The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Watching your medications when you're with your grandchildren

Since I've written about children being poisoned by household items over the years, I'm really careful about putting my purse, which contains medication and supplements, out of the reach of my four-year-old twin grandchildren. However, on my last visit, when I came downstairs in the morning twice, my purse was easily with reach of my grandchildren.

Not good. A young child can get into her grandmother's purse and swallow medication in a few seconds.

More than two million poison exposures were reported to local poison centers in 2005, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. About half of these exposures occurred in children under the age of six. Ninety percent of the poisonings took place in the home.

The most common poisons among children are:

• Cosmetics and personal care products.
• Cleaning substances.
• Pain medicine/fever-reducers.
• Coins, thermometers.
• Plants.
• Diaper care, acne preparations, antiseptics.
• Cough and cold preparations.
• Pesticides.
• Vitamins.
• Gastrointestinal preparations.
• Antimicrobials.
• Arts, crafts, and office supplies.
• Antihistamines.
• Hormones and hormone antagonists (diabetes medications, contraceptives).
• Hydrocarbons (lamp oil, kerosene, gasoline, lighter fluid).

If your grandchild is unconscious, not breathing, or having convulsions or seizures due to poison contact or ingestion, call 911immediately. If your grandchild has come in contact with poison, and has mild or no symptoms, call your poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.

Poison Prevention and Treatment Tips, a one-page fact sheet by the American Academy of Pediatrics, is a great resource to print out and hang on your refrigerator.

Poison Prevention Week 2008 is March 16-22. The association offers helpful materials on preventing poisonings in children.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission fact sheet, "Locked Up Poisons," also provides important information for preventing poisoning tragedies.

My next post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss buying safe toys for your grandchild.

Making your home safe for your grandchild

Each year, 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home, according to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Some examples from the commission include:

• 97 crib-related deaths from 2002 through 2004.
• 23 deaths and 64 nonfatal incidents involving the entanglement of children’s clothing drawstrings over the past 20 years.
• An average of about 260 children under 5 years old drown in pools nationwide annually. Another 2,725 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for near-drowning incidents. Most of these cases involve residential pools.
• 311 non-pool drownings of children younger than 5 years of age from 2002 through 2004. Bathtubs were involved in most, 71 percent, along with buckets, toilets, and other sources of standing water.
• More than 200 children have strangled in window-blind cords since 1980.
• About 15 deaths due to choking of children under age 3. Some of these deaths involve known hazards such as small toys, toy parts, balloons, balls, and marbles. Some deaths result from hidden hazards, small objects not intended for use by children but that accidentally end up in their hands and mouths.
• 15 injuries when electronic game systems caught fire or overheated since the beginning of 2000.
• 17 deaths of babies, most under 12 months old, who suffocated or strangled when they became entangled in sheets in their cribs or beds. Two of these deaths were with fitted crib sheets.
• 36 TV tip-over-related deaths and 65 furniture tip-over deaths from 2000 through 2005. More than 80 percent of the deaths involved young children. Additionally, in 2005 at least 3,000 children younger than 5 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TV tip-overs.
• 1 death and 33 cases where children swallowed loose magnets and required emergency surgery.
• About 200,000 playground injuries each year.
• More than 200 babies died while in playpens since 1988. In almost 100 of these deaths, soft bedding or improper or extra mattresses were present in the playpen.
• About 36 children younger than 5 died each year as a result of ingesting poisonous substances found in and around the home from 2002 through 2004. About 91,000 young children visited hospital emergency rooms as a result of unintentional poisoning in 2005.
• About 6,700 emergency room injuries involving powered scooters occurred in children under age 15 from July 2003 through June 2004.
• About 12 children 10 years old and younger die each year, and more than 4,000 are treated in hospital emergency rooms for window fall-related injuries.

Here are checklists and tips from the commission to help keep your grandchild safe in your home.

