It has been way too long since I posted a detailed drug review. As lovely as I find them, I know my opinions are not nearly as valuable as real information. With that in mind, I'm writing up a post on using melatonin in kids and wondered if anyone had any specific questions/concerns on that topic. If you do--please comment here and I will be sure to address them! 

I had someone tell me they were waiting with bated breath for my next post so I decided to hurry this one along out of the kindness of my heart. (Aren’t I sweet?)

Drum roll please!

The silver lining to our ear infection misadventure? Little Miss got her first job! After we finished all the regular doctor visit stuff, her doctor told us their clinic was running a clinical research study on ear pain drops for kids with ear infections and she qualified! How lucky could one little girl be?  

Do you ever think the universe is trying to tell you something? Like, “Hey, Emily, get off your lazy bum! You’re supposed to be running a blog, duh.” Apparently the universe is still in its teenage stage.

It took some serious sickness but I did it! I wrote something! And I still made dinner! (I am pretty much Super Mom.) Little Miss was lucky enough to get a cold a couple of weeks ago (who gets a cold when it is a bazillion degrees outside? Toddlers, that’s who.) The mucus cascading out of her nose then traveled to her ears and, after way too much time at the doctor’s office, we had her first ever confirmed ear infection and her first ever course of the “pink stuff” (aka amoxicillin). While Little Miss’ suffering broke my heart (I’m a wuss of a mother), I was “excited” for the chance to test—and pass on to you—a couple of techniques I had seen for getting medicine into little bodies. 

I really wanted to do a post about the top secret, behind the scenes, ninja-like action that goes on when you drop off a prescription at the pharmacy counter but I knew it wasn't going to make a lot of sense unless I gave some background information. And as I started writing up this background information I realized I am basically doing Pharmacy Technician 101. You are all becoming honorary pharmacy technician newbies for the day! Can you contain the excitement? 

Alas, summer vacation is over. Mine is anyway. We've been doing a lot of travelling over the past few weeks and ignoring all of our responsibilities. Like blogging and dirty dishes. But now we are back and better than ever!* AND...all that vacationing in the sunshine gave me a chance to put my sunscreen recommendations to the test. Hence, I have a couple of updates. 

*May be a slight exaggeration. 

Hallelujah! Spring is here! It’s warm outside! We can go to the park! Can you tell I’m excited? I LOVE summer and sunshine and being warm but I know these things go hand-in-hand with the start of serious sunscreen season. I thought this would be a great time to review how sunscreen works, how to pick the best sunscreen for you and your children and how to apply sunscreen effectively. 

When I was working on the pregnancy and breastfeeding post a couple of weeks ago, I found a fantastic online resource I wanted to share with you—and it is perfect timing because this particular resource is paid for by your taxes (which means you should use the *heck* out of it). Despite the recent healthcare website debacle (I love the word “debacle”), our government maintains an overwhelming number of helpful and informative medical websites. Most of these are serviced by the US National Library of Medicine and/or the National Institutes of Health. Today I’m highlighting MedlinePlus, a public health information site that focuses on providing basic, easy-to-understand information on select drugs, conditions and herbal supplements. I am particularly excited about the “Herbs & Supplements” section.

Did you know last week was National Poison Prevention Week? Me neither. (Why do I always find out about cool stuff too late?) I LOVE the Poison Control Center. Local poison control centers are an amazing community resource. They provide information on environmental exposures (snake bites, kids eating lawn mushrooms, etc.), potential food poisonings, and household chemical exposures for emergency services, hospitals and any member of the community who wants to call in. 
And I should know because I have been inside the Center. (Oooo…aahhhh…) I spent a few weeks at the Utah Poison Control Center as part of my final year at pharmacy school at the University of Utah and I learned tons of things I still use today (many of which have since been confirmed by personal experience). In honor of the Week-After-National Poison Prevention Week, I would like to share the top three tidbits with you:

Have you ever heard someone raving about how much they love their pharmacy and wondered what they knew that you didn’t? As a native resident of “behind-the-counter,” I have ten GREAT suggestions to help you be able to say you love your pharmacy too. Don’t worry—these are easy as pie (the kind you buy in the freezer section).