May 18-25, Various Times and Branches. Calling All Volunteers.
 Helping others is good for you! Make reading fun for kids and earn service learning hours. Volunteers assist HCLS instructors with the summer reading club and other tasks. To register for this orientation session, submit a volunteer application to the teen instructor at the branch where you would like to volunteer. Accepted applicants will be contacted to confirm registration. 
Contact the specific Branch for the training session you are interested in to register.

May 19, 1:00pm.2012 Refresh Fest: A Health, Style, And Education Expo. Excited about the summer? Would you like to end the school year on a high note and prepare for next year? Join us at the Savage Branch for tips and tricks for studying, staying fit, feeling your best, and making the most of your time and opportunities. No registration required.

May 19, 1:30-2:30pm. Textures & Scents Of Plants. Join Master Gardener Anne Roy at the Miller Branch as she discusses plants that smell good; feel fuzzy, soft, or scratchy; and look pretty or interesting. Go into the garden to touch, see, and smell many of the plants. Ages 5-8. Register online or by calling 410.313.1950.

May 19, 3:00-4:00pm. Herbal Apothecary. Join Master Gardener Anne Roy at the Miller Branch for a brief look at plants and their uses for medicines, perfumes, cooking, and flavorings. Go into the garden to touch, see, and smell many of the plants. Ages 9-12. Register online or by calling 410.313.1950.

May 20, 2:00- 4:00 p.m. River Watch Monitoring Event. Join the Robinson Nature Center for an afternoon in which you and your family can discover the wonders of the Middle Patuxent River and watershed. participants will help monitor the Patuxent by testing for chemicals and catching bugs and fish.  Enjoy a walk along the river.  Dress appropriately for the water; water, nets and equipment will be provided. Registration is required!  For more information call 410-313-0425

May 21, 10:15 &11:15am. Twist And Shout. Music and movement at the Elkridge Branch for little ones. Ages infant – age 4. No registration required.

May 21, 3:30-5:30pm. Blood Pressure Screening. Free, walk-in blood pressure screening and monitoring at the Glenwood Branch offered by Howard County General Hospital. 1St & 3rd  Mondays. No registration required.

May 22, 10:30-11:00am. Mini Milestones. Prepare your toddler to learn manners, succeed with toilet training, and overcome separation anxiety through literature, songs, and activities at the Glenwood Branch. Ages 18-36 months with adult. Register online or by calling 410.313.5579.

May 22, 10:30-11:00am.  Just For Me. A Class at the Glenwood Branch for children ages 3-5 who are ready for an independent class that includes creative expression, listening comprehension, and early reading skills. Register online or by calling 410.313.5579.

May 22, 11:00pm. Herbal Apothecary. Anne Roy comes to the Miller Branch to present an overview of the historical use of plants with medical applications and other cultural uses. Discover books that explain the use of herbal plants for healing, perfume making, and cooking. During the class, you are welcome to discuss your own culture’s culinary use of herbs and spices. University of Maryland Extension – Howard County Master Gardener. This class concludes with a tour of the new herb and apothecary garden area Register online or by calling 410.313.1950.

May 22,12:30pm. Multi-sensory Plants.  Anne Roy comes to the Miller Branch to discuss ways to enjoy a garden through smell, touch, and sight. University of Maryland Extension – Howard County Master Gardener. This class concludes with a tour of the new multisensory and herbal garden area. Register online or by calling 410.313.1950.

May 22, 7:00pm. Guided Meditation In The Enchanted Garden. Led by Star Ferguson, licensed acupuncturist, at the Miller Branch.  Register online or by calling 410.313.1950.

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Just as we thought.  Don’t feel bad; you are not the only one who hasn’t been thinking too much about the older people in your life. In fact, we’re more than halfway through the month of May and we’ve heard nary a mention of the fact that it is Older Americans Month. That’s right, since 1963 there’s been a month dedicated to showing our nation’s commitment to recognizing the contributions and achievements of older Americans.”  Pretty cool, huh? And this year’s theme is “Never Too Old To Play”–the idea being to encourage “older Americans to stay engaged, active, and involved in their own lives and in their communities. ” We’re all for that! But how?

The U.S. Administration On Aging offers plenty of resources to make play possible for the older Americans in your community, even offering a downloadable activity guide. Of course Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine gives you access to many valuable resources for older Americans, as do the Howard County Government and the Maryland Department of Aging.

And the Howard County Library System is continually growing the collection available for and about older citizens.  Here are just a few of the more recent additions:
Life’s Little Emergencies: A Handbook for Active Independent Seniors and Caregivers by Rod Brouhard
Rethinking Aging: Growing Old and Living Well in an Overtreated Society by Nortin M. Hadler
The Big Book of Health and Fitness: A Practical Guide to Diet, Exercise, Healthy Aging, Illness Prevention, And Sexual Well-Being by Philip Maffetone
Social Networking for Seniors: In Easy Steps for the Over 50s by Anne Sparrowhawk

Listen, Sonny, we’re not trying to give you a guilt trip. We just want to remind you that older Americans should not be ignored or forgotten. The U.S. Census reported the population of Americans 65+ was 39.6 million in 2009 and is projected to be around 88.5 million in 2050. And the fact is none of us is getting any younger.  But, if next May, you find that you remember it’s Older American Months, then maybe you’re doing pretty good.

