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2B Daily News – Thursday, November 21, 2013 FEATURES Modify toddler's diet to treat constipation fiber-rich foods, DEAR DOCsuch as beans, TOR K: My todbroccoli, carrots, dler has frequent bran, whole grains constipation, and I and fresh fruits. have been giving — Minimize him milk of magthe dairy foods nesia about once a you feed him, week. Is there any such as yogurt, risk with this overcheese and milk. the-counter mediDr. K — Have your cine? by Anthony L. DEAR READ- Komaroff, M.D. son drink prune juice. It works for ER: I'd suggest speaking to your pediatri- kids as well as for adults. — Encourage your todcian or family physician before continuing to give dler to drink four to six your son milk of magne- glasses of water each day. — Make sure he gets sia. Normally, children regular exercise. — If your son is toiletpass stool at regular intervals without much effort trained, help him establish or pain. Infants and tod- regular bowel movements dlers typically have sever- by sitting him on the toilet al bowel movements a for 10 minutes at the same day. Most children age 2 time each day, preferably or older have one every after meals. — If you think your day. My pediatrician colleagues here at Harvard son is acting out because tell me they consider a he resents potty training, child to be constipated try stopping it for a few when bowel movements weeks. These changes usually happen less often than expected, or when the help. But if they don't, ask stools are hard and diffi- your pediatrician or family physician if you should cult or painful to pass. Still, even though most try stool softeners and laxchildren do not have con- atives (like milk of magstipation, it is a common nesia). These types of problem. That's particu- medications are available larly true for children without a prescription and between the ages of 2 to 5. have minimal side effects. You can also try a nonThis is the period when toilet training and devel- prescription glycerin supopmental changes are pository. You insert this happening. Many toddlers small lubricating pill into eat little fiber and lots of your son's rectum, making foods that contribute to it easier for him to push constipation, such as dairy out a stool. Sometimes a constipatproducts, rice and bananas. Children also ed child will develop an often don't drink enough impaction: The bowel fluids. All these factors movement gets so dry and hard that it can't be can cause constipation. Toddlers also often squeezed out without a litwait too long to go to the tle help. That can be a finbathroom. They may be ger inserted with a little resisting toilet training or lubricant, gently pulling just be too busy playing. out the hard stool. But When a child withholds don't try this until you talk stool, it becomes hard and to your doctor. dry, and this may cause Dr. Komaroff is a pain with the next bowel physician and professor movement. So the child Harvard Medical begins a cycle of with- at School. To send holding stool. questions, go to Before turning to medor ication, try modifying AskDoctorK.com, your child's diet and toilet write: Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second habits: — Give your son more Floor, Boston, MA 02115. Prevent fires this Thanksgiving With Thanksgiving just a few days away, the Tehama-Glenn Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Tehama County Fire Department (TCFD) wants to warn residents about the many dangers the holiday can pose. The end of the year for most Americans means preparing for feasts, festivities, and fun throughout the holiday season. But each year that joy is marred by tragedy when accidents and fires cause injuries and even death. To help reduce the chance of fire and injuries associated with holiday cooking, follow these tips: • Never leave cooking food unattended. Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. • If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove. • Cooking food should always be supervised by an adult. • Turkey fryers should always be used outdoors a safe distance from buildings and other material that can burn. Never use on wooden decks or in garages. • Children should not be permitted near a turkey fryer since hot oil can cause serious burn injuries. • Provide a level surface that is free of ignitable materials when using turkey fryers. • Be sure to have an appropriate type of fire extinguisher handy at all times. Never use water or a water fire extinguisher to put out a grease fire. • Use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts when touching pot or lid handles. For more information on fire safety, visit our website at www.fire.ca.gov. Sister's memory problem becoming hurtful ular checkup and see Dear Annie: Over the whether you can accompany past 10 years, I have her, alerting the doctor if she noticed that my sister's neglects to do so. Also menmemory has become very tion your concerns to her confused. She often has husband and children. Your false memories, believing sister may be too embarsomething that happened to rassed to address this, so a friend or