Being overtired is not just a kid thing

If you have kids, you know what it looks like when they’re overtired.  They desperately need to sleep, but they want to stay awake so they don’t miss a thing.  They’re miserable, but it takes “sleep pressure” to develop before they can finally give it up.  Their brains are just as intensely active as their bodies.  Being overtired isn’t just a childhood thing.  Watch yourself.  As the evening winds down, you can’t stop.  You say to yourself, “Oh, I just gotta finish this and then, I have this and that and this and that to do before I can go to bed”.  By the time you finally collapse, you’re so jacked up that your brain is wired, and your body is vibrating.  Yeah, sure, you’ll go to sleep.  You’re completely spent the next day and look forward to a nap, but don’t do that.  To recover, go to sleep at your regular time.  If you take a nap or get into bed super early, you’ll be thrown off for days.

More Parenting Pointers at DrClaudia.net

Sleep disorders burden women more than men

Sleep disorders affect men and women differently.  Women end up with severe depression and more daytime sleepiness than men.  We girls also have more difficulty concentrating on work when we’re sleep-deprived.  We suffer more, but it’s actually men’s snoring that seems to be the cause of our sleep problems.  If you’re having sleep issues, start treating your husband’s snoring and find another place to sleep. 53% of American couples have a sleep divorce meaning that they sleep in different rooms or in different beds.  In the case of snoring, it’s likely to be a different room, but you’ll still need a white noise machine or a fan to mask the sound of snoring.  Perhaps he needs a CPAP machine or surgery to correct the condition because sleep apnea is a killer.  Consistent sleep deprivation is related to a number of devastating health conditions.  Don’t suffer in silence.

Solitary confinement is a death sentence

Movies can’t even come close to showing us the experience of being in solitary confinement.  It’s not intended to be a death sentence, but it ends up being one because just a few days in solitary can significantly increase the inmate’s risk of death after being released.  A study looking at the long-term effects of solitary confinement, revealed that those who spent less than a week in isolation were 60% more likely to die within 5 years than those who spent no time there.  Most of the inmates’ death weren’t natural and were caused by accidents, suicide and violence.  The inmates who died were younger and served longer sentences.  Certainly, more research has to be done regarding the impact of isolation, but for now, Departments of Corrections are changing their practices of using solitary confinement.  Prison should not be a death sentence.

Depression naps are unhealthy

Why do you take naps?  Is it because you need to escape the world?  Is it because you’re stressed or anxious, maybe feeling a little down?  Be careful.  Depression is intensely connected to sleep problems and is a primary symptom of depression.  Depression makes it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.  You feel worse when you get up.  Nearly 90% of those with major depressive disorders have some kind of sleep problem.  Naps, in general, are supposed to be restorative.  For example, if you didn’t sleep well the night before or had to get up super early to take someone to the airport.  If naps become a way of coping with life by avoiding reality, it’s time to check in with a therapist.  Wonder if you’re depressed?  Go online to a reputable mental health or medical website and take a depression screening scale.  Be honest.  The depression will only get worse and lying to yourself will delay treatment.

Our country is experiencing in order to grow, just like individuals do to grow. / Be careful of the news that you take in.  It's not healthy to constantly feed your head with negative news, unplug and focus on positives in your life.

Augie's wife is covering for her friend's stealing.  How can he get his wife to understand not to cover for her thieving friend.

Ruben's daughter is senior in High School with 4.9 gpa, being recruited by top colleges.  Is it safe to allow her to go to college early and miss high school?  Or should she finish high school and go to college at the same time

Sophie's fiance's best man told them to enjoy their first year of marriage because it's all down hill after that.  What is wrong with this guy?

McDonalds has new flavor of McNuggets.  / Meal kits are more prevelant at grocery stores now. Start thinking about how you want to eat for better health. / Kids 10 to 100 times more likely to be carrying Corona virus in their noses / Two kids died in locked car.

People are learning more and doing more activities now during Coronavirus pandemic. / Amera worked for company that went bankrupt due to owners embezzlement.  How does she explain this in her interviews with other companies she's applying to work for.

Elizabeth has a baby due soon and her mother in law is way too intrusive, calling, texting, coming over all the time. She's worried this will continue and wants to put a stop to it.  Her husband is oblivious.  How should Elizabeth handle this?

Workplace is going to change after Covid.  Some businesses will no longer keep as much office space, and allow more remote working.  We won't be dealing with long commutes.

She’s copying me!

Ever heard your 7-year old wail, “Mooooom, she’s copying me!”?  How do you handle that?  Maybe you should go with science.  When the 4-year old takes a nap, sit the 7-year old down at the serious table such as a dining table and have some paper and crayons handy to draw out your lesson.  Explain to your son that his sister is imitating him because that’s how she learns.  Tell him that monkey kids do the same thing.  He’ll like that.  Draw out stick figures that show that he’s her first and best teacher.  What he does, she does in order to learn how to take care of herself, how to read, write, and do math.  She’ll learn how to open boxes, use crayons and pencils, build with blocks, play games, get along with others and how to feel when things happen.  She’ll grow up to be great just like you. Give him permission to quietly come tell you when he’s had enough.  He just might never complain again!

Why is sleep deprivation toxic?

You can live for about 3 days without water, 21 days without food and about 3 minutes without air, but what about sleep?  You can live without sleep for only 11 days.  Somehow, we don’t think it’s critical to life.  It must be important because if we don’t get enough, we die.  Even prehistoric man slept, and they were at serious risk for snoozing in their wild world.  The brain cleans itself while you’re sleeping and if you don’t get enough, toxins build up and you will die.  It takes about 200 hours for this to happen, but it will happen.  And, because the brain is the single-best producer of mind-altering drugs, when you haven’t slept, you feel drugged.  Oh sure, you’ll feel irritable, confused, depressed, have headaches, gain weight and eventually develop Parkinson’s and heart disease, but you’ll keep going because, for you, exhaustion is a badge of honor.  Get some sleep!

The 5 benefits of being a planner

Do others make fun of you because you always have a list?  Have goals for the day?  Insist on finishing what you start?  Don’t despair.  If you have a strong sense of “planfulness”, you’re likely to use your mental ability to achieve goals.  You’re the kind to take full advantage of your gym membership and floss your teeth.  Why?  Because you use 3 tactics that help you get where you’re going.  You have an orientation toward the future and appreciate the impact of your current behavior.  You have mental flexibility that helps you to connect actions to goals and you use cognitive strategies such as interventions and refining your plans to maintain progress toward your goals.  You use planfulness to achieve all of your goals, big and small, specific or vague.  And, because you’re a planner, you’ll add 6 years to your life to keep working toward goals.

Do dogs go through puberty?

Does your dog behave like a teenager?  Think they’re acting this way because they’re imitating your kids?  No.  In fact, dogs go through adolescence at about 5 months old and puberty at around 8 months.  During these periods of time, they share similar behaviors with human teenagers.  Why is that?  They’re both mammals and most mammals go through a similar process of sexual maturation in order to have babies!  Dogs have hormonal fluctuations and a remodeling of their brains to become adults just like humans.  What does teenage behavior look like in dogs?  They’re likely to ignore you.  They’re likely to be more difficult to train.  And, get this.  They act this way only with their owners and are well-behaved around strangers.  Kinda like taking it out on your Mom.  Stay consistent with your teenage dog and use rewards rather than punishment.  Just as with your teenagers, this is a passing phase.  Maybe a long walk will do them both good!