ADHD News: Will the Brits Ban Green Tic Tacs?

If you've read much about hyperactive, impulsive, can't focus kids--those kids we call ADHD--you've probably run across information suggesting that artificial coloring and artificial flavors can cause this annoying behavior. Or at least make the behavior worse.

Behavior that gets in the way of learning. Gets in the way of positive social skills.

For some kids, simply making sure they don't eat anything with artificial color (not that such is an easy task), takes care of hyperactivity.

Now British Scientists are suggesting that at least one third of all kids diagnosed with ADHD really have an "allergy" to artificial colors and not ADHD. And they're putting pressure on the British Food Standards Agency to force manufacturers to stop using these chemicals.

Two groups of children showed changes in behavior when given the artificial coloring during controlled trials. The kids couldn't sit still and concentrate. Had problems reading and became loud and impulsive. (Don't know if enough kids took part in the trials to make the results statistically significant. And not sure how they came up with "one third.")

Jim Stevenson, a researcher at the University of Southampton, even suggests that banning artificial colors will also help reduce anti-social behavior in teens.

The British now have some 900 "foods" that contain artificial coloring, like green Tic Tacs. How many "foods" in the U.S.? Lots. Glad I don't have to count them! I'm not sure I'm even up to counting how many in my cupboard.

So read the labels. Check out what's in that "food" your kids are gobbling. What's in the "food" you're snacking on right this minute as you read this blog post!

Uh, oh. I just looked at the label on a lollipop I got at the bank. ( I refuse to bank at any institution that doesn't have bowls of lollipops on the counter.) Sure enough, found the dreaded words "artificially flavored" right there on the cellophane wrapper. Doesn't say "artificial color" but I'm sure it's not natural!

MaryJo

P.S. Interested in exactly how psychiatrists and psychologists make an ADHD diagnosis? Check out the DSM-IV Criteria for ADHD. (Scroll to the bottom of that page.)

Then ask yourself couldn't a child answer "yes" to six or more of the questions and have artificial color and flavor "allergies" instead of ADHD?

ADHD or Lack of Vitamin D?

We've long known that kids need plenty of vitamin D for healthy bones. We urge parents to make sure kids get plenty of sunshine. We put vitamin D in milk. And my Mom went a step further: forcing me to swallow tablespoons of nasty cod liver oil.

Now scientists at Children's Hopsital and Research Center in Oakland California have discovered that a lack of vitamin D can cause brain dysfunction.

Turns out that vitamin D affects proteins in the brain directly involved in learning, memory, and motor control. There's also a suggestion, no proof yet, that lack of vitamin D is involved with controlling behavior.

So you can add vitamin D deficiency to the growing list of factors that look like ADHD but aren't. Get kids drinking enough vitamin D fortified milk, playing outdoors in the sunshine, and eating the few foods high in vitamin D (oily fish like salmon). Maybe those annoying ADHD behaviors will stop.

Fish oil capsules and vitamin D supplements are also recommended but that's up to a pediatrician, not a blogger.

African-American kids and their parents tend to lack more vitamin D than whites because darker skin absorbs absorbs fewer ultra-violent rays from the sun. So it's not racial profiling to ask if Black kids who show ADHD behaviors suffer nothing more than a lack of vitamin D. An easily corrected deficiency.

And, of course, those blond, fair-skinned kids can end up with brutal sunburns from too much sun--eventually leading to skin cancer.

MaryJo

P.S. Be sure to sign up for the free, weekly "ADHD Answers Now" TeleChat. Each week I'll look at a new ADHD topic. You can ask your question right there on the sign up page. I'll answer your question on the call.

On the next call, May 6, I'll be talking about how to raise Dopamine levels without drugs. (Most ADHDers have low dopamine levels. Stimulant drugs increase Dopamine.)

ADHD in 1955

First: I've got a big announcement! My new totally free weekly "ADHD Answers Now" telechat starts Tuesday night, April 29. The first one's called: "The Calm after the Storm," and I'll be giving you three quick, effective tricks for helping kids down--even helping you calm down.

So go sign up right now. You'll get handouts, web audio, and its FREE. But you do need to register since I can only take so many people on the call before the conference bridge line cuts us off.

