Fantastic Dog Products

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

These are my two best friends! They follow me around the house, watch as I take my son’s blood sugar, sit with me as I work, and are extremely excited for their nightly walk. They have been there for me through sickness and health and they are definitely part of our family. Here are some products that we love and we hope you will too!

I used to take Walmart bags with me on walks at night, but I felt bad about throwing away plastic. I would love to never use another Walmart bag and found these and I am in love! Now, I don’t feel guilty picking up and throwing away my dog’s poop knowing the bag will easily break down. These are called Earth Rated Dog Poop Bags and have 18 rolls with 15 bags per roll and are around $11.99.

https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Rated-Guaranteed-Leak-proof-Lavender-Scented/dp/B00BSYR7K8/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=fc0060618a0da02e0d7a0564e25d3ddd&creativeASIN=B00BSYR7K8

Earth Rated Dog Poop Bags

If you travel with your dog and the dog has quite a bit of hair or gets dirty, this seat cover is fantastic! Our dog will sometimes get sick in the car and this cover is great with protecting our seat cushions. This product is called URPower Dog Seat cover and is around $33.99 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/URPOWER-100%25Waterproof-Hammock-Scratch-Nonslip/dp/B0727Y5ZD7/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=3049566d2a869add5eea256240bee84c&creativeASIN=B0727Y5ZD7

URPower Dog Seat Cover

My bigger dog Larry always laps up all the water in his bowl before my smaller dog Arnold can get any. If I put more water in the water dish, Larry will keep drinking and then have accidents on the floor every 15 minutes because he drank too much. This little device was made for dogs on the go, but I actually use it at home to make sure Arnold gets water. If I am working on my YouTube channel or my blog, I can easily give Arnold a little water without Larry being involved. This product is called Lesotc Dog Water Bottle and is around $19.99.

https://www.amazon.com/lesotc-Water-Bottle-Collapsible-Bowls/dp/B07RV9J9M1/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=34d914c2f0cdd9ec12b53372e532793e&creativeASIN=B07RV9J9M1

Lesotc Dog Water Bottle

When my dog Daisy started getting older and she had trouble jumping up on the bed, we bought these stairs and really liked them. We made the mistake of buying stairs that were made of plastic and she wouldn’t have anything to do with them. When we bought these, she used them right away. We used them until she passed away and then gave them to a friend whose dog had trouble climbing up into her bed. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy these stairs again. They were wonderful. They are called Zinus Cozy Pet Stairs and are around $61.99.

https://www.amazon.com/Zinus-Stairs-Ladder-Checked-Large/dp/B07C34BBDS/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=134259cb0ec4200cce174c5da6dc2313&creativeASIN=B07C34BBDS

I could live without this next product! I would go totally crazy! My rat terrier barks whenever thunder sounds and runs throughout the house trying to attack the loud noise. There are nights where we didn’t sleep for an hour or two because of the barking. We tried all sorts of medications and chews, but to no avail. I didn’t believe this jacket could work, but it did! No more barking during thunderstorms or fireworks! Thank goodness! They make these jackets in a variety of sizes. They are called ThunderShirt Polo Dog Jacket and are around $44.95.

https://www.amazon.com/ThunderShirt-Polo-Anxiety-Jacket-Medium/dp/B007P54LRG/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=d7a53e39812a047646717e633f2af85b&creativeASIN=B007P54LRG

The next product was something I didn’t really need until I got a Golden Retriever. If I don’t brush Larry every single day, the hair begins to fall all over the place or becomes knotted. I love this brush because it is so easy to use and it doesn’t hurt Larry. He seems to enjoy getting brushed and better than that, it is easy to pull the hair from the brush and throw it away. I know there are many brushes on the market, but I really like this one. It would be gentle for both big and small dogs. Some brushes have weird wires that look like they would hurt and it is really hard to get the hair out of the brush. Not this brush! This product is called Pet Grooming Brush and sells for around $14.97.

https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Grooming-Effectively-Professional-Deshedding/dp/B01M5DS0Z7/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=4a79c2d543663385cf3281a979c49705&creativeASIN=B01M5DS0Z7

If you like the smell of lavender, you will LOVE this dog shampoo. It is made from oatmeal and has essential oils in it. Harsh chemicals in other shampoos can harm the skin of most dogs. The shampoos that are made with oatmeal are much better for their skin. I chose this one because it smells fantastic and the lavender is plant-based, which means the fragrance isn’t artificially made. Can’t say enough about how FANTASTIC this shampoo is! The product is by Honeydew and is called Colloidal Oatmeal Dog Shampoo with Pure Lavender Essential Oils. It sells for around $11.95.

https://www.amazon.com/Colloidal-Oatmeal-Shampoo-Lavender-Essential/dp/B01L9HE4KE/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=59a1c961074e7b13bfbcfb2bb57b7fe9&creativeASIN=B01L9HE4KE

Ever had a dog bed that was straight on the ground and either got spilled on, peed on, or moved around by your dog? This is why I love this next product. It stays much more clean than any other bed I have bought. I was concerned when I bought it that my dog wouldn’t use it because it wouldn’t be comfortable. This wasn’t the case. It took a little bit of time for my dog to get used to it, but this is definitely his spot, now. Sometimes, he doesn’t want to go to bed with us, but would rather lay in his cot. It was definitely worth the money and I am all into a clean house, so I am happy too! The product is called K & H Pet Products Original Dog Cot and sells for around $24.99.

https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Products-Original-Elevated-Medium/dp/B00CLA0RY6/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=6f57e32d6e41258191bf9304f90cbe02&creativeASIN=B00CLA0RY6

Do you work long hours at the office and miss your pal? This neat snack feeder allows you to “drop-in” on your pet, say hello, and provide a treat for him or her. It connects with an app that allows you to see your dog in real time as well as provide them a treat if you would like. This is definitely a tool for those that have to spend lots of time away from their friends and want a way to connect with them from afar. This product is called Furbo Dog Camera and sells for about $199.00 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Furbo-Dog-Camera-Designed-Compatible/dp/B01FXC7JWQ/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=0c0b279e956eba05e08374fe4d514331&creativeASIN=B01FXC7JWQ

Affiliate Marketing disclaimer – the author of the blog host gains a percentage of each product sold via the weblinks below each product.

Insulin Costs

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

Insulin Costs

Nothing frustrates me more than watching news stories and reading newspaper articles about the cost of insulin. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy that they are covering this issue. What media isn’t recognizing is the additional costs that come with Diabetes. My son has Type 1 Diabetes and we have insurance. Even with health insurance, we pay $80.00 a month in insulin, $150.00 a month in test strips, and $500.00 a month for pump supplies. This is $730.00 a month that we pay for Diabetic supplies and medicine per month.

Is it less expensive to just use insulin, test strips, and needles? Sure! This would reduce us to $230.00 a month, but our son’s A1C and his psychological well-being wouldn’t be as high. When our son Kalan was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, he used test strips, insulin, and needles. For those that use only test strips, insulin, and needles the diet is very limited. Individuals are only supposed to eat every 2-3 hours because constantly injecting insulin could create a deadly combination called “stacking insulin”.

