Family and Consumer Sciences

Live Smart Ohio

Ohio State University Extension

Shannon Carter

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Keeping Holidays Expectations in Check

The holiday season is upon us. What does that mean for you? Are you looking forward to special events and traditions of the season? Are you stressed just thinking about all the preparations? What happens when our visions of sugar plums turn to ruined candy, or the beautiful decorations we had planned just don’t turn […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County.

REVIEWED BY: Amy Meehan, MPH, Healthy People Program Specialist

SOURCES:

  • Managing Expectations. 2017. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/holiday-stress-managing-expectations.aspx.
  • Holiday Resource Center. 2017. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/holiday-stress.aspx

The Power of Acceptance

A few years ago my kids were diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that initially caused them pain and suffering… and it caused me even more suffering as a mom. In times like those, it’s common to question why something like that had to happen. Why did they have to get this disease? Why couldn’t they […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County.

REVIEWED BY: Patrice Power-Barker, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Lucas County

SOURCES:

  • Absenger, W. (2015). Mindfulness and the Stages of Grief in Chronic Disease. Mind Body Med by Absenger Cancer Education Foundation.
  • Carter, S. (2015). What is Mindfulness? Live Smart Ohio Mind and Body Blog by Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved from: http://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mind-and-body/carter-413osu-edu/what-is-mindfulness/
  • Carter, S. (2016). Sparkle Like You Mean It. Live Smart Ohio Mind and Body Blog by Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved from: http://livesmartohio.osu.edu/?s=sparkle

Creating “Margin” in Your Life

Do you find yourself often rushing from one activity or event to another? Is your schedule so full that a little “hiccup” in the day creates a tragic loss of unrecoverable time and the rest of the day falls apart like a line of dominoes? Perhaps you could use a little margin in your life. […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County

REVIEWED BY: Melinda Hill, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Wayne County

SOURCES:

  • American Psychological Association, “Research-based strategies for better balance.” July/August 2016, Vol 47, No. 7. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/07-08/sidebar-balance.aspx
  • Li, Qing. Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environ Health Prev Med. 2010 January; 15(1): 9–17. Published online 2009 March 25. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793341/
  • Swenson, R. 2004. Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. NavPress, Colorado. http://www.richardswenson.com/margin/

Overscheduled Kids

As parents, we encourage our kids to do their best in the classroom, on stage, on the ball field. We want them to be well rounded and try new activities, so we tend to push our kids. Some amount of pushing can help a child develop grit and perseverance. According to child psychologists with Child […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County

REVIEWED BY: Melinda Hill, Extension Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Wayne County

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • Pixabay

SOURCES:

  • Carter, C. "Are Your Overscheduling Your Kids?" The Greater Good Science Center, Berkeley University. Accessed May 2017. http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/
  • Martinelli, K. When to Push Your Children: And how to know if you're pushing too hard. Child Mind Institute. Accessed May 2017. https://childmind.org
  • “Signs Your Kids May be Too Busy.” Live Well with UnityPoint Health. Accessed May 2017. https://www.unitypoint.org

Coping with Pet Loss

If you’ve ever lost a pet close to you, you understand the grief that surrounds a person or family when they are mourning the loss of their beloved pet. My daughter Allie recently lost her beloved guinea pig of 6½ years. She had Belle since Kindergarten and they were ‘snuggle buddies’ and great companions. When […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County

REVIEWED BY: Melinda Hill, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Wayne County

SOURCES:

  • “Coping With the Death of Your Pet,” The Humane Society of the United States. 2017
  • Robinson, L., Segal, J., Segal, R. “How to Cope with Losing a Pet.” HelpGuide. Feb. 2017
  • Smith, M., Robinson, L. and Segal, J. “Coping with Grief and Loss.” HelpGuide. Feb. 2017

Let’s have a heart to heart…

Since February is American Heart Month, now is the perfect time to look at health and lifestyle patterns and how they affect heart health. Heart disease is the number one cause of death for American women and men. This accounts for 1 in 4 deaths in the United States. Although there are many risk factors […]

WRITTEN BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County

REVIEWED BY: Amy Habig, Program Specialist, Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program, Ohio State University Extension

SOURCES:

  • “How much physical activity do adults need?” June 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • “How to eat healthy without dieting.” January 2017. The American Heart Association.

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