CPRMom

Last week I held a few private classes at my house. I don't do this all the time, but when someone calls and needs a class and certification on short notice this is usually the only way I can accomodate them. I don't charge more for short notice private classes, but I do warn them up front that I have young children and they'll be at home. Well, after last week those will be the last in my house for a while. It was inevitable, I can't expect my now 3 1/2 year old son and 1 year old daughter to play quietly while Mommy teaches a 3 hour class. This used to work. They would play with their quieter toys (I'd hide the really noisy ones) and we once even had a group of 9 Girl Scout Leaders over for a class. But now he just has too much energy and needs more of my undivided attention, which is challenging when I'm trying to teach. I had slowly been realizing that trying to teach a class with my own children joining in was proving to be more and more difficult. ...

Do you want to take a course online? It's easy, convenient to schedule, and affordable! However there is a lot of confusion over online CPR and First Aid courses. All American Heart Association courses have a practical skills component to them. The online course alone will not lead to certification or issuance of an American Heart Association CPR or First Aid Card . This is in bold because it is important. In fact since this is confusing I'll even repeat it, the online course alone will not lead to certification or issuance of an American Heart Association CPR or First Aid Card . Be wary of online programs that do not offer a practical skills component to the course. Think of it like getting your driver's license. If you took an online course, studied the book, passed the test and received your license, would you really know how to drive a car? The same can be applied to CPR or First Aid. If all you did was read the book and take an online exam, would you be able to suc...

Have you taken a Healthy Heart Check Up? This Valentine's Day take a few minutes for yourself and see how healthy your Heart is and what you can do to lead a Healthy Heart lifestyle. http://is.gd/jvNe This checkup is part of the Go Red for Women Campaign, encouraging all of us to lead healthy and happy lives. A sobering statistic is that sudden cardiac arrest is the number 1 cause of death of women in the United States. This is a statistic we can change by just making small changes in our diets and lifestyles. Happy Valentines Day and Happy National Heart Month!

Depending upon where you live trucks filled with Girl Scout cookies will soon be descending upon your city or town! For us Cookie Delivery Day is this Saturday, Valentines Day. I will be signing receipts for hundreds of boxes of cookies! This is a hard temptation for me, but this year I've set my schedule up so that we can deliver my daughters' cookie orders all weekend to move them out of the house as quickly as possible. I'm doing Weight Watchers. I've done this in the past successfully, but I have been struggling with my weight since my daughter was born. With a new year I'm trying it again and looking for any support I can find. In addition to attending Weight Watchers meetings I've joined a new group 15 by June . We're a small group that has just started and we'll be providing each other support and accountability on our weight loss efforts. I'm really excited about this group! But I'm worried about the impending arrival of the cookies! My b...

When I was expecting my first child I remember my childbirth class instructor suggesting everyone take a CPR course. At the time I was a practicing EMT, so I was already certified and didn't think much of it. A few months later I belonged to a post partum group and someone I knew from the Fire Service came to discuss why parents should take a CPR class. Attending a CPR class is a really good idea, but how many new parents are able to fit it in with everything else that needs to be done before the baby arrives? We all know how to call 911 and in many areas the 911 dispatcher will provide EMD - Emergency Medical Dispatching. But how well would we be able to follow the dispatchers directions to provide effective CPR? Recently a study was done in England. Volunteers from a prenatal class were provided a telephone and an infant mannequin and instructed that they had just discovered an unresponsive infant. They were told to call for help and to follow the dispatcher's instructions. D...

Okay, so I'm still pretty much a newbie when it comes to online networking. I've only been actively online for about a month. My adventure started in a local mothers group I belong to. One of the other business moms emailed several of us to join Moms United in Business . What a great resource! This lead to contributing to Pampered Pregger and Beyond . After a few months I took the big leap and joined Twitter and Twitter Moms , The Mom Entrepreneur and a few more. It's becoming an adventure, but I do worry that I'm spending a lot more time online and less time on my family, home & business. I'm now in an evaluation phase, trying to decide if some the communities I've joined are beneficial to me or not. My goal in this adventure is to find groups that are similar to me, a mom working primarily from home trying to balance family/home/work/a life (hah!) while learning how to promote and do business well. It's become a challenge of sorts! Some sites don...

Learning CPR and First Aid can make a difference in someone's life. As an American Heart Association BLS instructor I offer CPR, AED, choking and First Aid Instruction for new parents, care givers, employee safety professionals and Healthcare Providers. Some of my greatest compliments have been hearing from former students who have successfully used the skills that I have taught them. I often say that I teach the skills that everyone wants to learn but that no one wants to have to use. I hope that is the case for everyone, but knowing what to do if an emergency arises is peace of mind, even it is just knowing that you need to call 911.