It’s pretty safe to say that pollen season has officially started!  Unfortunately, for the girls, so have their allergies.  Their red, itchy eyes, stuffy noses, and constant sneezing are inconvenient at best.  Surprisingly enough, even Snowball, one of our pooches, suffers through pollen season. 

It’s first helpful to understand exactly what an allergy is:  OHealthy states that when an allergen presents itself, mast cells immediately spring into action and release histamines.  Histamines bind to other cells, causing the proverbial redness and itching.  So you can’t necessarily stop the reaction, but there are medications out there that can help you suppress/alleviate the symptoms. 

The first category includes over-the-counter type allergy medications.  In the past few years many prescription allergy medications have gone over the counter.  Drugs like Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, and Benadryl are very common.  I use Claritin for the girls because the pills are small and it makes them easier to swallow. 

The second category is kind of like the first, but mix the allergy medication with a decongestant and there you go.  This is fine for me, but I find that the decongestants make the girls irritable and cause difficulty sleeping, so this isn’t really a great option for them.  The third category is my personal life saver:  steroids.  No, I’m not talking about body building.  However, nasal steroids are the only reason the girls and I survive pollen season.  There are many brands out there, so talk to your doctor and see which is best for you.  We have used Flonase with great success!

How do you keep a handle on your tween’s allergies?  Do you have any suggestions or advice?  Please share below.

It seems spring may finally be here (I know…I may have spoken too soon,) but I am a positive thinker!

If we really can count on warmer (and very soon longer, too) days, we should also count on doing all we can to get our kids outside and moving! With two boys and working in a school, I see what too much time cooped up inside can do to a child and it is not pretty. All that energy inside needs to go somewhere and I don’t know about you, but I would rather it be directed at a soccer ball or bike than my living room lamp or our Xbox.

Don’t get me wrong…..I think video games have a time and place (like very long car rides) and my kids do know how to play inside without breaking things, but I don’t want them to fall in love with being inside the four walls of our home. I want them to enjoy playing outside. I want them to meet kids down the street and play cops and bad guys. I want them to yell, get dirty and really, really tired (all this makes for easy bed times, too!)

I see too many kids today with their heads buried in the Nintendo DS or tired after running one lap around the playground. It is up to parents to push those kids outside. Don’t give them the option to stay in. Get out there with them, go on a bike ride or take a walk with the dog. It is up to parents to set the example and with spring and summer on their way, it is time to show our children how much fun it can be to get out and live a little in this world, and not just the one created by their games and TV.

Any ideas for ways to get kids to want to go outside and play? What are some of your favorite outdoor activities?