For a 10 year old boy, it is nearly impossible to stick to this diet. Kalan would sneak food and when we went to test him, his blood sugar would be 500+. We couldn’t keep up with him! The minute we went to bed, he was sneaking food again. My husband and I considered putting locks on all our cupboards and fridge, but that seemed quite ridiculous. An insulin pump was our saving grace. Little did we know how much it would cost us each month!

I try as hard as I can to not get pissed at how this disease has impacted our family and Kalan. It has wrecked our financial state and our family doesn’t get to do what other families can do. I stay at home with Kalan and homeschool him and am trying to earn money blogging as well as with my YouTube channel. I homeschool him because he was so bullied at school that he stopped talking and couldn’t muster a smile to save his life. I driver Uber at nights as does my husband to try and afford all of our bills and Diabetic supplies.

**Reservoirs, insertion sets, and sensor insertion sets cost our family $500.00 a month.**

To make matters worse, two of my children as well as myself have Celiac Disease so our family eats nothing but gluten free food, which is expensive. I have a Ph.D. in psychology and cannot pay my student loans. We live in a trailer because we had to sell our house when Kalan landed in the hospital for 4 days. When I get angry with this disease and the healthcare in our nation, I have to take a deep breath and remember that I have Kalan. He is worth all the money in the world to me.

The pump allows my son to be a kid. If he is running around or playing a video game, he doesn’t have to stop and test himself to know what his blood sugar is. He simply looks at his pump and keeps going. If he drops too low or begins running too high, an alarm goes off on the pump to shift him away from what he is doing. As I am writing this, his pump just went off and he picked it up and read it to me, “252, Mom. There are still 2 units on board.”

What this means it that his pump alarmed him when his blood sugar started getting too high. A normal blood sugar is supposed to run 80-120 and anything above 250 is dangerously high. Before the pump, my son would regularly hit numbers in the 500-600 range. Now, we catch him at 250 and 79 when he starts to drop below the normal range. My child can eat any time of the day because the pump knows how much insulin to deliver at one time so we don’t have to worry about “insulin stacking”. He used to be on 2 insulins and day, but now he is on 1.

When Kalan eats, he types in his carbs into his pump and the pump does the rest. It gives such peace-of-mind. I no longer have to worry about my husband or daughter drawing up the wrong insulin for him and we know much quicker if for some reason the insulin is no good. This is worth $500.00 a month even if it means working multiple jobs and needing our daughter to live at home as another adult to keep watch over him.

The cost of having a child with Type 1 Diabetes in the family is much more than just the cost of insulin. The public school couldn’t handle his diabetes and they sent him home with dangerously low blood sugar. Do I fight with the school to get him the correct supervision that he deserves? I tried that. It didn’t work. I didn’t want to have to sue the school over the loss of my son’s life. It wasn’t worth it. I stopped working and decided to stay home with him. The cost of diabetes for us was 1 whole income.

The loss of sleep is another cost of diabetes. My husband and I get up every 60-90 minutes in the night to check on Kalan. It’s like having a newborn all over again. Kalan can drop 200 in blood glucose in 45 minutes, which means we have to make sure this isn’t happening. The nights are probably the toughest for us. My husband and I take lots of naps throughout the afternoon and sometimes fight over who gets to take a nap and who needs to watch Kalan.

At times out of pure exhaustion, we have both gone to sleep only to wake up 2 hours later and our son is at 500+ because he doesn’t understand the consequences of high blood sugar. He shouldn’t. He is 12 years old. What other 12 year old’s have to worry about health consequences every waking hour of the day because of what they eat?

This poor kid has had his childhood stripped from him because of this nasty disease. We went mini golfing the other day and just the walking from hole to hole sent his blood sugar plummeting. We couldn’t even finish the course and headed home. The families looked as us strangely as we left the 12^th hole and headed toward the car. He tried to give him so Gatorade with sugar and he projectile vomited it all over the car.

This is the state of our lives. Not only do we worry about money and making ends meet, but we also worry about Kalan’s life day-to-day and hour to hour. Many people that actually give me the time to talk about our challenges will say, “Wow! That sounds awful! I don’t know if I could deal with that! I wish there was something I could do.”

When you are faced with such a dilemma, you rise to the occasion. I would honestly become a prostitute if it meant being able to afford the life saving medicine and equipment that my child needs. Hopefully, I won’t have to do that. There is something you can do to help, though, and that’s to donate to a cure for diabetes. If you want to help our family, please keep reading my blog and find me on YouTube by typing Dr. Kerris Dillon into the search engine. The more subscribers I have, the more YouTube will pay me for the mental health videos that I have produced. Prayers are also more than welcome! Please pray for Kalan and his continued health. It is more appreciated than you will ever know!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDKCsUdOTo7FUdCNDDbGQ_A?view_as=subscriber

Millennials

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

Millennials are the generation of people born between the early 1980’s and the late 1990’s. Their other name is Generation Y. Millennials experienced a host of different socio-economic backgrounds, tend to be very tolerant of differences, and are the first generation that is not going to college at the rates once previously seen. They are living with their parents longer, are older when first experiencing sex, are starting to drive at older ages, and are getting married much later than previous generations.

Those that state Millennials are not politically active are not accurate. According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials outvoted older generations in the 2018 Congressional election (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/29/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms/). Their populations rival the Baby Boom generation (in numbers) and political candidates have taken stock of their wants and needs.

Pew Research Center has concluded that the wealth of Millennials is greatly dependent upon college education. Those Millennials who were able to get a bachelors degree and actually secure a full-time job average a little over $50,000 a year. Those Millennials with some college education are averaging less than $30,000 a year (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/29/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms/).

As a population, Millennials are moving less than generations that came before them. For those Millennials that are currently 25-37 years old, only 46% are married and only 50% of them have children. What is even more shocking is that it is estimated that 25% of Millennials will never get married (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/29/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms/).

On a personal level, I have greatly enjoyed teaching the Millennial generation. As a college professor, I have taught hundreds of Millennials and have been surprised by their intelligence and current event knowledge. It makes sense that they know what is going on in the world as they were the first generation to be raised with the Internet. Millennials attended school during the “No Child Left Behind” initiative and saw their recesses and Social Studies classes cut if their peers did not score adequately in Mathematics and Reading.

I have noticed geography skills of Millennials are not always the greatest, but if they don’t know where something is they just take out their phones and “Google” it. They see nothing wrong with not knowing an answer because the small little computer in their pocket can provide one.

This can be tough for Generation X and the Baby Boom generation to comprehend as intelligence was once considered a vast knowledge of a variety of subjects. Past generations learned facts and memorized as much as they could. Millennials and Generation Z have complex thoughts and ideas, but often lack the basic facts and evidence to back up what they are saying.

