In celebration of Jo’s new book, Jo Frost’s Toddler Rules, Jo is sharing an excerpt from the book for this month’s newsletter.

Most of you are probably wondering why on earth I have waited until the last week in January to post out a January newsletter. To be honest, most of you have been bombarded with the good will of New Year’s resolutions. A spring in your step with “I’m gonna make 2014 the best year ever” only to realize that most of us were hit with the same issues but, just in a different year.

Having traveled for the last eight years around America (47 states, in fact) and up and down from Scotland to Cornwall, one of the many consistent questions I get asked from parents on my travels is “how much time should I be spending with my kids? How do I truly find the balance?”

For as long as I can remember as a little girl, I have lived with the burden of food allergies. Exposure to nuts and shellfish could send me to the hospital, gasping for air. The fear is real; it always has been and will continue to be a daily reality. When you suffer from extreme food allergies like I do, it is hard to trust restaurants, waiters, school cafeterias and even food packaging labels.

I am a firm believer that gay or straight, it doesn’t matter as long as a child is raised with love. And rules. And fun. Though most people are either for or against it, there still reamins a percentage of the world’s population who are somewhere in the middle or haven’t read up about the latest news and studies.

It’s flu season and it’s starting to reach epidemic proportions. To help you and your family handle it, we’re devoting this month’s content to germ warfare. First, I’m going to talk about some homeopathic remedies. Sometimes with viral infections, doctors cannot prescribe antibiotics, as they won’t help. You simply have to “ride out” being sick.

As the chilly weather and even colder winter weather draws nearer, there are things we need to do both inside and outside to prepare ourselves and our families.

From one side of the Atlantic to the other, we’ve all been hearing the health headlines: “Whooping Cough is on the rise in infants and children.” “A surge of Measles and Chicken Pox are seen in Sussex.” “Drug-resistant TB Becoming a Concern.”