The instinct is immediate: find a camp, a class, a playdate. Boredom feels like a problem; a gap in the schedule that reflects poorly on how intentional we’re being as parents.

But that instinct, while completely understandable, may be working against your child.

Boredom isn’t a problem. It’s a process. And the science behind what happens in a child’s brain when they’re left to their own devices is genuinely surprising.

What’s Actually Happening When Kids Are “Doing Nothing”

When a child is bored and truly unstimulated, with no screen to reach for and no activity scheduled, their brain doesn’t go quiet. It gets busy.

Neuroscientists call it the default mode network: a system of brain regions that activates specifically when we’re not focused on an external task. It’s associated with imagination, self-reflection, empathy, future planning, and creative problem-solving.

The moments that feel like “nothing” are actually some of the most productive their developing brain experiences.

A 2019 study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries found that participants who experienced boredom before a creative task generated significantly more creative ideas than those who were kept engaged beforehand. The bored brain, it turns out, is a searching brain, and that search drives innovation.

For kids, this plays out in the backyard, the bedroom floor, and the long car ride with nothing to do. It’s where stories get invented, games get created, and kids figure out who they are when no one is directing them.

The Overscheduled Summer and What It Costs

There’s nothing wrong with camps, classes, and structured activities. Many parents don’t get summer break and still have to work. Team sports build character. Enrichment programs open doors. These things matter.

But when every hour of a child’s summer is accounted for and they move from one organized activity to the next without breathing room, something gets quietly crowded out.

Research from Sandra Hofferth at the University of Maryland tracked how children’s time use changed between 1981 and 1997 and found that as structured activities increased, free play and unstructured time declined sharply. It’s only accelerated since.

What gets lost in an over-scheduled childhood:

• The ability to self-direct. Kids who are always told what to do next struggle to generate their own motivation when structure disappears in college, at work, in adult life.
• Tolerance for discomfort. Boredom is mildly uncomfortable. Learning to sit with that discomfort and move through it is a skill. Kids who are never bored never build it.
• Intrinsic curiosity. When learning is always organized, children can lose touch with what they actually find interesting. Unstructured time is where passions get discovered.
• Conflict resolution. Free play among kids (especially unsupervised play) is where children negotiate, argue, compromise, and figure out how to repair relationships. There’s no adult referee and that’s the point.

Boredom and the Brain: The Developmental Case

The American Academy of Pediatrics has been clear for years: unstructured, child-directed play is not optional for healthy development. It’s essential.

Free play supports the development of executive function, the set of cognitive skills that includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. They’re the skills most predictive of academic success and life outcomes, and they’re built not through worksheets, but through kids navigating their own play.

A Harvard study on executive function describes it plainly: the brain builds these capacities through practice. That practice happens naturally when kids direct their own play and work through problems without an adult stepping in.

Boredom is essentially the on-ramp to all of that. It’s the moment of friction that precedes self-direction and when parents resist the urge to resolve it, they’re giving their child’s brain exactly what it needs.

This Isn’t About Doing Less — It’s About Doing It Differently

Letting kids be bored doesn’t mean abandoning them or clearing your entire summer calendar. It means being intentional about leaving space.

What that looks like in practice:

• Build in “free blocks” with no plan attached. Even two to three unscheduled hours a day gives kids room to explore, create, and self-direct. Resist the urge to fill them.
• Say yes to the mess. Unstructured time often looks chaotic from the outside: forts made from couch cushions, random art projects, elaborate games with made-up rules. That chaos is an engaged brain at work.
• Hold off on the screen. The moment a device is available, the boredom process short-circuits. Give it 20 minutes because that window is often where the magic happens.
• Let them complain. “I’m bored” is not a crisis. A calm “I hear you…what could you do about that?” is one of the most developmentally useful responses a parent can give. It redirects ownership back where it belongs.
• Spend time outside with minimal structure. Nature + no agenda is one of the most powerful combinations for creative, restorative play. It doesn’t have to be a hike, the backyard with a bucket and stick counts.

What the Best Summers Actually Look Like

Ask adults to recall their most vivid childhood summer memories, and rarely do they describe the structured ones.