celebrity actualthey need to be more proacly happened to her. She also says hurtful things and Annie's tive. Dear Annie: A year ago, doesn't remember saying my husband, who is very them. My husband and I decided it was best just to by Kathy Mitchell financially savvy, set up an let it go, as she gets upset and Marcy Sugar investment account for his 2-year-old niece. Because quite easily. Recently, she said something that she didn't need any more toys and really hurt my feelings, and I decid- the family lives quite a distance ed to talk to her about it and clear from us, we thought this would be a the air. However, when I mentioned nice way for us to recognize birthit, she became terribly agitated and days, holidays and special events. insisted she would never say any Our plan was to make small investsuch thing. She actually got her ments into this account for her in family involved, and they agreed the years to come. Soon after the parents received that I was imagining things. I love my sister and don't want to the information on the account, they upset her, but this really bothers me. cashed it out and reinvested it in a She has mentioned that her friends different type of account. They joke about her memory, and she recently offered to share the details doesn't like it. But I'm surprised with us so we could invest for their that her children and husband are daughter. Annie, what would have been a not aware of the problem. Should I fun way for us to honor her is no just let it go? — Massachusetts Dear Massachusetts: We sus- longer of interest to us. We will of pect her husband and children are course still send gifts to the child, well aware of the problem, but have but we feel the parents' action was chosen not to deal with it. Please extremely tacky. What do you encourage your sister to talk to her think? — Boston Aunt Dear Boston: We understand doctor. Say that you are worried about her. Memory problems are why you have lost your enthusiasm, common, but if she is substituting and we agree that the parents others' experiences for her own, it should have been grateful and left things alone. But it might assuage could be more serious. Ask if she is scheduled for a reg- your annoyance to look at it anoth- Mailbox er way: If you had purchased the child an outfit and the parents had exchanged it for something they preferred, would you be as upset? Probably not. The account was a gift, meaning she could do with it what she wished. It was still a thoughtful present from you and undoubtedly appreciated. If the goal is to provide the niece with a college fund, it really doesn't matter which account receives the funds. Your contribution is the same. Dear Annie: Thank you for printing the letter from ''Finally at Peace,'' who has endured three of her five children cutting off contact with her. It gives my husband and me hope and comfort. We are experiencing rejection from our oldest daughter, who has cut off contact except to send birth announcements of her children. We will be grandparents again because of our youngest daughter, who makes up for, over and above, what we are living without. But I am comforted from your writer's sage advice on coming to peace with the situation and knowing that other factors helped shape our older girl. — Grateful for What We Have Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Salon tipping should not be guilt-driven Dear Mary: Do you tip a hairdresser if that person also owns the salon? I go to a shop where the owners provide services. I have always debated whether to give them a tip. What do you think? -- Mary V. Dear Mary V.: My etiquette sources still give the conventional response to tip a hairdresser unless that person is the owner of the business. However, it is unclear if this applies if that owner also provides services as opposed to supervising and running the business. I must admit this is a ticklish situation, especially if you have been tipping these folks in the past. If you were to stop suddenly, you might get less than satisfactory service in the future. My suggestion is that you decide for yourself why you tip any service person. If it's to reward a job well done, and that's what you're receiving from these folks, a tip is likely in order. As a general rule, don't ever feel compelled to tip out of guilt. Set your own standards based on what you think is right, and then stick by them. Dear Mary: I sure hope you can help me. I'm at the end of my rope necessary. Caution: This is for othwith the floor of our fiberglass erwise hopeless situations and texshower. It's stained and tured fiberglass tub and shower gross. I've wasted a lot of floors, not smooth fiberglass surmoney on fiberglass clean- faces. Dear Mary: For many ers, but nothing years, I've been darning works. I cannot socks and hose. I know it afford to replace the must sound old fashioned shower, which is in to you, but the hose I wear excellent functional conare expensive and I like to dition. Any suggestions? make them last a long time. -- Roy M. I have a problem. The store Dear Roy: Sounds where I have purchased like it's time to bring out darning thread