Back to School Fears

My kindergartner was nervous the first day of school, but his mom and dad were definitely more nervous. My husband followed the bus to school the first few days to make sure he got out safely and wasn't scared. Isn't that sweet? I never rode the bus as a kid, so I was worried about everything from kids being mean to him getting off at the wrong stop. He has had some trouble with older girls who sit behind him, but overall, he seems to really like the bus and school. It is still strange to me that I don't see/talk to the other kids' parents like I did at preschool. I miss that part, but I don't miss being a taxi cab. How is the beginning of school going for your kids?

Oh and my little one starts preschool next week. He says SuSu(Susie) is his teacher! My oldest called her Snoozie.

FROM NBC: Ready or not, it's back to school time! While many parents have no problem getting their kids in the back to school groove, for some – this week and the next few to follow can be a trying time! Britney Glaser explains why in tonight's medical minute. 1st grader Lucas Vangossen has mixed emotions about heading back to school.(SOT: Lucas VanGossen) "I'm a little excited, a little not." Lucas had what turned out to be a great year of kindergarten last year, but its rocky start is something that mom Barbara still remembers. (SOT: Barbara VanGossen, Mother) "There were times when he wouldn't get out of the car – times when we would walk him in and have to sit for quite a while." Licensed therapist Chauntelle Lejeune says that many young kids who enter a new environment will experience separation anxiety.(SOT: Chauntelle LeJeune, Therapist) "You'll see crying, you might see phone calls home from school on a regular basis where the child's complaining of a stomach ache, headache, they threw up – but then you get them home and everything's good." Four percent of children between the ages of six and 12 have significant struggles with separation anxiety. (SOT: Chauntelle LeJeune, Therapist) "If it continues for weeks and weeks and it's starting to escalate, then you know you have a real issue on your hands." The number one way to reduce the stress and anxiety is to establish a routine. (SOT: Chauntelle LeJeune, Therapist) "Routine is comforting to children, so if there's more of a routine happening, then there's less chance of anxiety problems." Talking to your child in a casual way about what they're feeling can open up a dialogue where assurance can be offered. (sot: Barbara Vangossen, mother) "I would try to explain to him that we would never leave him anywhere unless we knew he was perfectly safe." For Lucas, his anxiety was alleviated within the first couple of weeks of the school year thanks to consistency and comfort from his parents – and a nugget of wisdom from his kindergarten teacher.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Are you having an Acne Emergency? Call Soderstrom Skin Institute at 674 – SKIN… we treat acne seriously. With over 35 years of experience, Soderstrom Skin Institute will provide a personalized program to help you get your acne under control. Untreated acne can result in permanent scarring. Don’t suffer any longer! Evening and weekend appointment are available and in most cases you’ll be seen within one week.

Kids lost in corn field

One of our reporters did this story today. If you missed it, you might want to take a look. It really freaked me out because our house backs up to a farm field and we haven't even installed a fence yet. I can just imagine how this mom must have been panicking.

Two Livingston County children are safe tonight after getting lost in a massive cornfield over the weekend.
News 25's Eric Shangraw has more on the heroic search efforts by volunteers, police and a canine unit to find the missing kids.

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It was around 6 o'clock Saturday night when Tracie Pitchford and her two children were playing in the yard of her rural Livingston County home. Tracie was momentarily distracted when 4–year old Kieran and 2–year old Kendall followed a family dog into an adjacent corn field and disappeared.

"By the time I reached the corn I couldn't see her anymore. And it was pretty scary. When I got in the corn I could hear her. Actually I heard him. And I couldn't see him. I couldn't tell which direction their voices where coming from. Panic set in," said Pitchford.

Tracie called her parents and police who raced to the scene. Neighboring farmers and other volunteers showed to start a search in a race against the oncoming darkness. The first few minutes were unsuccessful.

This cornfield is like a maze. The fields run north–south and east–west. Anyone who comes in here would quickly get disoriented.