• Child Care Safety Checklist for Parents and Child Care Providers

• Baby Safety Checklist

• Safety Tips for Sleeping Babies

• Childcare Safety Checklist

• Childproofing Your Home

• Back to School Safety Checklist

• Water Safety Tips

• Safety Devices Help Prevent Death and Injuries

• Preventing TV and Furniture Tipover Deaths

• Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook

My next post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will cover watching your medications when you're with your grandchild.

Boomers stepping up to raise their grandchildren in record numbers

More than 2.4 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren. They recognized the need to offer their grandchildren stability in a family emergency. They changed their plans to give their grandchildren the love and support they need.

Slightly more than half -- 1.3 million -- of these families contain both grandparents; 1 million have only a grandmother; and 150,000 have only a grandfather.

Of the grandparents raising grandchildren, 55 percent of grandmothers and 47 percent of grandfathers are under age 55. And 19 percent of grandmothers and 15 percent of grandfathers are under age 45.

AARP offers an overview that will help grandparents address issues and learn where to get can help.

Topics include:

• Your legal status.
• Your finances.
• Your housing.
• Your grandchild's education.
• Your health.
• AARP resources.
• Other resources.
• Books.

AARP also offers other information for grandparents raising children:

• State fact sheets about the range of support services, benefits, and policies grandparents need to fulfill their caregiving role.

• GrandCare News, a free newsletter. The newsletter is sent through the mail.

Other resources include:   

• Aging Internet Information Notes -- Administration on Aging.

• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren -- Child Welfare Information Gateway.

• 10 Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: How to Avoid Financial Shipwreck When Raising Your Children's Children -- MSNBC.

• Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren -- ParentingWeekly.

• Move Over Nanny, Here Comes Granny! A Generation of Grandparents Do the Second Shift -- Baby Boomer Village.

Tomorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss making your home safe for your grandchild.

Have questions about grandparenting? The Web offers ideas, answers

More than one in three baby boomers are grandparents with the average age being 53.

For baby boomers who have questions about becoming grandparents or what their role should be, the Web offers a wide variety of sources of information. Like all Internet research, you need to pick and choose from among the offerings. Some are very good, and some poor.

Below is a listing of Web sites on grandparenting.

• Grandboomers.com examines the role of grandboomers and address questions that come up, such as a frequent inquiry, What should my grandchildren call me? 

• AARP's Grandparent Information Center has a variety of resources to help grandparents in various family roles.

• The Foundation for Grandparenting is an organization that advocates for grandparents, promoting the importance of grandparenting as a role which gives important meaning and empowerment to later life, and benefits all family members.

• Grand Media's mission is to provide grandparents of all ages and in all stages of life both information and inspiration. In addition to its Web site, it offers Grand Magazine.

• Grandparents.com is a Web site for active grandparents who want fresh ways to interact, stay connected, and strengthen family bonds.

Tommorrow's post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will be on grandparents raising grandchildren.

How grandparents can offer loving support to grandchildren

My grandchildren live in Florida and California.

How can grandparents who live far from their grandchildren be supportive?

A family plan is needed on how grandparents can help out, Dr. Arthur Kornhaber, founder of the Foundation for Grandparenting, told me in an interview. Kornhaber recommends that expecting parents have a family conference with the grandparents before the baby is born.

Kornhaber, a child and family psychiatrist who conducts research on grandparents, suggests setting up a family team that offers children loving support from their grandparents and gives the parents the practical and emotional support they need to do the best job possible.

In the meeting and later, grandparents need to be accepting of the way their children want to raise the grandchildren.

"The proof is in the pudding," he says. "If the baby is happy, that's good. If not, a discussion is in order."

When a major issue arises, the grandparent should bring it up in a positive way.

On grandparents who live far away, Kornhaber says family resources should be discussed during the family meeting. When the babies are young, they need lots of time with their grandparents.

"If grandchildren don't see their grandparents, there are emotional and spiritual costs," he says.

When the grandchildren are older, if the parents have more financial resources, the children can go to the grandparents. If the grandparents have more money, they can come to see the children.

Kornhaber says it's important for children to see the bond between their parents and grandparents. And, if a divorce occurs, a parent dies, or a parent can't raise the child, the strong family coalition that has been developed can help the family through painful, complex times.