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Kennedy Krieger reports that an early screening for motor development might be an indicator for autism spectrum disorder.

“A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple “pull-to-sit” task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays.

“Research aimed at improving early detection of autism has largely focused on measurement of social and communication development,” said Dr. Rebecca Landa, study author and director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute. “However, disruption in early motor development may also provide important clues about developmental disorders such as autism.”"

Kennedy Kreiger Video demonstrating head lag:

For more information and to read the entire news article- visit the Kennedy Krieger website.

… And Healthy Howard County is No Exception

Childhood Obesity Over Time

On Monday morning in the Howard County Pediatric emergency room, my first patient is a 15 year old girl with high blood pressure who  has pain in her knees when she walks; she weighs 230 pounds. The next patient is a 10 year old boy who weighs 180 pounds having an asthma attack.  A little later I see a 13 year old boy who weighs over 260 pounds: he has skipped 40 days of school this year and refuses to go today because he is being picked on.

These are all nice children who live in Howard County, they have caring and concerned parents, but they are obese. Before I can ponder this too much, the nurse asks me to see an 8 year old girl who weighs 175 pounds with an MRSA infection. When I enter the room the mother has a crumpled Twinkie wrapper, and an empty bag of Doritos in her lap; she uses the half eaten Snickers bar in her hand as a pointer and asks me if they will be finished in time for lunch. The girl is on the exam table and next to her are two empty candy wrappers and her hands are clutching a bag of chips.

These patients are all being seen in Howard County General Hospital’s pediatric emergency room, not an obesity clinic. Some of these children are already having complications from their obesity. The girl with the knee pain tells me she has been walking 2 to 3 miles a day to lose weight.  The 13 year old boy says that he has attempted dieting for years and is finished going on diets.  The parents of the 10 year old  have “tried and tried” but are now waiting for him to “grow into his weight.”

These patients all tell me how difficult it is to get their weight under control. It is hard partly because exercise, while a great start, won’t do the job all by itself. For example the 15 year old will barely burn off one Snickers bar for every 40 minutes of walking. The 8 year old has an even more difficult task; she would have to a run a 10-K every day just to burn the calories from her morning snack (neither the 10-K nor the snack are recommended). In addition, as the children said, diets are tough to stick to. The easily available foods are loaded with calories and because they have very few nutrients like vitamins and minerals, they don’t really satisfy our bodies needs… so we end up eating more of them and getting way more calories than we need. We store these extra calories as fat.

To put this calorie/nutrition imbalance in perspective: a child could eat 2 bags of Doritos, a Snickers bar, an extra large soda and a helping of French fries and still not get the vitamins she would obtain from a single banana. Sadly, obtaining all that junk food can be easier than getting one piece of fruit.  The junk food would add 30 extra pounds a year to the child’s waist line, and as one of the parents commented, she would still be hungry.

While there is no easy fix, the recent guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine try to make healthy choices part of our everyday lifestyle. The guidelines are:

• Integrate physical activity every day in every way
• Market what matters for a healthy life
• Make healthy foods and beverages available everywhere
• Activate employers and health care professionals
• Strengthen schools as the heart of health

We need to start now or our children are going to grow up obese with serious medical problems.

David Monroe, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University and has served as the Director of the Children’s Care Center at Howard County General Hospital since 1996. He has been a member of the National Health Services Corps, providing pediatric care to underserved children, and a member of the executive committee of PECARN, a national pediatric emergency care research network. He has lived in Columbia for more than 20 years and enjoys the challenges and rewards of caring for children.

There’s tons of information out there on how our parents screw us up.  Entire schools of psychology and sociology focus on the damage parents can do.  But, on the heels of Mother’s Day, we decided it might be nice to focus on some of the benefits of having a positive maternal figure.

Let’s start with a very obvious benefit. A parent’s #1 job is to keep a child safe and help her/him survive to adulthood and, hopefully, become a contributing member to society. This actually requires a lot more thought and effort than keeping the toxic cleaners out of reach and teaching a toddler to stop biting.  Even young adults need a mother or father figure to help them navigate the hazards of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll that crop up as they age. Simple things, like making sure children are well-fed, are not so simple. Not to be sexist, but moms are traditionally the organizers of family meals, and these meals have proven to be extremely beneficial and not only in providing and modeling healthy diet. Sharing in regular family meals “improves academic performance, reduces risky behavior, promotes physical well-being, stabilizes emotions, and eventually enhances your family relationship, all at no cost….”