I’ve been thinking about ADHD when I was a kid. How those of us “diagnosed” with the “disorder” as adults managed to get through school in the 1950s and early 60s? What did our families and teachers do right?

So back in the dark ages of my childhood, nobody had heard of ADHD? No stimulant drugs, no ADHD TeleChats, no ADHD forums or chat rooms, no support groups, no help for teachers or parents, no Brain Gym.

But, don’t let the experts fool you. ADHD did exist, I know cause I had it!

Impulsive, hyperactive kid who couldn’t focus. Poor coordination. A total dunce in arithmetic. Forget anything so advanced they called it “math.”

Here’s what parents and teachers did—and funny thing, it’s exactly what the ADHD books and the experts, and the “Managing ADHD” TeleChat are telling us to do today to help ADHD kids.


For starters the world moved more slowly and a lot less stimulation. So ADHD kids didn’t get quite as overwhelmed quite as quickly. We lived with boundaries, routines, and schedules. And at my house, the routine was pretty extreme!

We watched less TV. Ate less sugar and junk food. Took piano lessons. Had music and PE in school and fewer outside activities. Got more sleep. Weren’t allowed to skip breakfast EVER.

And talk about exercise. I walked . . . and walked and walked everyday.

That’s when I wasn’t riding my bike or roller skating--a primitive form of roller blading requiring a skate key and done without so much as a knee pad or a helmet. (I still have a scar on my left knee from roller skating.)

For me with ADHD, I wouldn’t have made it through school without the boundaries, routines, schedules, music, walking, bike riding, and skating.

Although I never did get the math stuff. However, there’s hope now for math illiterates. A program called Cog Med. More about that in the next post.

Don’t get me wrong here. There’s plenty of stuff they botched up big time in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. But that’s another story which I don’t think I’ll bother telling.

MaryJo

P.S. And another reminder about the next TeleChat coming up soon: "They're Driving Me Crazy: How to Manage ADHD at Home and in School. Starts Thursday, May 1 to help you help these ADHD kids and keep your sanity.

Includes discussion of dozens of non-drug strategies from how to raise dopamine levels to Brain Breaks for classrooms, from TV tips to standing desks. Check out the whole list of topics covered at http://www.adhdchildrentoday.com/telechats.htm

ADHD Drugs: Do They Really Cause Heart Attacks?

Do ADHD stimulant drugs such as Ritalin cause heart attacks? Yes, they can--in a small number of children. Children who have a pre-existing heart condition.

Since 1999 thirty kids have died from sudden death attributed to stimulant drugs. And more have suffered heart-related problems. Again, all of these children had a pre-existing heart condition. The drugs didn't cause the heart condition!

As my readers know, I’m not crazy about giving drugs to kids for ADHD Lots of strategies help enormously with ADHD that don’t involve Ritalin. However, I don’t want to be part of the over-reaction and scare tactics running amok on the Web. Most children will not have a cardiovascular problem with ADHD stimulant drugs.

But the American Heart Association's doing the right thing! They're recommending that every child have an electrocardiogram (ECG) before a prescription for a stimulant drug is written. Some people--mainly bean counters--think this is extreme and way too expensive.

Total cost could be as high as $250 million--that's assuming 250 million kids have ECGs at the cost of about $100 per child. Hmm. Am I missing something here? A hundred bucks per kid sure doesn't sound all that expensive to me--given that it could save a child's life!

Keep in mind that a child can have a heart "problem" that your pediatrician isn't aware of. Exactly the reason the AHA's saying "get an ECG" first before taking an ADHD drug. And, yes, there's a strong possibility of a false positive since children's ECG's are hard to read. So have a second ECG, a second opinion, more cardiac screening. But don't skip this important evaluation.

In addition to an ECG, an ADHD cardiac checklist would also include

• Patient and family history with attention to fainting, palpitations, dizziness, difficulty with exercise
• Physical exam including blood pressure and a check for abnormal hearbeats.
• Consultation with a pediatric cardiologist if necessary.

For me, that a drug requires an ECG first is enough to "just say no." I say do Brain Gym, Brain Breaks in the classroom (we'll have some of those in future posts), get dopamine-increasing foods on the table, establish routines and schedules and boundaries. Look into non-drug programs for ADHD like Tomatis, Dore, and Cog Med. Let drugs be the very last resort.

