A Healthy Family: Questionnaire

What types of drinks do you usually have during the day and night? I will usually have one bottle of soda half way through the day. The rest of the day is water. How often does your family seek dental care? My children and I visit the dentist every six months for a cleaning. My husband has cleanings every 3 months due to having soft teeth. How often do family members have bowel movements? Urinate? Me: Varies but once every 2-3 days Husband: Every morning after coffee Son 1: once every 1-2 days Son 2: every2-3 days Daughter: 2-3 times a dayAll except Son2, urinate every few hours throughout the day and we are able to go 8 hours at night. Son 2 has a bladder like a horse and does not urinate nearly as often. Are laxatives used in your family? Explain. We do not use stimulant laxatives very often, but on occasion Son2 will need pedialax. Mostly we just make it a point to eat a high fiber diet and drink plenty of fluids to stay regular. How does your family relax? Relaxation starts with me and my husband on one couch and the kids the other couch. During this time we are usually reading, writing, playing games or watching TV.Within an hour or two everyone migrates to the couch were my husband and I are sitting and squishes their way in. By this time I have realized that relaxation time is over and I go find something else to do. What does your family do for enjoyment? Mostly we just like to be outside keeping active. Some of our favorite activities are bike riding, hiking, baseball and hockey. When does your family generally go to bed and awaken? Do family member go to bed and awaken at different times? The children start to prepare for bed at 8:00pm by changing into Pjs brushing teeth and getting in their last glass of water or snack before bed.By 8:30pm they are in bed and they are allowed to read until they fall asleep, no more than 30 minutes though. My husband stays up until 10 and I will usually stay up until about 11:00pm. My husband gets up at 5:30am and lea ves for work at 6:30. I wake up at 6:30 and start waking the children between 6:50 and 7 am. Do any family members work at night? No Are there any hearing or visual problems that affect your family members? Both my Husband and I are near sighted. I require glasses on a daily bases, but my husband only needs them for long drives when his eyes get tired.Son2 seems to have an issue with tracking, but testing is still being done. Does pain seem to be a family problem? Explain how this is managed? Son2 and I both suffer from migraines. This is managed by taking Exedrine for me or Tylenol for him and going into a dark room to rest. Who makes the major family decisions? How? All major Family decisions are discussed between any members they involve and a decision is usually agreed upon. If a no agreement is made then it is up to me to make the decision. Describe the highest education level of all family members? Me: PN certificate Husband: Associates degreeSon1: 5th grade Son2: 1st grade Da ughter: 1st grade Describe the general mood of your family? We are generally happy and relaxed people. We like to take life as it comes and we make it a point not to stress over the little things. How does your family deal with change? Like most families there is an adjustment period whenever things change, but we all seem to handle it well. My husband and I try to keep the kids informed of any changes so they know what to expect. Explain your family responsibilities for house hold chores? Each child has a list of six chores in which they are responsible for every day.Each of their chores has a different degree of difficulty depending on their age. The chores can be small like put away your back pack, sneaker and coat when you walk into the house or bigger chores for my 10 year old would include taking out the trash or emptying the dishwasher. My husband and I fill in the gaps of what the kids missed or are not old enough to do. Explain discipline in your family. How are family memb ers rewarded? Describe any aggression or violence that occurs in your family. I am the one that disciplines the children and decides on punishments.A punishment usually includes me revoking privileges or sending them to their room for a period of time. Spankings are not out of the question in my home, but they almost never used or needed. Family members are reward with praise and on occasion a special treat like a movie night or ice cream. The only aggression or violence you will see in my home are my children fighting. I usually let them work it out, but if they are hurting each other or the argument is lasting too long I will step in. Are contraceptives used? Yes Are parents comfortable answering questions and explaining topics related to sexuality to their children?Yes I discuss these thing with my children separately because they are all different ages they require a different degree of explanation. How does your family cope with major stressors? When we are stressed we just lik e quiet time to think or relax. I often warn people when I come in the door if my day was not good and I just need a few quiet minutes to distress before being asked 100 questions. Who copes with stress the best? That would have to be my husband. He just takes everything as it is and doesn’t really let anything bother him. What does your family want from life?That’s an easy one, to be happy. We don’t have a big house or fancy cars and it is not because we could not afford them if we needed them. We have tried having both parents work full time and we had plenty of money and much nicer cars, but we were always tired and we never spent any time together. We have found that we prefer to work less, have less and spend more time together. That is what makes us happy. What rules do your family hold most important? The one rule that we hold most import in our home is to show respect to everyone. Describe what your family does to try to stay healthy.To try to stay healt hy we have a few simple rules in our house. For nutrition you must try everything on your plate before you are done eating. It does not matter if they are carrots and you know that you don’t like them, taste buds change, so maybe you will like them today. Deserts are rare in my house, but when they are offered you are not eligible for dessert unless you finish your dinner, including the vegetables. For exercise we do not have a formal routine, but we encourage outdoor activities as much and as often as possible. Television and game time is limited to one hour per day in our home and the time must be earned.The children receive a ten minute token for each chore that they complete and they can cash their tokens in after there home work has been completed. From whom does your family seek health care? When? My family seeks health care from our family doctor’s office. We receive our well care physicals each year and any immunization due at that time. We will also seek Healt h care if we have an illness that does not clear up with in a week. We have very few visits to the doctor’s office each year because most illnesses can be treated at home with rest and fluids.