Young people worldwide having more unsafe sex - Health - Sexual health - msnbc.com

Young people worldwide having more unsafe sex - Health - Sexual health - msnbc.com

So here's a disturbing trend that I think needs some addressing. I have a 6yo daughter and a 2yo son, and I plan to equip them with as much knowledge as I possibly can when the subject of sex comes up. I'm not going to be one of those Bible-thumping Christians who bury their collective heads in the sand and ONLY preach abstinence. The truth is this: you can tell your child all you want that NOT having sex is the only way to be 100% sure he/she won't get pregnant or contract an STD. If they truly want to have sex, they will... despite the logic of abstinence.

You wanna know why I know? My mom did the same thing to me. I had sex anyway.

She flat out refused to answer any of my questions about sex when I was 9 years old. She said that I was too young to "know" any of "that." Guess what? By that age I'd already overheard "that" stuff on the school bus. So in my 9yo way I called bullshit. What did I get? I got sent to my room, that's what. I learned the rest of the biological details when we had sex ed in the 6th grade. I learned even more when I became a peer counselor in 10th grade. Where was my dad? Well, he was like most dads in the 70's and 80's. He thought moms should talk to daughters about all that stuff... while he had a talk with the boy. You know. Old school. However, he was much more willing to answer my questions than my mom was, and aside from feminine questions, I gleaned a lot from the knowledge he shared with me.

There are ways to broach the subject with young children without getting into the details. I think if you start with openness and honesty, that can't hurt. Don't tell your kiddos that the stork brought them home to you in a pink or blue blanket, and don't be afraid to own your own past indiscretions in the sex department, either. Sans the gory details, of course.

I plan to be honest with my kids. Yes, I had sex before I was married. Yes, I wish I had waited until I was older. Yes, sex is awesome. But I also plan to tell them about condom use, about how boys usually have one thing on their minds, how girls often equate sex with love, and about how self respect and self confidence will get them further than just about anything else. I also plan to tell them that oral and anal sex (these were not even discussed when I was in school!) are NOT healthy alternatives for teens despite what they'll hear from today's sex ed materials. In fact, by the time they DO hear it, I expect things to be even more different.

Will I deliver all of this sex info flawlessly and in an English accent? No. I won't. You know what? I'm okay with that. Will I be the FIRST one to tell them any of this? Probably not. Kids are hearing things earlier and earlier these days. That's scary. But I'm the parent. I am responsible for teaching them responsibility.

According to this article, young people just don't feel empowered enough. That needs to change. The more information people have, the better they'll be able to make informed decisions. If you give them all that info and they then decide to be STUPID, then that's on them.

I know I sound pretty preachy here, but it's really simple: you own it, Parents. Don't rely on public education to give your children the real deal on sex. You can still advocate abstinence, as I plan to do, but don't be so stupid to think that will be enough. Equip your children as much as you can.

The Primal Diet or Lipitor?

So last week I got the results back from my annual physical.  I'm healthy except for two things: my weight and my cholesterol levels.  Neither of these things are a surprise to me.  I've had high cholesterol since I even started measuring it in my early 20s.  My weight has been a problem for the past 15 years or so.  What did get my goat, though, was that my doctor wants to put me on Lipitor.  It's a statin, and I will likely have to take it for the rest of my life.

If I ever start taking it...

And I don't intend to start.

You're probably scratching your head.  Why would I go against the advice of my doctor?  Surely he has my best interests at heart, right?  Maybe, but I'm not entirely convinced that he does.  In his defense, he has suggested diet and exercise in the past to bring down my cholesterol levels. I haven't really changed either in the past 5 years.  He also refrained from putting me on statins since I wanted to have another child.  Statins can cause birth defects, and neither one of us wanted that.  Now that I'm done with child-bearing, statins would be "safe".

Except they're not.

Why on earth would I want to put anything in my body that could cause birth defects in another human being?  You're scratching your head again.  "I thought you were done having babies," you're saying.  Yes.  But if the chemicals in these drugs can cause damage to a human being - at any stage of development and beyond - why on earth was deemed it safe for ANY non-reproducing human to consume? Money, and the FDA, I suppose.  But I digress.

What exactly does a statin do, you ask?  According to WebMD, "Statin drugs work by blocking the action of the liver enzyme that is responsible for producing cholesterol." Wait.  It blocks a normally occurring bodily function to prevent it from producing cholesterol?  I thought the problem was with OUTSIDE cholesterol from a poor diet?  So what happens to the cholesterol I consume through said diet?  That's the potentially harmful stuff, right?  Not the cholesterol my body produces.  Somehow that just doesn't make any sense.  Is my body broken to the point that it and it alone produces too much cholesterol?

