O.k., don’t panic! I know it’s frightening to think of all the candy that will be coming into our homes in a few weeks but with a little planning parents can maintain control and handle the distribution of all of those goodies and the kids will still get their treats!

I have three boys. Hank is seven and a half and is in Ms. Diamond’s second grade class. I also have twin three-year-old boys that just started preschool. All of them love chocolate! Actually any treat will do but chocolate is a favorite in our house. My boys attend three different schools so we will have three Boo Bashes to go to this year!

Even though this is my favorite time of year, I do dread the amount of junk that comes into the house from Trick or Treating. Last year was pretty easy with the twins because they didn’t squawk too much when I took away their candy and stashed it but I know I will be put to the test this year. All of the boys are a bit territorial when it comes to treats. So what we do after we are finished Trick or Treating for the night is dump out their goodies and take a tally. They are allowed three things that night and the rest goes in a brown bag with their names written on it and put in a cupboard out of sight. I have done this every year with Hank and I end up having candy left over at summer time. So you the parent, stays in control and the kids don’t feel like they are being deprived!

As a former personal trainer and current fitness/wellness enthusiast, I never put my clients on super strict diets. They worked out and watched their portions. If they were having an issue with a certain food, they would cut that food out of their diet until they got their cravings under control. Sometimes cravings never get under control, and that’s o.k. Just recognize your hot buttons. If you know that you can’t control yourself around mini Snickers Bars than don’t buy them to give out on Halloween. I actually love the mini candy bars because it is the best way to treat yourself but with a small version of the big bar! Portion control done for you!!

If you have a solution to over abundance of candy or any other wellness tip please share it with me and I’ll pass it on to the parent community. My email is leeannematusek@sbcglobal.net.

So let’s enjoy the holiday and maybe this year, dress up with your kids when they go Trick or Treating! Who says Mom and Dad can’t have fun too? J

So sorry I missed contributing to the last newsletter with the Wellness Column but life took over. We moved our home (we are still in the Stevenson School District, yeah!) and all of my boys came down with a very bad cold that included double ear infections for my husband.

Now there is a reason I am telling you all of this. This month’s column is dedicated to destressing your holiday season. At the end of the column I will also include my “Tip from your Trainer”.

I was stressed over our move but didn’t get sick, knock on wood while I am throwing salt over my left shoulder. I took care of my family and myself. NOTE: I took care of myself. As caregivers the first thing that tends to go is the “Taking care of myself” part of that statement. Just like the stewards and stewardesses tell us on airplanes, “Put the mask over your mouth first, then any dependents traveling with you.”

As we travel through the busy holiday season we tend to forget what is best for ourselves. We are making sure our kids, our spouses or our extended families are happy and THEN we take into consideration our needs. We know what we would like to do but more often than not we do what we feel we should do.

Well, if the main caregiver in the family is happy, everyone tends to be happy. So I am here to remind you to DESTRESS this holiday season. Say no more often. Do the things that are important to you. Eat well, drink your water and during the course of your week, do one thing for yourself. Whether it’s getting your nails done, playing 18 holes of golf instead of 9 this week, volunteering at your kid’s school or a soup kitchen, or taking ten minutes to have a cup of tea and flip through a magazine, do something that will make you feel good.

Every holiday I try to make sure I stay on track while cramming all of the extra things into my schedule. As my kids are getting older, I am more conscious of time ticking away. I try to slow down and really enjoy my kids and my time with them.
Believe it or not, I also find that if I do something for others, I feel darn good. So as your wellness advisor, I am here to give you a gentle reminder to be good to yourself this holiday season, while you are being good to others!

Trainer Tip:

Remember to stretch even if you are doing the most mundane things like gardening or cleaning your house. Here is a simple one to add to your repertoire. Gently and slowly bend over and let your arms dangle in front of you while you exhale through your mouth. Make sure you have a slight bend at the knees and don’t worry if you don’t touch the ground. Just go as far as you can. Keep breathing in and out nice and slowly. Slowly stand up straight and imagine your spine unfolding little by little. Stand near a chair or wall just in case you get dizzy. Not only are you stretching out your spine, hamstrings and arm muscles but also you are breathing deeply. You are giving your body much needed oxygen.