They describe the creek they spent three weeks building a dam across. The neighborhood game that lasted an entire summer with evolving rules nobody wrote down. The long, hot afternoon they spent reading every book they could find because there was nothing else to do and discovered they loved it.

Those memories weren’t accidental. They came from time that hadn’t been filled yet.

This summer, the most valuable thing you can give your child isn’t a new activity. It’s an open afternoon and the confidence to let them figure out what to do with it.

The boredom won’t last long. But what grows out of it just might.

The post The Science of Boredom: Why Unscheduled Summers Make Smarter Kids appeared first on Healthy Kids.

A lot of the time, that works, and kids cool down.

But sometimes it doesn’t. And knowing the difference between those two situations — the cold drink fix and the 911 call — is one of the most important things a parent can know during the dog days of summer.

Two Different Things That Look Similar at First

Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are not the same condition. They exist on a spectrum, and one can quickly become the other. Where your child falls on that spectrum determines your next move.

Heat exhaustion is the body’s warning signal. It means your child is overheating and struggling to cool down, but their body is still fighting back. Signs include:

• Heavy sweating
• Cool, pale, or clammy skin
• Fast or weak pulse
• Nausea or vomiting
• Muscle cramps
• Tiredness, weakness, or dizziness
• Headache
• Fainting

At this stage, moving your child to a cool environment, removing excess clothing, and getting fluids in them can turn things around. The CDC recommends cool, damp cloths on the skin and sipping cool water or a sports drink with electrolytes.

If symptoms improve within 15 to 30 minutes, heat exhaustion was likely the culprit, and you handled it.

If they don’t (or they get worse) you’re no longer dealing with heat exhaustion.

When It Becomes an Emergency

Heat stroke is a medical emergency. It happens when the body’s internal temperature reaches 103°F or higher and the cooling system essentially breaks down. Call 911.

The warning signs look different and some are easy to miss:

• High body temperature (103°F or higher)
• Hot, red, dry, or damp skin — notably, sweating may stop entirely
• Rapid, strong pulse
• Confusion, slurred speech, or unusual behavior
• Loss of consciousness
• Seizures

That sweating point matters. A hot child who stops sweating isn’t just “dried out” — it can mean the body has lost its ability to regulate temperature. That’s what makes heat stroke so dangerous.

According to the Mayo Clinic, untreated heat stroke can cause damage to the brain, heart, kidneys, and muscles. The longer it goes unaddressed, the more serious the damage becomes.

If you suspect heat stroke: call 911 immediately. While you wait, move your child to a cool environment and try to lower their body temperature. Apply cool wet cloths, ice packs to the neck, armpits, and groin, or immersion in cool (not ice cold) water if available.

Do not give fluids to a child who is confused or unconscious.

Who Is Most at Risk

Heat stroke can happen faster than most parents expect. Some children are especially vulnerable:

• Infants and toddlers: their bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults and they cannot communicate symptoms clearly
• Children in hot cars: a car’s interior temperature can rise 20 degrees in just 10 minutes, even on a mild day. Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle, even briefly
• Kids with chronic conditions: heart conditions, obesity, kidney disease, or any condition affecting fluid balance can increase risk
• Children on certain medications: some antihistamines, diuretics, and psychiatric medications affect the body’s ability to regulate heat. Ask your pediatrician if any of your child’s medications fall into this category
• Athletes and active kids: kids pushing hard in heat and humidity can tip from heat exhaustion to heat stroke faster than they realize, especially if they’re not accustomed to the conditions

When to Call Your Pediatrician vs. When to Go Straight to the ER

Call your pediatrician if:

• Your child shows signs of heat exhaustion that improve with rest and fluids but you want guidance
• Your child recovered but seems off: extra tired, not eating, or still complaining of headache after a few hours
• You’re unsure whether what you observed was heat exhaustion or something else
• Your child has a chronic condition and you want to talk through heat safety precautions before they worsen

Go straight to the ER (or call 911) if:

• Your child’s temperature is 103°F or higher
• They are confused, disoriented, or unusually difficult to wake
• They stop sweating despite still being very hot
• They have a seizure
• They lose consciousness at any point
• Symptoms from heat exhaustion are not improving after 30 minutes of cooling and hydration

When in doubt, call. A quick phone call to your pediatrician’s after-hours line can help you make the decision — that’s what they’re there for.