Hmmm... WebMD goes on to say that statins lower OVERALL cholesterol, even the good stuff that our body needs.  How is that a good thing?  Do the benefits outweigh the risks?  I'm not entirely convinced that they do, given the list of side effects (again, from WebMD):

• headache
• difficulty sleeping
• flushing of the skin
• muscle aches, tenderness, or weakness
• drowsiness/ weakness
• dizziness
• nausea and/or vomiting
• abdominal cramping and/or pain
• bloating and/or gas
• diarrhea
• constipation
• rash

I've also learned from several chiropractors that statins loosen ligaments (not in a good way) and make it next to impossible to get any results from chiropractic treatments.  I need chiropractic treatments.  They help me stay pain free. 
 
Still, my doctor says statins are safe.  He gave me a prescription and a handy-dandy discount card that would make lipitor only cost me $4 for a months supply... for as long as I take it.  What a huge incentive to buy their product!  All I have to do is present the card at time of payment, and no matter what my co-pay is, all I have to pay is $4!  Still, I'm not ready to commit to putting chemicals in my body for the rest of my life.  There has to be an alternative.

So I'm going to actually counter with what I've been trying to do this whole year of cutting the crap: I'm going to drastically change my lifestyle by eating only fresh fruits, veggies, and meat/poultry/fish.  I'll include a daily exercise plan.  A friend recommended the Primal Diet.  It looks very much like what I intended to do, so I'm going to try their 30 day challenge and go from there.  It can't hurt, right?  And it's certainly better than the alternative. 

I now have an incentive, which is to lower my cholesterol, so maybe I'll get off my butt and actually do this.  If after a few months of this lifestyle change I don't see results in my cholesterol counts, then and only then will I consider Lipitor.

Heaven help my family.  This is going to be one bumpy ride.  

Help your local library!

Today's blog topic is something that's near and dear to my heart: public libraries.  I think public libraries are one of the most precious standing contributions Man has made to His Fellow Man.  I've loved going to the library since I can remember, and I haven't stopped as I've gotten older.  Now my children love books almost as much as I do and look forward to picking out their own.  Conveniently, I work right next to the Southglenn Library and can go on a regular basis.  It's fantastic. 

All that being said, I want to talk about donating used books and magazines to your local library.  We all have books and magazines we know we'll never read again, so why not pack them up and donate them?  Chances are that your library will be ever-so-thankful.  Some libraries even offer a tax deductible receipt, so that's added incentive. 

Why is this important?  Well, public libraries have very tight budgets, and those budgets are in danger of getting axed every fiscal year.  Take Aurora, Colorado as an example.  4 of Aurora's 7 libraries were permanently closed in 2010.  FOUR.  This was because the tax paying citizens of Aurora didn't want tax increases to keep libraries open.  Now the remaining libraries (as well as libraries around the country) have to operate on a shoestring budget.  The number of new titles they can purchase every year has been greatly reduced. 

See my logic here?  If you know you're never going to read a book or magazine again, then take it to the library and give back to your community.  You get to cut out some of the clutter in your home, and someone else gets to enjoy that book.  AND the library will get to increase its catalog without spending a dime. 

Oh, and if you can spare the time, volunteer at the library as well.  Pay it forward!

Recycle Your Old Electronics!

dont-bury-electronic-trash-kiplinger: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Here's something that makes sense. Recycle your electronics. This article provides a few links to help you out with that, and it gives you some ideas. I never knew that Best Buy accepted old electronics. That's GOOD. I bet if I do some digging, more places accept used electronics. I know that ATT will let you trade in your old phone. I got $50 trade in value for my old crackberry. That phone was refurbished and sent overseas. That's way better than letting my children destroy a perfectly working phone. Someone else gets to use it.

I have a whole box of out-of-date electronic stuff in the basement: old routers, computer parts, a zip drive... and old cell phones among many other things. I bet we all have those. Next month our Women In Leadership group is organizing a cell phone drop to help benefit safe houses/women's shelters in the Denver Metro area. When you donate your old phones, they are cleaned up and given to women in these shelters. That way, a woman can always have a means to dial 911. Kinda cool, dontcha think?

So, here's your cut-the-crap challenge for the week: get rid of some electronics that are taking up space! Perhaps someone else can use them!