"The Grandparent Solution: How Parents Can Build a Family Team for Practical, Emotional, and Financial Success" is Kornhaber book on how parents can form a family arrangement that offers the child loving support from their grandparents and that gives the parents support.

He also has written "The Grandparent Guide: The Definitive Guide to Coping with the Challenges of Modern Grandparenting."

Upcoming posts on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will discuss:

• Using Web grandparenting resources.
• Raising grandchildren.
• Making your home safe for your grandchildren.
• Watching your medications when you're with your grandchild.
• Buying safe toys for your grandchild.

A thrill for the art lover -- art in a botanical garden where it's warm

When I was in Florida for Christmas, I was lucky to be able to visit the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami.

While I love botanical gardens, my oldest daughter being a botanist, I was excited when we arrived to find art displays among the lush, tropical gardens.

Work by Roy Lichtenstein and Dale Chihuly is being exhibited through May 31.

Lichtenstein, a Pop artist icon, is famous for using simple outlines to define forms in his paintings along with primary colors, angled lines, and Benday dots. Benday dots are dots used in a printing process.

He used the same elements in his sculptures; black lines to define the shape of the sculpture with angled lined and Benday dots on the surface.

Lichtenstein sculptures range from eight to 30 feet high.

Dale Chihuly is recognized worldwide for his revolutionary blown-glass installations. Over the years Chihuly and his teams have created a wide

variety of blown forms, revisiting and refining earlier shapes while at the same time creating exciting new elements.

I'd certainly recommend a visit to the gardens this spring for those looking for some sunshine to break up long, dreary winter days in the north.

As a person who loves art and museums, it was a new art thrill to visit this show. And the weather was wonderful; around 80 degrees.

The dream of retiring where it's warm abroad

Two years ago, when I was returning from a trip to Florida, I met a man who had retired in Costa Rica. He said the costs had gone up since he first moved there, but that living in Costa Rica was still offering savings.

If you've fantasized about living overseas -- especially in a warm, exotic place -- you may want to the take the time to investigate the possibilities.

One of the first things to consider is whether you'd be comfortable living a long distance from your family, friends, and hometown. When one of my daughters lived in Spain for five years, it was difficult to be able to see her only about once a year.

Six issues to consider before you decide to retire overseas are offered in "Deciding to Retire Abroad" by Jenny C. McCune on Bankrate.com. The issues include:

• Look at your budget.
• Examine your priorities including climate, activities, health care, and costs.
• Investigate tax ramifications.
• Find out visa requirements.
• Get to know the country. 

McCune suggests those interested in retiring overseas read "The Grown Up's Guide to Retiring Abroad" by Roseanne Knorr.

Web sites offering information on retiring abroad abound. Some include:

• Escape Artist.
• The People's Guide to Mexico.
• International Living.
• Boomers Abroad.
• Boomerscape.

International Living offers a Web page on 10 Places Your Dollar Buys a Lot of Beach. The list includes:

• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Belize
• Mexico
• Bahamas
• Guadeloupe and Martinique
• Nicaragua
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Panama

My next post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will offer a tip on a vacation treat in Miami, art in a botanical garden.

The dream of retiring where it's warm in the U.S.

One of my daughters lives in Florida and the other in California. For a person who has lived in the rainy Pacific Northwest for years, it would be great to be able to retire where it's warm.

Planning for retirement is a complicated, but necessary task.

Many factors need to be taken into consideration. Jane Bryant Quinn outlines the basic steps in retirement planning in an AARP Bulletin.

If you want to retire where it's warm, you'll need to do additional research.

In the communities you're considering:

• Check out the services for older adults. AARP The Magazine offers its best picks for cities baby boomers should consider for retirement. Among the top five are Atlanta and Chandler, Ariz. Included in the top four the magazine also named as places to watch is Austin, Texas.

• Find out if opportunities exist for older adults to work part time. An article in the Christian Science Monitor, "Snowbirds Work Where It's Warm," shows how retired boomers can earn income in warmer locations.

• Ask if there are retirement communities located within striking distance of employment opportunities.   