Millennials do not lack basic knowledge in all areas. They have a vast knowledge in subjects that interest them. It is often difficult to interest them in subjects that they don’t see a relevance to. They don’t want to waste their time with anything they feel is irrelevant. As an educator, if you can’t explain the relevance of what they are learning than you have probably lost their attention.

Millennials adore educators that instruct using a variety of instructional strategies and tell interesting stories. They long for role models in their communities and latch-on to teachers that help them navigate the problems they’re experiencing. Millennials are anything but lazy. They expect greatest from those around them and try to attach to people that they can learn from. They are smart in their choices and they don’t waste money on cheap goods that won’t last or personal property that doesn’t gain them value over time. They aren’t afraid to research something they don’t know on YouTube and are less apt to approach subject matter experts in the community.

If there is one thing that other generations can learn from Millennials it is to live in the present. As a generation that watched their parents work themselves to the bone, Millennials were determined to work in more efficient ways and under their own terms. It is because of Millennials that businesses are allowing their employees to work from home or in small cafes around the city.

Businesses that are refusing to allow its employees to work from home are slowly dying and are not understanding why this is the case. Fear-based mentalities of lost productivity which are not accurate are sending employees to work for companies with more flexibility. Most employees that work from home are happier, more satisfied with their jobs, and more productive because they believe their company cares about their well-being.

It will be interesting to see how Generation Z (the generation that follows Generation X) fairs in politics, education, marriage, children, and wealth as compared to the Millennials. I hesitate to draw too many conclusions as they are still a young generation and have not yet found their footing in society. It is my guess that they may be much more involved in politics than any other generation as the current state of the nation is extremely divided. Maybe Generation Z will be able to build a bridge between race, class, sex, gender, age, and religion in this nation. Communication, empathy, understanding, compassion, and education are definitely needed right now and in the future.

Twenge, Jean M. (2006). Generation Me. New York: Free Press (Simon & Schuster). ISBN 978-0743276979.

Where is Generation X?

By, Kerris Dillon

Generation X is considered those individuals that were born between the mid-1960’s to the early 1980’s. These persons have been labeled as the “latchkey” generation because it was during those years that society’s values were drastically changing and divorce rates were skyrocketing.

My husband and I are part of Generation X and both our parents are divorced. My parents divorced when I was about 12 years old and Mike’s parents divorced when he left for college. I do believe this is part of why Mike and I got together. We had something in common the minute we met. Mike and I shared stories about how our parents “tried not to put us in the middle of the divorce,” but ended up doing just that.

When Mike and I reflect upon those years, it is shocking to me the extent that Mike and I went to cushion the pain of both our mother and our father during their divorce. Even though I was deeply hurting from the separation of my parents, I still shifted and softened the messages that I brought back and forth between them as did Mike. We often talk about how we tried to counselor our fathers to not do certain things because it would set our mothers off, but to no avail.

Mike and I had to sit and watch them make mistakes even though we knew it would blow up in their faces. Then, we had to help pick up their emotional pieces and never did they do the same for us. They often tried to insert “our feelings” into their conversations, but never did they truly understand what we were going through.

We were masters at knowing each parent and how to phrase things in a way that didn’t send them into frustration, anger, and hurt. We both saw our parents cry in front of us a multitude of times and beg to know why the other parent didn’t love them anymore. Mike and I watched our parents stop taking care of themselves and their hygiene and then buy new outfits and get perms and haircuts as they began dating again.

Mike was much more supportive about his parents dating again than I was. When my mother got remarried, I dyed my hair black…demanding for my feelings to finally be heard. People gawked when they saw me at the wedding, but I didn’t say much. I sat in the back and cried through the whole ceremony. I was crying because I needed to let the little child out of me, the one who’s feelings had been ignored and put on the backburner. My life and feelings didn’t matter and I knew it. If the situation happened all over again, I wouldn’t change anything. I would still dye my hair black because I still haven’t been heard.

When I meet other children of divorce, I can tell right away if their feelings were empathized with or not. If they were not, they have a hidden sadness and anger inside them. I can look at them, shake my head, and know that we get each other. It is a bond that divorced parents will never understand. I see a deep sadness and anger in my younger brother when I am over at his house. He now has 4 children and is seeking and determined to do things differently and I hope he is successful.

My way of dealing with my childhood was to shut down completely. I don’t tend to talk about my childhood with my three kids. I really don’t have much positive to say so why say anything at all? It’s not that I don’t have any good memories…its just that I’ve never had the bad ones validated so it has left a big void in my life that I don’t know how to talk about.

Do I tell my kids that my parents were immature, fought often, and don’t have any clue how badly they hurt me? Do a paint a fake picture of my childhood that everything was good? There is no perfect answer to this question and so I just haven’t talked about it at all. My life has been about making sure their feelings, needs, and comfort are met. I suppose this helped to create the “me, me, me” Millennial generation, but as they have grown they have begun to ask stories that I don’t know how to answer.

The truth is I never had time to reflect upon what I saw happening with my parents and just attempted to survive the bullshit until I could find a way out. I wanted out as soon as I could. You want to know why Millennials are not moving out until they are older? It’s because Generation X tried to compensate so quickly to what happened to them that they became a safety mat for all their children’s hardships. I didn’t want my children to experience one ounce of the hurt that I felt in my childhood.

I find it intriguing that the same generation that hurt us so badly as children are the first to criticize the generation that we have raised. Millennials are so soft and have helicopter parents that don’t let them fail. These children get a trophy for everything! I guess I am okay with trophies if my children don’t ever have to grow up too soon and mediate my arguments with my spouse. I guess I am okay with trophies if my children have a high self-esteem and enter into relationships without being emotionally broken.

I never got a trophy for just being a kid, a human being that deserves to be loved, heard, and validated. My children are my trophy that I survived a really horrible period of time and didn’t continue the cycle. I make sure my children are heard every single day and that they know that I know who they are and that they are loved by their mother and father.

I don’t ever want my children to be fearful of telling me something because they are afraid I will blow up, start crying, or insert my own definitions of how they should be feeling. I am a damn strong mother who is confident enough to take criticism and say I am sorry to my child when I know I have acted foolish. My husband and I had a long discussion about divorce before we got married and we both agreed that if we ever divorced that we would put our children first, no matter what. It was funny because when we got married, we went to a lawyer’s office and read some manufactured vows and signed our marriage certificate. We got married for us and for no one else.

After our marriage, there was some pushback on how we got married. Tears were shed and no one asked us why we did what we did. If they would’ve asked, we would have told them we weren’t happy with our parent’s own marriages and that we weren’t confident that we would make it. Both of us wondered why we would spend thousands of dollars on a wedding where there was no reassurance that we would make it? Neither of our parents made it, so where was the blueprint to success?

Mike and I were and still are very rational about our union. We have a love that has grown deeply with time and it hasn’t always been easy, but we remain committed to it. When times are tough, we try to bring comedy into our lives and find something to laugh about. There are ups and downs and we have been criticized for our lack of romantic love, but we both know the truth about our relationship and our love for one another. We have always been great friends and can talk about our inner feelings with each other in a way that we haven’t been able to with anyone else.