"You can't see once you get in there unless you squat down. I squatted down to try and see the kids in any direction. And then you're calling for them saying Kieran and Kendall, it is mama and papa. Can you hear me? And then you just don't hear anything. It is just a sense of panic," said their grandmother Diana Folk.

Pontiac Police Officer Casey Kohlmeier and his canine partner, Draco, where called in to help and track the lost children. But at first they had no luck. Then a farmer on an ATV found the Kieran near a waterway some 300 yards from where they were last seen. But the brother and sister had split up. The canine officer then picked up a scent.

"I went to the far side of the field and attempted to reverse the track, to go backwards from where that child was located. And Draco successfully hit the track," said Kohlmeier.

The Belgian Malinois lead the search team to the area where the two-year old girl was wondering. She was scratched by the corn and dirty, but otherwise safe.

"He pulls me pretty hard. That's another way that I can tell he's on it. He gets very intense," said Kohlmeier.

"I'm just very thankful for that dog and officer," said Pitchford.

"It was a good collaborative effort between the farmers, fire department, and the police agencies. It was very rewarding," said Kohlmeier.

And Draco's reward for finding a missing child? A chance to play with his favorite toy. -Just another day at the office, on four legs.
-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Are you having an Acne Emergency? Call Soderstrom Skin Institute at 674 – SKIN… we treat acne seriously. With over 35 years of experience, Soderstrom Skin Institute will provide a personalized program to help you get your acne under control. Untreated acne can result in permanent scarring. Don’t suffer any longer! Evening and weekend appointment are available and in most cases you’ll be seen within one week.

Dreaded Bed Rest

I am so grateful I didn't get put on all-out bed rest with this pregnancy! With my second, I was in the hospital for two weeks and then on bed rest at home for 6 more weeks. It was dreadful! The hospital stay was so monotonous. I thought I was going to go crazy! I actually looked forward to non-stress tests and going to the bathroom! At least I was doing something! OSF does have people who volunteer their time to help people in antepartum cope with sitting in the same bed for days, weeks or months! I attempted to crochet a blanket after someone took the time to teach me. I failed miserably, but it did take up some time. There was also a lady who came around and did massages/manicures, etc. That was nice! I remember thinking I wish I had a roommate-someone else who was going through the same thing! Did any of you ever go on bed rest?

FROM NBC: Bed rest — it's an unpleasant reality for women with high–risk pregnancies. Some are stuck in the same bed, for months.. But now, one Texas hospital has found a way to make the stay a little more pleasant. Scott Gordon has the details in tonight's medical minute. Missy Cheatham went to her doctor for what she thought was a routine Exam.(SOT: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"Didn't have a thing packed. Wasn't remotely ready for this. Hadn't wrapped up anything at work."

That was six weeks ago! Pregnant with twin girls, she's been in bed, ever since.(SOT: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"You are in the same room the whole time, so that's been interesting!" Doctors call it "bedrest."Some women might call it "prison."The same view, out the same window, for weeks on end! T–v gets old, too, so Missy spends hours on her laptop.

(SOT: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"I didn't do much with Facebook before but now I'm on FaceBook a lot!Her story is typical of soon–to–be mothers, ordered to bedrest because of High–risk pregnancies. (SOT: Angelle Kolle, Nurse)"The sad thing is some of these women who don't usually have depression issues get depressed. Your days become nights. Your nights become days.You're in the bed all the time." So, nurses here at Texas Hospital Heb came up with a plan, a way to keep soon–to–be moms from going stir crazy."

It's called "mommies in waiting."(SOT: Angelle Kolle, Nurse)"We thought, 'What can we do?'"Nurse Angelle Kolle thought, why not come up with a daily activity —Making blankets or baby clothes on one day. (SOT: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"It's really fun."on other days, massages, even a movie night ...(SOT: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"This program has been really nice because it gives you activities tolook forward to and break up your days."(SOT: Angelle Kolle, Nurse)"They're lonely. They just want someone to visit with, especially ifthey're social." A way to help pass the time and make weeks of bedrest go just a little faster.(sot: Missy Cheatham, Patient)"I've been here six weeks so another two weeks is nothing!"

