by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Aug 8, 2020 | Food Allergies and Special Diets
12 Early Signs of Dehydration
How to Tell Whether Your Child or you are Dehydrated
(Post may contain affiliate links).
Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluids than you take in. One of the most obvious early signs of dehydration is thirst. However, thirst is not something you can count on to tell you that you are dehydrated. One of the reasons why thirst is not dependable is that certain individuals do not experience thirst until they have already been dehydrated for awhile.
Most people think dehydration is more of a problem during the summer. It's true that summer is a high-risk month for dehydration because of sweating. However, during cooler months of the year, dehydration can be a problem as well. This is because people don't get as thirsty when the weather is cold. Also, during cold weather there is less moisture in the air. Young children and older adults are the most at-risk for dehydration. But anyone can become dehydrated.
And children do not always drink enough liquids. For example, when my son, Nathan, was younger, I tried to follow the typical advice of limiting juice because, “If he gets thirsty enough, he'll drink water.” I was hoping he would start drinking water.
Wrong. IT NEVER HAPPENED.
To this day, I can hardly get him to drink more than one or two swigs of water. So, how do I know when he is dehydrated? Another of the early signs of dehydration is dry, scaly skin. When my son gets dry, scaly skin, I know it's time to make him soup, because this is one of the ways I can be sure he is getting enough fluids.
It's also a great way to increase vegetable intake in his diet.
So, how can you tell if your child or other loved one is dehydrated?
Below are 12 early signs of dehydration.
Infant or young child
Dry mouth and tongue
No tears when crying
No wet diapers for three hours
Sunken eyes, cheeks
Sunken soft spot on top of skull
Listlessness or irritability
Adult
Extreme thirst
Less frequent urination
Dark-colored urine
Fatigue
Dizziness
Confusion
When to see a doctor
Call your family doctor if you or a loved one:
Has had diarrhea for 24 hours or more
Is irritable or disoriented and much sleepier or less active than usual
Can't keep down fluids
Has bloody or black stool
So to help prevent dehydration in the winter, I highly recommend giving your family more soups. Remember, “soup is good food!”
Click Here for delicious, easy, kid-friendly, and healthy vegetable soup recipes.
Other Articles by Homeschooling Dietitian Mom
Why a Zinc Deficiency May be Contributing to Your Child's Pickiness
10 Persons at Risk for Magnesium Deficiency
Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Jun 5, 2020 | Holidays and Special Events
Of course I had to come up with some awesome Father's Day gift ideas for you to get your gift-giving creative juices flowing. And who better to help me with that than my hubby? (Post contains affiliate links).
I mean, if my husband doesn't know what a man wants for Father's Day, who does, right?
So, I put him to work…
And let me tell you, this was no small task for him. He is not, what you would call, “typewriter inclined,” if you know what I mean. He's the “hunting and pecking” kind of typist. Plus, he really had no clue how to use affiliate links before this little project. But guess what? He does now! =) LOL
So, here are some awesome gift ideas for Father's Day that any man will be happy to have.
You will notice that many of these are “cooking” connected. For example barbecue accessories and such. This is because it goes with our theme here on Homeschooling Dietitian Mom. However, my hubby couldn't resist adding a few other gadgets to his list.
In fact, he hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure this is HIS Father's Day wish list! HA!!
Awesome Father's Day Gift Ideas
- Men’s Flannel Long Sleeved Shirt – Flannel shirts come in handy on cold days. Plus, they look really nice and are versatile. For example, they can be worn alone or layered, and are great for camping in the wilderness.
- Karoad Black License Plate Frames – This is what is needed to keep the license plate from curling up. Men think stuff like this is important.
- Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount Holder Cradle for iPhone – If your dad is anything like my husband, he likes having his phone propped up while in the car. Especially if you are using GPS. My husband chose this one because he has an iPhone 7, and because the price was right.
- Portable Outdoor Backpacking Camping Stove – My husband knows about cooking gear, so you can trust that this is a goody. It is so portable it doesn't even look like a stove. This stove would be great for a hiker or anyone else who's going to be outside for an extended period time, including fishermen. Especially, if they don't like eating cold food or they want to eat their catch right then and there.
