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Kids Need Your Vital Guidance During & After Pandemic

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Good mental health is a struggle for all of us during the Covid-19 lock down. We have all lost things we love to do – be that simply going for a drink with friends or playing sports competitively – and that disruption to the norm is taking its toll on how people are able to get through their days. While this is an issue for people of all ages, it is children that really need the best vital guidance that you can give at this point as we continue to navigate through uncharted waters in life.

While adults are – for the most part – fully emotionally and mentally developed, the same cannot be said for your children. Overnight our kids were expected to be able to adjust from thinking about the next sporting event they would play in or the next play date they would go on, to being in a lock down situation with no idea when they would be able to see their friends again.

While this is mitigated somewhat by technology, just imagine where we would be as a global society if this had happened 20 years ago. Face-timing a friend isn’t the same as being able to go to the mall or the movies. This pandemic is stripping kids – specifically tweens and teenagers – of emotional development that they will need to be able to grow in a post-pandemic world.

The good news is that with the right vital guidance most kids will turn out alright. This is the view of most economists and psychologists on the subject – despite their data sets being limited at this point. The best thing you can do as a parent during this time is to give your child a safe, stress free, and stable environment to live in. Young kids will bounce back quicker – they will feel less pressure and stress from the situation – and encouraging interaction without being pushy is a really important parenting technique to master if your child starts to seem withdrawn.

Tighter finances, food shortages, and job losses are all stressful. Those vulnerable families are the ones that are likely to see their children become more withdrawn – for any number of reasons – and as such they are the families that will rely on vital guidance both now and after the pandemic,

Kids are resilient by nature and most will find a way to adapt and roll with the punches. Just try to be a little extra aware at the moment – even with the pressures put on you as a parent during this time – of exactly how your kids are doing and what state their mental health is in.

Article By Vital Guidance

Seven Vital Foods To Help Fight The Coronavirus

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We have already mentioned on this site how one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a COVID-19 infection is to have an immune system ready and raring to fight the virus. In that article, we offered guidance about the basic vitamins and minerals that would provide vital nutrients for fighting Coronavirus as well as any pathogen you might encounter. This time around, we are going to get a little more specific and look at foods that you should be eating to maintain that nutrient balance during the pandemic.

Here are seven foods you may want to have in your house at this time:

1.  Mushrooms:  We know that Vitamin D is a huge immune system booster. While it is most often sourced through sun exposure, there are also some foods that are a reliable source of the vitamin. Mushrooms are one such food and they are so versatile that they can be incorporated into almost any dish.

2.  Yogurt:  It’s known for being a source of probiotics – think good bacteria – and it will provide a great boost to your immune system. When deciding which to buy, go as basic as possible by getting a good, plain, probiotic filled yogurt and throwing some fruit into it.

3.  Strawberries:  Vitamin C protects against cell damage and about half a cup of the delicious berries will give you half of your recommended daily need. You can do plenty with strawberries – there is nothing wrong with eating them plain or with cream – but add them to a spinach salad for something a little different.

4.  Broccoli:  This could really be titled the ‘Green Leafy Catchall.”. This is another Vitamin C source and with the amount you have to eat (only half a cup) to get half of your recommended daily amount, there is really no reason to be slacking. Broccoli should be one of your go-to vegetables to add in any stir fry.

5.  Red Bell Pepper:  The red peppers contain double the amount of Vitamin C of the famed citrus fruits. Throw in their high levels of beta carotene and you have a very powerful little vegetable. They are another versatile workhorse veggie, too, as eating them raw on sandwiches or cooked on a pizza are just two ways to enjoy them and get their vital nutrients.

6.  Sunflower seeds:  They may seem simple, but sunflower seeds are a great snack for the immune system. Vitamin B-6 is one that is important, as is the Vitamin E, magnesium, and phosphorous that these power pellets provide. Just salt them and eat them (or throw them onto that broccoli based stir fry).

7.  Papaya:  So, you want your recommended Vitamin C in one dose? A single papaya has 224% of your daily need.  In addition, Papayas have an enzyme called papain that helps with inflammation.  They also have potassium and B vitamins and they are delicious.

There are many other foods that will give your immune system a boost or keep it operating at peak levels.  Partner them with some exercise and appropriate rest for your best chance of fighting off any infection.

Article by Vital Guidance

Quarantine Life Allows Parent To Teach Life Lessons

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With more and more school districts closing in America by the day a parents role as a vital mentor in the life of their kids has changed. We talked earlier this month about ways to create fun activities for your kids during their extended summer break, but there is more you can do during this time of uncertainty to embrace that leadership role.

You have likely not had one-on-one access like this with your child in years. This is true no matter the age of your children as the combination of working from home and no school means that you are interacting all day long with each other. As a result, it may be the perfect time to impart some life lessons on your child that they may not otherwise have learned and picked up on until far later in life.

During this outbreak, have fun but also spend time wisely with family to help set your kids on the right path whenever we return to some semblance of normalcy.  Here are a few life lessons that you can show by being the best version of yourself in front of your children during what is a trying time for us all:

Staying Safe Online

Being inside as much as will be required over the next few months is going to see children spending even more time than normal online. This will come both in terms of their education – with schools using online teaching techniques and tools – and their free time. This is the ideal time to talk with your kids about online safety, being careful about who they talk to and how they act, and being sure to give a positive message about the online space if it is used correctly.

Self-sufficiency

The hope is that nothing like this will ever happen again and, that when it has blown over, the world will get back to how it was to some degree. The truth is though, that this has shaken the fabric of society around the world and as a result shops are lower on food than normal and household budgets have shrunk. This is an excellent time to teach the kids how to react in unusual situations. Teach them how to cook with limited ingredients and how to budget out a set amount of food for groceries when some of the obvious options are not available. Get creative in your vital role as a parent and show them how to be self-sufficient in a crisis.

Positivity

It’s hard to be positive in crisis situations, but as a leader of your family you need to be positive both for yourself and for your children. This is a lesson that you can teach and show your children right now, and this guidance will help them understand that being positive in the face of a crisis – be it personal or on a global scale – is vitally important in moving forward and making the most of life.  Controlling you level of kindness, your attitude, and remaining positive in the face of what seems like overwhelming negativity around us is going to have a profound impact on the growth of your child.

Article by Vital Guidance