: North Texas Kids : Your family guide to raising happy, healthy kids

Play Safe This Fall Sports Season: Protect Your Child’s Teeth

Tips to Protect Your Child’s Teeth during Sports Activities

by Dr. Monica Anderson

Fall sports season is here and student athletes are heading to the fields to compete in organized sports such as football, soccer or field hockey. Keeping the season fun means playing safe, and that includes protecting your child’s teeth. More than five million teeth are knocked out each year through sports injury, accident or play. One in four teens is seen annually in the emergency room or admitted to the hospital for a sports-related injury.

So what can you do to keep your child smiling through the whole season? Below are some actions you can to take to help protect your student athlete’s oral health:

Tips on Taking Great Photos of Kids Playing Sports

Freeze Frame: Taking great sports photos easy as having the right equipment

by Misty Hoyt

With an early Saturday morning Starbucks coffee in one hand and a brand new Rebel Canon camera in the other, today’s the day Dad’s going to get that perfect shot of Braylen scoring the winning goal.

After every click of the shutter, Dad checks the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Although certain he captured Braylen’s magnificent header, to Dad’s disappointment only the before and after shots appear, neither of which included the ball. That’s ok, however, as he continually checks the LCD, there are plenty of fairly good action shots. That is, until Dad gets home, pops the memory card into the computer only to discover that blown up to larger than a 3-inch-by-2-inch image, the ball, Braylen and even the grass are out of focus. Even the newest technology can’t fix motion blur. Darn! Back to the drawing board.

Tips for Back to School Transitioning

How to Help Your Kids Transition Back to School

by Dr. Craig Pierce

Dr. Craig Pierce, founder and president of the Southwest Family Guidance Center and Institute, and author of Parenting Without Distraction: The Attunetion^® Approach, is offering tips for parents to have a smooth transition back to school. Preparing for school, and readjusting to the new routines after the summer break can be stressful for parents and children alike.

Teaching Your Kids How to be Frugal

Teaching Kids about Frugality and Saving Money

by Clare K. Levison

My dad is a master of frugality. His brother often remarks that it’s “the family way.” As a kid, I thought my dad was cheap but as it turns out, he’s just smart. He knows what’s important to him and what isn’t. Those priorities are reflected in the way he spends his money. The car he had when I was in high school was the base model. It didn’t even have a radio. When I would ask him why, he would say, “I don’t need a radio in my car.” When Dad would take me to a fast food restaurant (a fairly rare occasion), he was never willing to buy drinks. “Those drinks are so over-priced. We can get a drink at home,” he would tell me. As a child, I didn’t understand it. It drove me nuts. Now as an adult, I can see that where it drove me was down a path of financial success.

I Need Lunch Money Mom

Teaching Kids How to Stay Within their Lunch Money Budget

by Lorraine Brock

It’s that time of year that as parents we will hear the weekly, “Mom, I need lunch money”, from our kids. Normally my struggle is teaching my kids to stay within our allocated budget by purchasing the basic plate lunch and not buying individual items. It is well known that buying a la carte costs more: hamburger $3, side of fries $1.50, scoop of fruit salad $1.00, two chocolate milks $2.00. What seems like the perfect meal for your child, becomes a $7.50 budget buster for one day.

Girls: 5 Tips to Stay Safe at College

Safety Tips for College Students

by Dallas Jessup, founder of Just Yell Fire

Coeds don’t know they face a 1 in 4 risk of sexual assault, 1 in 3 of dating abuse or other random violence but one nonprofit has released 5 Tips to Stay Safe at College and has a free stay-safe film online that has been lauded by schools and law enforcement nationwide. Dallas Jessup, the founder of Just Yell Fire, herself a recent college graduate, launched the nonprofit when she was still in high school and has grown it into a 1.8 million girl revolution across 66 countries while winning multiple social impact awards for her stay-safe films. Jessup offers the following safety tips for college students.

10 Ways to Beat the Summer Heat

10 Tips Regarding Summer Heat Safety

When Texans think of summer, only one thing comes to mind – the heat. According to the National Weather Service, heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States resulting in hundreds of fatalities each year. With the summer heat upon us, First Choice ER Executive Medical Director, Dr. Mike Muzzarelli offers 10 tips for beating the heat.