The Super Mom » Kandice Martinez

The Benefits of Bicycle Riding

Kandice Martinez — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:01:30 +0000

After more than 10 years this super mom is getting back on a bike!

The last time I owned a bike was probably about 10 years ago, my then-to-be husband and I picked up a couple of used mountain bikes at a garage sale with the intention of spending time together and getting more exercise. I rode the thing twice, and then it stayed in storage for the next 7 or 8 years until I had my own garage sale and sold it to someone else. It was clearly not the bike for me, I was so uncomfortable the couple of times that I had it out that I was completely unmotivated to keep at it.

What made me start thinking about getting a new one was watching my neighbors daughter learn to ride without training wheels. Not only was her excitement and joy contagious but listening to her ask her dad if they could go for a bike ride made me think of my own girls. Who was going to teach them how to ride a bike and who was going to take them on their first bike rides if both of their parents didn’t own a bike and hadn’t been on one in more than 10 years?
So about a month ago I started my hunt for just the right bike. But what kind to buy? Mountain Bike, nope the last one was really uncomfortable and I won’t be riding in mountainous terrain as I fear broken limbs more than ever now that I have kids. Long distance racing type bike, nope, the Tour de (insert place here) is not in my future. Electric Bike, tempting but defeats the purpose of the bike as exercise. What I was really leaning towards, what I had always secretly coveted was a bike with a basket, one of those cruising style bikes with the big seat and a basket and possibly tassels. And that’s what I got, A blue and white cruising style bike (my white wire basket is on order). It is soooo lightweight and comfy. It has seven gears so I can still tackle hills and pull the girls in a trailer if I want, a lot of the bikes I looked at had only 1 or 3 gears. And of course it’s pretty!
The first time I got on it and really started pedaling I remember that joy and euphoria that I saw on my young neighbors face! And as the saying goes, you never forget how to ride a bike.

From ezinearticles.com:

Bicycling is a good cardiovascular exercise that could increase the health of your heart. A bike with several speeds will allow you to increase you fitness level as your cardiovascular function improves. Begin by riding at an easy speed over even ground. If what you want is a challenge change your terrain.
Bicycling is kind to the joints. As we get older we experience Joint pain especially in the knees as they Osteoporosis causes joint problems to worsen because of the lack of proper calcium levels in the bones. Bike riding offers exercise without pain. The aerobic benefit is comparable to jogging or running without the strain. Check that the seat height on your bike is adjusted to allow your legs full range of motion with each revolution. Full range of motion also promotes better circulation to the lower extremities which do the majority of the work in moving the bicycle.
Bicycling whips those leg muscles into shape. For muscular endurance, stick to a flat terrain, but adjust the speed of the bike as your strength improves. To avoid cramping, stretch thoroughly before and after each bike ride.
Bicycling increases your balance. Learning to ride a bike is all about staying upright. To do that, you have to find a balance between your body and the bike. Maintaining that balance strengthens the core muscles of the abdominal region. Tightening the core muscles keeps you from falling off of the bike. The lower abdominals pull your legs back towards you body from the bottom of the cycling revolution. The lower back is also kept pain free by a strong balanced core.
It’s also great way to release your stress from daily work either if you work at home or have a regular job. You can do it inside the house with an exercise bike, but also you can take your bike out and enjoy nature. Families, friends, can share the experience which can help you be together and give the opportunity to communicate with each other. I believe that we as families, friends, have to look for common grounds to share with each other as we do with friends. Feeling good with yourself and with your loved ones, is one of the greatest benefits you can get from this exercise.

What are the benefits of breastfeeding to mom?

Canadian Health Officials Give Green Light to Tamiflu for Babies

Kandice Martinez — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:20:18 +0000

Health officials have decided, even with a lack of data and studies done on the matter, that Tamiflu can be used on children under 1 because swine flu poses such a great risk to that age category. Previously the drug had only been approved for use with children over the age of one, now it is officially approved for the treatment of swine flu in patients of all ages. Physicians are allowed to prescribe Tamiflu to infants under the age of one.

The following quote from the article sums up their stand on the issue and how the decision was made:

“There were no antivirals authorized in Canada for treatment for children under the age of one,” said chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones during a call with reporters on Thursday. Young children are known to be more susceptible to influenza viruses in general and Butler-Jones said that is proving true with this new strain.

“We know that this group is increasingly vulnerable to complications of H1N1,” he said.

