A bruise occurs when tiny blood vessels are damaged or broken as a result of a bang on the skin. Blood leaks into the skin causing colour change on the bruised area to reddish, which is easily visible, especially for lighter skin. It then changes to purplish (blue-black), and eventually to dark brown as the bruised…

I had just answered my son, Derrick, that the reason we have two taps in the kitchen and in the wash room was that one was for cold water and the other one for hot. Now breastfeeding his younger brother, he asks, ‘Mum is one for cold milk and the other for hot?’ Terry my…

Ingredients 2 medium bananas, sliced 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 cups shredded lettuce 1 cup sliced strawberries. 1/4 cup chopped peanuts For peanut butter dressing 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla or plain yoghurt 2 tablespoons orange juice Instructions Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process…

Helping him clear it A nose full of mucus is nasty to all, but more so to babies below two years because they must breathe through the nose, which they have no ability to clear. A stuffy nose is caused by the common cold or allergic reactions like asthma and sinusitis that inflame blood vessels,…

Back in my childhood days when I was about 7, I remember seeing my 2-year-old cousin very weak and fragile after an entire night’s bout of diarrhoea. My mother fed her a salt and sugar solution, which I later learnt was for hydration. For a long time, I never witnessed any other incident of a…

A bright smile lights up Mary Wambui’s face as she kicks a ball and frolics around her compound in a city estate, as energetically as her young charges. It is clear that she loves children and time with them provides a welcome break from her busy schedule. However, the 40-year-old mother of three children aged…