I hope you are all healthy and (semi) sane right now! My family is on day 8 of a 14-day self-quarantine after a family member with whom we'd been in close contact tested positive for the novel coronavirus. None of us is sick yet, and we've settled into a surprisingly pleasant routine here in Brooklyn, which includes daily rooftop meditations, Zoom story-time each night with my parents, and
Illness & Natural Remedies
Choosing a Humidifier for Winter Survival
2020 update: We wrote this post a couple of winters ago, but many of you are in search of humidifiers because of Coronavirus. I hope this makes shopping for one easier! This time of year, I get a lot of questions about humidifiers. As temperatures drop outside, we turn up our thermostats for relief. But that warm air is dry, leaving our skin, hair and mucus membranes parched. Add in a cold
Our Thoughts On Coronavirus
Are you worried about the new Coronavirus? I'm not yet overly concerned, but because I live in New York City, I'll certainly be dealing with the virus' repercussions in the coming weeks. My husband takes a subway to work in a hospital every day, so my risk is probably much more than yours is. What follows are some tips on staying healthy right now, whether you're worried about COVID-19 or just
Two Ways to Not Catch Your Kid’s Cold: Natural Cold Remedies That Work
Go ahead and smother your sick kid in kisses--I truly think I've discovered the secret (via natural cold remedies!) to not catching their viruses. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and nothing I'm about to say should be confused as medical advice. I'm simply telling you what finally worked for me a few winters ago, when things were really bad. The Winter of My Discontent The winter of 2017 was
Lyme Disease: What I Wish We’d Known
You may have noticed that we've been pretty quiet this summer, and unfortunately that's because we've been dealing with Lyme disease! My mom is the unlucky one of our group who picked it up during our vacation in Vermont last month, which we spent picking ticks off ourselves. (I grew up in Vermont and ticks/Lyme were a non-issue back then, but climate change (among other factors) means we will
A Beginner’s Guide to Finding the Best CBD Oil
By John The CBD oil industry has exploded over the last year or so, and many people are touting the benefits: better sleep, reduced anxiety, controlled pain, and more. Some of you have written us asking how to try CBD oil (also known as hemp oil) safely, and you are confused by the multitude of options. In this booming market, there are too many brands that are producing inexpensive and poor
Four Tips from an Eczema Mom
-Guest post by Laura Hoffman Before I had children, I thought the whole fuss over kids with allergies and eczema had to be exaggerated. So perhaps it was my karma, then, to have a child who struggled with skin conditions and sensitivities from day one. A bit of cradle cap turned into food sensitivities that morphed into bad eczema with food and cosmetic allergies. It has absolutely rocked
Should You Do Cord Blood Banking?
Did you choose to do private cord blood banking after your baby's birth? This is one of the first decisions you'll make about something that may affect your child's health, and parents naturally agonize over it. My husband, Daylon, is the Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology at Weill Cornell Medical College as well as a embryonic stem cell research scientist. My pregnant friends often ask
Detoxing Your Medicine Cabinet with Natural Remedies
Making Your Medicine Cabinet Healthier I am sure that my medicine cabinet doesn’t look like many 67-year-olds! I have been on a health quest since my mother died early in life when I was just 17 years old. Unlike my mother, I have lived to see my children grow up and I am now a grandmother to five wonderful grandchildren. Certainly some of that is good luck but I often wondered how my genetics
Why Your Hand Sanitizer Doesn’t Stop the Flu (and Might Make You Sick)
Despite my longtime annoyance with Purell-toting moms, once I had my own children I found myself--to my horror--becoming something of a germaphobe. When my sons are sick, we all suffer--they miss school, I can’t work, and no one sleeps. I’m judicious with the use of fever reducers and painkillers (here’s why), so some level of misery is inevitable. And in New York City, it’s hard to ignore how