That quote doesn’t exactly instill confidence in their decision, it sounds more like, “well, we don’t have anything for under the age of one, so how about we approve a drug that hasn’t killed children over one, and see how it goes against that dang swine flu”. I know I sound cavalier, but what if it completely is too much for their little systems? Its unnerving for me to read that its approved with pretty much no data supporting their decision. I understand the need to have something, anything, to treat this age category, and personally hope for nothing but the best when it comes to treating babies.

That age category is also the most highly affected, out of the more 6,672 documented cases of Canadians with swine flu, 207 were under the age of 1, and 83 were hospitalized, with 10 in an internsive care unit and one death. But I wonder how this compares to the seasonal flu?

Food Companies Target Children Less

Kandice Martinez — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:42:10 +0000

Advertising Standards Canada has released their compliance report regarding whether or not Canadian companies are meeting the standards set concerning less advertising to children and the results are surprising; all 16 companies that signed on to the voluntary Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, either met or exceeded their pledges.

Coca-Cola Ltd., Hershey Canada Inc., Cadbury Adams Canada Inc., Janes Family Foods Ltd., Mars Canada Inc., McCain Foods (Canada), PepsiCo Canada ULC, and Unilever Canada Inc. all pledged to not directly advertise to children under 12 years old, while the companies Campbell Company of Canada, General Mills Canada Corporation, Kellogg Canada Inc., Kraft Canada Inc., McDonald’s, Nestle Canada Inc., Parmalat Canada and Weston Bakeries Limited all said they would commit 100% of their children’s advertising to promoting a healthier and more active lifestyle. The program had only asked them to commit 50%, so they doubled the requirements.

For a more complex and in depth look, go to the Ottawa Citizen and read further.

Fruit and Curry Chicken Salad

Kandice Martinez — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:34 +0000

I thought that this would be a nice grown up version of chicken salad, but it turned out that the kids really enjoyed it as well. I used a blend of dried cranberries, cherries and blueberries instead of just plain cranberries and doubled they curry (actually I probably used 3 times the curry but I really like curry). We had it on nice hearty multigrain bread, but it would also be really good in a lettuce wrap.

This also is excellent with tofu instead of chicken for a vegetarian version.

Ingredients:
• 3 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced apple
• 6 to 8 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• Lettuce leaves

Preparation:
Combine the chicken, cranberries, celery, and apple.
In a cup or small bowl combine 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise. the lemon juice, curry powder, and salt and pepper. Stir into the chicken, adding more mayonnaise as needed and for taste. Line bread or rolls with lettuce and spread chicken salad on the bread or serve the chicken salad on lettuce-lined plates.
Serves 4.

Children’s Book Review: Moo Baa La La La

Kandice Martinez — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:01:05 +0000

This is one of the very first books that I bought the girls and it’s still one of their first picks when we sit down to read. Its a great way to teach them their animal sounds and introduce them to the idea of humor, it doesn’t take them long to realize that three pigs saying La La La is the “joke”. I also found that the rhythm of the book made it very easy for me to read the animal names and let them respond with the corresponding sound.

Reading level: ages infant – 3 years

Page Count: 14 page

Publisher: Little Simon Books

What to expect: Thick board pages perfect for little ones to turn over and over, whimsically drawn animals that are still easy to recognize, simple words and a nice rhythmic cadence.

Publisher’s synopsis: Serious silliness for all ages. Artist Sandra Boynton is back and better than ever with completely redrawn versions of her multi-million selling board books. These whimsical and hilarious books, featuring nontraditional texts and her famous animal characters, have been printed on thick board pages, and are sure to educate and entertain children of all ages.

About the Author: is an American humorist, songwriter, children’s author and illustrator. Boynton has written and illustrated more than forty books for both children and adults, as well as over four thousand greeting cards, and four music albums.

You May Also Like: But Not The Hippopotamus

Our Rating:[rating=5]

Doctor Who Adopted Thousands of Abandoned Embryos

Kandice Martinez — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:43 +0000

This was an exceptionally interesting article for me as it hits so close to home. My beautiful twin girls were conceived (after many years of trying) through IVF and as it turns out we still have four embryos frozen. Every year I get a letter asking me if I want to continue storing my embryos and reminding me of my options if I choose not to continue with storage.And so far each year we have chosen to continue storing them, the thought of anything else makes me feel nauseous.I think that we will more than likely have some of our frozen embryos implanted as we would like 1 more child but chances are good that if we are again successful the second time around, 2 or 3 of the remaining embryos will not be used and we will one day have to make a decision as to what to do with them. Infertility treatment is an emotionally and financially draining process, and it’s difficult to just let go of something that you worked so long and hard to make.

