Quote of the Week


"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.



7 Drugs that can Kill Kids in a Single Pill
Posted by:Jenn--Saturday, June 28, 2014

The following information is from an article published by the ABC News Medical Unit.  For the complete article, click here.  

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in 2002 there were 2.4 million toxic ingestions, and more than half of these occurred in children younger than 6. Children aged 18 to 36 months seemed to be at the highest risk, and in these little bodies, just one pill can be deadly.

Even more worrisome is the fact that, after taking some of these pills, a child can appear perfectly fine until it is too late.  "Within two hours, we have seen patients go from ingestion to death -- even after taking only one to two pills."
Even when parents make a habit of keeping medicines out of their children's reach, children seem to be drawn to pill bottles when they are out for only a short amount of time.  There have also been cases where a visitor to the home drops a pill, or when children find pills on the floor in a hotel room, in which case parents bring them to the emergency room having no idea what they took.
For these reasons, parents should recognize the high risk of accidental ingestions and be prepared to act. Call 911 immediately, experts say, or call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. Parents should be prepared to take their child to the hospital immediately, and bring the bottle of whatever the child took. Importantly, new guidelines from the American Association of Pediatrics urge against the use of Ipecac or any other mechanism to induce vomiting.
Fortunately, once children are in the emergency room, doctors can rapidly respond, as some medications have antidotes, reversal agents or supportive therapy.
Below are seven common medicines that can lead to emergencies when accidentally ingested by kids.
  • heart pills
  •  muscle rubs
  • prescription pain medications
  • aspirin and oil of wintergreen
  • depression drugs
  • topical blood pressure patches, eye drops, and nasal sprays
  • diabetes drugs



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Have a Story to Share?
Posted by:Jenn--Thursday, June 19, 2014

We invite you to share your story with us - using, of course, "pen names" to maintain your family's anonymity. Knowing that we share many of the same experiences, heartaches and joys can be very helpful to others in the same situation.  How are you coping with your child's addiction?  What do you need help with?  Let's support each other!

Send your story to gopsst@gmail.com.


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Happy Father's Day!
Posted by:Jenn--Thursday, June 12, 2014

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. 

~ Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi", Atlantic Monthly, 1874




Dad     © Karen K. Boyer


He never looks for praises
He's never one to boast
He just goes on quietly working
For those he loves the most
His dreams are seldom spoken
His wants are very few
And most of the time his worries
Will go unspoken too
He's there.... A firm foundation
Through all our storms of life
A sturdy hand to hold to
In times of stress and strife
A true friend we can turn to
When times are good or bad
One of our greatest blessings,
The man that we call Dad.


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5 Love Languages for Teenagers
Posted by:Jenn--Wednesday, June 04, 2014

At a recent PSST meeting, someone mentioned the 5 Love Languages, as presented in the book by Gary Chapman: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch.  You may be aware that the 5 languages pertain to the relationship between husbands and wives, but you may not know that these same languages are relevant to your relationship with your child as well.

It’s easy to tell when a teenager wants to be loved. Getting the message across is another matter entirely. In addition to the obvious generation gap, many parents and children face a sort of language barrier as well. The 5 Love languages of Teenagers is an invaluable tool for analyzing a teen’s love language and expressing your affections in an effective way. The search for love in a teenager’s life can lead to disastrous results. But if you can speak the right language, the difference can seem miraculous.
If you go to the website http://www.5lovelanguages.com/, look under the words Discover your Love Language, where you will see the words Click Here to Begin.  You and your spouse can choose to do the profile for yourselves, but you can also choose to do it for “My Child”.  In either case, the assessment will score your rankings of the 5 Love Languages.  You will see the following if you choose to do the assessment for your child:   

The Love Language Profile for Teenagers is designed to give you a thorough analysis of your teenager’s emotional communication preference. It will single out their primary love language, what it means, and how you can use it to better understand them during this stage of their life. Invite them to take the assessment and share their results with you. Not only will you show them that you care, but that you are also striving to be a better parent.
You may want to first take the profile yourself, selecting the statements you believe most accurately describe your teen. Then once they have also taken the assessment, compare your results with theirs. This can make for a lively and constructive conversation.

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