Friday, July 11, 2008

Health Tips for July 11

Health Tip: Keep Teen Conflicts Under Control

Learning how to deal with conflicts is an important part of maturing, and will help you build healthy relationships throughout your life.

Here, for teens, are suggestions for dealing with conflicts in a healthy way, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

* Calm down and stay in control. Use techniques such as counting, breathing, and thinking relaxing thoughts to keep you from losing your temper.
* Figure out what's really upsetting you, and address that issue.
* Deal with the issue in private, and only with the people involved. Don't bring other people into the discussion.
* Listen to the other person talk. Understand their side of the story and their point of view.
* Don't be afraid to compromise, change, say you're sorry, or forgive.

Health Tip: Parenting Twins

Taking care of a newborn baby is demanding and exhausting enough, but parenting twins is a double dose of work.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions to make parenting twins a bit easier:

* Find other parents of twins to talk with, or join a group for parents of twins.
* Read books and magazines about taking care of twins.
* Know that you will be tired. Take every opportunity to rest.
* It's normal to feel that taking care of twins is too much to manage. But remind yourself that you'll eventually work it all out.
* Spend time alone with each twin to help each establish a unique identity.
* Speak and read regularly to each child. This may help prevent the delay in language development that sometimes affects twins.

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