- WORSPODAY Survival Gear Kit – These are always good to have when you are out in the wilderness.
More Awesome Father's Day Gift Ideas
Free Printable Father's Day Cards
10 Effortless Snack Ideas for Preschoolers
25 Gifts a New Mom Will Love
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by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Jun 3, 2020 | Education Materials
(Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way).
I agree with the above statement and I should know, since my son and husband have enthusiastically completed sculpture projects from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. for the past three years. Thus, you can probably imagine that I was excited when I was asked to review ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Model.
Speaking of which…Since my son has been working through ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Construction for 3 years, I will be discussing both products which are designed with 6-12 graders in mind.
My son, who is 15, has been into sculpting since he was in kindergarten. So three years ago when I came across ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture books, I was immediately Interested. Three years ago, we started with the Construction (even though my son preferred the Model) because it made the most sense.
This year, being part of the Homeschool Review Crew gave me the awesome opportunity to grab the Model book. So, we spent the past several weeks working on the awesome projects contained within ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Model.
We have been taking our time and haven’t completed the Construction book. But that’s okay, because it’s not necessary to do everything in order. My son and husband have done most of the projects together. Below are a few examples from ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Construction:
Handmade Paper
Handmade Paper and Wire
Shockwave from Transformers
The previous pictures show the different projects that involved handmade paper. My son and husband made the paper according to the directions in the first Unit of ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Construction. They made a bunch of different colored sheets, but they’ve used most of them!
The past few weeks we have been working with hard putty and air dry clay.
Hard Putty shapes.
Rock Hard Water Putty Still Figure – Graboid from movie “Tremors.”
Rock Hard Water Putty – Still Figure, Trout.
Air dry clay – Harley Quinn
Air-Dry Clay – pot using rib tool to add texture
The best thing about working with different media is that you learn the strengths and weaknesses of each.
The first thing we learned almost immediately is that hard putty is completely different from clay. For example, the hard putty dried quickly. In fact, it dried more quickly than the time we thought we had. We also learned that with hard putty, it is extremely important to use the exact amount of water the recipe calls for. We discovered the hard way that one of our measuring cups is inaccurate. This was a good thing to know and is all part of the learning process. (See pictures above).
My husband and son created three different kinds of products. The first was thicker and dried almost immediately. The second type of project involved using newspaper, masking tape, and then painting with a thinner version of the hard putty. The third was a figure in motion and also involved wire. The second and third projects were lighter than expected.
When you work with hard putty, you’ll learn how easy it is to create rough edges so it definitely takes practice to get a really top notch product. But I think my son and my husband did a great job.
You can see the last couple of pictures are air dry projects. We had to wait quite a while to get the Gesso. So they didn't paint the air-dry projects right away. But this weekend they were able to do the gesso and some painting.
Based on the way the painted items turned out, I would say that gesso is extremely important to the quality of the finished product. (See pictures below). For example, the shininess you’re seeing is from the paint alone. In my experience, when you paint clay with acrylic paint, you don’t get the shine. I did not realize how important gesso is. We’ve never used it before because we didn’t realize how much it improves the final product.
Pots with Gesso Only
Harley with Gesso covering face plus other “Strange Guy”
Painted bowl
Painted pot
This looks like an Alien head, but was not intentional.
Painted Harley Head
Bottom line with ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Model is that the instructions are clear, the pictures are really helpful and are given as part of the instructions. Also, the units contain review questions for kids to answer upon completion of all projects. Templates are also included as well. ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Model includes everything a student needs to earn high school credit, if needed. This is icing on the cake, in my opinion, because regardless of whether the course is taken for credit or not, you students will add hours and hours of enrichment to their daily lives, as they work through the exercises.
To find out more about ARTistic Pursuits Sculpture Technique, Model as well as other ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. products, click here.
Brenda from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. has just notified us that she added a couple new art courses. So, if you have K-3 grade budding artists, Click here now.
AND, if you have children who love to draw, click here for some awesome FREE drawing videos.
To check out the other awesome reviews of ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. products, click here.
