Pajama Day

It's sunny though. Beautifully, glaringly, shade your eyes or lose your vision sunny. Is it wrong of me to force them to go in the back yard?

Winter is just around the corner, with rain rain rain and oh yeah, rain. So what if it's a pajama day, with no school, preschool, skating or swimming lessons? (Ya gotta have a pajama day now and then. You know, the days when you have no obligations or commitments, and they really can stay in their jammies all day, and then change into fresh ones for bedtime?) It's a rare treat in this nutty, over scheduled life that we lead.

But not today. I know that once they're out in the roomy, grassy expanse of the sun filled yard, the urge to run will take them over and they'll be happy that I made them get dressed. (I'm still waiting for that day when they'll figure out that Mommy is usually right about these things.)

What the heck... maybe I'll even join them and go work in the garden.

How Much Sunscreen Is Too Much?

Yet another dilemma we as parents face - to slather or not to slather (sunscreen, that is). I was a little on the obsessive side with it as my kids are both red heads, but then changed my mind slightly after a conversation with a fellow Mom friend.

She brought to my attention the fact that many kids these days, in part due to lack of sun exposure, are Vitamin D deficient. (It's interesting to note that even if you're diet has ample Vitamin D, the sun's ultraviolet B rays are required to activate it.) Vitamin D not only contributes to good bone health, it can lesson the symptoms of PMS in women, as well as reduce the impact of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) because of its link to Serotonin levels in the brain.

I now have a new approach. I still watch my kids like a hawk while they're in the sun, and cover them with fabric when possible and make sunhats mandatory, but now I wait 15-20 minutes before putting sunscreen on them. Worthy of note is the fact that they have never burned (impressive, considering their milky-blue skin ;-) and in fact have barely even tanned. My daughter's temperament seems to have improved as well; I'm not sure if that's all in my head or in fact a result of the unblocked sun time, but hey - I'll take it!