MaryJo

P.S. The next "They're Driving Me Crazy: How to Manage ADHD at Home and in School" telechat starts Thursday, May 1. Includes discussion of the non-drug strategies mentioned above and lots more. Check out all the topics covered at http://www.adhdchildrentoday.com/telechats.htm

ADHD Trick: Left Up, Right Down, Leg Around, and Nod

Try this: Draw a triangle with one hand and two squares with the other hand while tracing a circle on the floor with one leg and nodding your head twice forward, then twice backwards. Switch hands and legs.

Helps you pay attention and organize tasks and desks. (Well, I don't know about desks. Mine is still a mess.)

On the other hand I don't quite have this exercise down. I get the two hands doing something different at the same time but somehow I can't get the leg part down without stopping one or both hands. And forget the nodding! Practice makes perfect they say. Maybe I'll be able to do it next week.

You're using a Zaltsman Exercise to improve your attention and organizational abilities. You'll find all ten of them toward the bottom of the article section at ADHDChildrenToday Of course there's more than ten once kids get the hang of it and start making up their own. Fun and challenging.

When Edward Hallowell, M.D. needed a personal trainer, he hired Simon Zaltsman, a world-class Russian athlete who moved to the U.S. as an adult.

Zaltsman showed Hallowell the exercises. Zaltsman said the exercises were commonly used in Russia to help improve athletic performance. The Russians have long known that mental acuity is linked to physical well-being. Hallowell discovered, difficult as the exercises may be at first, that they help with ADHD.

Ned Hallowell, by the way, is my favorite "how to manage ADHD" author and has ADHD himself. Says he still struggles with reading even though he graduated from Harvard and then went on to Tulane Medical School. I recommend his book Delivered from Distraction which he co-authored with John Ratey.

For kids, try the exercises with music, with colored markers, standing up at the white board. Out on the playground in soft sand.

You can always start with Brain Gym's Double Doodle. It's a similar concept but much easier. Using both hands simultaneously, draw a picture or design in which the left side is the mirror image of the right side.

Once you've mastered Double Doodle, you can progress to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Then you're really ready for Zaltsman.

MaryJo

P.S. Get lots more tips 'n tricks with a free subscription to ADHD NewsTips

ADHD or Too Much Chocolate Cake

My favorite chocolate cake--not pictured here although this one looks pretty scrumptious--has a whopping 3 cups of sugar, not including the frosting.

Just writing about it makes me swoon! (It's the Southern Georgia Chocolate Pound Cake from a 1967 issue of "Gourmet Magazine.")

Email me at mjw@mjwagner.com and I'll send you the recipe! And then if you're worried about protein, I'll also send you the recipe I picked up at a health fair for a chocolate cake made with garbanzo beans and a skimpy 1/2 cup of sugar.

Given it's nutritional value, the garbanzo bean cake is actually quite good. And there's no reason you need to tell anyone about the garbanzo beans!

Sinfully rich or protein-packed nutritious? Your choice. Just let me know what you want. Yes, you can have both recipes.

BTW, dark chocolate's actually good for you but that's for another post. And speaking of chocolate, Milton Hershey, himself, was said to have ADHD. Or did he just eat too much of his own company's candy for a sugar high?

Talk about ADHD rambling, lets get to the point here. After all this isn't a chocolate cake recipe exchange blog or a story about Milton Hershey.

Too much sugar causes hyperactivity and insomnia. A child can end up with the ADHD label simply from eating too much sugar every single day. Although scientists are slow to "prove" this, nearly every teacher and parent I know attests to having kids who're hyped up on sugar.

Take my grandkids. There we were happily making a 3-D cookie Christmas tree. Lots of fun and lots of sugar. Making it look like a "real" tree involved FOUR tubes of ghastly green icing.

Each kid had to have their own tube of green gunk to use for decorating--the cookies, the table, their grandmother, and themselves. And then making it look like a "real" Christmas tree involved several small jars of sprinkles, red hots, and other sugary miniatures.

Finally to get the cookies to stay stacked on top of each in some form that vaguely resembled a tree involved using more of the green gunk--sugar-rich edible glue.