We don’t have a ton of time with each other anymore as we have three children with special needs. Mike works 3 jobs and I work 2 in an attempt to provide for all of our children’s needs, including Type 1 Diabetic supplies. None of our parents know how much we are struggling right now emotionally, psychologically, and physically. We are still attempting to protect and shield them from our hurt because our greatest fear is that they will reject what we say as they did years ago. I can no longer discuss my hardships with my parent or Mike with his and have them tell us a long story about how parenting was difficult for them. They still don’t see us as individuals outside of themselves. It is the weirdest phenomena.

I am proud of the way in which Mike and I have raised our children. Our oldest daughter is extremely empathetic to both of us and realizes that we are independent people that have varying needs. It is strange to have her recognize my pain when my own parent cannot recognize it. My 14 year old son who is Autistic can sometimes pick up on our emotional state better than our parents can.

This is what I hold to and believe our generation holds to as tightly as we can. I see it in my sister and the way that she unconditionally loves her children and follows them everywhere, helping them every step along the way. I try to tell her in as many ways how much of an amazing mother she is, but I don’t tell her often enough. I want to say, “I see you. I see you for all the things you are doing in the lives of your children that weren’t necessarily given to us and I am proud of you.”

I wonder sometimes where Generation X is? When I look at how many times “Millennial” and the “Baby Boom” generation are typed into the Google search engine they are three times as popular as “Generation X”. I don’t think it’s because we are a boring generation or because we don’t have our problems. I’m not exactly sure why that is?

Do we fail to appear as a generation because we “don’t have anything good to say” or because we are so overridden with work and our children that we don’t have time for anything else? Have we failed at making ourselves known because we don’t believe we’ll be listened to? After finishing that last sentence, I brought this blog into the kitchen and read it to my husband and the first thing he asked was, “Do you think our parents will read this?” His alarm was obvious. I knew right away he didn’t want me to publish the blog even though he knew it was our truth.

“Do you recognize how that question only drives forth exactly the point of what I am writing about, Mike?” I inquired. “Do you realize that question is still meant to shield your mother and father against the pain that you felt because of their divorce? It has been 20 years since their divorce and 30 for mine. Maybe we need to give our parents a chance to see us for who we really are, whether or not it hurts them. Don’t we deserve that? Don’t we deserve to heal as much as they do?”

I wonder sometimes if the story of Generation X has been repressed? I wonder how many times this generation has attempted to tell their story only to be told, “get over it”, “you can choose to still be angry”, or “that happened years ago and you’re still holding onto those feelings?” I want to know where you are Generation X! I want to know your story! I believe we are important even though the world may see us as cynical, apathetic, or the invisible generation. I don’t want us to leave this world without being heard, even if the story doesn’t have a happy ending. Let me know! Take a chance!

Escape Rooms

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

Escape Rooms

If you’ve never tried an escape room with your family and friends, you are truly missing out! My friends and family have visited 17 escape rooms in which we solved puzzles in Wonderland, stopped a nuclear attack during the 1950’s, visited a haunted nursery, and escaped a jail cell all within 1 hour. Spending money on a memory is something you will never forget and I definitely prefer an escape room over a gift any day!

Escape rooms typically cost $20-30 a person. Sometimes, you can find discounts especially during the summer when they aren’t as busy. You want to always arrive 10-15 minutes before your assigned time because you will need to sign wavers and listen to any rules that the business has. There were a couple of times when our host was in costume, which made the experience much more fun and interesting! The host will lead you to your room and provide you with a story concerning the mystery you are about to solve.

No doors are ever truly locked in an escape room. This is completely against the law. Once the host has left, the group begins looking about the room for clues or puzzles to solve. Sometimes, the puzzles work in succession and other times you are given clues that won’t assist you till the very end. It is important to read the descriptions of each room and find out if there is an age limit for children. There are times when escape rooms are meant for adults and any description that talks about blood, murder, aliens, zombies, or being haunted will probably not be appropriate for children.

One of the greatest parts about doing an escape room is the theme chosen by the game maker. Great escape rooms have a strong theme and puzzles that are relevant to the progression of the story. I am often disappointed when I get inside an escape room and it simply houses a room full of furniture that doesn’t seem to have any role in the story and the clues don’t make sense.

Some of the best escape rooms I have been to were in rooms that were made to look like a 1950’s café, a queen’s throne room, a jail cell, and a murder mystery in which an organ opened a wall by playing a sequence on a pipe organ. I have had picture frames release secret compartments when you touch a certain part of the picture with a magnet. I was also impressed by a chess board that helped to unlock a drawer in a desk when the proper chess piece was put into place.

I will never forget an escape room in which our group was separated and put into two different jail cells. Each of our groups had to yell out clues that were written on the wall and chuck keys to each other to open our cells. Each cell had an unlocked door that we entered through, but the cell doors were actually locked so it made it much more fun. I actually felt like a convict that was trying to escape a very small cell.

My family attended an escape room on Christmas Eve in which an actress had stolen academy awards and hidden them in her dressing room when she didn’t win them on awards night. There was a box office present, theater seats, movie posters, suitcases, and a makeup table and lights that greeted us as we walked in. It is so much fun to see how the room is designed and how much you actually feel like you have been transported to a new place.

My sister told me about an escape room that she went to that was inspired by serial killers and had dead body parts (fake, of course) strewn about the room with blood all over them. They weren’t allowed to talk for the first 30 minutes and eventually a series of clues led them to the ceiling where a pull-down ladder emerged and they climbed upwards into a whole other space. That is one of the neatest things about doing an escape room is that you never know what is behind closed doors. It is not like going to a movie where you are in observer. It is like being in a movie where you are the detectives.

My family and I have found clues in pipes, in books, in coolers filled with fake ice, on the wall with the use of a black light, inside water bottles, inside hairbrushes, under the rug, inside a table leg, in vines, in a mailbox, through a slide projector, by navigating a remote car onto a platform, inside a stuffed animal, under an alien baby, inside a hole in the wall, by turning on a television, by mixing two liquids together, and by navigating a set of laser beams.

Doctor and dentist offices are common themes for escape rooms as well.

So, if you are looking for something to do with you and a group of friends of family. I would highly suggest an escape room. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do them ever again. I personally like the adrenaline rush that I get when solving clues and moving toward a shared goal. It is a wonderful way to learn communication skills, work together to solve a problem, and to laugh and enjoy the memories that you make. Our family loves them and I know your family might love them too!

Homeschooling

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

Have you ever thought about homeschooling your child? Are you tired of your son or daughter coming home from school in tears because of bullying? Is your child tired of watching other kids in the classroom get bullied? Does your son or daughter come home from school with the vocabulary of a sailor?

Maybe, it’s time to homeschool. I know! The word is scary, holds stigma, and people look at you funny when you say it. Trust me! I know! I was a public school teacher for 10 years and the homeschool children I encountered were either 2 grade levels ahead or 2 grade levels behind their peers. There never seemed to be a happy medium.