You can read the full article here.

Life on Ice
In 1995, a California doctor took responsibility for thousands of unwanted embryos. He’s still figuring out what to do with them.
Police cruisers typically escort heads of state, but on a November morning in 1995, the VIP heading down California’s Highway 405 was an ordinary-looking moving truck. It was, however, carrying some particularly fragile cargo: several metal tanks, each just larger than a beer keg, containing a total of roughly 2,000 frozen human embryos. They were being transported from a scandal-plagued IVF clinic in Laguna Hills, Calif., to their new adoptive home in Newport Beach. Today, many still remain there, unclaimed. The embryos’ unusual journey illustrates just how complicated the business of assisted reproduction can get.
The story starts at Saddleback Memorial Hospital in Laguna Hills. The fertility clinic there had been shuttered earlier in 1995, when an investigation found that its doctors had mixed up embryos and impregnated women with eggs that weren’t theirs. As many as 300 patients were thought to have been involved, and at least three cases had surfaced in which women had unwittingly given birth to children not theirs. The clinic’s top doctors, Ricardo Asch and Jose Balmaceda, had fled the county. Thousands of unused or extra embryos were left behind, and because the clinic was run by the University of California, Irvine, they were in the custody of the state.
Officials asked several nearby fertility clinics to take the orphan embryos, but initially no one was willing; most clinic doctors preferred to stay clear of the scandal’s taint. Dr. Robert Anderson felt differently. “To me, it seemed unfair to the couples,” he says. Anderson agreed to house the frozen embryos at the clinic he’d opened three years earlier in Newport Beach, the Southern California Center for Reproductive Medicine. “I thought it was the right thing to do,” he says with more than a hint of resignation. “I actually thought I was doing a good thing.”
Anderson signed a contract laying out how he would take care of the embryos and releasing him from any liability related to their origins. He didn’t ask for payment, and he never suspected he’d be taking care of some of the embryos nearly 15 years later.
His staff began the process of tracking down the patients connected to each set of embryos using records from the Saddleback clinic. When the patients could be found, they were asked to make a decision about what to do with their embryos, and until they decided, they were billed for storage, just as Anderson’s own clients are. But because the University of California clinic was one of the first fertility centers in the world, many of its patients lived abroad, and tracking them down proved to be difficult. “We did what we could do,” Anderson says. Today, about a thousand of the Saddleback embryos remain.
Even if the patients are available to make a choice about the embryos, the decision often isn’t an easy one. Many couples opt to freeze extra embryos created for in vitro fertilization treatments; when they’re finished with IVF, they must decide what to do with these little clusters of cells, which were a challenge to produce and expensive. There are an estimated half million unused embryos, some decades old, being stored around the nation in fertility centers like Anderson’s. “There are huge differences in the thinking about what these embryos represent,” Anderson says. “From ‘they’re leftover biological material’ to ‘they’re little people’.”

Toss That Makeup That’s Older Than Your Firstborn

Kandice Martinez — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:35:02 +0000

We’re all guilty of hoarding makeup that we really, truly, think we are going to wear again. Think you aren’t included? I bet you can’t go to your makeup bag/drawer/basket and NOT find a shade of blue eyeshadow that you just “know” will be back in style soon.

Not only are most of the colors not coming back, (sorry, there’s just no way you can rock that blue shadow outside of the clubbing scene) or, even if they do, they can become an excellent breeding ground for all sorts of nasty bacteria. All of our makeup items are in close contact with our eyes, mouths and lips, and you can just imagine the germs that can accumulate on them. Who needs makeup when you have a great case of pink eye to lend color to your face? Not only that, but you can get infections, (which is the same as saying zits/blemishes thanks to germy makeup.)

Here’s a list of expiry dates for some common makeup items.

Foundation – 1 year. Use clean sponges or hands to limit contamination.

Powder- 1 year or more. Clean brushes to avoid contamination,

Eyeshadow- powders, a year or more. Creams, 6-12 months.

Eyeliner- a mere 6 months

Mascara – 3 months

Blush – Powder, 1 year, Cream 6 -12 months

Lipstick – 1-2 years and keep out of direct sunlight.

Cleanser/Moisturizer- 6-12 months

Toner- 6-12 months, or as soon as you notice cloudiness

Sunscreen – should be used within a year, but check your expiration date.

Since I have now found that I myself need to have a major makeup toss, I suspect that there are others who are in desperate need of one too. I am very guilty of having mascaras that are around more than three months! So do a spring clean of your makeup kits ladies, and then go and look at all the lovely summer palettes that are out! Happy shopping!

