“Back to school” can be synonymous with “back to the doctor.” There are vaccines and physicals to get in before heading back to class or the field, and with more activity comes the risk of unexpected injuries and illnesses. Having quality care that’s easily accessible (not to mention affordable) is crucial for kids. We love that Brave Care has it all covered in one place, from check-ups or immunizations you need right away (like, today!) to care for unexpected sprains or breaks, with same-day primary care AND urgent care for kids. Read on five reasons why Brave Care is the only care center you need, from birth to graduation.
Unlike other doctors’ offices with standard business hours, Brave Care offers primary and same-day urgent care appointments from 10 a.m.-10 p.m., seven days a week, 365 days a year. And their pediatric experts, not an answering service, answer the phone 24 hours a day. (Because injuries and illnesses don’t care if it’s a Sunday at 11 p.m. or a holiday…)
2. One-Stop-Shop
It can be tough to juggle all of the care visits that kids require (not to mention your own!). Families can schedule their kiddos’ check-ups, flu-shots, vaccine appointments, sports or summer camp physicals, in-house labs and more. Their clinics have on-site x-rays and over-the-counter medicines, so you don’t need to make multiple appointments at different offices or have extra errands to run.
3. Same-Day Primary Care
That’s right: Same-day primary care bookings are available (this blew us away!). Now you can quickly get the care they need when it’s most urgent (and not two weeks from now). Brave Care exists to guarantee parents and caregivers have a safe, reliable and local practice readily available to them—thank you, Brave Care!
4. Affordable Expert Emergency Care
With kids, accidents are bound to happen—worrying about how much that emergency room visit will cost shouldn’t. Their providers offer the same expert care as the ER at a tenth of the cost. Same-day urgent care appointments are available for injuries requiring immediate attention (like broken bones, lacerations, foreign objects in ears/noses, stitches) and non-life-threatening conditions—from rashes to fevers and stomach aches.
5. Comfort & Safety
Brave Care clinics are designed with families in mind. Their physical spaces are built to make every parent and child feel welcome, comfortable and safe. You can expect inclusive and welcoming care with providers they have specifically chosen to uphold that mission.
D.C. parents and caregivers: Do you know how lucky you are?! You may have worries, but a stellar pediatric hospital close to home isn’t one. Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. is dedicated exclusively to pediatrics with experts specializing in treating kids and kids only. They’re celebrating 150 years of pediatric care, research and commitment to community. Interesting fact: Volunteers opened the hospital in 1870 with 12 beds to care for Civil War orphans. Read on to learn more about this incredible pediatric hospital, practically in your backyard!
Children’s National Hospital is among the top children’s hospitals in the United States. They’re also ranked number 1 for newborn care for the fourth straight year and as one of the top 10 pediatric hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report—that’s no simple feat. They’ve helped children from around the world and their pediatric specialists are internationally recognized for providing the best possible care.
(Another) humble brag: Children’s National is Magnet®-designated for excellence in nursing.
And there’s even more praise: Children’s National has attained Level 1 Surgery Verification from the American College of Surgeons, a distinction that recognizes surgery centers that have improved surgical quality, prevented complications, reduced costs and saved lives.
Children’s National is transforming pediatric medicine, and they just keep getting better.
Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Innovative & Cutting-Edge Care
Children’s National has earned a (well-deserved) global reputation for pioneering new therapies and treatments, including heart, cancer, neurology and general surgery innovations. It ranks seventh among pediatric institutions for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding.
This a huge deal: They’re recognized as committed advocates for children on local, state and federal health policy. They’re often the first at the table when pediatric healthcare legislation is being developed.
As if Their Well-Deserved Accolades Weren’t Enough
Construction is soon to be completed on the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus, the first in the nation dedicated to pediatric research. Children’s National has been designated twice as a Magnet® hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery.
Now that you’ve learned Children’s National offers expert care, here’s a bonus: It’s also convenient care. This pediatric academic health system utilizes a community-based primary care network and specialty care locations in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs.
One last cool thing: They have a parenting site geared towards keeping your kids healthy called Rise and Shine. Topics and advice come straight from their experts that parents can interact with by submitting questions, taking quizzes, and more!
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided on this site is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice from a qualified healthcare provider familiar with your child’s unique symptoms. Always seek the advice of your pediatrician or other qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical condition. If you believe that your child is having a medical emergency dial 911 for assistance.
A few months ago, I woke up with a feeling of dread and deep sadness in my chest. My alarm had gone off at its usual time, 4:30 am, so I could have some alone time before my husband and the kids woke up. Even my alone time felt sad, and it’s usually the part of my day that energizes me the most. I cried on the couch as I drank my coffee and did my morning scroll, planning the day and answering emails. I couldn’t kick the feeling of dread in my body.