I decided to start homeschooling my son Kalan when he gained 17 pounds in one month at public school. I knew things weren’t going well for him, but our motto for each of the children was to “push through” and “it will get better” as each year progresses. It never really did get better for any of my children, though.

It killed me when I saw Kalan get off the bus each day, dragging his feet toward the house. He was physically and mentally exhausted and didn’t want to talk to me. I would hear bits and pieces of him and Gabe talking about all the bullying at school and how to avoid getting harassed, but I didn’t quite know how to deal with it. When I started getting letters from teachers telling me that Kalan’s behavior was at fault, this is when I drew the line.

Children misbehave not because they are inherently evil or naughty, but because something is wrong in their life and they don’t have the vocabulary, communication skills, or reflective ability to voice their concerns. All of my children are overwhelmingly quiet, sensitive, and very caring toward others. They do not approach others, but wait for them to befriend them. They take after their father because I am the opposite.

It was definitely the combination of the weight gain and the letters from the teachers that finally got me to act. The next Monday, Kalan and I went to the school and withdrew him from classes. We were officially starting our homeschool experience. I was very lucky that I was a teacher for so many years because I jumped right back into the process and figured out Kalan’s background knowledge, reviewed the gaps, and started filling in those gaps as quickly as possible.

I wondered how parents that didn’t have any educational experience were able to pick up these skills? I took to the Internet (specifically YouTube) to see how other parents were homeschooling their children. The first feature that I noticed was the enormous amount of love that each parent has for their child and wanting to do what is best for them. There were wonderful things about each parent that I noticed and then there were some things that drew some concern.

I didn’t judge, but I wanted to help. I was surprised at the level of knowledge these parents did have given that they did not spend 4 years toward an educational degree. I started writing down the potential gaps that I saw and eventually turned them into a book for parents. The book is called, “How to Successfully Homeschool Your Child” and is available on Amazon as an e-book. I am currently working on making a paper copy available as well.

This book includes how to choose a curriculum, how to access state standards, how to write learning objectives, how to write comprehensive lesson plans, how to assess student learning, how to differentiate instruction, and some tips and tricks that have worked in the Dillon homeschooling program. The e-book is $9.99 and definitely worth its value! Whether you are still thinking about homeschooling or have been homeschooling for years, this book will elevate and inspire you to create the best lessons possible. I am going to start sharing my homeschool and various lesson ideas on my YouTube channel starting in the next couple of weeks. I hope that you can join us and share your homeschool ideas as well!

I absolutely love homeschooling and so does Kalan! I have seen such a dramatic change in his self-esteem, confidence, and he has not gained any weight since he left public school. I have a blast watching him learn and ask questions about a variety of topics. It is amazing to watch his little mind work and put together all of the concepts that are swimming in his brain. You can do this and you can be successful! I promise you! Homeschooling is extremely hard work, but also fun and extremely rewarding. Please join the Dillon family on this journey and let’s help each other help our children to love to learn!

Is it Safe for Women to Drive with Uber?

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

The community college in which I am a professor of psychology cut back on 400+ part-time jobs this last semester, which meant I was out of a job. For the last 7 years I have been teaching night classes, but had to say goodbye to them as a flourishing economy meant a lack of student enrollment.

What was I going to do now? Where was I going to find a job at night that would allow me to take care of my Type 1 Diabetic son during the day and not get angry with me when I quit as soon as my teaching position opened again?

Uber seemed like the perfect fit. I could schedule my driving time when it was convenient for me and make some money that I could immediately download into my bank account each night. I could still homeschool my son during the day and my husband could watch him at night along with our two other children.

As a woman, I did have some major concerns about driving with Uber. If I was driving by myself, did this mean I would be alone in the car with other males? How could I stay safe? Even though I had learned and taught martial arts in college, I still wasn’t sure what being in a car with a man alone would be like if there was a problem.

I was absolutely petrified the first time that I picked someone up in my car to take them to an unknown destination. Uber doesn’t allow you to see where you are taking someone until you have accepted their ride request, which provides a first name only as well as a rating for your rider. I was relieved when I saw my first name and realized it was definitely a female.

I drove in the dark following the navigation system provided by the app and squinted at the numbers on the apartment building until I saw the right one. Then, I sat outside and waited for my first official rider. I had no idea what to expect. After about 2 minutes, a very normal looking young woman with long dark hair emerged from the front door and headed to my car. She seemed much more confident of this whole process than I did. Fake it till you make it, right?

She got into the backseat and I greeted her. “Hey, how are you tonight?”

“Good. Thanks for asking,” she answered, peering down at her phone and scrolling through her messages. I would soon realize that this behavior was quite normal for a majority of riders in the future.

“Where you headed tonight?” I asked, attempting to make light conversation.

“I’m a stripper and I’m going to work,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Oh, that’s great! I mean…totally cool. Umm…” I stuttered stupidly not having any idea what to say. “So, you are my first official Uber rider.”

“Oh, cool.” She replied and continued to look down at her phone. That was going to be the extent of our conversation, I guessed. When we got to the strip club, I asked her what door she wanted to be dropped off at and she handed me 3 ones as she exited the backdoor.

I breathed a giant sigh of relief as she entered the club and I took off around the building. I had to stop the car for a moment and take in what had just happened. The Uber app blinked and $3.56 appeared on the top of the screen. So, that’s what I just made taking her a couple of miles, which ended up taking 5 minutes to get to her house and 10 minutes to get her to work. I later found out that clients like her paid $8.00 in total fares and that Uber drivers only gained about half.

I decided to complete a couple more rides and the rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but my next 100 rides provided me a lesson in socio-economic status, alcohol tolerance and states of drunkenness, and most recently in inappropriate cowboy who I will name Bill to keep his identity a secret.

Uber can make a person anywhere from $15.00 an hour to $30.00 an hour, but it doesn’t pay for gas or the wear-and-tear on the vehicle. My plan has never been to work for Uber for more than a year and my journey with the company almost officially came to an end yesterday.

My pickup yesterday was for an individual named “Bill” who was at a HyVee store and had 5 stars for his rating. There weren’t any red flags there. When I arrived at the store, I saw an older gentleman with a flannel shirt on, boots, Jeans, and a giant cowboy hat. I stopped in front of him as he was the only one standing there and he recognized my car and face from the pictures on the Uber app site.

He opened the door to the front of the car and sat beside me. I would say that 40% of passengers sit in the front of the car and it tends to annoy me because I don’t know who these people are or what their intentions are. I live in Iowa so we are a pretty neighborly state, but no one can be too cautious…especially a woman.

I tend to be talkative and friendly with my riders and we started talking right away about driving for Uber and what type of work that he did. Cowboy Bill informed me that he was in a trade field and that he was now retired after many years of backbreaking labor. I told him that I was a professor headed back to teaching as soon as the opportunity arose.

Somehow, we got into the conversation about my YouTube channel and this is when the dialogue began getting strange.

“What’s your YouTube channel about? To be really honest with you, I won’t probably look at it unless your doing something sexual in it,” he stated and then started laughing.