What You Can Do Right Now

Prevention is always the better play. A few habits that make a real difference:

• Hydrate before you go outside. Don’t wait until your child says they’re thirsty. By the time they ask, they’re likely already mildly dehydrated
• Schedule outdoor time smartly. The hottest, most dangerous hours are typically between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Build in shade breaks and cool-down time
• Dress kids in lightweight, light-colored, loose clothing. It makes a meaningful difference in how quickly they overheat
• Know your child’s personal risk factors. If they have a condition or take a medication that affects heat tolerance, talk to your pediatrician before summer activities ramp up
• Check the back seat. Every time. Make it a non-negotiable habit regardless of how rushed or distracted you are

A Note on Trusting Your Instincts

Parents are often the first to notice when something is off. The glassy eyes, the sudden quiet, the kid who usually can’t stop moving, who is now slumped in a chair.

Trust that. Heat-related illness moves fast in children, and acting early is almost always the right call.

Your job isn’t to diagnose. It’s to pay attention and then get the right people involved quickly when something doesn’t feel right.

That’s not overreacting. That’s exactly what good parenting looks like.

The post Heat Stroke Isn’t Just Dehydration… Every Parent Should Know the Difference appeared first on Healthy Kids.

States from Virginia to Florida are restricting smartphones in classrooms, and the research backing those policies is hard to argue with. Distraction is up. Mental health is down. Kids are spending more time scrolling than connecting. Parents and teachers are frustrated and honestly, they should be.

There’s a conversation worth having before the new school year starts — one that often gets drowned out when the back-to-school rush hits and everyone is reacting instead of thinking. This summer, while things are a little quieter, is actually the perfect time to think through where your family stands on technology: not all of it is the same, and when we treat every screen like a smartphone, we risk throwing out tools that actually help kids learn, grow, and prepare for the world they’re inheriting.

Smartphones vs. Educational Technology: A Critical Difference

Here’s the distinction that often gets lost in the debate: a TikTok scroll and a coding lesson are not the same thing. Neither is an Instagram notification and a collaborative research project. Lumping them together makes for a tidy headline but it doesn’t make for good policy or good parenting.

Smartphones, with their push notifications, social feeds, and endless entertainment loops, are specifically designed to hijack attention. That’s a legitimate concern, and schools are right to address it.

Educational technology is something else entirely. Interactive learning platforms, digital research tools, assistive technology for kids with learning differences — these aren’t distractions. Used intentionally, they’re extensions of the classroom.

What the Research Actually Shows

The evidence against smartphones in schools is solid. But the broader research on educational technology tells a more nuanced story.

A randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology found that a computer-assisted reading program produced meaningful gains for struggling readers — with the strongest results for children from low-income families. A peer-reviewed study published in the Economics of Education Review found that how technology is used matters more than whether it’s used — teacher-guided approaches improved student performance, while passive or unguided screen use showed no benefit or even negative effects.

And for kids with learning disabilities, the stakes are even higher. Text-to-speech software, adaptive learning platforms, and digital organizational tools aren’t optional extras; rather, for many students, they’re what make learning accessible at all. The National Center for Learning Disabilities has documented how assistive technology meaningfully closes achievement gaps for students with dyslexia, ADHD, and other challenges.

None of that looks like a kid scrolling Instagram under their desk.

The Question Parents Should Be Asking

Right now, the public conversation about technology in schools is dominated by two camps: the “ban everything” crowd and the “screens are fine” crowd. Neither one is asking the right question.

The better question is: What is this technology doing, and who controls it?

A school-issued device with content filters, used for a specific lesson with a teacher present, is a fundamentally different environment than a personal smartphone with unrestricted access to the internet. Treating them as interchangeable isn’t just inaccurate; it can actually harm kids who depend on educational tools to keep up with their peers.

As a parent, you have every right to ask your child’s school:

• What technology are students using, and for what purpose?
• Is it supervised and structured, or open-ended?
• Are personal devices separated from educational devices?
• How does the school distinguish between productive technology use and distracting technology use?