I'm here to tell you that eating a chunk of tree caused not a little hyperactivity! (Just between us, the thing wasn't nearly yummy enough to sacrifice calm or calories.)

Sugar's everywhere. Not just in candy, soft drinks, cake, and cookies. It’s also in most cereal, several brands of yogurt, some bread, muffins—just about anything that comes in a box or a carton. And kids are eating way too much of it. (As are their parents, grandparents, and teachers.)

Don't be fooled by the health food section at your grocery store. Plenty of sugar in lots of stuff called health food or organic or natural. And beware: high sugar often substitutes for low fat.

So what’s a parent to do? What’s a teacher to plan for party or snack time?

Read the label! Teach kids how to read the label. Make a label-reading game. A contest. Who can find the cereal at the grocery store that has the least amount of sugar? Or the cereal that has sugar closest to the bottom of the list of ingredients.

If sugar is first or second in the list of ingredients, it’s too much sugar.

And teach kids all those sneaky sugar words like glucose and sucrose. If it ends in “os” or “ol,” it’s probably sugar. I thought I knew all the code words for sugar until I found the list of no less than 30 sugar words.

Now ask yourself: Does this child have ADHD or is it an ongoing sugar high?

MaryJo

P.S. And yes, the grandkids also devoured a garbanzo bean chocolate cake. So kids will eat something that's good for them as long as you don't call it broccoli.

P.P. S. Looking for a bunch of tips to tame ADHD--from Brain Gym to nutrition, from what to sit on to computer games that help ADHD? Subscribe to the ADHD NewsTips. They're free.

They're brain boosters that benefit kids who don't have ADHD--and you too. You'll get a short, use-it-right-now tip every 3 days in email for a whole year. That's 156 tips for taming ADHD!

ADHD: Geniuses, Millionaires, and Presidents

We may whine and complain about ADHD. Wish our kids didn't have it. And look for ways to get over it.

But, a lot of ADHD folks have been fabulously successful. The most famous is Einstein himself!


Then we've got other geniuses like Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci.

How about millionaires? Bill Gates has ADHD and so did John D. Rockefeller.

Five U.S. presidents, including John F. Kenney and Abraham Lincoln, got elected and governed well despite ADHD.

Some football players, basketball players and baseball players played ball extraordinarily well with ADHD: Terry Bradshaw, Magic Johnson, and even Babe Ruth join the list.

Tom Cruise, Walt Disney, Danny Glover, Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams in Hollywood all have ADHD.

Telephones, airplanes, and light bulbs were all invented by ADHDers.

And some famous guys had ADHD so badly they did poorly in school (or at least got bored with it). Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything. Einstein couldn't talk until he was four. Werner von Braun, the famous rocket scientist, flunked 9th grade algebra.

Lots more successful folks appear on the famous ADHDers list.

And what ADD qualitities did these ADHDers take advantage of? Creativity, outside the box thinking, persistence, ability to hyperfocus on a passion, intuition, and thriving on chaos.

So the next time you're feeling blue about ADHD or a kid in your class is driving you crazy or your child's having trouble in school, just remember that ADHD isn't all bad!

MaryJo

P.S. And speaking of ADHD, the ADHD TeleChat with oodles of strategies for helping at home and in school is still available. Even includes some Brain Gym for taming ADHD. If you've missed the first couple calls, you can listen to the audio recordings on the web and pick up the rest on the phone.

ADHD: Gift or Curse?

As an expert in ADHD and someone who reads everything she can get her hands on about ADHD, I often run into the hardline approach. Either we need to "fix" ADHD kids, if not punish them, or we need to celebrate their genius. Give me a break. Isn't it a bit of both? Can't we reach a middle ground here?


As a person afflicted with ADHD--way better now than years ago but , as you can see, still suffering from "ADHD Desk"--I can tell you first hand, I didn't need to be punished. But I certainly appreciated every tool I could get my hands on the would "fix" it. A+ to Brain Gym for helping me. (Although the Brain Gym philosophy certain isn't about "fixing" anything.)

The self-esteem stuff never made me feel better. "Oh, MaryJo, you have such potential. You're
so wonderful."

Really? So how come I was just an hour late to a presentation? Got nothing done today because I couldn't focus? Couldn't find a speech outline because of the piles and piles on my desk? These things sure didn't feel wonderful, much less demonstrate potential.

