Hi Everyone!

If your family is like mine, you hit the ground running with the new school year. We landed the Thursday before Labor Day after a 2 week vacation and our oldest daughter started Middle School the following day. Since then, we've been playing catch up all around.

I'm determined to build in breathers to our week. Last weekend we all stayed home Saturday night and had a family dinner complete with candle light. It was so amazing our youngest daughter exclaimed: "This is just like Christmas".

Well, we don't want our kids to think our only family time is on holidays so this year we are making consistent family time each week a priority and starting with family meals. I'm in the process of reading "The Surprising Power of Family Meals" by Miriam Weinstein and so far she is right on the mark. I'll fill you in more once I've finished the book - which may be Christmas time if I don't find a bit more time for me in the mix!

Here's to a year of successes and sanity!
Dr. Gwenn

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Here's the latest article from the Pediatrics site at BellaOnline.com.

Crisis in Youth Sports
There is a growing crisis on our youth playing fields. Kids bodies and minds are being pushed in directions that are not healthy. This article discussed the crisis and why it is so crucial our kids just be allowed to play, without teams, rules and grownups.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art4380.asp

Please visit pediatrics.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Pediatrics. To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Pediatrics located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=404

To help you stay up to date on the the latest parenting and child health news, stop by one of my blogs:
http://yourchildshealth.blogspot.com/
http://www.townonline.com/blogs/childHealth/

Recent blog topics include the latest JAMA study on watchful waiting for acute ear infections and a list of the top health headlines from August.

Finally, I'll be appearing on New England Cable News on Monday September 18 at 7:45am EST. Check your local listings for channel information. I'll be discussing current health headlines.

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends. In fact, pass this email on to 5 friends and have them pass it on. Encourage them to check out the sight and sign up for the newsletter. Let's see how many new friends we can add to our e-community.

Gwenn Schurgin O´Keeffe, M.D. , F.A.A.P., Pediatrics Editor
http://pediatrics.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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