Six things You Can Do to Protect Your Child’s HearingWritten by Susan Dunn, MA, Personal & Professional Development Coach
5.2 million 6-19 year old had hearing loss directly related to noise exposure according to 3rd National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2000, reported on Dangerous Decibels, http://www.dangerousdecibels.org . According to a study done by Montgomery and Fujukawa in 1992, “Over last 10 years, percentage of 2nd graders with hearing loss has increased 2.8 times; hearing loss in 8th graders has increased over 4 times.” No one knows exactly what level damages a child’s ears, but Noise Center’s Rule of Thumb is: IF YOU HAVE TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD THREE FEET AWAY, THE NOISE IS TOO LOUD AND IS DAMAGING TO YOUR HEARING. 1. Educate yourself about noise levels. A loud enough sound can cause instant, permanent and irreversible damage. Children’s ear canals are shorter than adults, and more vulnerable, and many of activities teens love are potentially harmful to their hearing. Resources: Top Ten BQ 172 (http://www.topten.org/public/BQ/BQ172.html ), DangerousDecibels (http://www.dangerousdecibels.org ) and League for Hard of Hearing (http://www.lhh.org/noise/decibel.htm ). 2. Provide your child with peace and quiet and make it clear you value it. Turn down volume of everything in your home and tell why you’re doing it. Model and encourage quiet activities such as reading, playing in room quietly, playing with toys that don't make noise, visiting library, walks in nature, quiet conversation, and soothing music.
| | Create Your Own Personal Christmas Traditions Written by Donna D. Fontenot
Create Your Own Personal Christmas Traditions The Christmas holidays are steeped in familiar, old traditions. Decorating our homes, trimming tree, exchanging gifts, hanging mistletoe and many other traditions are staples of season. And while these old traditions can create warm memories, you may be missing out on something special. This Christmas season, take some time to consider creating your own special family tradition. Perhaps a glimpse into my own family's unique tradition will inspire you to discover one as well. My Family's Personal Christmas Tradition Many years ago, my mother became addicted to garage-saleing. She would wake up bright and early every Friday and Saturday morning (year-round), retrieve newspaper from driveway, and circle all of garage sales near her neighborhood that were listed in classified section. Then, with a group of 2-3 lifelong friends, she would begin her quest for that perfect 'gift' that someone else was discarding. She rarely paid more than 50 cents for an item. The gifts were usually slighlty worn, even a little broken. (In fact, many times a perfect item would end up broken by time she got it home. She was a little clumsy). But by end of each shopping trip, she would arrive home with 10-20 items, that she would proudly display to my father. He, of course, would usually groan, because he always knew that she would be asking him to mend broken pieces, or re-paint an old item. Needless to say, by end of a year, my mother had managed to accumulate hundreds of 'special gifts', but had spent very little money doing so. A few days before Christmas, it would then be my job to help her wrap all of these gifts. She generally bought as many Christmas bags as she could find (at garage sales of course), so task was made somewhat simpler. All I had to do was throw gift into bag, and mark it with a recipient's name. How did I know who was to receive which gift? Well, Mom kept a running list throughout year which identified which item was reserved for which member of family. Of course, she often mis-labeled things, so male members of our family occasionally received nice lingerie, while female members would receive a new hunting cap!
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