• Research housing costs and options and study the real estate market carefully. You can check with local planning departments to learn about the demographics of an area. Industry closures or the shutdown of military bases could impact the housing market.

• Make a list of the activities you enjoy and find out if they are available.

• Inquire about the public transportation system and walkable communities that would be helpful to mature adults as they age.

• Determine if you'd enjoy living in traditional retirement areas such as Arizona and Florida.

• Run the numbers, either on your own or with a financial planner, to determine if moving where it's warm is worth the extra costs.

Best wishes with your research and planning. If you decide to opt for the sun, you'll be more comfortable if you'd studied the pros and cons of the venture.

Tomorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer's Guide will discuss retiring where it's warm abroad.

Lack of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, may increase the risk of cancer, other disorders

Living in the rainy Pacific Northwest, I've often wondered about getting enough vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin.

People who live in northern climates may be deficient in vitamin D and may be at an increased risk of certain diseases and disorders, recent studies show.

In a Feb. 13, 2008, article, "Does Our Lack of Sun Put Your Health in Danger?" The Seattle Times reports that low levels of vitamin D can:

• Raise your risk of cancer.
• Increase susceptibility to heart attack, diabetes, and other disorders.
• Partially account for higher rates of multiple sclerosis in northern areas.

Because people use sunscreen, a seasonal shortfall of vitamin D has become  a year-round condition for many. A 15-minute exposure to the summer sun to your arms and legs only can generate 5,000 international units of the vitamin. One expert, quoted in The Times article, recommends sensible sun exposure that shields the face and stops far short of sunburn.

Vitamin D, long associated only with its role in bone formation, is actually active throughout the human body, powerfully influencing immune system responses and cell defenses, according to an article in Scientific American, November 2007.

Vitamin D supplements could address the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in temperate zones, but how much people should take is still being debated. See page 5 of the Scientific American article for suggestions.

If people take too much vitamin D, it can trigger dangerous calcium deposits in kidneys and blood vessels, according to The Times article. However, it takes a significant amount for this to occur: more than 10,000 IU a day for a year.

How does your city rank in the amount of sunshine it receives?

Here is a listing of the top 101 cities, with a population of 50,000 plus, in the U.S. that have the lowest average amount of sunshine.

My next three posts on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will cover cover warm weather topics:

• Retiring where it's warm in the U.S.
• Retiring where it's warm abroad.
• A great vacation treat in Florida, art in a botanical garden.

Combat winter blahs with light, exercise

During the winter, I get depressed. I long for spring, my favorite time of the year, and sunshine

Winter darkness can "get people down" and contribute to reduced productivity and creativity, Dr. Norman Rosenthal, author of "Winter Blues: Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder," told me in an interview.

Exercise helps me ease the winter blues. Walking outdoors on sunny or cloudy winter days and making one or more rooms in the home brighter also can help.

However, for some people winter brings depression, the need for more sleep, lack of energy, and a craving for starches and sweets that causes weight gain.

Rosenthal began studying individuals with these symptoms 26 years ago. He discovered a syndrome, which he called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.

If your functioning is significantly impaired or you're experiencing significant feelings of depression at the onset of winter, you should seek medical advice, says Rosenthal.

Once you've been diagnosed with SAD, you can think through some of the things you can do to feel better.

Rosenthal suggests buying a premade light box. For suggestions see his book, his Web site, or the Web site of society for Light Therapy and Biological Rhythms.

Light boxes cost between $250 and $350. Look for a return policy of 30 days. Get the light box out, and start trying it when it arrives. Results are usually seen within two to four days.

Some people need 15 to 20 minutes a day of light therapy. Others may need considerably more. Once a regime is established, it must be undertaken daily.

Recent research shows that cognitive behavioral therapy -- problem-solving therapy or counseling -- is helping for treating SAD, as are certain antidepressants, Rosenthal says.

About 6 percent of Americans, 14 million, have SAD, while another 14 percent of adults suffer from winter blues.

Tomorrow's post will cover how the lack of sunshine, which helps the body make vitamin D, affects health.