Flu Drugs Relatively Safe for Pregnant/Breastfeeding Women

Kandice Martinez — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:42:49 +0000

This, I am sure, will have plenty of mothers exhaling a huge sigh of relief. I am now past my breastfeeding the twins, but I always was concerned with any drugs that I had to take while breastfeeding. And since this flu is going to possibly get worse, or just more rampant, pregnant and breastfeeding moms can be assured that they can safely take the antivirals. Especially since pregnant women are at a higher risk than their peers, and should have the extra protection!

From The Canadian Press:

The antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza are relatively safe for use in pregnant and breastfeeding women, say the authors of review of data that includes previously unpublished evidence.

The analysis, published electronically on Monday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggested Tamiflu is the best bet for pregnant women, but either drug can be used safely by breastfeeding women who come down with influenza.

The review may assuage concerns of women who contract swine flu and are worried about whether or not to use antiviral drugs. Pregnant women are at higher risk of complications than their non-pregnant peers when they catch seasonal flu. Evidence from some previous pandemics suggests they can be hit disproportionately hard by a strain of pandemic influenza.

“During the current pandemic, we shouldn’t hesitate to treat those patients at increased risk,” said senior author Dr. Shinya Ito, head of the division of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

“In terms of risk-benefit ratio I think it’s very clear that the benefit is much more significant to use the drug for pregnant women, even in the first trimester.”

The authors, from the Motherisk Program at Sick Kids and the Japan Drug Information Institute in Pregnancy, examined the available data on antiviral drug use in pregnant and breastfeeding women.

They admitted the evidence is limited and said it will be important to monitor what happens with antiviral drug usage by pregnant women during the pandemic.

In addition to looking at reports of use filed to the drugmakers after the fact, they found unpublished Japanese data that followed 90 pregnant women who took Tamiflu during the first trimester of their pregnancies. The first trimester is the period when concern is greatest that chemicals or drugs a mother is exposed to or takes could have a detrimental effect on the developing fetus.

Of those women, only one gave birth to a child with a birth defect. The rate of birth defects in the general population is between one to three per cent. Given that the rate among Tamiflu users isn’t higher, it suggests the single case occurred by chance, not as a result of exposure to the drug.

In another study, scientists used a human placenta to see if Tamiflu introduced to the placenta would flow to the fetus. Ito said it took a high concentration of Tamiflu to see even small concentrations of drugs coming out the other end.

The authors suggested Tamiflu is probably the better choice of the two flu drugs to give pregnant women infected with this new strain of H1N1 flu, because there is more safety data on its use in pregnancy.

But they said for women who are breastfeeding, either Tamiflu or Relenza could be used because only small amounts are excreted in breast milk.

The paper said neither drug appears to affect the growth or development of fetuses exposed to them in the womb.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said last week that it’s receiving reports that some pregnant women who catch swine flu are refusing to take antiviral drugs out of fear it might put their fetuses at risk.

Follow Canadian Press Medical Writer Helen Branswell’s flu updates on Twitter at CP-Branswell

Waste Reduction Week in Canada

Kandice Martinez — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:19 +0000

It’s no secret that the human race likes to waste stuff. You only have to look out your door on Garbage day to get an idea of how much we toss into landfills each year. Or the next time you are out for dinner with your family take a minute to look around you to see how many people finish the food on their plates. How much of it is returned to the kitchen only to be scraped into the garbage? If portion sizes were smaller or we all shared a meal when we were dining out, there would be so much less wasted food and we would probably save a few bucks in our wallet ,and who knows,even shave a few inches off our ever expanding middles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no different from my neighbor, sure I recycle but I have just now got a composter going which should further reduce the amount of trash I send to the landfill. I had every intention of using cloth diapers but was so overwhelmed when the twins came along that I kept putting it off and have still not made the switch. My husband and I often share a meal when we go out to eat but I’m still guilty of buying too much produce and letting it go to waste, although this happens less and less now that I’m really focusing on making sure the girls eat enough fruits and veggies. So yes I am guilty, but as a family we are making a conscious effort to make changes every day to reduce our impact on the environment and create less waste.