The comment took me by such great surprise that I started to laugh along with him. “No, I don’t think I’m into anything like that. I’m a mother of three with a husband and I don’t think he’d like that too much.”

“Are you sure he’s the father of all of your kids?” Cowboy Bill asked, laughing again.

What the hell was this guy trying to get at? The dude was like 55-65 years old and I am in my early 40’s, but most people tell me I look 35-38 years old. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable and kept looking at the navigation system to see if we were any closer to the destination. I then tried a psychological trick called distraction and changed the subject.

“So, what are you doing during your retirement to stay busy? Do you have other jobs that you are doing?” I asked, hoping he would take the bait and stop talking about all things sexual.

“I am sleeping in late and enjoying my retirement. It would be a lot nicer if I had a woman I could wake up next to each morning. I’m a horny old man that is willing to pay money to have a woman wake up next to me,” he said, laughing out loud again, but there was a different tone to his voice than before.

Luckily, we had just pulled up to his destination and I changed the subject again as soon as I could.

“Looks like we are here!” I said quite loudly and clicked the locks on the door to make sure he knew his way out.

“Well, thank you very kindly! I hope to see you again, sometime!” He commented as he shut the door.

“Yep,” I replied, as I quickly backed the car up and headed away from the destination. Gross! GROSS! GROSS!!!!

What in the world gave that guy the idea that he could talk to me in such a manner? Did he not take hints? Did he think that because I drove Uber that I would be into that kind of thing? Is it because I was nice to him that he thought I might be into him? Yuck! I was done after that ride. I was done with Ubering for the night and possibly for a very long time. Does that ever happen to men? Why doesn’t Uber make sure that women like myself are guarded from this type of behavior?

After this incident, I would definitely say that Uber is not safe for women. I would also caution women to not drive at night. I drive primarily throughout the day and tend to not have problems, but only 2 out of 100 drives have been bad like this one. I am happy that I have a background in self-defense, in EMS, as well as in psychology, but what about other women? I am almost 6 feet tall and that alone makes me much different than other women my age. Men don’t try as many things with me as they do women that are much shorter and smaller than me. Uber needs to do much more to make sure that its women drivers are safe and comfortable or they won’t continue to drive with the company anymore.

10 Products to Help You Sleep Better

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

For the video version, scroll to the very bottom and you will see the embedded link.

One of the most ignored, but extremely important factors in staying healthy and happy is sleep. There is a stage of sleep called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) in which brain chemicals are refilled, memories are encoded, there is a removal of neurotoxins from the brain, and other important healing aspects of the body take place. Therefore, your comfort as well as the quantity and quality of your sleep should be of the utmost importance to you.

Here are 10 products that can help you fall asleep as well as improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. There is a scientific explanation provided as to each of the products and why they improve your sleep quantity and/or quality.

MATTRESS

The first and probably most important product that leads to quality sleep is your mattress. When Tempur-Pedic mattress first came out, my husband and I got on a monthly payment plan and bought one. It was $4,000 dollars to have the bed delivered with its frame, double box spring, and California king mattress. My husband who has a degree in physics (as well as lifelong back issues) theorized that memory foam due to its “give” would allow less pressure on the muscles and joints because the foam would slowly absorb movement and contours to its physical shape. With a box spring any movement causes the springs to bounce back, which applies force back to your muscles and joints. This can increase pain in those areas.

I was more than pleased when my husband’s constant back pain went away after one week of sleeping on the new mattress. We slept on that Tempur-Pedic for 20 years while properly cleaning it once a week. My husband and I realized that we probably needed a new bed as ours had lasted 2 decades. When we went to the store to find out how much new Tempur-Pedic beds cost, we were dumbfounded! In order to get a new bed with all of its fixings, it was going to cost us $10-12,000 dollars! That was as much as a brand new car! There was no way we were going to pay that much for a bed. There had to be an alternative!

I researched alternative foam mattresses and found an excellent substitute on Amazon. I bought two singles with an adjustable frame and couldn’t be happier. Sometimes, I find my kids will sneak into our room and fall asleep in our bed before we can get to it. This puts my husband and I on the couch or in their room, which doesn’t make us the happiest campers in our home. We find our beds to be as comfortable if not more comfortable than our previous Tempur-Pedic and definitely more affordable!

https://www.amazon.com/Olee-Sleep-Infused-Memory-Mattress/dp/B016WJWC44/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=060505e09228ba6a14f09a8416517922&creativeASIN=B016WJWC44

MEMORY FOAM MATTRESS

https://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Bedding-Electric-Adjustable-Base/dp/B0718ZCZHP/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=a5d75617baa5dcca42e4aa5b7153422c&creativeASIN=B0718ZCZHP

ELECTRIC ADJUSTABLE BED FRAME

PILLOW

The second product for better and quality sleep is “My Pillow”. I’m sure you’ve seen the infomercials about it. I can’t believe that I’m writing about a pillow to help you sleep better, but I was absolutely shocked when I tried to this pillow! I couldn’t fathom spending $35.00-$50.00 on a pillow, but this one definitely changed my sleep! I have so much less tossing and turning because my pillow is lumpy or I have to fold it in half to get my head to sit up higher. I didn’t realize how much I was waking up because my pillow was such a mess. Remember, each time you wake up you are impacting your REM sleep, which is imperative for overall health, weight loss, and and refilling of your brain’s chemicals.

I sound so stupid when I talk to my friends about this pillow and go on and on about it, but I wake up so much more refreshed as compared to what I used to. The inventor of this pillow knew what he was doing because he shredded memory foam to help build this pillow. Memory foam pillows tend to be too hard and feathers tend to be too soft. When he shredded the memory foam, it helped to contour the pillow to the person’s head. I have to also hide this pillow from my children because they will come and steal it if I am not home. I will find it on the couch or in their rooms and I know eventually I am just going to have to buy them one of their own. So, here is the link to “My Pillow”, which I absolutely love!

https://www.amazon.com/Pillow-Classic-Medium-Available-Levels/dp/B00BC0SPIQ/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=1d83bad25db88277b8f2178b29b053a4&creativeASIN=B00BC0SPIQ

MY PILLOW

WEIGHTED BLANKET

The third product I have to RAVE about is the weighted blanket!!! My daughter just bought my husband a weighted blanket because he has high functioning Autism and he loves to bury himself in blankets at night and then plop the dogs on top of himself as well. The more weight he can put on himself at night, the better he sleeps! The thought of a weighted blanket seemed expensive, odd, and I wondered how I was going to wash it?!? I hate to admit this, but I actually use the weighted blanket myself every single time my husband isn’t around. I can’t believe I love it as much as he does and will probably buy myself one within a couple of weeks. I sleep so much better and I can’t believe it! Who would have thought?

I wanted to understand the science of why a weighted blanket would help someone to sleep more effectively and I found that weighted blankets were originally created to replicate deep tissue (pressure) therapy. The blanket also replicates the feeling of a semi-strong hug and helps to release oxytocin (the feel good hormone) within the body. When we cuddle or hug others, oxytocin is released within the brain encouraging bonding, trust, and the happiness hormone. For persons that do not necessarily like human hugs or cuddling, the weighted blanket allows individuals to get the same results and can choose when they need to have this feeling.

