On the move (and calm as a result)

Parenting equals pressure. Kids are emotional sponges and our anxiety can be absorbed by them. We are an important buffer against stress becoming toxic for our children. Parents and children benefit when we learn simple approaches for managing our own stress. My Cribsheet colleague and I recently spent an evening with Dr. Marti Erickson and her daughter Erin (aka the Good Enough Moms at goodenoughmoms.com) and discussed this topic.

To find out what we learned from the Good Enough Moms about managing toxic stress, go to startribune.com/cribsheet.

KAY KRHIN

How do you make kids healthier and more active in these high-tech times? You design an app.

That was the idea behind a government contest called "Apps for Healthy Kids." The 12 winners, announced recently, include:

Pick Chow! Kids drag and drop food onto a plate to create a well-balanced meal.

Work It Off! Say a food (such as "cheeseburger"), and the app will give you options for exercises to work off the calories. For example, you'd need to ride your bike for 58 minutes to work off the 405 calories in a piece of pizza.

All of the apps are available for free. Check them out (but ask a parent first) at www.appsforhealthykids.com.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Parents love to see their children happy. It's the driving force for much of what they do for them. However, parents might not be leading kids toward what really brings happiness.

Researchers have made some interesting discoveries pertaining to what makes people happy. Social psychologist and author David G. Myers has compiled research-based suggestions for a happier life. They are as pertinent for children as for adults:

1. Give priority to close relationships. Intimate friendships -- those who care deeply for you -- help one weather difficult times.

3. Give your body the sleep it wants. Lack of sleep often results in fatigue and gloomy moods.

4. Exercise. Aerobic exercise promotes health and energy and is an antidote for mild depression and anxiety.

5. Focus beyond the self. Reach out to those in need; doing good makes one feel good. Also, religiously active people tend to report greater happiness and life satisfaction.

6. Realize that enduring happiness doesn't come from success. Having a sense of well being is better than being well off.

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

Serves 4.

Note: Serve with spaetzle, pasta, rice or mashed potatoes. From "Seared to Perfection," by Lucy Vaserfirer.

• 4 boneless, skin-on chicken breasts

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tbsp. canola oil

• 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced

• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

• 3 tbsp. Hungarian paprika

• 2 tbsp. white wine

• 11/2 c. chicken broth

Directions

Season chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a large, heavy, ovenproof sauté pan over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Add chicken breasts, skin side down, and cook without disturbing for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they release from pan and are crusty and brown.

Using tongs, turn chicken breasts over, transfer pan to oven, and roast chicken for 16 to 20 minutes, or until cooked just through (meat thermometer should register 160 degrees). Remove to a plate and tent with foil (internal temperature should rise to 165 degrees).

Set pan over medium heat; add onion, mushrooms and generous pinch salt, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Add flour and paprika and stir until well incorporated. Add wine and broth. Bring to boil, stirring constantly and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan with heatproof spatula, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is thickened.

When it comes time to get the second-graders back on track in Chanda McDonnell's class, the kids stand up and get moving.

It's all done with the help of a DVD that, with music and motion, helps quiet the students at St. Bridget's School in River Falls, Wis. Often, it's the students themselves who ask their teacher for those few minutes with the program, called MeMoves.

The video itself is simple: On the screen, people of all ages and ethnicities, from young children to grandparents, are shown one at a time, slowly moving their arms in different patterns and keeping rhythm to a mesmerizing beat. There are three different sequences -- joy, calm and focus -- and it is the latter that McDonnell typically uses in her classroom.

"The students know the sequence so well and they all have their favorite people to follow. It just settles them down so quickly and gets them ready to go back to work," said McDonnell, who discovered MeMoves when she attended an autism conference last year.

Prompted by her own family

The combination of the soothing music and fluid movement that Scherf would do with her daughter for less than half an hour daily unlocked a door inside her.

"In a month's time, she went from not being able to read single letters to reading words and then chapter books. She began to make eye contact and spoke more fluently and easily," said Scherf. "Her life changed."

Scherf was convinced that if MeMoves (called SmartMoves in its original incarnation) could make such a difference for her family, it could do the same for others. Now she and MeMoves' president, Chris Bye, also from River Falls, regularly travel the country attending workshops for educators and families to talk about the program.

A teacher at an inner-city school in East St. Louis, Ill., sent them a video clip of her classroom using MeMoves. In just a few minutes, a large group of highly energetic elementary students become calm and attentive as they mirror the movements happening on the classroom screen. In the video, even the tone of the teacher's voice changes and softens. When the session is over, the students quietly return to their desks.

"When we've shown this clip at educational conferences, we've seen teachers literally watch with their mouths open because they cannot believe the difference MeMoves brings to this classroom," said Bye.

"In a world that is so overwhelming, what they have created can really be transforming," said Claire Green, the foundation's president. "It's captivating and gives children an opportunity to just calm down and focus. We found it to be elegant in its simplicity."

The video has been effective with children with and without special needs, as well as with seniors. Several nursing homes have used the video with patients who have dementia.

"Every subsequent activity becomes easier and more effective because focus has been attained," said Scherf.