Parents of the Week: Dr. And Mrs. Huxtable

Oh, you didn't think I forgot them, did you? Not a chance. Just waiting for the right moment.

Cliff and Claire Huxtable rocked the mid-late 80's with style, humor, and romance- not to mention raising five children! That family had everything- a kitchen with a swinging door, living room furniture with fancy wooden feet, and even a hunky older brother (Theo) with a cool hairstyle (flat top). Just saying.

Really, though, Cliff and Claire were great parents. Sensitive and loving with clear boundaries. Supporting each other's decisions. Parenting with humor and not taking themselves too seriously. The way Claire would sit down and have a heart to heart with the kids, the way Cliff could make anything not seem so horrible...could you ask for more from parents?

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Quality of Parent-Toddler Relationship Linked with Childhood Obesity

A recent article suggests that the quality of parent-toddler relationships could affect children's risk for obesity...what?! Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Let me explain.

In this fascinating study, the authors looked at the attachment relationship between parents and children. The attachment relationship is a special bond between parents and children. In short, it's based on the consistency with which you respond to your child- do you comfort her when she's upset? Do you pick him up when those precious arms are reaching for you? Do you snuggle her when she's sick? All of these behaviors foster the attachment relationship and send the following message to your child: "My parent will be there for me when I need her/him." They become securely attached.

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An Inside Look at Physical Therapy from the Folks at KidsCare Therapy

KidsCare Therapy is back, for our third and final month to tell you about another great therapy service for children. Thus far we’ve covered occupational and speech therapy, and during the month of June we are going to tell you all about the third discipline we treat –physical therapy. As with the other disciplines, we will start out this month by giving you a general overview of a pediatric physical therapist’s scope of treatment in this post, and then follow it up in a couple of weeks with specific diagnosis, potential warning signs and some treatments. After this month we hope that you will all be well versed as to how to identify a child that may be in need of speech, occupational or physical therapy, as well as how you can help to ensure you keep a child in your life healthy, and on target!

By definition physical therapy is a branch of rehabilitation that uses specifically designed exercises to help patients regain or improve their physical abilities.  Physical therapists work with many types of patients from infants all the way through adulthood to assist with that which limits a patients ability to move and perform functional activities as well as they would like in their daily lives. This differs from occupational therapy (which we learned about in April) because physical therapy deals more with large body movements versus the fine use of the hands. Physical therapy is helping mobility and strength, while occupational therapy assists more with the fine motor skills involved with performing each task. While both of these play into one main goal, which is to help ensure a child develops into a fully functioning adult, with all of their motor skills intact– each of these disciplines have different ways of obtaining this goal. A physical therapist would describe “success” as being able to facilitate improvement of functional skills and independence, but also strength, coordination and balance for increased mobility.

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