Do you have a system for keeping track of cups in your house?

Without fail, at least a couple times a week you can hear the joyful sibling rivalry over who had which color cup that day.  Our kids typically have one cup throughout the day for water.  They can drink as much water as they would like as long as they are not taking a new cup each time.  However as the day goes on it is easy to forget which child started the day with the blue cup.

By the end of the day (usually around low-blood sugar time), you can hear my 3 1/2 year old shouting, “I had the blue cup.”  This is then reciprocated with an even louder reply from my  7 year old, “You had it yesterday!!!”  This can go on for a good 10 minutes if not broken up.

I realize I could get out the masking tape each day and label the cups.  But this seems like a waste of tape.  Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to see an idea in a magazine that will relieve the cup chaos at our house.

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Does your child suffer from headaches?

Being a migraine sufferer myself, I was hoping this was one thing I did not pass down to my children.  So far so good.  For the most part both of our children are very healthy (unless I am trying to plan a play date).

I have noticed that now that my son is in school full time, he has more headaches than during his carefree kindergarten days.

Instead of always giving him Tylenol or Motrin (which he loves the taste and I think he says he has a headache just to get the medicine), I have tried a few other things to see if we can get the headache to go away.

Idea of the Day:

Try one or all of these to help relieve headaches.

- Have your child run around outside.  The fresh air and deep breathing from running help tension headaches.

- Give your child a large glass of water. Often times children do not drink enough at school.  This leads to dehydration which causes headaches.

- Do stretches.  Show your child how to do shoulder rolls and neck circles.  Some times the stress of being a 1st grader can cause tightening of the muscles.  Stretching the shoulders and neck help relieve pressure.

- Massage the pressure points on your child’s hand between the thumb and index finger.  Most often this area will be tight if he/she has a headache.

- Veg on the couch.  The simple act of down time can change a child’s stress/tension level in a short period of time.

- Monitor your child’s sleep.  Children who are not getting enough sleep can be at a higher risk of getting headaches.