Surge in Children Accidentally Eating Marijuana-Laced Foods

new study shows the relaxation of marijuana laws in Colorado has caused a significant spike in the number of young children treated for accidentally eating marijuana-laced cookies, candies, brownies and beverages.
"We have seen an increase in unintentional ingestions of marijuana by children since the modification of drugs laws in Colorado," said George Wang, MD, lead author of the study and clinical instructor in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "We need to educate marijuana users, the community and medical professionals about the potential dangers."
The study, published Monday in the JAMA Pediatrics, compared the number of young children treated at the Children's Hospital Colorado emergency department for ingesting marijuana before and after the modification of Colorado's drug laws beginning in 2009.
A total of 1,378 patients under age 12 were evaluated for unintentional ingestions -- 790 before Sept. 30, 2009 and 588 after Oct. 1, 2009. The number of children treated for exposure to marijuana before Sept. 30 was zero. The number from Oct. 1 on was 14 with eight of those coming directly from consuming marijuana food products.
Wang, a fellow at the Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center, said today's marijuana can be much stronger, and these products can contain higher concentrations of THC, the active ingredient in the drug. Some marijuana infused candy bars, for example, contain 300 milligrams of THC. Children who ingested the drug exhibited symptoms that included respiratory problems, extreme sleepiness, difficulty in walking and lethargy. Many underwent a battery of expensive tests to diagnose their problem because the history of exposure was not given, or medical professionals were not familiar with marijuana causing these symptoms.

Read More : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
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How to Deal with Competitive Parents

Competitive or comparing parents are those who not only keep boasting and bragging about their child's achievements, but also look down upon other kids and their parents. They further start commenting on their performances and humiliate them to the maximum. Not only this, they also keep bothering their own kids to maintain consistency in their performance and hold the top position always. They do not understand the meaning and importance of healthy child rearing. Such parents treat child raising as a kind of contest wherein the ways of upbringing are judged by the activities the kids perform and the stage of life at which they are able to perform them. It is not the correct way to judge child rearing, rather, there are different ways parents adopt to raise a child, and all of them are perfect in their own ways. No one method is greater or lesser effective than the other. It's just the need to understand the difference between bringing out the best in your child and being over-competitive. At times, out of over-expectation, the thin line between the two is crossed and it affects the progress of the child.

Ways to Deal with Over-competitive Parents

Being a fellow parent, teacher, or friend, you will encounter over-competitive people. What can you do to deal with such people? Actually one cannot do anything about over-competitive people. It might be an inborn trait of competitiveness in them which is impossible to remove. However, there are several ways you can adopt to avoid being in such negative and harmful company, and use correct techniques to deal with them even if you come in contact by chance. Take a look at the tips given below and follow them for maintaining a good parenting style.

Read more :
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-deal-with-competitive-parents.html

Holiday craft ideas for parents and children

Do you have a recycling bin brimming with art and craft that’s been thrown away when your child wasn’t looking? Or are you tired of making little bits and bobs that are forgotten as quickly as they’re made?
The solution to this disposable-craft attitude is to give your child some focus with her creativity – and to make things that have lasting value in terms of ongoing play and that your little one can proudly keep and actually use.
The following ideas provide an afternoon of creative-craft fun and the end results can be used in pretend play for weeks to come. Plus, we’re sure that Teddy will just love the updates to his wardrobe.

A TEDDY LIBRARY

What you need:

• Small pieces of paper
• A stapler
• Pencils and textas

WHAT TO DO:

• Staple the small pieces of paper together to make them into a ‘book’.
• Encourage your child to draw a picture on each page. She might like to do some writing as well, or you could offer to write some words for her. (If she’s not keen on drawing, you could even help her cut some pictures out of a catalogue or magazine to stick in.)

FOR PLAYTIME:
Set up a book corner for Ted and your tot using some of these homemade books, as well as some board books.
HOW THIS HELPS DEVELOPMENT:
Making books will help build on fine motor skills, as well as work on your tot’s literacy skills, storytelling, drawing and creativity. Playing with the books will allow her to practise basic reading skills and how to handle books correctly, too.

A CROWN OR HAT FOR TED

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Paper or cardboard
• Scissors
• Craft ‘jewels’ and sequins
• Glitter
• Small containers or clean fruit or meat trays
• A glue stick or PVA glue
• Newspaper to help minimise mess
• A stapler

WHAT TO DO:

• Cut a strip of paper around 5-10cm in width, depending on the size of

your child’s bear.

• Get your little one to help wrap the strip around Ted’s head to measure what size the hat needs to be, then trim off any access paper. *If you’ve cut a particularly wide bit of paper, you might like to cut out a crown shape along the band.
• Pop the glittery bits into containers for easy access and lay them out on the newspaper with the glue and band of paper.
• Leave your tot to come up with her own creations.
• When her masterpiece is dry, wrap it around Ted’s head snuggly and staple it to fit. Ta da!

Read more :
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/practical-parenting/toddler-preschooler/playtime/article/-/12436371/holiday-craft-ideas-for-parents-and-children/