Mother figures are also crucial in promoting a healthy body image, particularly among young females. So a girl whose mom or female role model is not overly concerned about her own weight or the girl’s weight or appearance, encourages healthy eating habits and physical activity (while discouraging drug and alcohol use), counters negative media messages,  and praises the girl’s accomplishments is less likely to have eating disorders and more likely to have a positive body image and high self esteem.

Self esteem leads us to another key role of mother and father figures – developing emotional stability. Parents are often on the front line in equipping children with what they need to cope with trauma. HealthyChildren.org suggests that it is a parent’s task to meet the multiple demands of family life with energy and creativity, thus enabling children to grow and develop in positive, healthy ways and to experience satisfaction and success. Creativity and energy can be tricky though. One mom’s creativity may feel like nagging or abject humiliation to the child. Ideally, a mother figure “instructs children and gives guidance about personal values and social behavior… instills discipline and helps them learn and internalize codes of conduct that will serve them for the rest of their lives… helps them develop positive interpersonal relationships, and…provides an environment that encourages learning both in the home and at school.”

And what about learning? Did your parents help you to be smarter? Parents can and should (and often do) help kids become better learners through the development of some critical skills:

• Building spoken language through talking and listening and teaching them the sounds of spoken language
• Familiarizing them with print and books
• Teaching them about letters and numbers
• Reading to them
• Helping them spell and write
• Building vocabulary
• Building their knowledge of the world

At the end of the day, being a good parent is a tall order. Moms and dads are charged with keeping a child safe (difficult when she prefers pointy rocks to dolls); spending time, showing affection, and listening (even if he’s told that knock knock joke 300 times…today); providing order and consistency (whether or not if there’s three feet of laundry to get to); setting and enforcing limits (“but whyyyyyyy?”); monitoring a child’s friendships and activities (did someone say Facebook?); and, of course, leading by example (probably the most difficult one).

So, if you are reasonably happy and not too much of a threat to others, perhaps you can thank your mom (or dad, or anyone who helped you turn out pretty okay). And to better understand, help, or celebrate the mother figure in your life, or if you are a mom looking for solidarity and support in this “mom is the root of all my problems” world, check out some of these:

Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood by Anne Enright

Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood by Becky Beaupre Gillespie

Mom Energy: A Simple Plan to Live a Fully Charged Life by Ashley Koff

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Check out the photos of the opening of the Enchanted Garden! It was a beautiful day!

The Enchanted Garden is a quarter-acre parcel adjacent to the Children’s area, the Enchanted Garden’s primary focus will be as a teaching garden.

The demonstration gardening area of the garden will feature a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers planted in raised beds. Come visit our Stir Fry Garden, Peter Rabbit Patch, Multisensory Garden, Herbal Apothecary Garden, and Pizza Garden to see what we have planted.

Children are more interested in eating vegetables and fruits when they participate in growing them.

Providing our children an environmental and nutritional education while instilling a love of nature is the best way to inspire them to be the stewards of our future.

May 10-12. Preakness Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival. Turf Valley’s annual Hot Air Balloon Festival is perfect for young children and those young at heart. Family activities, handmade crafts and live entertainment.  Don’t miss the nightly Balloon Glow at dusk!  On Saturday May 12, the Balloon Festival will culminate with the launching of the balloons at 6:30 a.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

May 10, 6:00- 7:00 p.m. Howard County General Hospital Presents: Advanced Directives. Review  what advance directives are, who needs them, and how you get them in this free seminar. You will have the opportunity to leave this class with a completed advance directive document.  Also, learn what it means to appoint or be appointed, a health care agent. Registration is required.

May 11, 2;00- 6:00 p.m. HCGH Farmers Market!  Join us for the season opening of our farmers market.

May 12, 1:00- 4:00 p.m. Enchanted Garden Grand Opening at the Miller Branch of the Howard CountyLibrary. Opening day events include the official ribbon cutting, unveiling a historic contribution by Martha Clark from Clark’s Elioak Farm, demonstrations by Howard County Master Gardeners, and garden-related activities for children. Celebrate spring by strolling through the garden to enjoy 65 varieties of native plants, many blooming in May. Visit the demonstration gardening area to see what is planted in the Stir Fry Garden, Peter Rabbit Patch, and Pizza Garden this year. No registration required.

May 12, 10:00 a.m. WONDER WALK: Mother’s Day Special: Fresh Bouquet and Card-making. FREE. Mothers might be happy to go off to a spa or take a relaxing hike on the Conservancy’s trails while fathers, grandparents, or other relatives bring kids to this creative event offered by master gardener Lisa Baum. The children will use flowers and plants to create beautiful bouquets and cards with which to surprise their moms on Mother’s Day. FREE.

May 20, 2:00- 4:00 p.m. River Watch Monitoring Event. Join the Robinson Nature Center for an afternoon in which you and your family can discover the wonders of the Middle Patuxent River and watershed. participants will help monitor the Patuxent by testing for chemicals and catching bugs and fish.  Enjoy a walk along the river.  Dress appropriately for the water; water, nets and equipment will be provided. Registration is required!  For more information call 410-313-0425