Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Marriage - For Your Health!

Happy Home - Happy Marriage - Better Health

Well, I hope all you women are now showing affection to your family, feeding them food you like to eat and taking time to pee and poop.  You really will feel better.  Even you if are single and/or living alone - remember to hug a friend, eat a good meal and of course, take time to go to the bathroom.

Here is some documentation about married people feeling better just because they are married.  Why are great sums of time and money spent on the obvious?  Of course happily married people have a track record for a healthier life.  I do not have enough fingers and toes to count the times that sweet Tommy Wiles has pulled me through what would have been a health crisis, but instead, the crisis became just a (usually funny) memory.

I can list one of the ways why being married has health advantages; it is the constant reminders you get from your spouse!  Honey, please, go to the doctor and get something for that cough!  Darling, let's go for a walk together.  Sweetheart, let's have fruit for breakfast.  Did you take your vitamins this morning?  Just last week, Tommy offered me his extra set of ear muffs so my ears would not be cold as we went to work out together.  Sweet, huh?  I had rather do almost anything than go to the gym, but with his kind offer to use the extra pair of ear muffs, I could not refuse!  30 minutes in the gym?  No problem!

Best thing for a happier marriage/healthier life:
Do not go to sleep mad at each other or mad a anybody, for that matter.

In 1858, British epidemiologist William Farr studied the issue of being healthier due to being married and he concluded that the healthiest people were married peopled.  I think in 1858, the issue of whether the marriage was a happy marriage or an unhappy marriage did not enter into the equation.

A century and a half later, the same holds true, though.
According to the New York Times married people are less likely to get pneumonia, have surgery, develop cancer or have heart attacks. I like the Swedish study that shows being married at mid life is associated with a lower risk for dementia. 

Of course being married lowers your chances of dementia, especially for women!  Women have to know where everything is located, from car keys to incoming mail to the milk in the fridge.  This keeps us on our toes and our brains functioning.  Men have to know all the stuff about whatever it is women don't know about.  Together, man and woman, husband and wife, a happy team working together through life offers just one more way to enjoy better health!

Here is the running list of Health 4 Your Family suggestions:
Enjoy Affection and Food
Take time to Poop
Work on a having a Happy Marriage

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Three daily tasks for a happy, healthy home

Welcome to Miss Martha's Health 4 Your Family!

Many years ago a group of us young mothers were suffering from fatigue, general grumpiness and a never ending list of things we could not get done.  Worse than the tiredness, sad dispositions and stacks of stacks piling up around us, we saw no way to change the situation.
Then, one day, it became very clear what my priorities were as a young wife and mother, [who also just happened to be a Pastor's Wife (yikes! more stuff to do) and a full time nursing student (with real, live patients!)]

And in this first blog, I will share three secrets of a happy, healthy home.  I promise you will not be disappointed if you follow these three simple tasks each day.  I have shared this advice many times over the years and not one young woman has disputed the value of these three remarkable, life changing, implementations to their daily routine.

Number One...write these down.
Make sure that your family gets the appropriate affection from you each day.   Hugs and kisses for all the children several times a day, along with little back rubs and some hand holding while you lead them through the day.  It includes affection on the grandest scale for your husband.  First and foremost, this is number one.

Number Two....are you writing this down?
Prepare one good meal each day for yourself and your family.  I suggest making a meal that you want to eat and sitting down to eat it with your family.  If you can squeeze two good meals into each day, that is fabulous.  Be sure to make a dish that you like and will enjoy everyday/every meal.

Number Three....this one is very important and could be considered either number one or number two.
Whatever happens during your day, do not neglect to sit on the pot ( as my Mama would say).
You simply must poop each day.  Again, if you think your family cannot live without you for 5 or 10 minutes, you are wrong.  And when you pee, take enough time to finish.  Women jump up and run to the next chore and seldom take care to properly complete this simple, simple, bare necessity of life.

There you have it!  Three daily tasks for a happy, healthy home.  Wives and mothers who accomplish just these three easy tasks each day are never cold hearted, hungry or constipated and this, I promise, makes the home a much happier, healthy place for everyone.  And the list of things you must get done will get done in due time. 

Please join me again for Miss Martha's Health 4 Your Family!