And I'm certainly not a genius, an Indigo child elder, Crystal child elder, hunter-farmer, or any of these other feel good, raise self-esteem interpretations we've put out there for ADHD. Maybe ADHD kids are Indigo children or Crystal children, or have IQs of 170. And I'm not against raising self-esteem--my own and those of the children around us.

High self-esteem's essential, but without real tools, effective strategies, and "how-to's," those of us with ADHD, Indigo or not, would still be floundering around. Adults who can't hold down a job. Talk about low self-esteem.

Hold down a job? Good grief, some days in my past ADHD life, I couldn't go to the grocery store and come home with what was on my list, much less do it in less than a couple hours. Now tell me that wandering around the grocery store for hours, unable to focus, was fun, a sign of genius, something to celebrate? It was a real pain that wasted tons of time. Drove me and those around me crazy.

And how about kids who can't settle down long enough in school to learn to read? Can't control the impulse to hit another kid . . . every day, several times a day?

Admit it--these kids drive all of us crazy. Are they wonderful and loveable and deserve the very best? You bet. But deserving the best means stopping the "feel good" chatter long enough to give them real tools to change their brain patterns . . . without drugs. Now that raises self esteem.

O.K. enough of my soap box. Funny how passionate we can be when the subject's our own "stuff." (Yes, I was one of those ADHDers who did well in school. But by graduate school, what a struggle! I just kept at it. Lots of us ADHDers have ridiculous amounts of persistence! And that's a real gift.)

So if you, or a teacher or parent you know, are looking for dozens of non-drug ADHD tools and strategies (from an expert and somebody who's been there), it's not too late to sign up for the four 90-minute sessions ADHD TeleChat.

It's called "They're Driving Me Crazy: How to Manage ADHD at Home and in School," and comes with listen-at-your-convenience web audio recordings or every call. (Yes, teachers can get university credit for salary upgrade and recertification credit.)

MaryJo

P.S. And you can get free email ADHD NewsTips too.

ADHD, Ritalin, and the Feds

O.K. so I've been gone for awhile. Sorry. But there's good news and a reason for my absence: ADHD Children Today is up and running. Yahoo! (Wouldn't say the kids in the picture are ADHD, but they're sure multi-tasking!)

Now, I hope you'll excuse me for just a bit of shamelss self-promotion which I know I shouldn't be doing on my blog. But I'm just too excited about the ADD Kids stuff to keep from telling you all about it. Then I promise to get to the news about the Food and Drug Administration's warning about ADHD stimulant drugs.

You can subscribe to ADHD NewsTips for free--and the tips are really for all kids, even adults, not just ADHD. You'll get quick, easy, use 'em right now, tips that help kids focus and parents and teachers relax!

And there's a packed-full-of-great-information-and-strategies TeleChat that's part of ADHD Children Today too. It's called "They're Driving Me Crazy: How to Manage ADHD at Home and in School." And yes, a bit of Brain Gym in the TeleChat. Go ahead and check it out.

The website, the NewsTips, and the TeleChat are drug-free. No Ritalin.

I took Ritalin once for a few weeks. Interesting experience. And I certainly could focus like never before. I didn't like how it felt. So even though I wanted to stop being so ADHDish, somehow I knew taking such a powerful drug couldn't be good for me in the long run. I stopped taking Ritalin.

Then in 2005 Steven Nissen, M.D., a cardiologist, became alarmed at the number of heart-related problems and even deaths associated with stimulant drugs prescribed for ADHD. He presented his findings to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the FDA considered a black box warning on all prescriptions.

The FDA eventually decided against a black box warning, much to the disappointment of many who felt that such was warranted.

However, in 2007 the FDA did direct drug manufacturers to notify children's parents in writing of the possibility of serious side effects of these drugs, particularly cardiovascular and psychiatric problems. The FDA lists 15 of these drugs including Adderal, Ritalin, Concerta, and Strattera.

You can read or listen to my article and the FDA's list of concerns and side effects for Ritalin in the April Brain Boosters for Your Kids Newsletter

MaryJo

Paper Dolls: A Waste of Time or a Brain Booster?