These aren’t combative questions. They’re exactly the kind of engaged, informed advocacy that good schools welcome.

Where the Real Problem Lives

The mental health crisis among kids and teens is real. The link between heavy social media use and anxiety, depression, and loneliness is well-documented, and parents are right to be alarmed.

But social media isn’t the same as technology. And a school district that bans Chromebooks alongside smartphones isn’t solving the mental health problem. Instead, they are conflating two very different things.

The American Psychological Association’s 2023 health advisory on social media specifically flagged social platforms as the concern not digital tools broadly. That’s an important distinction. Their recommendation centers on limiting social media, monitoring content, and maintaining parental involvement, not eliminating technology from children’s lives.

What Balance Actually Looks Like

Most parents aren’t looking for a world where their kids are glued to screens all day. They’re looking for something reasonable: a world where technology serves their child instead of consuming them.

That’s a goal worth pursuing. And it doesn’t require an all-or-nothing stance.

At home, the same principle applies. “No screens” as a blanket rule is hard to enforce and can create conflict around tools that are genuinely useful. A more sustainable approach:

• Draw a clear line between entertainment and educational use. A reading app is different from YouTube. Treat them differently.
• Keep personal smartphones separate from school tools. If your child uses a school-issued device for homework, that’s a different conversation than personal phone time.
• Use tech-free time intentionally. Meals, bedtime, outdoor play: protect those windows. That’s where real connection happens.
• Stay curious, not reactive. Ask what your child is doing on their devices. Understand the tools their school is using. You don’t have to be a tech expert, you just have to stay engaged.

The phone-free school movement is asking the right questions. But the answers are more nuanced than a blanket ban. The goal isn’t a screen-free childhood, it’s a childhood where technology works for kids, not the other way around.

Parents who understand that distinction are better equipped to advocate for their children, set limits that actually stick, and raise kids who know how to use powerful tools wisely.

That’s not a small thing. In a world that runs on technology, it might be one of the most important skills we can give them.

Summer is a natural reset. With school out and routines loosened, this is genuinely one of the best moments to experiment with what balance looks like for your family, before the school year starts and the stakes feel higher. The habits you build now, the conversations you have around the dinner table this summer, the limits you set before September will travel with your kids into the classroom.

The post Not All Screen Time Is the Same. Why the “Ban Everything” Approach Might Be Missing Something. appeared first on Healthy Kids.

So when there’s actual good news on the healthcare cost front, it’s worth passing along.

America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national association representing health insurers across the country, recently confirmed that member health plans will continue covering all ACIP-recommended immunizations with no cost-sharing through the end of 2027. No copay. No surprise bill. No deductible applied.

If your family chooses to get any of those vaccines, you won’t pay out of pocket for them. And vaccines aren’t even the only thing on that list — which is actually the bigger story here.

Most private health plans are already required to cover a broad range of preventive services for children at no out-of-pocket cost. That includes well-child visits, developmental screenings, vision and hearing checks, and depression screening for adolescents.

What “No Cost-Sharing” Actually Means in Practice

“Covered” sounds simple, but it can mean a lot of things in the world of health insurance. No cost-sharing means none of it comes out of your pocket — no copay at the door, no deductible chipping away in the background, no surprise line item on the bill two weeks later.

For routine preventive care, that’s a meaningful distinction. A well-child visit, the kind where your pediatrician checks development, updates growth charts, and flags anything worth watching, should cost you nothing under most private plans. The same goes for things like a vision screening at the two-year checkup, or a developmental screening for a toddler you’ve had questions about.

These are the appointments that actually catch things early — and knowing they’re covered removes one real barrier to showing up for them.

Always worth a quick call to your insurer to confirm the details of your specific plan. Coverage can vary, and the last thing you want is a surprise.

Where Vaccines Fit In

For parents who are still in research mode or working through questions, this also just means the door stays open. If you get to a point where you and your doctor decide a particular vaccine makes sense for your child, cost won’t be the barrier.