for many the big artillery. Make a years has stopped carrying trip to the grocery store it. Now I cannot find it anyfor Twenty Mule Team Mary where. I sure hope you can Borax (you'll find it in help me. -- Bertha the laundry aisle) and on Dear Bertha: What I the way home, stop at the know about darning could home improvement store fit into a thimble with room for FINE drywall sandto spare, but I do know paper (it's not really where to find that thread. sandpaper, it looks more The Knit Shop in Eugene, like window screening and is sometimes called a drywall Oregon carries 23 colors of your sponge). Mix 1 cup borax and 3 darning thread for $3 per card. You cups baking soda into a scouring can order from their very nice webpowder. Dampen the floor of the site at knit-shop.com (search "darnshower, sprinkle on the powder ing thread") or call (541) 434-0430 generously and then scrub the floor to order by phone. Sure hope that with the drywall sandpaper as you keeps you darning for many more would a sponge. Rinse and repeat as years. Hunt Everyday Cheapskate New paint recycling site available PaintCare has established one new paint recycling drop-off locations in Tehama County. The California PaintCare program, which started in October 2012, provides locations for people to take unwanted, leftover paint to be recycled. The local collection sites include: Tehama County Landfill, 19995 Plymire Road in Red Bluff Paint Mart, 435 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff, (530) 527-5636 Corning Ace Hardware, 2020 Solano St., Corning, (530) 8241512 Los Molinos Ace Hardware, 7930 State Route 99E, Los Molinos, (530) 384-1250 California was the second state in the country to implement this program and has almost 500 collection sites across the state. For more information about the California Paint Stewardship Program visit www.paintcare.org Perfect recipe for retirement By Jennifer Cooper Social Security Manager in Redding Succulent turkey. Savory stuffing. Green bean casserole. Sweet potato and pumpkin pie. Every family has its Thanksgiving dinner traditions. With a carefully followed recipe, everyone around the table can enjoy their favorite dishes. If you plan poorly and wait to throw the bird in the oven at the last minute, you will end up with a turkey of a dish. The same can be said for financial planning and preparing for retirement. Follow the perfect recipe and you'll be rewarded with a juicy retirement. Ingredients: one part Social Security earnings, one part savings, a pinch of planning. First, start your retirement casserole with a visit to the Retirement Estimator. As useful as a food processor, the Estimator gives you an instant projection of what you can expect to receive in retirement benefits. Just plug in some simple information and the Estimator uses your past earnings and estimated future earnings to project about how much you'll get when you retire. Like an experienced cook, you can experiment with the recipe and plug in different future earnings and retirement dates until it's just the way you want it. Next, fold in the savings. The earlier you begin, the better off you will be. Social Security replaces about 40 percent of the average worker's pre-retirement earnings. Most financial advisors say you will need 70 percent or more of pre-retirement earnings to live comfortably. To supplement Social Security you also will need savings, investments, pensions, or retirement accounts to make sure you have enough money to enjoy retirement. Visit the Ball- park Estimator for tips to help you save. www.choosetosave.org/ba llpark. If you have a pension from your employer or a 401k, IRA or similar retirement fund, be sure to add that into the mix. Like to taste as you cook? Then you'll want to set up a my Social Security account so you can log in anytime to check your reported earnings and projected benefit estimates. If something doesn't taste just right — if your earnings are reported incorrectly or you find you need to save more to meet your retirement goals — there's still time to make corrections before your retirement casserole is done. Once you've added the ingredients of Social Security earnings, personal savings, and any pensions you may have, it's time to let the retirement casserole bake. If you pull the retirement casserole out to find it a little underdone, just put it back in for a bit longer. Delaying retirement can increase your benefits and give you more time to build up your savings. To learn more, read our publication entitled When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits. It provides helpful information regarding the things you should consider when making a decision on when to collect retirement benefits. You will find it, along with our other useful publications, at www.socialsecurity.gov/p ubs. When the retirement casserole is ready, enjoy it. You deserve a comfortable retirement. Following a traditional Thanksgiving recipe carefully can ensure a satisfying meal. In the same way, following our financial planning recipe will help you achieve a more fulfilling retirement. Learn more at www.socialsecurity.gov.