I did my morning workout, but the endorphins just didn’t help. I listened to my favorite song in the shower, but it didn’t make me want to sing. I simply made it through the motions of the morning. I made my way to work, got my temperature taken at the front desk and headed into my office. Later that morning, something happened that was a slight inconvenience to me and I felt white hot rage running through my veins. It was almost like my brain was on fire. I couldn’t see straight. And this was happening a lot. Almost daily. I was angry.
Was it the global pandemic? The civil unrest? The dumpster fire of an election year? The innocent people being killed in the streets?
It was all of that. Every. Single. Thing.
But it was also something else that the world seemed to be missing out on. I was a full-time working mom. With a full-time working husband. And soon we would need to figure out how to school our six-year-old kindergartener virtually while we both worked our 8-5 jobs. And, yes, we are very grateful to still have jobs right now. But thinking about it made me sweat and my heart beat faster. I became overwhelmed and panicked. But this panic looked different.
I sat at my desk in a catatonic state, with tunnel vision and a ringing in my ears. My chest felt like there was an elephant on it and I was trying not to sob.
“Crying at work is unprofessional.”
“You can’t leave right now, you have work to do.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t done any real work yet, you slacker.”
“You have to be at the office from 8-5. It’s too early to take a lunch break.”
I ended up bolting from my desk at 11 a.m., when I felt it was appropriate to leave, and had a panic attack on my living room floor. I have spent the last three months seeing a new primary care doctor, a therapist and a psychiatrist. My medicine has been changed three times. And it has been the most stressful three months of my life. I have blisters in my mouth and cysts in my armpits.
I’m not asking for a break. I’m not asking for sympathy. I am trying to use my voice to tell our business leaders and our government and those in power that are making the decisions, that we are struggling. And that struggle has created a historic rise in mental health problems and a rise in suicides. We are stressed, tired, struggling, anxious, lost, and some are suicidal. If that doesn’t make you realize we need your help, I don’t know what will.
So what do we need?
We need flexibility. We need to be allowed to be late. We need to be allowed to leave early. We need to be able to work the hours we need from home so we can help our children with their school work. We should be allowed to take a day off to try and figure it all out. We need help financially. We need you to treat us like you would expect to be treated. I know we are working for you and your bottom line, but you have to think about us. We are your employees, your constituents, your friends, your neighbors, the people passing you on the street. And we are tired. We are struggling. We are barely making it day to day. And some of us aren’t making it at all.
I am a full time working mom with two little boys, Henry and Simon. I write about real life and real life gets messy. Contributor for Motherly, HuffPost Parents, Scary Mommy, Today Parents, Love What Matters and Her View From Home.
Had you told us that things would get worse for moms, it would have been inconceivable. Women were already exiting the workforce at 43%, losing 10% of their earning power for every child they have, and straddling their roles at work with their roles of CEO at home, at the cost of career progression. Now, those privileged enough to still hold jobs, they face additional challenges with regard to childcare, virtual school needs, less ability to outsource, strapped finances, more meals, and clean up at home…things have gone from overwhelming to unmanageable. Too many women are in too deep to sound the alarms.
“People are very nervous about taking days off. Just so busy. All the moms are working until 1 a.m. There’s no good solution.” — Parent Employee Resource Group Leader
Helping moms make it to shore depends on our partners, our companies and us
Dads Need to Step Up—Even the “Good Ones”
Not all households have a mom and dad, but when they do, childcare responsibilities still disproportionately fall on moms. And today, with childcare and home responsibilities only increasing, women are shouldering most of the work and it’s disrupting their careers. Perception further complicates the labor distribution. As the NYTimes article with the same headline describes, “Nearly half of men say they do most of the homeschooling; 3% of women agree.” Cloudy perception in theoretically shared responsibilities implicitly creates a culture of invisible work–in other words, work without recognition or perceived value.
We heard this in discussions we held with parent Employee Resource Group advocates and leaders as we sought to understand how their companies are supporting caregivers during this pandemic. The sense of exhaustion and despair, with no end in sight, is palpable. A recent study showed that moms have reduced their paid working hours 4 to 5 times more than dads. One example of disparity in work production: women academics are submitting fewer papers since coronavirus started, while men are submitting 50 percent more than they usually would. Think of the research, insights and extrapolations the world is missing from women, because they are cleaning up the oatmeal stuck on the bowl, while their male counterparts are more likely working in a quiet room.