One of the most common variables parents cite when navigating vaccine decisions is cost. What does this actually run us? Will insurance cover it? Could we get hit with an unexpected bill? Those are completely reasonable questions and for families covered under AHIP member plans, the answer through 2027 is clear: if you choose to get an ACIP-recommended vaccine, it costs you nothing out of pocket.

That’s one less unknown in what can already feel like an overwhelming process.

Part of a Bigger Shift on Healthcare Affordability

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. The Trump administration has been pushing hard on healthcare costs across the board from capping insulin prices to launching TrumpRX, a new tool designed to help families find lower cash prices on medications and increase competition among drug makers.

Dr. Nicole Saphier, a physician, mother, and the administration’s Surgeon General nominee, captured the underlying principle well in a recent Fox News op-ed: “Americans want the freedom to make their own choices alongside their doctors — and that freedom is only meaningful when access is guaranteed.”

She’s right. Whatever choices your family makes about your children’s health, those choices should be made freely and not shaped by financial pressure, limited access, or information you didn’t have. Affordability and medical freedom aren’t at odds. They’re part of the same picture.

A Few Practical Steps Before Your Next Well Visit

• Check your specific plan. AHIP represents member plans broadly, but coverage details vary. Log into your member portal or call your insurer to confirm exactly what’s covered and how.
• Bring your questions to your pediatrician. What vaccines are on the schedule for your child’s age? What are the risks of each? What happens if you delay or skip? A good doctor welcomes all of it.
• Plan ahead. Knowing your coverage situation before a well visit means you can walk in focused on the conversation that matters (your child’s health) instead of worrying about the bill.

At the end of the day, this is about options. Knowing what’s covered, what’s available, and what it costs gives you one more piece of information to work with as you make the choices that are right for your family.

That’s all any parent can ask for.

The post Your Health Insurance Just Made One Decision a Little Easier appeared first on Healthy Kids.

That feeling is worth protecting, and according to a 2023 study in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, it’s also worth prioritizing for your kids. Researchers found that parent-child quality time is directly tied to children’s flourishing — their attachment, resilience, and sense of contentment. Not their perfectly coordinated schedule or number of activities. Time. Simple, unhurried time.

Harvard researchers similarly found that unstructured free play, the kind that happens when nothing is planned and the afternoon stretches on, is one of the most powerful tools for building children’s brains, teaching self-regulation, creativity, and emotional intelligence.

We don’t need more activities. We need more time.

What Slowing Down Actually Looks Like

Slowing down isn’t doing nothing. It’s choosing differently. Here’s what that can look like in practice:

• Let them lead. A friend recently shared something that resonated. She and her husband had planned a “yes day” with their kids. A full day where the kids got to call all the shots. They braced themselves for big, expensive asks. What did their kids want? To play a board game together and make s’mores. That was it. Sometimes the ask is smaller than we expect, and the gap between what our kids want and what we think they want is a good thing to sit with.
• Make the ordinary a ritual. Saturday morning pancakes. A walk after dinner. Reading in the same room. These aren’t grand gestures. They’re the things children actually remember. Rituals create safety. Safety creates connection.
• Let them be bored. Resist the urge to fill every quiet moment. Sit outside with them. Give them space to figure something out on their own. Boredom is where imagination starts, and your job in those moments isn’t to entertain. It’s to be nearby.
• Put the phone down. Kids notice the half-present parent, the one whose eyes drift to a screen mid-conversation. Presence is physical, but it’s also attentional. Give them your eyes.
• Rest out loud. If you’re always running around, your kids learn that stillness is something to escape. When they see you read on the couch or sit quietly outside, you’re teaching them that slowing down is something people do on purpose — not something that only happens when they’re sick or exhausted.

You Are Allowed to Opt Out

You don’t have to fill every weekend with activities. You don’t have to document it for anyone. You don’t have to arrive at Monday morning having maximized 48 hours.

The memories that stick are rarely the ones you planned. They’re the ones that snuck up on you. Folding laundry while your kid talked your ear off about something that mattered to them. The Saturday it rained and you stayed in and built a blanket fort in the living room. The moment you put the list down and your kid’s whole demeanor changed.

They always notice.

Before this weekend arrives, ask yourself one question: What is one thing I can take off the list so I can be more present with my family instead?

