You know the phrase “sweets for the sweet.”  Does the saying apply to you and your kids? It probably does, and probably more than you think. Refined sugar and other artificial sweeteners are items that have infiltrated our diet, and continue to be added in almost any number of foods, whether we realize it or not. It has also been joked about with some seriousness that sugar is more difficult to quit than many illegal drugs. From early ages, parents and other adults offer kids candy, ice cream, cakes, artificially sweetened cereals, fruit Roll-Ups, gum, and many other items that are saturated with sugar. As a matter of fact, after our two-year-old daughter finished a ballet lesson, her teacher handed out suckers to every kid in the class. What amazed my wife more than just handing out the suckers was that the teacher did not even ask any of the parents if they were okay with her giving out suckers. It was just accepted that all of the kids could have one.  

When it comes to your child’s sugar consumption, here is what a parent should consider: early eating options often develop into later eating preferences. Essentially, if you provide certain types of foods or flavors in your children's food when they're younger, they are more likely to develop a taste for those foods in their adulthood. Just like our behaviors and language skills, our food preferences are fostered from birth. 

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Honor The Feminine In Us And In Others
by Stephen Ruppenthal

One day this past winter, I decided to take in a talk on the Buddhist mother of compassion, Kuanyin. Interested people, and not only women, flooded out the doors of the bookstore where it was being held. I asked myself, why do other talks barely fill the room while this one has a line flowing out onto the street? A good guess might be that people are sick of living in a world in which masculine aggressiveness and control have run roughshod over more feminine qualities like love, patience, or a feeling for healing and harmony. I believe many more people wish that qualities like gentleness, tenderness, patience, receptiveness, closeness to nature, and the readiness to forgive were more valued in our world. Let’s start right now with five ways all of us, men and women alike, can honor and cultivate the qualities of our feminine side.

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Trying To Avoid Anna Filaktik: A Day In My Life With A Deadly Allergy 
by Bob Olson, OfSpirit.com editor

Having once lived in Los Angeles, Melissa and I love to return now and then for a visit. The last time we were there, we stayed in a quaint little condo in Santa Monica that was within walking distance of a cool outdoor shopping area called the Third Street Promenade. And within this grouping of hip stores are several restaurants, including one that I particularly like called Johnny Rockets--a 1950’s style hamburger joint that unintentionally almost killed me. We were vacationing with our two nieces, ages 15 and 17, and the four of us sat down at a table outside the restaurant that overlooked the vacationers and street musicians. After ordering a #12 hamburger with fries, I decided to get a chocolate malt to really set the mood. And this is where my problems began. 

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We are not born, in essence, American, French, Japanese, Christian, Muslim, or Jew. These labels are attached to us according to where on the planet our births happen to take place, or these labels are imposed upon us because they indicate our families’ belief systems.

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Hopes & Dreams: A Critical Ingredient In The Lives Of Caregivers And Their Loved Ones
by Vicki Rackner

It’s human nature to hang onto two basic hopes – the hope of overcoming illness and the hope of delaying death. However, in many cases the reality is that your loved one faces a steady medical decline, a life-threatening illness or impending death. 

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Battling an Eating Disorder: When Bulimia Becomes a True American Idol Sized Problem
by Abigail Natenshon

In a People Magazine article, American Idol contestant, Katherine McPhee disclosed that she has secretly suffered from bulimia for the past five years. It was her success in television’s American Idol competition that inspired her to come forward and get help to recover from her life-threatening eating disorder. Katherine, a vocalist who at her worst point was self-inducing vomiting up to seven times a day, claimed that she realized her bulimic behaviors were “equivalent to taking a sledgehammer to her throat” and brought herself to treatment.

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Parent In-The-Box or Parent Out-Of-The-Box: A Guide To A More Meaningful Parent-Child Relationship
by Dr. Trish Whynot

The parent-child relationship is rich with opportunities for healing and growth. These opportunities become apparent when the relationship is viewed from outside the box. It is hard for me to find words to describe the awe and wonder that can be experienced from parenting "out-of-the-box." It is a whole different world out there!

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Finding a Happy “Medium”-- One Teen’s Quest for Spirituality in Modern America 
by Philip Devitt

When my parents were my age, talking horses, nose-twitching witches and belly-baring genies were all the rage on television. The networks were brimming with supernatural-themed programs. “Casper” showed the nation that ghosts could be friendly. “The Twilight Zone” demonstrated their darker side. And “The Ghost & Mrs. Muir” proved that they could be just plain annoying. It seemed that nearly every time a mortal communed with the great beyond, it was a formula for success. 

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The Power Of Touch: A Basic Human Need for Health and Healing
by Linda Marks

The presidential elections of November 2004 poignantly illustrated “the great divide” that has grown between people in our country. I read countless statistics in both the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe analyzing voter composition. I saw charts that separated those who favored a candidate with high intelligence from those who favored a candidate who advocated a sense of morality. I saw other charts differentiating those who favored a candidate who would protect us against terrorism from those who favored a candidate who cared about the environment. After reading chart after chart, it would be easy to believe that all these issues are indeed separate and unrelated, just as are the factions of people who either supported or disagreed with each position.