Yesterday I was going to blog about what to tell our kids about awful things in the news when they ask (of course, we hope they won't ask): Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace, Britney's 14-year-old sister's pregnancy, Lil' Romeo's USC basketball scholarship based on fame instead of ball-paying talent and need.

And don't think kids don't ask. The "New York Times," which couldn't get enough of the Spitzer scandal, asked parents what they said when their kids asked why the Governor of New York resigned. That's where I got the idea for the bad news blog post in the first place.

O.K. so I didn't write the post yesterday. I didn't write it again today. And I love posting to my blog. So what gives? Still procrastinating, and feeling a bit guilty, I stumbled onto online paper dolls which inspired blogging.

Obviously, time to lighten up.

I kid you not, two hours later I had chosen clothes for Holly Hobby (she talks when you choose her clothes: "Ooh, cool outfit"), Disney princess dolls, a boy basketball player (not much fun since you don't get to choose earrings, purses, and tiaras.) little girl dolls, older girl dolls and my favorite "Catwalk Dress Up 3" where you get to choose skin color, lipstick, and the latest ridiculous fashions from Paris.

Now I have always loved paper dolls. I still have some paper dolls my older cousin Peggy made for me. And doing paper dolls with the granddaughters? Talk about fun!

Is having fun a brain booster? Absolutely. Add laughing to the fun and you and your kids start producing the so-called good-feeling endorphins like crazy. It's a no brainer: all of us learn faster and more effectively when we're happy.

So the next time your kids are having fun, giggling, laughing uproariously, hooting at a silly knock-knock joke, rest assured that it's good for their brains. Laugh with 'em. It's good for you too.

MaryJo

P.S. Yes, I know paper dolls also fall into those boring categories like "improves eye-hand coordination," "fosters creativity," "encourages imagination."

P.P.S. And I'm gearing up for the "They've All Got It: Managing ADHD" telechat. It's going to be fun too. Lots of non-drug alternatives for ADD and a bit of Brain Gym too. Stay tuned for more details and mark April 1 on your calendar. (No, it's not an early April Fools joke.)

ADHD or Creative Parenting?

The creative spirit of entreprenurial parents never ceases to amaze me. Remember "Baby Einstein" when it first came out? (Not that I recommend the "Einstein" videos for babies and toddlers but that's another post.)

Lori Pope has solved the problem of keeping her infant twin sons constantly entertained. Your kids get bored with the gazillion toys they got for birthdays, Christmas, and Chanukah? Can't afford to buy more? Not sure what they might really enjoy? Now you can rent toys from Lori Pope via her company Baby Plays.

At first I thought what a clever, creative idea. It is.

But is it a good thing to give our children a continuing new supply of toys? Does this only make ever-increasing short attention spans even worse What does it teach about patience? Making one's own fun with snowmen, mud pies, pots and pans, and whatever we can find? Do kids risk growing up with an even greater dependence on store-bought external stimuli?

My first guess is that renting toys only adds to our hyperactive ADHD society? Bored? Go out doors and run around. But I haven't tested it so maybe renting toys is a great solution to finding out where a child's interest lies without spending a ton of money.

What do you think? Read the article We'd love to get your comments.

I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you subscribe to the free "Brain Boosters for Your Kids" newsletter. Not sure you want to subscribe? Read the February issue and get plenty of ideas for playing in the snow, how to teach math and science using snow, and even how to do Brain Gym in the snow.

And sign up for the next Brain Gym TeleChat starting Tuesday evening. I've got your spot saved. It's for both teachers and parents. You'll get 100 full-color pages of handouts and the audio to listen to if you miss one of the sessions or want to review.

The TeleChat's worth it just for tips on focusing on some dreaded, boring task and controlling your own stress. And you'll learn all 26 Brain Gym movements to help your kids learn anything quickly and easily. Wish you could tame ADHD? Try Brain Gym. It works.

Teachers, you'll want to watch for tomorrow's post on Project-based learning. Turns out recent research has shown that Project-based Learning can substantially raise test scores.

MaryJo

P.S. Don't forget to comment.

Blogger needs Brain Gym

So why is it that many of us don't do what we tell others to do? O.K, maybe you do. But I sure haven't been these last two days. Turns out that getting back to Brain Boosters after being gone for several months hasn't been a piece of cake!