So what I saw at my local large (as in Super) grocery store the other day really got under my skin. I was in the produce section contemplating the organic grapes and bananas when I looked down and happened to notice a cardboard box with various types of produce in it, lettuce, onions, bananas, etc. This was apparently the “throw away” box but what got me was that nothing in it looked liked it needed to be tossed, especially the bananas. We go through a lot of bananas in our house and there have been many a time I have been in this specific store late at night getting bananas and having to buy some really sad, black spotted ones. Which is fine as there is nothing wrong with them, we just have to eat them faster or I have to use them for banana bread. It just really annoyed me that I had to pay money for something that was in far worse shape then what they were tossing out. This is not the first time I have witnessed such waste, last year I was in the same store looking for some flowers and there was a trolley filled with buckets of them in all sorts of really nice colors, but there was no price on them.When I asked the lady how much she told me they weren’t for sale as they were past their expiry date, so I asked if I could have some. Nope it’s against store policy. Okay, so I ask what they are going to do with them (here’s where I’m really hoping that they are being donated to a hospice or something) and she tells me that they are being thrown out. After telling her how I really felt about how wasteful that seemed, she said that they would be turned into mulch and used on the property, which I suppose was a little better but I wonder if that was really true or she was just hoping I would go away and stop beaking about it. It made me sad, how many sick, dying or elderly people may have been cheered up by those flowers.

Once I started writing about this, I,of course, was on line looking for stats and came across The Waste Reduction Week in Canada which is October 19th – 25th this year. Seriously I had no idea this even existed. So far there are no events listed for this year, but if you click on the 2008 events you can see that lots groups, municipalities and schools got involved. I will be book-marking this site and checking back to see what activities or events are being planned in my area. There are also some links on their website for activities for individuals like building a composter or a recycled bird feeder.

Waste Reduction Week in Canada

Teaching Your Children About Strangers

Kandice Martinez — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:10:44 +0000

I witnessed something this past Saturday while out enjoying the annual town wide garage sale that got me to thinking about the eventuality that I will have to teach my children about strangers.Before I get to the stranger part though, I’m going to indulge in little bit of a rant first.We came to a house with a garage sale on a fairly busy street (made busier by the fact that so many people where out enjoying the sales) and in front of the house was a little boy not more than 4 playing on his scooter, trying to make it go up and over a homemade ramp.And when I say homemade, I mean dangerously rickety and unstable. Strike 1, this was no place for a small child to be playing, I kept watching him out of the corner of my eye waiting for him to fall off the ramp and get clipped by a passing car, not to mention the ramp alone was just plain dangerous.At least he was wearing a helmet, however, on the front of said helmet in big letters was his name which for me was strike # 2 when it became apparent how friendly this little boy was.Strike # 3 occurred when we went across the street to get back in the car.This little boy followed us over and asked if he could see my car. Not once had this kid’s mom told him to be careful, or to get off the road or expressed any concern over the fact that he followed us across the street without looking to see if any cars were coming.I said sure to his request since it seems that his Mom is comfortable with this situation, and as I’m opening my door he pushes in front of me and gets in the car.I was stunned, this cute little boy of 4 with his name in big letters on his helmet has just hopped into a strangers car like it was the most normal thing in the world.Finally at this point his Mom calls him back, but can’t be bothered to come and get him just shouts from across the road that it’s time to come back.I hope to god that after we drove away she took the time to explain that it’s not okay to play in the street, cross the street without a grown up and that it’s definitely not okay to hop into strangers cars.

It was pretty scary to think that all someone had to do was say” hey there Timmy (because his name is on his helmet) want to come see my neat car?” and little Timmy would just climb right in. There were so many obvious parenting dont’s in the space of 10 minutes that I wasn’t sure which part I wanted to blog about. But when that little kid hopped in my car the first words to pop in my head were “Stranger Danger” and I got to wondering if this concept, one that was so prevalent when I was child,was still taught anymore and was it even valid in the world that we live in today vs. the world 30 years ago? Googling Stranger Danger brings up all kinds of different results and it seems there are some people who still believe in the concept, but the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children had a great press release on this subject which you can read in full Here , as well as lots of links and publications with basic commonsense info on child safety on their website.

From www.missingkids.com:

“Stranger danger” – the phrase is so pervasive in our culture that it has become part of the lexicon. Well-intentioned adults perpetuate this misguided message, and the media often uses it as a slogan. A recent case illustrates how literal children may be when given a specific message. The child in this case may have evaded his rescuers, because he had been taught “not to talk to strangers.” This case and many others clearly illustrate how literal children may be when given a specific message. That’s why the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has never supported the “stranger-danger” message, especially because experience has shown us that most children are actually taken by someone they know or are familiar with.So what does “stranger danger” really mean, and do children benefit from an outdated and incomplete message? Here’s what we have learned about the “stranger-danger” concept”:

Children don’t get it.

Adults don’t practice it.

It doesn’t go far enough in protecting children from potential danger