Yearly Archives: 2012

Each year as we celebrate the holiday, we are reminded of what we are thankful to have received.  Being thankful though shouldn’t be a one-day deal.  Instead, we should be thankful every day.  As the holiday draws closer, most of us find it to be…

It’s back to school and back to germs. As a pediatrician, it’s like clockwork: one to two weeks after going back to school, the phones start ringing and the sick visits come pouring in. Why does back to school bring illness? It’s a mystery that’s…

Once I heard a story about a couple who wanted to experiment with food and decided that each day of the week they would eat single colored foods representing each color of the rainbow. The experiment went well the first four days with red, orange,…

During the summer months, doctors’ offices are full of kids, usually healthy and rambunctious. They are either there for their check up or having to tag along as their sibling gets his or her check up. For some kids it is fun.  For others it…

Healthy body image and it’s best friend, high self-esteem, are hardest to find in teenage girls, but let’s not forget that teenage boys and kids of all ages can potentially suffer from an unhealthy or distorted body image (not to mention adults). Your child’s self-image…

With summer comes longer days, trips to the park, lazy picnics, family vacations, and … increased exposure to mosquitoes and other biting insects.  Many of my favorite places are characterized by the kinds of bugs that hang out there.  (This summer, it’s Northern Michigan for…

My usual routine at the end of a well-child visit is to discuss vaccines.  Today was a little different though, not because I had to discuss the MMR and varicella vaccines, but because of the conversation I had about measles and the valuable reminder as…

Maurice Sendak, the children’s book author most famous for authoring ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ passed away recently at the age of 84. While my main roles in life are as wife and mother, pediatrician, and community health educator, I am also an author.  If…

One of the biggest concerns parents have is getting their kids to eat well. Dealing with picky eaters is a huge challenge, and one that most parents will face at some point during childhood. Here are some tips to help you weather the tough times and your kids learn…

WANTED: Awesome Parents! CPMG and Kid Ventures are partnering to reward outstanding parents in our communities, but we need your help.  We will reward 1 parent from each category: PATRIOTIC PARENT (A veteran and/or active military parent) PLUGGED IN PARENT (A parent providing great resources for other…