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Home Care for the Common Cold
by Dr. Karen Sexton

Cold season is upon us and it's time to check your cupboard for a supply of natural remedies. The first thing to look for is Echinacea. This herb, which helps to strengthen the body's immune response, comes in many forms, both tablet and liquid, and should be used 4-6 times per day for 2-3 days, at the very first sign of illness. Do not continue beyond that time as effectiveness is lost. For children, you can now find several brands of flavored herbs that are very palatable or easily disguised. 

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The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child
Why Breast Is Best
by Martha Sears, R. N. and William Sears, M. D.

IN THE EARLY DAYS of learning to breastfeed, there may be times when you feel like tossing in the nursing bra and reaching for a bottle. You may be tempted to believe those advisers who suggest that formula feeding is easier or just as good. Or you may worry that you’re "not the type of mother" who succeeds at breastfeeding. 

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While multitudes of theories and techniques to facilitate healing abound, in nearly fifteen years of clinical practice I have found one element to be most fundamental. In order to create an environment where emotional, physical and spiritual healing can take place, emotional safety is a cornerstone.

Emotional Safety: What Does It Mean?

Emotional safety can be best understood through experience. Try the following exercise to think about what emotional safety means to you.

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The Traumatized Heart
by Linda Marks

When I was sixteen years old a stranger tried to rape and murder me. I was walking home at night past the Brigham's restaurant where I had my second job, as a stranger came out of the shadows and tried to strangle me. I tried to fight him with my physical strength, but he was 6'1' and I was just a 5'6' teenage girl, no matter how physically fit I was. I tried to fight him with my mind, telling him the legal implications of what he was doing and that just got him mad. As he dragged me into an alley and started beating me, I realized I was powerless and prayed to the God I had never been raised to believe in to help me choose my life.

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GRRR!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior In Our Dogs   
Is Your Dog Aggressive?
by Mordecai Siegal & Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis

Love me, love my dog! This is a sentiment that we seldom hear expressed anymore, despite the fact that many people continue to feel it deeply. Dogs are our favorite pets because they can blend instantly with any family or simply create a family where there was none before. Although they are frequently bought for children, few adults can resist the unrestrained happiness of a dog whose greatest joy is to be in the company of humans. 

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Fathering As A Career Path: The Emergence of The At-Home Dad
by Linda Marks

Many of us, baby boomers or those born before the boom, grew up in homes that were emotionally fatherless. Roles for men and women were clear. Dad was the breadwinner: off to work in the morning, gone all day, and too tired at night for much of a conversation as he relaxed reading the paper or in front of the TV. Mom's job was to take care of the homefront: this meant keeping the house in order and raising the kids. Few of us even thought to question this. It just was the way things were. 

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Handbook for the Heart: Original Writings on Love  
by Benjamin Shield and Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

(The Power of Loving-Kindness
by Sharon Salzberg)

The power of love or loving-kindness has been denigrated in our culture. There's a sense that a loving person is abused, allows tyranny to reign without protest, and isn't strong. It's almost a sense that love is a weakness. Sometimes there is the idea that the loving heart makes people kind of smirky and sentimental — that because of love, they can't look at suffering clearly or at difficult things within themselves or in the world.

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Clear Visions: Premature Birth
by Cyma Shapiro-Roland

The year was 1957. Dr. Seuss wrote Cat in the Hat, Humphry Bogart died. West Side Story opened in New York City, and I was born. A premature baby, I came screaming into the world six weeks early — a full 3 Ibs. 2 oz.

In a way, I've waited 40 years to tell this painful odyssey. And although there are many other similar stories filled with similar pain and trauma, this is my story.

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The Anger Mantra 
by M. Dennis Paul, Ph.D.

Two monks were traveling down a road beside a river. They came upon a woman sitting on the bank with her head in her hands and tears streaming down her face. One monk asked what was troubling her and she responded that her child was on the other side of the river, alone and afraid. She told the monk that she had lost her way and could no longer find a shallow crossing.  Immediately, the monk invited her to sit on his shoulders and he carefully forded the river, depositing her on the opposite bank. She thanked him with a big hug and ran off to find her child.

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How to begin? In bewilderment, I think —that's the truest way. That's where we began, all those years ago. That's where everyone begins who has to do with autistic children. And even now, when my daughter is past forty...

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Lisa and Barry had always imagined their children would be small versions of themselves—talkative, friendly, and active. Practical and down-to-earth people, Lisa and Barry essentially took each day as it came. They were busy, responsible, and hardworking and had a variety of friends and interests, which they eagerly anticipated sharing with their children. But to their amazement, Claire, their first child, was quiet, pensive, and reserved. 

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Poisonous Chemicals Are In Skin & Hair Care
by Marcus Maldonado

Each and every day millions of Americans are unknowingly exposing themselves to dangerous, toxic chemicals. Some of these chemicals are absolutely, without a doubt known to be cancer causing. While other chemicals are not linked to cancer, they have been shown to contribute to hormonal disruptions, headaches, allergies, depression, chronic fatigue, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, and irritability. You are very likely a victim of this dilemma and have been so since childhood.