Hotflashes - June 2025

Taking Care of Your Child’s Mental Health

Statistics show that mental health issues like anxiety and depression are growing at alarming rates with children, adolescents, and young adults. And while as a parent, it’s fairly easy to pay attention and meet your child’s physical needs, it can be harder to know what their mental and emotional needs may be. In today’s article, we’ll go over the key things your child needs as they grow for strong mental health.

Unconditional love from family. 

As a parent, love should be at the heart of your family and your relationship with your children. However, it’s important for your child to know that love from you does not come with a cost or expectations. Their accomplishments are nice, but not the reason you love them, and if they make mistakes, these should be accepted. 

Self confidence and self-esteem. 

Your child having self-confidence and high self-esteem are also key to good mental health. Ways you can encourage this are through praise and reassurance, realistic goals, honesty, avoiding sarcasm, and just encouraging them. 

Play with other children. 

Kids need the opportunity to play with other children, and this can look different for different families depending on their school situation (homeschooling vs. public or private school) and for small children, whether or not they go to daycare or nursery. If your child is not going to traditional school or daycare, it’s important to create opportunities for play and interaction with other children through cousins, playdates, community events, and more. Additionally, even when other children are not around, try to encourage play rather than screen time whenever possible. While independent play and playing with peers are important, play can also be a good time for you, the parent, and the child to bond and build a relationship, so don’t be afraid to jump in yourself. 

Encouraging and supportive caretakers. 

Your child needs caretakers in their life who encourage and support them, and this doesn’t just mean you. It could mean their teacher, their grandparent, a family friend they see often, extracurricular leaders, and more. 

Safe and secure environment. 

Your child needs to feel safe and secure in their environment for strong mental health, which at home can look like making sure their needs are met consistently, having rhythms or routines they can count on, and being consistent in both love and encouragement as well as guidance and discipline. This can be much harder to navigate in situations like their school environment if they’re experiencing bullying or other issues, but working with teachers, other parents, and/or the principal can be helpful. 

Appropriate guidance and discipline. 

As a parent, it should go without saying that your child will need guidance and discipline, but it’s important for it to be appropriate. Fairness and consistency are key in this realm for your children to get the message. Additionally, you should be firm in your expectations, but also be kind and realistic for their developmental age. As the parent, it’s also important to be a good example and follow the same sorts of standards you set for your children. https://www.mhanational.org/what-every-child-needs-good-mental-health#:~:text=Allow%20children%20to%20explore%20and,%2Dconfidence%20and%20self%2Desteem.

Understanding Migraines

Migraines can be an extremely painful headache that tends to affect women more than men. They can often be debilitating and be accompanied by nausea and/or sensitivity to light or noise. While there is still a lot we don’t understand about migraines, this article will help to break down what a migraine is and the common triggers for them.

What is a migraine? 

A migraine is a chronic neurological disorder that leads to severe headaches. These often happen on one side of the head and can feel as if they are throbbing or pulsing. Every migraine is different, with some lasting for hours and some lasting for days. Many people find that migraines can be extremely painful and debilitating, making daily activities a struggle. Migraines are often accompanied by other symptoms like:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Sensitivity to light and sound
• Visual disturbances
• Numbness
• Confusion
• Trouble speaking
• Vertigo

Why are women more likely to have migraines? 

Some evidence suggests that hormones like progesterone and estrogen may play a key role in the development of migraines, and these hormones naturally rise and fall over the course of a woman’s lifetime as well as her monthly cycle, leading to an increase in migraines. Serotonin is another hormone that is thought to play a role in the development of migraines that can affect both men and women as it rises or falls.

What triggers a migraine? 

While there is still a lot to understand about migraines and their cause, many people with migraines can notice certain triggers. Some of the most common ones include:

• Stress or other strong emotions
• Changes in biological and environmental conditions like hormonal changes or exposure to certain lights or smells
• Changes in sleep or sleep patterns
• Glaring or flickering lights
• Weather changes
• Certain foods and drinks

If you struggle with migraines, keeping a journal with when you get migraines and any of the common triggers that might relevant can be helpful in figuring out the common causes for your personally.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/headache/how-a-migraine-happens

Blueberry Almond Crisp

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds blueberries (that’s 32 ounces, which is about 5 cups or a little less than 3 pints), fresh or frozen
• ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch or 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest (less than 1 small lemon, zested—scale back to ¼ teaspoon zest if you don’t love lemon)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse and drain the blueberries and pick through them to remove any stems still attached. In a 9-inch square baking dish, mix together the blueberries, maple syrup or honey, arrowroot or cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon. 

2.In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oats, almond meal/flour, sliced almonds, brown sugar and salt. Mix in the butter and yogurt. Stir until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture is moistened throughout. 

3.Dollop spoonfuls of the oat mixture over the filling and use your fingers to break up the mixture until it is evenly distributed (no need to pack it down). 

4.Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is actively bubbling around the edges and the top is lightly golden. Let the crisp rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

 https://cookieandkate.com/blueberry-almond-crisp/