Just one thing. The list will get done. But this child, at this exact age, with this exact version of their laugh — that’s something you can’t press pause on.

Slow down. Show up. The unscheduled moments are the ones they’ll carry with them.

The post The To-Do List Will Wait. These Moments Won’t. appeared first on Healthy Kids.

The Basics

Trump Accounts are custodial IRAs for minors — owned by the child, managed by a parent or guardian until age 18. Money is invested in low-cost S&P 500 index funds, grows tax-deferred, and cannot be withdrawn before 18. Contributions open July 4, 2026. Registration is open right now.

There is no cost to open or maintain an account.

Who Qualifies

• Any U.S. child under 18 with a valid Social Security number
• Children born 2025–2028 receive a $1,000 government seed contribution
• Older children can still open an account — no seed money, but the investment opportunity is the same

How to Sign Up Now

Online at form.trumpaccounts.gov or via IRS Form 4547 when you file your federal taxes.

Contribution Limits

Up to $5,000/year per child:

• Parents, family, and friends: Up to $5,000/year combined. No earned income requirement.
• Employers: Up to $2,500/year through a Trump Account Contribution Program — counts toward the $5,000 cap. Ask your HR department if your company participates.
• Federal seed contribution: $1,000 for children born 2025–2028. Does not count toward the annual limit.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has pledged $6.25 billion to seed accounts for eligible children. Visit InvestAmerica.org to see if your child qualifies.

When Can the Money Be Used

Funds are locked until 18. After that, standard IRA rules apply. Penalty-free uses include:

• College or job training
• First home purchase (up to $10,000)
• Starting a business

Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Early withdrawals before 59½ carry a 10% penalty unless an exception applies.

Making the Most of It

Even small monthly contributions added to the $1,000 seed can grow significantly over 18 years in a broad market index fund. Trump Accounts work alongside 529s, Roth IRAs, and other savings vehicles, not instead of them. A financial advisor can help you coordinate.

Keep records of who contributed and from what source. Different contribution types have different tax treatment at withdrawal.

The post Your Child Has an Investment Account. Here’s How to Claim It. appeared first on Healthy Kids.

The CDC recently released data showing that emergency room visits for tick bites are already higher than normal in most parts of the country. In every region except the South Central U.S., weekly ER visit rates are the highest for this time of year since 2017.

This isn’t a reason to panic. It’s a reason to be prepared.

The Numbers Worth Knowing

Tick bites are more common than most parents realize. Every year, an estimated 31 million people in the United States are bitten by a tick. Lyme disease alone affects an estimated 476,000 patients annually which makes it the most common tickborne illness in the country.

But beyond Lyme, ticks can carry other serious conditions, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-triggered allergy to red meat that’s only recently started getting the attention it deserves from mainstream medicine.

These health risks aren’t as rare or mysterious as they sound. They’re real, documented conditions that active families in tick-heavy regions need to know about.

The good news is that practical prevention works. No expensive interventions, no special equipment. A few consistent habits can make a meaningful difference for your family.

Before You Head Outside

Prevention is your most powerful tool. Places to start:

• Use EPA-registered insect repellent. Products containing DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus are recommended by the CDC and safe for children when used as directed. Apply to exposed skin and clothing before heading out.
• Consider permethrin-treated clothing. Permethrin is an insecticide applied to clothing and gear, not skin, and it kills ticks on contact. Used correctly (on fabric only, per label directions), it’s considered safe and effective by both the CDC and EPA. It’s especially useful for kids who spend time in wooded or grassy areas and can last through multiple washings.
• Stick to the center of trails. Ticks don’t jump or fly. They wait on tall grass, shrubs, and leaf piles and latch on as you brush past. Staying on cleared paths and avoiding dense brush reduces exposure significantly.
• Do a full tick check after being outside. This is the single most important habit to build. Check behind knees, in armpits, around the waistband, behind ears, and on the scalp, especially in kids. Ticks are often no bigger than a poppy seed.
• Shower within two hours of coming inside. A quick rinse can wash off unattached ticks before they find a spot to settle in.