The good news? There’s an entire movement of passionate “FamilyTech” founders who, long before the pandemic turned it into a crisis, created support strategies to address aspects of this problem. We’d love to introduce you to existing options for both you and your companies, as well as share recommendations from our research.
Moms Are Underwater
How do we save one another and make it on the other side of this pandemic better off than when it started? We all—partners, employers and moms—have a role to play.
Moms are taking on even more invisible work since COVID started.
Technology can help with the mundane, repetitive tasks of running a family so that parents can shift valuable mindshare to more important matters.
Modern Village is building the Family Operating System as a central place that isn’t mom’s brain to be the single source of all things family.
Couples can then focus on divvying up the remaining invisible work through tools like:
Fair Play which helps couples divide up household tasks fairly, based on their needs.
Persistiny allows parents to track, value, and share the unpaid work to care for their families.
For partners who want to improve their marriage, and in doing so contribute to a society that values women, here are some things you can do today:
Take on more housework. Even if it feels like you are doing your fair share, pick up one, two, even five more tasks.
Initiate a conversation with her…tonight. Ask her how she feels the child and housework is going. Is she drowning? To avoid adding mental load to her already loaded cart, come to the conversation with two ideas for how you could help.
Take the kids out of the house to give her some time to just think, reflect, and do something other than parenting and housework.
Say thank you. Say thank you every time you see her pick up the LEGOS, feed the children, and sign them onto a remote class. Say thank you for everything you don’t see…the uninterrupted Zoom call, the empty sink, and anything else slipping by because of its invisibility. Make it your personal goal to show as much gratitude as possible, and in doing so her invisible work will suddenly start becoming visible.
Employers who want to attract and retain a diverse and efficient workforce
Much like the parents they employ, companies have found themselves in unknown water, without access to a best practices playbook on how to support caregivers. Because of this there is a real-time experiment taking place when it comes to benefits, policies and stances companies are implementing.
Moms who are essential workers or who work from home are all struggling.
Four Guiding Principles of What Companies Can Say and Do to Support Caregivers:
Consistent policies that don’t depend on an employee to initiate
✗ “Talk to your manager”
✓ Quarterly or monthly mental health days. (e.g., YOU days at Indeed)
✓ 40 hours a week, anytime during the week
Reduced Schedule without Penalization
✗ Promoting part-time with reduced pay
✓ Company sanctioned 4 day work week
✓ Office closes every Friday at 2:00 (e.g., The Zebra)
✓ Continued growth and career conversations
Leaders Communicate Challenges & Model Behavior
✗ Silent about kids, challenges and taking time off
✓ “I’m taking time off work to get my kids through the end of the year push.”
Re-Examine Meeting Culture
✗ Back-to-back Zoom meetings
✓ Replacing “syncs” or ad-hoc meetings with a Slack conversation or channel, and other remote work best practices
Here Are Some Services Employers Can Offer to Support Caregivers:
Workshops / Training / Coaching
Femily helps companies create an inclusive culture.
Mindful Return, a benefit that guides new parents back from parental leave and supports working parents with workshops and retreats.
TendLab provides workshops and training to optimize the workforce for parents.
Villyge, an employer-paid benefit, connects working parents 1:1 with a community of coaches from preconception to college.
WRK/360 offers employer sponsored training, development and 1:1 career & life integration coaching support for working parents, their managers and whole teams.
Childcare & Education
BridgeCare offers employee benefits that help working parents find and afford child care.
EdNavigator provides families with personalized education support from preschool to college.
Helpr provides custom primary care solutions for families looking to create care pods or find nannies during COVID, with online 1:1 tutoring for all ages, and backup care with either their sitters or your sitters.
UrbanSitter enables families to select providers to come into their home in a COVID-friendly way.
If you’re looking for companies that have been vetted for supporting caregivers, Hustle Hunters or Prowess Project can help match you with opportunities.
Moms, although we are utterly burnt out, we remain stronger together
While moms are in no position to add more to their infinite, impossible to-do lists, now more than ever, we need the support of one another. This includes banding together to recognize our needs, both at work and at home.
First, we need to speak up for ourselves and balance the inequities at home. By talking openly with our partners, we can align on our values, share responsibility in the joys, challenges and logistics of childcare, and teach our children to be proud of doing housework..
If You’re Looking for a Community of Moms Who Get It:
Chairman Mom is a private network of badass working women.
MotherNation creates spaces for Mothers to care for themselves and each other by gathering Circles based on location, age of children and shared experience.
Mother Honestly is an online community, with resources and support for working mothers.
