who have a higher likelihood of falling.

            As always thanks for reading, if you or anyone you know might be at risk of a falling injury, please feel free to reach out and express your concerns.  There are agencies that can help do home audits and help give safe advice on steps that can be taken to make the home a safer place to be.  Please share and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call or email me.  I hope everyone has a safe week moving forward, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Historical Highlight

A Day to Celebrate Our Labor

“No work is insignificant.  All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

            Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!  The Labor Day holiday is a day that for most of us is a welcomed break from the regular grind that we all face with our normal work schedules.  It usually means that most kids are back at school and it is time to put away things like white shoes and pants as well as time to start thinking about closing down the pools.  Most people celebrate this holiday by taking advantage of the long weekend and travelling or having one more big cookout before the fall weather settles in for the duration.  Between the festivals, the travel or the hotdogs, many people have very little understanding about the origins of Labor Day and how it all came about.

            While there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on who originated the idea of Labor Day (it was either Peter McGuire or Matthew Maguire, both have credible claim to fame) it is recognized that the idea was born in New York and the first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday September 5th 1882 in New York City in accordance of the Central Labor Union of New York.  The state of New York was the first to draw up a state law to create Labor Day as a state wide holiday but Oregon was the first state to adopt a Labor Day Holiday.  It is called labor day because it is a day set aside to celebrate “…(the) creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country,” (US Dept. of Labor).  Though the early recognition of Labor Day was in the larger more industrial cities of the time it soon gathered more and more attention and was declared a national holiday in 1894.  The term Labor Day held a different swag back a hundred and twenty plus years ago and more and more workers were coming into larger urban area as manufacturing was overtaking agriculture as the main engine of the US economy.  The industrial revolution before and at the turn of the century saw men, women and children working 12 or more hours a day for pitiful wages and in very unsafe working conditions.  The first Labor Day parade was made up of the 10,000 workers who took unpaid time off to march to the City Hall of New York and people took notice.  Labor Day was a holiday created by the workers for the workers not only for a day of rest but to raise up their efforts and celebrate their contribution to the welfare of their homeland.  Over time as different organizations were able to raise awareness to the working conditions of the common laborer, working conditions slowly began to improve for all as various laws and regulations have come into fruition for the protection of the workers and their employers. 

            As you celebrate Labor Day and the long weekend I hope that you will all be safe in whatever endeavor you choose to pursue for your pleasure and enjoyment.  Thanks as always for reading and pass this along for those who might enjoy a quick history quip.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together!

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

Anaphylaxis

            In the news in recent weeks has been the story of Mylan Pharmaceutical who is the sole manufacturer of a life-saving devise called the Epipen which is the first line of defense against anaphylaxis, sometimes called anaphylactic shock.  This condition which is brought on by an allergic reaction that causes several of the bodies systems to shut down and if not treated promptly (within minutes) it could lead to death.  Most people (including myself) associate anaphylaxis with food allergies and by most accounts they would be correct but in doing some research on anaphylaxis it seems that almost 59% of all allergy related deaths occur from an adverse reaction to medication.  Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University published their findings in 2014 that stated that medication was the leading cause of deaths caused by anaphylaxis.  The study examined the 2,458 deaths from anaphylaxis between 1999 and 2010 and found that only 6.7% were victims of food allergies (15.2% were from venoms-stings and bites).  According to various websites, roughly 200,000 to 300,000 cases of anaphylactic shock require emergency room visits with the number of deaths from anaphylaxis ranging from 150 to 400 deaths a year. 

