Let's Talk Health

The first MOPS meeting of 2011 started off with a blast… of information.  Our January 7^th  Health Panel focused on helpful, and sometimes enlightening, tips for moms and those in their care, given by six speakers with 5-minute segments each.  Most of the speakers were members of our very own PazNaz MOPS.  Jaimie Grover also gave a beautiful testimony of faith about her family's journey with her daughter's health issues.

First up were Esther Garcia, RN (and DGL) and her husband, Richard L. Garcia, MD.   Dr. Garcia is an ER doctor and has seen many preventable child injuries.  He and Esther explained how childproofing your home can help you avoid emergency room visits.  Kids are kids, and some of them will still find a way to climb that anchored dresser and take a tumble, but childproofing can help keep your children safe.  More information can be found at www.cdc.gov/safechild.

Pauline Leong, our talented and creative craft guru, is also a registered dietician.  She shared her knowledge by offering strategies for feeding children.  We all know how picky our kids can be. But did you know that it will take an average of 15 tries to get your child to eat that new food? Try to remember that we use many senses when eating – sight, smell, touch, actually putting food to the lips, chewing, and then swallowing.  Even adults face foods they won’t eat, merely because of the look or smell (think escargot or “stinky tofu”; or for some, foods that touch each other on the plate).  Pauline says the adage, “If it first you don’t succeed, try, try again” applies very well when you’re introducing new foods to children.

Dental hygiene was next, with Mentor Mom Alice Pendleton showing the right way to brush and floss your teeth.  Alice is a retired certified and registered dental assistant, educator, co-author of The Dental Assistant, and the former Program Director for the Dental Assisting Program at Pasadena Community Colleage.  Alice had many examples of toothbrushes and floss, and even a healthy pink and white gum/teeth foam prop to demonstrate her points.  Her speech caused quite a few moms to feel like brushing their teeth the right way right there and then!

Gretchen Lee spoke of the breast care and visual self-examination.  She showed several arm positions used when standing in the mirror, and how we should look for lumps, dimples and areas that may look unusual or different.  Gretchen stressed how important it is to check nearly all areas of your torso, since breast tissue can exist in a heart-shape from the clavicle area almost to the navel, and beneath your armpits.  Remember, a self-exam should be done every month, around the same time of the month.

Karen Delgado, a psychologist who works with middle school students, talked about behavioral issues.  Many children today have a sense of entitlement and self-esteem that is often undeserved.  Society today tells children that they are equal to adults and they are all winners (for example, giving trophies for everyone who participates, whether they do well or not).  A child learns and gains real self-esteem by achievement.  Karen stressed that children need to experience failure, and that parents must teach them how to deal with it.  Addressing behavioral issues while they are toddlers will help them as they grow older and begin to deal with the real world.

Our last speaker was Jill Alonzo, LMFT, who spoke briefly about the “Good-Enough Mother”.  Moms these days feel they have to be perfect in all aspects of their lives.  Yet, perfection is not a good role model for children.  A mother sometimes makes mistakes, loses her temper, and can’t be there every minute for her child.  But by being "good-enough", she teaches her child how to learn from mistakes, to ask for forgiveness when you do get mad or angry, and to be self-reliant.  Jill asks that moms predict mistakes when possible, build accountability, and pray and meditate.   Jill recommends this bit of scripture for moms to remember: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion”, Philippians 1:6.

We want to give a big thank you to our panel of experts for sharing such important information with us. 

We also want to thank Jaimie Grover for her heartwrenching, but uplifting, testimony about her sweet and fiesty daughter Leila.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room after Jaimie's words.  Leila has overcome many health issues in her young life, and it is the power of God and the Grover’s faith in Him that shines on her.

We pray that all our moms and their loved ones have a happy and healthy new year.