It works well for persons with anxiety, Autism, or sensory issues, but after I have used it…I think everyone should own one. I love it! I have also noticed that my husband moves less during his sleep and he doesn’t snore as loud into his CPAP when he wears it. I think sleep studies need to look at weighted blankets and their positive impact with sleep. Here is the weighted blanket that I would recommend because it has temperature control as well. One more reason that I love it? It doesn’t fall off the bed like our other blankets!

https://www.amazon.com/ZonLi-Weighted-Blanket-Cooling-180-220/dp/B075W94KB3/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=0d212f05685c8ca4d16a49e9ea9f0d33&creativeASIN=B075W94KB3

WEIGHTED BLANKET

WHITE NOISE MACHINE

The fourth product is called the Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Machine. A white noise machine can help to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) with infants. It also helps all people to sleep more deeply and reduces the chance of waking up during a person’s REM cycle. When used in a hospital setting, it allows people to fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep even with all the hospital noise. Behavioral psychologists believe that white noise can be a conditioned stimulus for the brain to know it is time to sleep and that it is safe to sleep. Many people use box fans, which is fine, but white noise machines can save on electricity and they are easier to travel with. Having white noise while you sleep can help you to not hear your partner if they snore or talk in their sleep. There are many great white noise or sound machines on the market, but the reason that I chose this one is because you can buy a case for it and it fits into a suitcase very easily.

Persons that sleep with fans may have trouble feeling drowsy during the summer when they use their fan in the living room to cool off. When a fan is used at night, it triggers the brain to release melatonin (the sleep hormone) to ready the individual toward sleep. When white noise is used, it is the same frequency and the brain will not be tricked into becoming tired if a fan is utilized in an office or in the living room of the home. White noise machines are very portable and take up little room. Some of them run on batteries in case you want to take it with you tent camping or are trying to sleep in the car. Here is a link to the white noise machine that I think is one of the best.

https://www.amazon.com/Marpac-Classic-Warranty-Soothing-children/dp/B00HD0ELFK/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=0916ad477cfbd85b6b98ffc6ee203b0f&creativeASIN=B00HD0ELFK

WHITE NOISE MACHINE

SLEEP MASK

The fifth product is a sleep mask. I was surprised when I read scholarly studies that showed sleep masks can help people sleep more soundly and effectively. The main idea is that sleep masks provide total darkness from ambient light, which can interrupt sleep and make it difficult to fall asleep. As a side note, most cell phones become equipped with light reduction technology that will turn your screen a shade of yellow throughout the day so that it doesn’t interfere with your natural circadian rhythm. Bright lights from computers and phones have been known to cause insomnia as they are unnatural and can interfere with melatonin production and secretion. Sleep masks whether they are simple, 3D, or have blue tooth are extremely beneficial for deep sleep once you get used to wearing one. Blue tooth sleep masks are beneficial for individuals that use sleep medications to fall asleep at night. Here are some sleep masks that I really like. The first one is very comfortable if you don’t mind looking like you are wearing a bra on your head when you sleep. As long as it is comfortable, which this one is!

https://www.amazon.com/YIVIEW-Lightweight-Comfortable-Adjustable-Contoured/dp/B06XP28RWB/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=7cecdb8b89ea36c8b30a9c89c7d2153d&creativeASIN=B06XP28RWB

SLEEP MASK WITHOUT BLUETOOTH

https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Headphones-Bluetooth-Wireless-Built-/dp/B07J9WZLL2/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=cf371219e4f911df06573011fc2f240d&creativeASIN=B07J9WZLL2

SLEEP MASK WITH BLUETOOTH

ESSENTIAL OIL

This next product works best with conditioning oneself. Just like white noise sometimes takes getting used to, as does essential oil. Smell is the number one way to associate something in the brain with a neutral stimulus so if you can use essential oil to sleep, it will help your brain to prepare for sleep with melatonin production as well as secretion. If you put this essential oil on your neck, on your wrists, or on your pillow each night before you sleep, you will eventually condition yourself to fall asleep quicker. It may take 1 or 2 weeks for the conditioning to take place. This is my suggestion for an easy roll-on and ready-to-go essential oil. There are many good products on the market.

https://www.amazon.com/Its-All-Good-Therapeutic-Aromatherapy/dp/B07CRMRW9C/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=0ded912b27dc456bb6010ce59a2d1a64&creativeASIN=B07CRMRW9C

ESSENTIAL OIL FOR SLEEP

SLEEP TRACKING DEVICES

Want to get scientific about your sleep? There are a multitude of products on the market that let you know the quantity and quality of your sleep. One of my favorites is the sleep tracking pad because it is compatible with Alexa. It is a pad that goes underneath your mattress and lets you know your sleep score, how long you slept, and how many times you tossed and turned during the night. Because it works with Alexa, it can help you to control your lights and temperature, possible breathing disturbances, and what time of the night these issues took place. If you are someone that cares very much about your sleep and its quality, this is the perfect product for you. Test to see if you sleep better in different temperatures or if turning the lights off earlier in the night helps you to sleep better. The best way to know your own sleep is to experiment upon yourself. Here is the link to the product.

https://www.amazon.com/Withings-Sleep-Temperature-Disturbances-Compatible/dp/B078Z1B34S/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=1deaaaa5c12a016cb20e53f3494b753d&creativeASIN=B078Z1B34S

SLEEP TRACKING PAD THAT SYNCS WITH ALEXA

PREGNANCY PILLOW

One of the most difficult times to get quality sleep is during pregnancy. With the baby moving around at night, pushing on your bladder, as well as trying to adjust to a growing body can be difficult for many women. I have heard many women rave about this pregnancy pillow because it can be shifted around and used between the legs and underneath the neck as the pregnancy changes. It is extremely difficult to get comfortable and the minute a woman has figured out how to adjust to a growing belly, her shape changes again and becomes uncomfortable. The snake-like shape of this pillow allows a pregnant mother to adjust as her body shifts and changes. It is so important for an expecting mother to get quality sleep as a phenomenal amount of growth is taking place in her body!

https://www.amazon.com/PharMeDoc-Pregnancy-Pillow-Jersey-Shaped/dp/B01KIQH2VU/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=010a16d69461be09ccc487b077a53e30&creativeASIN=B01KIQH2VU

PREGNANCY PILLOW

SHEETS

Many people don’t think sheets are important on a bed, but what lies underneath you can be as important as what lies on top of you. With 5 star ratings across the board, these sheets are definitely a favorite of sleepers! They are very soft and made of microfiber and come in a variety of neutral colors. This company guarantees the sheets for a lifetime and will offer you money back if you are not fully satisfied with them. Not many companies can say that about their products! These sheets are unique in that they are made with high density yarn, which makes them extremely soft. They are machine washable and do not wrinkle easily. Many people have commented that these sheets feel like silk, but without the hefty price tag. One woman claimed that she had never slept on better sheets for the past 76 years. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what would!