It is important to understand and recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis and then understand how important it is to seek medical attention right away.  The early signs may be a runny nose or skin rash but within 30 minutes more serious symptoms could show such as:

Ø  Coughing; wheezing; and pain, itching, or tightness in your chest

Ø  Fainting, dizziness, confusion, or weakness

Ø  Hives; a rash; and itchy, swollen, or red skin

Ø  Runny or stuffy nose and sneezing

Ø  Shortness of breath or trouble breathing and rapid heartbeat

Ø  Swollen or itchy lips or tongue

Ø  Swollen or itchy throat, hoarse voice, trouble swallowing, tightness in your throat

Ø  Vomiting, diarrhea, or cramps

Ø  Weak pulse, paleness

The first line of defense against anaphylaxis is a drug called epinephrine which helps stall out the symptoms until the patient can get to the hospital for a more vigorous treatment.  Estimates are that one in fifty have the potential to be effected by anaphylaxis some even say that number is too low and is really closer to one in twenty but without further data it is hard to put a solid number on it.  Studies have also shown that people who suffer from food allergies tend to grow out of those allergies or become less sensitive to those allergies as they get older.  The most common foods that people are allergic to and thus susceptible to anaphylactic shock are: peanuts, fish, milk, eggs, soy, wheat, shellfish and tree nuts (walnuts, hazel nuts, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, and almonds).  Some of these items are in a large number of the foods we buy at the grocery store so people who are sensitive to these foods must learn to be excellent readers of food packaging.  The most common drug that cause a reaction are drugs in the penicillin family of medication.  The important thing to remember is to listen to your body, if you start to feel like you’re not quite right take a moment and look to see if there is any swelling or rashes starting to break out like hives.  Once upon a time when I was a young man, I ate a fresh mango that I peeled on my lunch break at work.  By the time the meal was over my lips had gone numb and I had hives breaking out all over my body (all in about 20 minutes).  I ended up in the emergency department of our local hospital with anaphylaxis…there was a pesticide on the peel of the fruit that was transferred to the mango as I was peeling it…lessons learned.  Anaphylaxis is a serious issue and not to be taken lightly, we should all be aware of our needs and those of our family members and take the appropriate precautions.  Thanks for reading, have a good week and take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together!

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Just a Thought

Don’t Be a Helicopter

“It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.” ~Unknown

            One of the new entries into the modern dictionary (2011) is the term “helicopter parent” which according to Merriam-Webster is a noun defined as, “…a parent who is overly involved in the life of his or her child.”  As a parent of three children, I understand the feelings of wanting to protect your child from danger, from failure, from all the hard knocks that life can sometimes throw at them.  I love my kids and I ache every time they feel anxiety about school or the kid down the street or how badly they get thumped playing soccer.  We all love our children want to see our kids succeed and grow up happy and therein lies the trap.  When we as parents are always there to catch them before they fall or find scapegoats for them when they fail, we are creating a world which is not realistic and ultimately set our children up for failure as adults rather than prepare them for success.

            The old saying of, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day…teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime,” is a simple example of what I’m talking about here.  The idea is that we as parents should be teaching our children how to be self-sufficient and the only way to do that is to let them do for themselves and not do it for them.  A toddler learns not to walk in Legos by the pain they feel on their little feet, not by the parents rushing in and scooping the child out of the way of the Legos and then cleaning the building blocks out of the way.  Why then do parents hover so closely over their children?  According to Parents Magazine, the four biggest reasons parents hover over their children are fear of dire consequences (like poor grades or not making the team roster), feelings of anxiety (fear of our children getting hurt or failure), over-compensation (for lack of feeling love from their own childhood) and peer pressure from other parents (feeling guilt for not acting like other helicopter parents).  The consequences of being overly involved in every moment of your child’s life are decreased confidence and self-esteem, underdeveloped coping skills, increased anxiety, a sense of entitlement, and underdeveloped life skills.

            How do we do it?  How do we show and express our love and concern for our children but not hover like a helicopter?  Backing off and giving our children room to grow involves some suffering, for our kids as well as for us.  “In practical terms, this means letting children struggle, allowing them to be disappointed, and when failure occurs, helping them to work through it. It means letting your children do tasks that they are physically and mentally capable of doing. Making your 3-year-old's bed isn't hovering. Making your 13-year-old's bed is…Remembering to look for opportunities to take one step back from solving our child's problems will help us build the reliant, self-confident kids we need," (http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/what-is-helicopter-parenting/ ).  As parents we want the world for our kids but in order for them to reach their potential and find the happiness we all wish for them, we as parents need to allow them to find it.  As always, thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great weekend.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me anytime.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re al in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com