Always be gentle with your body while you are exercising or stretching and remember to check with your doctor before starting any rigorous exercise routine.

We all have the best intentions of exercising and eating right. Don’t overload yourself during this busy holiday season. I will challenge you to do two things for yourself this season. Drink your water and if you can’t exercise, watch your caloric intake and do the simple stretch outlined above at least twice a day. Losing weight and staying healthy is really a simple calculation of calories in vs. energy out. Try not to take more calories in than you can expend in a single day.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to enjoy yourself, your friends and your family.

LeeAnne Matusek, Wellness Committee

Thank you to our Stevenson staff, parents and students for participating in and supporting Red Ribbon Week. I saw many parents out looking at the class posters which were hung on the fence outside of school, I saw students wearing their Red Ribbon bracelets all week and I know that our wonderful teachers were in the classrooms talking to students about making healthy and productive choices. A BIG THANK YOU also to the Student Council for organizing Crazy Sock Day and “socking it” to drugs!

As part of Red Ribbon Week at Stevenson we are asking our students to wear their craziest socks to school.

Help Stevenson Students Sock it To Drugs!  Wednesday October 21st.

I have some big shoes to fill with Paul Bond moving on as head of this committee but I will try to continue with the programs he started and hopefully expand with some new ones.

Since I am going to be talking to you about wellness this year I thought I’d tell you a little bit about myself and what my qualifications might be to dispense pearls of wellness wisdom.

I am a mother of three boys, Hank 6 ½ in first grade with Ms. Diamond and Jake and Luke 2 year old fraternal twins. I, like you, am also a bit of a juggler. I juggle being a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, volunteer and entrepreneur.

Before I had my boys I had my own personal training business called Mat’s Muscles. I truly enjoyed helping people get healthy. My motto was and is, “Fitness is more than muscles, it’s a state of mind.” I am currently breathing life into my training business again. I’ll keep you posted on how all this juggling is going as the year progresses.

I appreciate my motto more than ever now since my muscles seem to have gone into hiding and I’m trying to shift my state of mind from “survival mode” to really focusing on what is best for my family and me.

What I hope to accomplish with this column is to share information with you so you can live a healthy and balanced life.

As a trainer I will share exercise tips with you and as a mom juggling kids and a career, tips on how to fit it all in.

This month’s tip is, hydration! If you are experiencing a bit of a headache, drink a glass of water. It’s also the best way to start your day. The old saying of 8 of 8 a day (eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day) is no longer a requirement and hey, who could do that anyway. But if you are feeling a bit parched, you are already headed for dehydration. The same is true for your kids. Make sure they have a healthy drink in their lunch and remind them to drink up.

Trainer Tip: I literally start my day with an 8 ounce glass of H2O. It’s the best way to wake up. As I drink that first glass of water of the day I can almost feel it seeping into my pores and rehydrating my body from my state of slumber.

If you have any tips for the wellness column or want to volunteer for FOOTBALL ON THURSDAYS program, please call or email me 213-247-5893 or leeannematusek@sbcglobal.net.

LeeAnne Mutasek

Dear Parents,

The Wellness committee is getting ready to launch our lunchtime football program. We need a small crew of parent volunteers on hand to coach what will be a very large group of senior students. Our goal over the past two years has been to get more kids active during the lunch hour. We would love to have some new coaches so that we can give each child the attention that he or she deserves and keep the games running smoothly.

If you would like to help out and are free Thursdays at lunch, you can pick up a volunteer sign-up kit at the office. It usually takes about two weeks for parent volunteers to be cleared so please file the paperwork as soon as possible. You do not need to be a sports expert to come and help out. The only prerequisite is patience, a sense of humor and a love of children. Everything else can be learned on the job!

It is especially important that we get new parents involved now with the Wellness Program so that it will continue to run smoothly next year when a number of our committee members will be leaving the Stevenson community. While we have traditionally run touch football and softball as our main sports, new ideas are always welcome and probably necessary at this point.

If you have any questions, you can contact  LeeAnne Matusek : (213) 247-5893