True Hobbies, Kids Who Hate School, Talking to Kids about Addiction, Your 10 Words, New Year’s Food Resolutions, Blood Donors Guide

True Hobbies (0:00:00) When we say the word “hobby”, we often think of leisure time devoted to casually doing something we love in our spare time. To some, this may be relaxing; to others, maybe not as much. In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in using all our time as a means of achieving something, or even making a profit. This is great for feeling a sense of accomplishment or when you need extra money, but when it comes to time spent relaxing (and nothing else), how can we truly maximize our relaxation and not feel the need to be in a busy mindset? Joining us is Dr. Selin Malkoc, a behavioral scientist and marketing professor at Ohio State University. She’s here to talk with us about how to really maximize our leisure time. Kids Who Hate School (0:14:25) Now, it’s normal to feel a sense of dread at the idea of getting the kids ready to go to school as a parent. But if your kids are having earth-shaking meltdowns every time you say “time for school!” there might be a problem. Sometimes, a kid who absolutely hates school with everything they have may be dealing with something more than just not wanting to get out of bed. With us to discuss what’s really going on with our kids when they say they hate school is Dr. Michele Borba, educational psychologist and author. Talking to Kids about Addiction (0:35:43) According to studies done by the Addiction Center, almost 21 million Americans above the age of 12 struggle with at least one addiction. Being such a difficult illness to deal with and discuss, addiction is an intimidating subject to talk about with our kids. However, according to therapist John Sovec in an article published by the Huffington Post, “Kids are much more savvy today, and open, honest conversations that take place now can set up the groundwork for keeping substances out of their future.” We’ve invited John on the show to share with us more about how to have these difficult, yet necessary conversations with our children. Your 10 Words (0:50:33) What 3 words would you use to describe yourself? This may seem like an insignificant question, but the words you use to describe yourself are so important. Sometimes the words we choose don’t tell people who we really are. But when our words are accurate, they could change the way other people see us and even how we see ourselves. Here to give us some tips on how to describe ourselves in 10 words and why it’s so important is our friend Nick Boothman—communication expert and author of How to Get People to Like You in 90 Seconds or Less. New Year’s Food Resolutions (1:06:10) Many of us have resolved to eat better this year. We tell ourselves we’re going to avoid that chocolate cake or can of soda. But 3 weeks into the New Year the question becomes, can I really keep this up for the next 350 days? If you find yourself asking this question, then you might have set a goal that’s too lofty. To help us set more realistic food goals is Laura Silver, a registered dietitian-nutritionist from New York. She has a passion for helping people enjoy real, whole foods – without totally compromising on the foods they love. Blood Donors Guide (1:23:32) Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood, something that can’t be manufactured but must be donated by a volunteer. While it’s easy to feel that your one donation might not make a difference, it will. Winter is the hardest time for blood centers to collect due to cold-weather illnesses, so they need every donation that they can get. With January being national blood donor’s month, we are all encouraged to roll up our sleeves and help save lives. Dr. Kathleen Grima is the Executive Medical Officer at the American Red Cross. She’s going to tell us everything we need to know about donating blood.