If You Find a Tick

Don’t panic or rush to the ER. The CDC recommends removing the tick yourself as quickly as possible using fine-tipped tweezers. Grab the tick as close to the skin’s surface as you can and pull upward with steady, even pressure. Clean the area with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

The reassuring part is that removing an attached tick within 24 hours can significantly reduce the risk of Lyme disease transmission. Time matters, but acting quickly at home is highly effective.

After removal, monitor your child for symptoms in the days and weeks that follow. A bull’s-eye rash, fever, fatigue, or joint pain after a bite are all reasons to call a doctor.

Know Where Ticks Hide

Ticks are most common in wooded, brushy, and grassy areas, but they’re not limited to wilderness hikes. Backyard leaf piles, neighborhood parks, and even the edges of suburban lawns can harbor them, especially in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest, where blacklegged ticks (the primary carrier of Lyme disease) are most active.

If your family has pets, don’t overlook them. Dogs and cats can bring ticks inside on their fur. Talk to your vet about tick prevention for your animals, too.

The Point Isn’t To Stay Inside

Outdoor time is good for kids. Full stop. Movement, fresh air, unstructured play, time in nature — these are all things that contribute to healthier, happier children.

The goal isn’t fear. It’s preparation.

When parents are informed (not scared, not overwhelmed, just equipped) they can give their kids the freedom to explore while keeping them protected.

Tick season is here. Now you know what to do about it.

The post Tick Season Is Starting Early — Here’s How to Get Ahead of It appeared first on Healthy Kids.

But the Surgeon General is, by definition, America’s Doctor. The person in this role shapes how the country talks about health, what information reaches families, and whether that information feels trustworthy or like another top-down directive from people who don’t know your child.

If you’ve ever left a doctor’s office with more questions than answers, or felt like the health decisions coming out of Washington didn’t account for your family, Dr. Nicole Saphier’s nomination for Surgeon General is worth your attention.

Who Is Dr. Nicole Saphier?

Dr. Saphier is a board-certified radiologist and Director of Breast Imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the most respected cancer institutions in the world. She is also an Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, a New York Times bestselling author, a former Fox News medical contributor, and a mother of three sons.

She is not a career bureaucrat. She is a practicing physician who has spent her career sitting across from patients (many of them women navigating one of the scariest diagnoses of their lives) and helping them understand their options, ask better questions, and make decisions that are right for them.

That is a meaningfully different background to bring to this role.

Why This Is Worth Paying Attention To

For too long, public health communication operated on a simple assumption: tell people what to do, and they’ll do it. Mandate it if they don’t.

What that approach missed (and what many parents felt viscerally) is that trust doesn’t work that way. When families feel talked at instead of talked with, when their questions are dismissed instead of answered, when decisions get made for them instead of with them, the whole relationship between families and the healthcare system erodes.

Dr. Saphier has been clear and consistent on this: health decisions belong in the exam room, between parents that know their child and a physician they trust. She has written and spoken about how top-down health directives that leave no room for a parent’s judgment, their child’s individual history, or a real conversation with their doctor don’t build healthier communities. They build resentment. And children pay the price for that loss of trust.

Her position is rooted in something straightforward: parents are smart, parents are engaged, and parents deserve to be treated like the most important decision-makers in their child’s life. Because they are.

What She’s Actually Said

In a recent op-ed for Fox News, Dr. Saphier wrote: “Americans want the freedom to make their own choices alongside their doctors — and that freedom is only meaningful when access is guaranteed.”

She has also been direct that pulling back on mandates is not the same as pulling back on medicine. Vaccines remain, in her words, “one of the most effective tools in modern medicine.” What she is arguing for is the kind of healthcare that actually works: families with real information, real access to their doctors, and the trust and space to make decisions that fit their child. That’s a vision of public health built on respect, not pressure.

What It Could Mean for Families

The Surgeon General sets the tone for how this country talks about health. Not just what the guidance says, but how it’s delivered — and who it trusts.

A nominee who has spent her career sitting with patients through hard decisions, helping them understand their options and find the path that’s right for their family, brings a fundamentally different instinct to that role. She’s not coming to it as someone who believes families need to be directed. She’s coming as someone who has seen, up close, what it looks like when a patient feels genuinely heard.