Finally, we need to be inclusive and welcoming to all womxn, which is a departure from the traditional white feminism many of us inadvertently have been practicing. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting Black moms so it’s important for those of us with a more privileged position to speak up for racial justice in our homes, schools, and organizations.
You Have Options
Every family needs to do what’s right for them. Based on their own mental health, their family situation, their risk tolerance and financial resources, every family’s solutions will be different. For example, one mom may opt for homeschooling to reduce her own anxiety while another mom may feel it’s necessary for her kids to attend school for her own mental health.
Five factors that influence a family’s decisions:
If you’re looking for ways to engage and educate your children from your own home:
Komae enables cooperative, free care by swapping points with other families.
From Drowning to Thriving
We know this just scratches the surface. There is no silver bullet solution to alleviate such a complex and nuanced issue, rooted in historic biases. The pandemic has brought the childcare crisis to the national stage, although moms have felt the weight of it far longer. We believe the future of caregiving brings together the public and private sectors and is equitable, inclusive, and antiracist. When everyone pitches in to help, moms will make it to shore stronger, and our world will reap the benefits.
We are Shift, user researchers, and designers who provide custom qualitative research to companies to identify needs and recommendations to better support caregivers. We welcome you to follow our thoughts, and if you’d like to work with us, let’s chat.
Anne Kenny and Natalie Tulsiani are user researchers and designers who co-founded Shift the Workplace, a research consultancy that helps companies identify opportunities to support caregivers. With 30 years of combined experience at Huge, Microsoft and Airbnb, we offer tangible, practical recommendations tailored to the company's culture.
The holidays are here and your kids are going gaga for candy, cookies and sweets. After all, who can blame them? Before they reach a regrettable sugar rush, read on to hear from Pediatric Dietitian Crystal Tsai. As an Outpatient Pediatric Dietitian at Stanford Children’s Health, Crystal has some pragmatic advice about eating healthy around the holidays. She recently dished to us about holiday health and wellness, healthy snack ideas, what to look out for on food labels and even some surprising foods your picky eater may actually love. Check out the full interview below for words of wisdom every parent should hear.
Red Tricycle: Do you have any go-to rules for eating healthy around the holidays?
Crystal Tsai, MS, RD: I always encourage families to have balance and moderation all the time, including the holidays. It’s okay to indulge in the treats and food traditions that are coming up around the holidays, and at the same time we should continue to include healthy choices to nourish our bodies. Treat the entire day like a normal day—eat a healthy breakfast and lunch and try not to graze while preparing for the big meal. I recommend against fasting the entire day in preparation for the big holiday meal as this can often lead to unhealthier choices due to extreme hunger, such as eating more simple carbohydrates or starches and over-eating. During the holiday meal, plate the vegetables first, then add the other foods. Enjoy your meal and avoid feeling guilty about it. Enjoy other aspects of the holidays that are unrelated to food! The holidays are not all about food, so remember why everyone is gathered together for this.
RT: How can parents create a holiday dinner that feels special but is also healthy?
CT: Include vegetables in as many colors as possible. There are many dishes that could easily include more vegetables if you just get creative with which ones would pair well with the dish. Otherwise, having vegetables on the side works well too, and always put them on your plate.
RT: How many cookies and candies are reasonable for a kid to eat at a holiday event? What about a parent?
CT: This is probably the most difficult question to answer. I can’t put a number on it since it depends on the situation and the treats, but I think the big things to remember are that cookies and candies are treats and should be treated as such. If you’re eating healthfully and filling yourself up with healthier foods first, you might not have much room for more than one or two treats. Depriving yourself or your kids of the treats will only make them seem more desirable and unobtainable, which opens the door to over-eating them at some point. Eating too much can foster feelings of guilt and general physical discomfort. Both ends of the spectrum are unhealthy. I encourage parents and kids to decide together how much of the cookies/candies they want to eat that everyone can feel good about and enjoy, and no one feels either guilty or deprived.
RT: Do you have any tips for adding vegetables into holiday dishes?
CT: A lot of casseroles or side dishes can use vegetables. Add more vegetables than what the recipe calls for. Make a vegetable soup as a side. Make colorful salads. Throw vegetables into pastas.
RT: My toddler likes all the typical kid food—mac ‘n’ cheese, pizza, goldfish. How do I integrate more vegetables into his diet while still ensuring he’s eating enough every day?
CT: Every child is different when it comes to vegetables. Some hate the foods touching and mixing and others prefer it that way. I encourage parents to offer what you are eating (and what you are eating should include vegetables; you are not exempt to your own vegetable-eating wishes for your child!). And, allow your child to decide for themselves if they want to eat it or not. It might take a while before they decide to try it, but if you are modeling eating yummy and healthy vegetables, and you don’t force your child to eat them, many kids eventually decide that they want to try it too.