I'd certainly benefit from doing a little Brain Gym myself in addition to teaching it, telling others to do it, and being downright preachy about it.

So for starters, I've forgotten nearly every techno geek thing I ever knew. Like how to update my website, like how to publish my ezine, even how to post on my blog. How was I know to that Google bought Blogger and I needed a new account?

Then managed to send out the wrong version of the ezine--actually sent out the rough draft. Talk about embarrassing. Was so pleased that I'd finally remembered how to send something to lots of subscribers, that I didn't pay attention to what I sent.

Then I get an email from a reader in India. If she signs up for the Brain Gym Basics TeleChat but can't listen live because of the time difference, can she listen the the online audio? Sure, no problem. Hmm, I'd better check the audio.

Is it still working? Nope! Need a new version of RealPlayer. After installing the new version of RealPlayer, turns out all 8 audios have to be re-downloaded. To give myself credit, at least I didn't wait till the last minute to check this.

But all is not lost. As you may know, the Brain Boosters for Your Kids ezine was all about snow. Why? Because at our house (at 8,000 feet, high in the Colorado Rockies) we're obsessed with snow right now. We've got a good 4 feet of it in our back yard and it's snowed off and on all day today.

After I emailed the rough draft of the Brain Boosters ezine, I began to worry. Who else had snow? Well, we know they don't have snow in Miami or Los Angeles. But how's the rest of country doing? The family in Ohio's been reporting nice weather. And there isn't enough snow down in Denver to build a snowbaby much less a snowman.

And then last night snow blasts the middle of the country and the Northeast. More snow in Central Park than they've seen all year. Airports are shut down. Cars and trucks are bumping into each other, even at 30 mph on the turnpikes. New York's mayor is offering free hot chocolate and sleds in a park in each borough.

Guess the weather people knew I needed snow so my readers wouldn't think I was a little out there yakking about snow the end of February.

So if it's snowed where you are, get those kids outdoors--sledding, building snowpeople, and doing Brain Gym in the snow. You'll need the newsletter for directions on Brain Gym in the snow.

Promise to stop whining tomorrow and write a bit about ADHD. Something for you, instead of all about me. And not just links to my newsletter.

And it's Brain Gym now for yours truly.

MaryJo

P.S. The link for the newsletter is the correct one, not the rough draft.

Brain Boosters is back!

Whew, long time away. Got involved in a BIG project--challenging, fascinating, and all consuming. And nothing whatsoever to do with brain boosters or Brain Gym or brain-based-learning.

Instead I Learned a ton about distance learning and all about a great distance learning software platform called Moodle.

So, bottom line, good to be back although I had to stop and figure out how to post to the Brain Boosters blog, how to update Brain Gym web pages--how to do just about everything I used to know how to do.

And where'd my picture go while I was gone? Red x's just don't cut it.

What else is new? Well, the propane guy who came last week to fill the tank said he hasn't seen this much snow in 20 years! We've got 4 feet of the white stuff still in the back yard.

Since snow's been on our mind now for what seems like forever, I just put out the Brain Boosters ezine (after how many months??) and focused on snow. Not sure my readers in Florida will find it all that fascinating. Does include the lyrics for singing the Snowkey-Pokey and a link for directions on how to build a snow fort.

If you're interested in stuff about snow and kids and teacher math and science snow projects, you can pick up the newsletter free at www.brain-based-learning.com/newsletterfeb2008.htm

While you're there, might as well sign up so you get the next issue. Promise it won't be about snow! Probably ADHD or reading but haven't made up my mind. Also thought about writing about the importance of playing.

And back on track with the Brain Gym Basics TeleChats. The next one starts Feb. 26. Check out www.brain-based-learning.com/braingymtelechatforparents.htm.

Good grief. Speaking of ADHD. This blog post qualifies. I promise to stay on track tomorrow.

In the meantime, just looked at Stephen Putnam's book, "Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind: Nurturing Your ADHD Child with Exercise." He thinks "marathon mind" describes those hyperactive kids that drive us all crazy. And he argues that if you get 'em outdoors and doing aerobic exercise, they'll stop being hyperactive. I couldn't agree more. I should probably take his advice myself!

MaryJo