For families who have felt like an afterthought in conversations about their own children’s health, that matters. Dr. Saphier still has to clear the confirmation process — but if she does, the voice speaking for American families’ health will be one that has actually looked a scared mom in the eye and said: I’m going to give you everything you need to make the best decision for your child.

That’s the kind of Surgeon General this moment calls for.

The post Meet the Woman Who Could Change How Washington Talks to Parents appeared first on Healthy Kids.

There’s an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. And while we hear that phrase a lot, it’s worth actually thinking about who lives in that village.

Parents are the foundation. Doctors and nurses are the ones keeping kids healthy and strong. But somewhere in that village, right in the thick of it, are teachers. And this week, we want to make sure they know just how much they matter.

More Than Academics

Teachers do a lot more than teach. They notice when a kid hasn’t eaten breakfast. They spot the child who seems a little off. Day after day, in classrooms across the country, teachers are showing up for children in ways that go far beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic.

For parents who work long hours, teachers are often the most consistent adults in a child’s daily life outside the home. That’s not a small thing. It means everything to parents knowing their children are being taken care of when they aren’t around.

Partners in Healthy Kids

At Advocates for Healthy Kids, we talk a lot about giving every child the best possible start in life. That means access to preventive care and vaccines while building trusted relationships with health care providers. But it also means something bigger: surrounding kids with caring, attentive adults who are paying attention.

Teachers are part of that equation. They’re often the first to flag a health concern a parent might not have noticed yet. They reinforce healthy habits. And when kids feel safe and seen at school, it has a real impact on their physical and mental health.

As we know, healthy kids don’t happen by accident. They happen because a lot of people who care show up consistently and teachers are exactly those people.

This Week, Say Thank You

If you have a teacher in your life, or a child who does, take a moment this week to say something special. A quick note or text or kind word at drop-off. It costs nothing, and it means more than most teachers will ever say out loud.

To every teacher out there: thank you. Thank you for being part of the village. Thank you for seeing our kids, supporting our families, and showing up even on the hard days. You are a critical part of raising a healthy generation, and we do not take that for granted.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. You deserve every bit of it.

The post It Takes a Village: Celebrating Our Teachers This Week appeared first on Healthy Kids.

Those lessons happen in the small moment — at breakfast when something goes wrong, in the car when plans fall apart, at the dinner table when the day didn’t go the way anyone expected.

That’s not a gap in parenting. That’s where the real work happens.

Responsibility Isn’t a Lecture. It’s a Habit.

Kids don’t learn responsibility by being told to be responsible. They learn it by being given things to be responsible for, and by experiencing what happens when they’re not.

That might mean letting your seven-year-old pack their own backpack and dealing with the forgotten homework themselves. Or letting your teenager figure out how to fix a social situation without you stepping in to smooth it over. Small moments, real stakes, real learning.

The instinct to step in is natural. But every time we solve problems for our kids instead of with them, we take away a chance for them to build confidence in their own ability to figure things out.

What Resilience Actually Looks Like

Resilient kids aren’t kids who never struggle. They’re kids who have learned through experience that struggle is survivable.

That happens when parents stay calm during hard moments instead of panicking. When they validate the feeling but don’t remove the challenge. When they say “that sounds really hard — what do you think you should do?” instead of immediately offering a solution.

It’s one of the hardest things to do as a parent. It’s also one of the most important.

The Routine Is the Point

You don’t need a special program or a scheduled lesson to raise a responsible, resilient kid. You need consistency — the same expectations, the same calm response to failure, the same encouragement to try again.

Chores that actually matter. Follow through on consequences. Letting them sit with boredom long enough to figure out what to do with it.

None of it is glamorous. But that’s exactly why it works. Resilience is built in the ordinary moments, not the extraordinary ones.

They Follow Your Lead

More than anything you say, your kids are watching how you handle things when they’re hard. How you respond to frustration. Whether you quit or push through. How you treat people when you’re tired or stressed.

That’s the lesson worth teaching — not in a classroom, but in the way you live your day. And it doesn’t take a curriculum. It just takes showing up consistently, as the kind of person you want them to become.

The post The Lessons That Stick Aren’t the Ones You Plan appeared first on Healthy Kids.