Colds may be common, but that doesn't mean you should ignore them. If possible, rest at home for a couple days or until you feel better. If you cannot miss school or work, go to bed early so you can sleep as much as you need — potentially up to 12 hours. If you think you have a cold, go for an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen. You can also treat specific symptoms with remedies such as nasal sprays, decongestants, or cough syrups. Always check to make sure medications do not interfere with your existing medications and follow package instructions closely. Do not take decongestants for more than five days in a row.  Consult a doctor before giving medicine to young children. Do not take aspirin if you are 18 years old or younger, due to the risk of Reye's syndrome. Drinking plenty of fluids will help you recover faster. If you have sinus pain or a dry nose, it may also help to run a humidifier or inhale steam. Most colds go away after three or four restful days. If you feel worse after that time, or if you develop any new symptoms, see a doctor. Some more serious problems are easily mistaken for a cold, so don't hesitate to get a checkup.  Seek medical attention right away if you feel short of breath, cough up blood or colored mucus (including yellow), or if deep breaths cause chest pain.  Call a doctor if your sore throat lasts more than a week, or if it is accompanied by other throat symptoms such as pain while swallowing, swollen glands, white patches, or rash.  Take your temperature regularly. If you have a fever, you may have the flu after all. If your symptoms don't match the flu or a cold, see a doctor immediately. If you have certain health conditions, any symptoms of a cold should be evaluated. Even if you don't think you have a fever, see a doctor if you have any of the following conditions:  Asthma Diabetes Kidney or liver disease Lowered immunity A history of strokes or transient ischaemic attacks

Summary: Get plenty of rest. Take medication to relieve symptoms. Stay hydrated. See a doctor for new or worsening symptoms. Get medical help if you have certain health conditions.


You can make it a relaxed part of your daily routine by doing it at the same time each day. In addition, you can make the time as enjoyable as possible by:  Reading to the baby Singing Playing with special toys Putting on her favorite video Praising your child for having done a good job inhaling the medication This will give the child a sense of ownership over the nebulizer and make it seem less scary.  Some children put stickers on the compressor. Your child can even pick out a mask that he likes. Possibilities include an elephant mask, a turtle mask, or a fish mask. You can also refer to it as a pilot mask or space mask and encourage your child to pretend to be a pilot or astronaut while inhaling the medication. Pacifier attachments are available for infants. The pacifier helps to soothe the infant while he wears the mask. This will give the baby a bad experience with the nebulizer which will make it harder in the future. In addition, a crying baby will not successfully inhale the medication.  When a baby cries, she makes a very quick inhalation and a long exhalation. This means that almost none of the medication will be inhaled deeply enough to make into the lungs. If you cannot soothe your baby by holding her and singing to her, you may need to wait and try the nebulizer later when she is less fussy. However, if your baby is having trouble breathing and will not calm, you can use the nebulizer for rescue treatments if needed to help her breathe, even if she is crying. If your baby is a sound sleeper, you may be able to put the nebulizer on while she sleeps.

Summary: Stay with your baby while the nebulizer is on. Let the child personalize the nebulizer if he is old enough. Don't put the nebulizer on a crying baby.


Select products that are formulated to be gentle, moisturizing, and easy on your dye. Some shampoos and conditioners will also boost your color as you wash. Even with color-safe products, limit washing to once or twice a week to avoid drying out your hair and washing out your dye. Wash your hair with shampoo first, then use the mask or balm in place of your conditioner. Leave the product in your hair for 3 to 5 minutes, or for however long is directed on the container, then rinse it out. Use a mask meant for color-treated hair. Avoid anything containing sulfates. Dyed hair is often dry and brittle, and this is especially true of heavily bleached hair. Heat styling, including straightening and curling, will only damage it further. If you must heat style your hair, use a lower temperature and a heat protection spray.

Summary: Use shampoos and conditioners made for color-treated hair. Repair dryness and damage with a weekly hair mask or balm. Limit heat styling your hair.


Solving puzzles requires you to combine what you already know with new information from the puzzle. Just like riddles, puzzles ask you to use existing knowledge and context clues to come up with an original, often tricky answer. Puzzles can help you learn to recognize patterns and order.  Puzzle games such as Tetris, as well as traditional jigsaw puzzles, require you to look at a situation in multiple ways to figure out the best solution. This process transfers well into solving riddles, too. Specific types of puzzles and games are best at developing specific types of skills. Thus, if you do a lot of crossword puzzles, you’ll probably get very good at crossword puzzles, but you may not see equivalent gains in other areas. It’s helpful to play a variety of games instead of focusing on only one type. The more you repeat a certain type of task, the less effort your brain needs to expend to perform it. Regularly alternating the types of games you play will help keep your brain from taking shortcuts. For example, you could read a complex news story and then write a short summary that boils down all the ideas into a few key ideas. Research suggests that this will help you look at the “big picture” as well as the details, a skill that also comes in handy when solving riddles. Rephrasing ideas into your own words may also help you develop linguistic flexibility and improve memory. It’s easier to remember ideas when you’ve taken the time to paraphrase them, because your brain has had to work to structure the ideas so that it understands them.
Summary: Solve puzzles daily. Alternate your brain games regularly. Try reading and then summarizing something complex.