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Are you having an Acne Emergency? Call Soderstrom Skin Institute at 674 – SKIN… we treat acne seriously. With over 35 years of experience, Soderstrom Skin Institute will provide a personalized program to help you get your acne under control. Untreated acne can result in permanent scarring. Don’t suffer any longer! Evening and weekend appointment are available and in most cases you’ll be seen within one week.

Dreams During Pregnancy

I keep having a dream that my water broke! Ugh! That has only happened to me when I am near transition, so I don't think that will happen. Why do I keep having this dream? Did you have vivid dreams during pregnancy?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Are you having an Acne Emergency? Call Soderstrom Skin Institute at 674 – SKIN… we treat acne seriously. With over 35 years of experience, Soderstrom Skin Institute will provide a personalized program to help you get your acne under control. Untreated acne can result in permanent scarring. Don’t suffer any longer! Evening and weekend appointment are available and in most cases you’ll be seen within one week.

Lead Based Toys Controversy

Eyebrows McGee(a.k.a. Laura Petelle) sent me this link to a story about Mattel's lead based toy policies. As a parent, it is very frustrating. WHOI did a toy safety check last year and I remember one toy in particular. It was stacking blocks. Some of them contained lead and some of them didn't. They came from the same package. There is really no way to know for sure if the toy your child is chewing on does or does not contain lead. Oh-and lead is extremely detrimental to brain development and very hard to get out of the body. Figures!

Here's what Laura had to say: "I certainly won't be buying Isaac any Mattel toys until they use
third-party testing labs. It's criminal that the company responsible for six recalls that drove the push for improved testing was able to buy their way out of the new law with lobbying. I know we all expect that from corporations, but Mattel apparently doesn't care that children's lives are at risk."

FROM YAHOO: Toy-makers, clothing manufacturers and other companies selling products for young children are submitting samples to independent laboratories for safety tests. But the nation's largest toy maker, Mattel, isn't being required to do the same.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently, and quietly, granted Mattel's request to use its own labs for testing that is required under a law Congress passed last summer in the wake of a rash of recalls of toys contaminated by lead. Six of those toys were produced by Mattel Inc., and its subsidiary Fisher-Price.

The new law sets strict limits for lead, lead paint and chemicals known as phthalates. It mandates third-party testing for companies, big and small, making products geared for children 12 and under.

"It's really ironic that the company that was a principal source of the problem" is now getting favorable treatment from the government, said Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, Calif.

Mattel is getting a competitive advantage, Green said, because smaller companies must pay independent labs to do the tests. Testing costs can run from several hundred dollars to many thousands, depending on the test and the toy or product.

Mattel says it demonstrated to the CPSC that its products go through rigorous safety tests. Spokeswoman Lisa Marie Bongiovanni also said Mattel has an appropriate "firewall" in place to ensure test results are protected from corporate influence.

"We have extremely qualified people who work feet away from our production lines," Bongiovanni said. "It allows us to do more testing than any other toy company out there."

Lead can cause irreversible brain damage. The six Mattel-related recalls in 2007 involved more than 2 million toys. They were part of a slew of recalls by several dozen companies. The recalls frightened parents and pressure came to bear on Congress to pass the new law, known as CPSIA. Mattel and Fisher-Price have not had any lead recalls since.

In June, Mattel agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for violating the lead paint ban.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Are you having an Acne Emergency? Call Soderstrom Skin Institute at 674 – SKIN… we treat acne seriously. With over 35 years of experience, Soderstrom Skin Institute will provide a personalized program to help you get your acne under control. Untreated acne can result in permanent scarring. Don’t suffer any longer! Evening and weekend appointment are available and in most cases you’ll be seen within one week.