https://www.amazon.com/Shilucheng-6-Piece-Microfiber-Comforterble-Hypoallergenic/dp/B07PPYWTD5/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=drkerrisdillo-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=71b974ea25e83bb81ca6654fc330c911&creativeASIN=B07PPYWTD5

SOFT SHEETS

SLEEP STRATEGIES BOOK

The reason I like this book is because it is like no other that I have read. The author uses nutrition, an understanding of circadian rhythms, as well as science to explain his successful sleep strategies. Even though this book can be considered controversial, for those that battle sleep it can be extremely helpful. Most of us have read theories concerning better sleep and tend to have the same things repeated to us day-after-day with little to no success. This is why I like this book so much! The author figured out what worked for him and provides an outline concerning what might work for you in getting to sleep and gaining quantity and quality of sleep. My husband has no trouble sleeping and I have always had a terrible time getting and staying asleep. If there is a book that can provide me with ideas to figure out this mystery, I will read it and this book definitely does so! I was very impressed with this book and can’t wait to put his methods into action!

Affiliate Disclaimer – the author of this blog will receive a small compensation if you use these links to purchase the item. This compensation helps to fund this blog as well as the business of the author.

Gaming Disorder

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) added Gaming Disorder to the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases), which is used by health practitioners all over the world to properly diagnose physical and mental conditions. Scholars and health practitioners reviewed multiple studies concerning video games and decided that it fit the criteria of addictive behavior.

Individuals with Gaming Disorder have trouble comprehending the amount of time spent gaming and have difficulties doing anything else. In addition, the amount of gaming that they do is so significant it impacts their health and they choose gaming over a majority of other activities.

If someone is going to be diagnosed with Gaming Disorder, they have to have the following characteristics for 12 consecutive months including understanding the negative aspects of gaming, but doing it anyway, playing games over a majority of other activities, as well as not being able to control one’s gaming habits and the amount of time spent.

In addition to playing and prioritizing video games, the individual’s gaming interferes with the person’s work, schooling, family, social life, and personal habits. The most consequential features of video gaming include a sedentary lifestyle in which a person has a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, sleep issues, as well as other significant issues. Due to the isolation of video games, individuals are also at a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideas.

If you have a child with Gaming Disorder, it is important to first educate them about the disorder. Spending time together as a family doing non-gaming activities is important and should be done at least once a week. If the child reacts angrily or with great frustration, seeking professional counseling may be necessary as the condition could grow worse.

There are many aspects to video games that are positive for children. Children that play video games often do much better on standardized testing within school. They also tend to have coordinated fine motor skills that children who do not play do not always have. Talking about the importance of balance is necessary in regards to children and video games. Parents also need to be aware of the video games that their children are playing and any violence or aggression that results during or after the video game has been played.

There is some evidence to suggest that playing video games constantly within one’s youth leads to more online video games and gambling problems. This is why it is so important for parents to be aware of how much time children are spending playing video games and the types of games that they find entertaining. It is in childhood where individuals often learn their sense of balance and lifelong habits. Persons only experience childhood once and parents need to consistently be aware of the messages that they are sending.

Video gaming can be so much fun, but life needs balance. Getting outside and playing games can be fun as well.

Sleep Apnea

By, Dr. Kerris Dillon

Sleep Apnea is one of the scariest medical problems that currently exists. I didn’t realize how frightening Sleep Apnea was until I took 2 colleges classes in Anatomy and Physiology for fun. Yes, you read that right…for fun. I am a nerd and will always be a nerd. I am very proud of that. I figure the more college classes that I take at the local community college, the more it will help my own subject matter. I teach psychology at the local community college and each semester I am allowed to take one college class for free. Why not take advantage of it?

Taking college classes can stimulate your mind, make you more productive toward your own work, and can be a great place to meet people.

I was very disturbed when the Anatomy and Physiology class started talking about Sleep Apnea, though. I really didn’t think about the health consequences that can arise from undiagnosed Sleep Apnea. There are two ways that Sleep Apnea can drastically impact the health and well-being of a person, which are 1) a lack of oxygen to the brain, and 2) sleep deprivation and its medical consequences.

When someone suffers from Sleep Apnea, the oxygen that is supposed to make its way to the brain does not quite make it. This is because the trachea is around 4 inches long and is about 1 inch in diameter. If this tube becomes obstructed, the amount of oxygen needed for the human brain is diminished. The brain then senses a lack of oxygen and sends messages to the rest of the body to produce more oxygen. What part of the body carries oxygen? That’s right! Red blood cells!

Red blood cells carry oxygen all over the body including the brain.

When you have Sleep Apnea, your brain signals your body to make more red blood cells because it wants more oxygen. Where are red blood cells made? They are made in the bone marrow. This is why individuals that have Sleep Apnea are generally exhausted all the time because their body is working overtime creating red blood cells as well as not reaching important stages of sleep like REM (rapid eye movement).

When we fall asleep each night, we need to get into the stages of sleep called REM (rapid eye movement). This is the cycle of sleep in which we dream, but our brain and body chemicals are being refilled. Individuals that drink alcohol, use sedatives, or tranquilizers often don’t reach stages of REM because those drugs don’t allow them to until they have moved out of the liver. This is why mixing medications and drugs is so dangerous as well because the liver can only detoxify one substance at a time. College students find out very quickly that if they mix Xanax or valium and alcohol, they will get drunk faster, but the chance of them dying increases because their bodies can become toxified very quickly.

Alcohol and other sedatives can decrease your time spent in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

Reaching pertinent stages of REM sleep is imperative for good health, wellbeing, and a long life. When a person has Sleep Apnea and the obstruction of their breathing is hampered, not only does oxygen not make it to the brain, but the individual does not reach adequate levels of REM. Sleep deprivation from REM has many health consequences including limitations of the Central Nervous System, memory lapses, a limiting of coordination, a lack of creativity, mood problems, impulsive behavior, suicidal ideas, a break in a person’s circadian rhythm, being at-risk for more viruses and diseases, an increase risk of diabetes, problems with respiration, weight gain, a lack of proper digestion, an increase in inflammation, lowers metabolism, problems with blood pressure and heart rates, an increase risk of stroke, problems with hormone production, a lack of growth hormone, and lack of effectiveness given vaccinations.

Sleep Apnea and sleep deprivation can put us at a higher risk of Diabetes as well as other life changing diseases.

So, not only is it important to sleep enough hours within a day, but it is also important to make sure your sleep is adequate. Over-the-counter sleep medications often have tranquilizing effects that will impact your ability to get into REM sleep. Try alternatives like white noise, exercise during the day, sleep meditations, essential oil, or a weighted blanket to help you snooze. If you are not feeling rested from sleep, please see your doctor and set up a sleep study to make sure you do not have Sleep Apnea. The health consequences can be disastrous and we all want to live long and healthy lives to spend more time with our loved ones.