Aside from that, pasta is probably one of the easiest ways to integrate vegetables. The sauce masks the flavors and most people don’t mind a chunkier sauce filled with vegetables. Another favorite is finger food type of vegetables for toddlers, where they can pick up an entire (softened) carrot stick or zucchini stick or cucumber stick and have fun with them.
RT: Evenings are always a mad rush to get dinner on the table, and it’s even worse during the holidays. Do you have any go-to dishes or advice for busy parents that will help them get a healthy meal on the dinner before bedtime?
CT: A slow cooker! And chopping vegetables/other things ahead of time (or buying them pre-chopped) to save yourself time when you’re really in a bind to throw things together.
RT: What are your recommendations for on-the-go snacks during holiday travel (both homemade and the store-bought variety)?
CT: Healthy snacks should include something high in fiber (such as a fruit, vegetable, or whole grains) with a protein (cheese stick, nuts). The snacks easiest to travel with are probably dried fruit (no sugar added, limit to a handful) and nuts (also limit to a handful). If you can, keep fresh fruits with you or pack mini sandwiches with whole grain bread or pitas stuffed with some veggies and cheese or hummus. Otherwise, I recommend buying things that are higher in fiber (aim for 3 g or more per serving), low in sugar (as low as you can get, ideally 5 g or less per serving) and low in saturated fat (1 g or less per serving). Another good general rule of thumb when reading labels is whether you know what the ingredients are and where they came from. Ingredients with long complicated names are usually more highly processed.
RT: Besides my pediatrician, whom can I talk to or what resources are out there if I have questions about my family’s diet and nutrition?
CT: Registered dietitians (RDs) are credentialed professionals who stay updated on the most evidence-based practices. I highly encourage you to ask for a referral to see a dietitian if you have specific questions. If you are reading things online, the more credible sources are hospitals or articles written by RDs.
RT: My son loves chickpeas. Are there any surprising foods that parents tell you that their kids love that maybe they’ve never considered trying?
CT: My six-year-old niece loves plain, soft tofu with nothing added to it which has always surprised me. I have also heard of kids loving edamame.
Stanford Children’s Health is the only health care system in San Francisco exclusively dedicated to pediatric and obstetric care. With 25 primary care locations throughout the Bay Area, chances are there’s a Stanford pediatrician right in your neighborhood who can fulfill your child’s everyday healthcare needs.
You and the internet have a special relationship. You’ve asked it everything from “What’s the normal reaction to a bee sting?” to“How much tylenol should a two-year-old have?” to “What’s the closest urgent care center?”
With Heal you now have the luxury of avoiding your doc’s waiting room, dragging your sick kiddos to the appointment and dealing with complicated insurance policies. Heal accepts insurance and bills them directly, which means you’re simply responsible for your normal co-pay. Bonus: you can even get a check-up for yourself when the Heal physicians visit your home.
Breaking up with your search engine never felt so good.
What Do Moms Think?
“Heal is a priceless addition to my family” – Priya, Mother of 2
“Heal saved me from having to put my work – and life – on hold.” – Noelle, Mom & Pilates Instructor
You’re whizzing through your back-to-school checklist like a pro. Before your kids officially head to the classroom, add one more thing to your to-do list: a yearly eye exam for your child. Just like pediatrician appointments, a regular eye exam should be a part of your family’s check-up routine, but unfortunately many parents miss this step even though they should start when kids are as young as six-months-old. Read on for seven surprising stats you might not know about eye health.
One in five parents do not take their kids to the eye doctor for the first time until their children are school age (at least five years old).
Less than 10% of parents know the recommended age for a child’s first eye exam is six months.
One in ten parents have never taken their kids to the eye doctor.
One-third of moms say they don’t take their kids to the eye doctor because they already get a school vision screening – even though 50% say an eye doctor exam is more comprehensive.
72% of moms & 45% of dads who do not bring their children to the eye doctor annual say they would be motivated to do so if their child complains of discomfort or changes in vision.
One in five moms say access to vision insurance is the biggest barrier to visiting the eye doctor; while one-third (30%) of moms say obtaining vision insurance would motivate them to schedule an appointment.
75% of parents take their children to the dentist and primary care doctor before school begins each year, but only 50% take their children to get a comprehensive eye exam.
Be part of the 50% of families taking their kiddos to get an eye exam. Find your eye doctor today! Click here to get started.
Have your kids visited the eye doctor? Tell us about their experience in the comments below.
