MOMS AND DADS DEPT
Question of the day:  so how much sleep do your kids REALLY need, be they children with Moebius, or not?  Funny thing: looking at this historically, the answer seems to be that--well, really experts have never agreed on this, and research has shown that children always have actually gotten less sleep than experts believed they needed...going all the way back to the 19th century.  But most of us have somehow muddled through anyway.  Read on--it's interesting:
"Perhaps you’ve heard that kids today desperately need more sleep. Maybe you’ve even allowed yourself to get caught up in the panic over electronic devices’ stealing our children’s slumber, to the detriment of their mental and physical health and overall well-being.
A new study says “harrumph” to all that.
Research published Monday morning in the journal Pediatrics explains that the medical and public health communities have fretted over children’s sleep deprivation for generations. Everything from radio to reading has been blamed for keeping kids from getting the shut-eye they supposedly need: “In the early 1900s, artificial lighting, radio, reading, and the cinema were considered to be the causes of delayed bedtimes,” the authors write. “By the late 1990s, video games, television viewing, the Internet, and mobile telephones were largely held responsible for such delays.”
But in all those years, the authors point out, nobody has ever presented empirical evidence to support their recommendations regarding children’s sleep needs. Nobody has actually figured out exactly how much sleep children really need, how much they get, or how lack of sleep might affect their bodies, minds, or any other aspect of their lives.
Researchers at the University of South Australia read widely in both scientific and popular literature about recommendations regarding kids’ need for sleep, starting when the matter first emerged as an issue of concern in the late 19th century. Curiously, the only era during which no specific recommendations for duration of kids’ sleep were made was the mid-to-late 20th century, during which time researchers were more interested in the physiology of sleep and sleep regulation.
The article makes the fascinating observation that, across all age groups, recommendations for the amount of sleep kids and teens need have decreased about 0.71 minutes per year, for a total of 70 minutes over the course of the 20th century. At the same time, the actual amount of time kids have spent sleeping has declined by almost exactly the same amount — 0.73 minutes per year. Whether in 1897 or 2009, children have consistently got about 37 fewer minutes’ sleep than recommendations called for.
The authors make no bones about the irrationality of the situation. One of the consistencies they found in the sleep literature, whatever its era, was the acknowledgement that the recommendations were basically drawn out of thin air.
The authors note in their brief conclusion that we know much more about the mechanisms by which nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behavior influence children’s health. It’s high time, they suggest, that we get busy learning more about how sleep — or lack thereof — actually affects kids.
In the end, the authors note, “No matter how much sleep children are getting, it has always been assumed that they need more.”

My opinion?  Parents will always know their own child best; and as long as you continue to study him or her, and know him or her, then you will know how much sleep your child needs to be at his or her best.  Just go with that...

MEANWHILE...GOOD NEWS CONCERNING VALENTINE'S DAY
Those chocolates you receive from your honey?  They can be good for you:
"Show your heart some love this Valentine’s Day by nibbling a few chocolates—and making them a regular treat throughout the year. A recent study found that those consuming the highest levels of chocolate had a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared to those with lower chocolate intakes.
Chocolate may help you with math.
Flavonols, compounds in chocolate with antioxidant-like properties, are thought to improve circulation, including blood flow to the brain. A 2009 study asked participants to count backward in groups of three from a number between 800 and 999. After drinking hot cocoa filled with flavonols, the participants were able to do calculations more quickly and accurately and were less likely to feel tired or mentally drained."
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/58920/
There's more...read the whole thing.

MOEBIUS SYNDROME IN THE NEWS
And finally, in case you have not seen it yet, read about yet another remarkable young boy with Moebius Syndrome--Ryan Larsen, from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.  A story about him appeared on a Minnesota television station--you can find it here.  Here's a touching excerpt from the piece:
"Ryan's mother has found herself getting involved with other moms around the country who have children with Moebius. She, like any parent, hopes this baby's childhood years will be spared the cruel comments that come with being different.
Nikki Larsen: “I think what concerns me is how he will be perceived for not having a facial expression, not having that initial smile people can turn the other way. I want to protect him from that.”
There is no shortage of love or playtime in Ryan's house. He has parents who think the world of him, and want nothing more than a good life for their little boy."

Hey, with good, caring parents and family, Ryan can't go wrong...

"If we do not discipline ourselves, the world will do it for
us." -William Feather