I have 2 memories from 3^rd grade that I would like to share with all of you. Once, I coughed so hard from bronchitis that my cough drop shot out of my mouth like a cherry bullet. It sailed across the room and smacked Lori Ann Schultz right in the middle of the forehead and stuck. Everyone laughed at her, a fate she totally deserved because she was always making fun of me.

My second memory – The teacher introduced us to the metric system. She told us that most of the world was using the metric measuring system and that America would be switching over to it in the future. She taught us about meters, liters, kilograms, and Celsius degrees, but she still made us work with the customary units of feet, quarts, pounds, and Fahrenheit. At the time I thought, “Heck, why are you making me learn 2 systems?”

In 1975, the Metric Conversion Law was enacted. It basically said that the U.S. would use the metric system for trade and commerce. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a website devoted to the metric system with conversion cards and equivalencies charts and links to recipe conversion tools.  If you want to help your kids with metrics, check out the NIST kids’ page.

Despite the fact that the government has encouraged the use of metric measurements in business and trade for over 30 years, most products still list both metric and customary units. I think this is because most Americans have not mentally made the switch to metrics. If all of the customary measurements disappeared off of the bottles, boxes, street signs, thermometers, and recipes how would it affect you?

P.S. Lori Ann, just in case you decide to come after me for revenge… I have a 255g (9 ounce) bag of Hall’s Ice Blue cough drops. Over the years, I’ve developed my projectile coughing abilities to a high degree of accuracy, so don’t make me use them.

I used to think it was just a cliché. But in the middle of this financial crisis we're facing together in the U.S. right now, the phrase "Most Americans are just two paychecks away from financial disaster" seems frighteningly true.

You don't have control over when a job or income loss or a serious illness will throw you into financial trouble. But not having a handle on the basics of saving and investing, taxes, mortgages and insurance can leave you even more vulnerable when bad times—or scam artists—hit.

Right now, more than any time in our recent memories, it’s critical to brush up on financial literacy. My office works with a couple organizations that are helping adults and kids do just that.

The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission operates MyMoney.gov, a site to help you make sense of practical money management, financial planning, saving for retirement, and getting familiar with financial scams so you can avoid them. Their online calculators help you estimate college costs, how much mortgage you can afford, what your Social Security benefits will be at retirement time and a lot more.

Through MyMoney.gov and 1 (888) MY MONEY, you can also get the free "My Money Toolkit," a collection of popular booklets that can help you learn to get your spending, saving and investing on track. You can check out the publications online or order copies for yourself, your friends or family.

The Jump $tart Coalition is involved in providing resources to help students kindergarten through college age grow up learning and exercising practical money skills. Whether you're an educator or a parent wondering how to start teaching your kids about money and financial responsibility, Jump $tart lists a terrific collection of fun websites for kids that'll teach them about saving, investing and making smart choices as consumers.

One other financial literacy website that I like a lot is from Visa. PracticalMoneySkills.com takes a comprehensive approach to teaching adults and kids better money management skills. The site is available in English, Spanish and Chinese and features videos and articles covering topics like setting a child's allowance, financially weathering a divorce, reducing your debt and understanding compound interest.

What do you wish you'd learned earlier in your life about managing your finances?

Tomorrow is the 33rd Great American Smokeout. The smokeout is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and is designed to inspire smokers to quit for a day. The hope is that once someone sees they can go a day without smoking, they will continue down the path to quitting permanently.

Using tomorrow, November 20th, as your quit date allows you to feel the power of "strength in numbers," being one of the 44.2% of smokers who give up the habit—at least for the day. Many resources are available to aid you in your quest to becoming smoke-free. The American Cancer Society has a "Quitline" (1-800-227-2345) that you can call toll-free and speak to a trained counselor to receive free, confidential counseling on quitting.

Social media outlets such as Facebook and MySpace also offer support channels for those looking to quit. This way, you can easily seek the encouragement of friends and family and increase your chances of giving up smoking for good.

Think you're ready to quit? This survey will help you create a a quitting plan that works for you.

If you're a non-smoker that has a friend or loved one who smokes, it is important to encourage and be patient with those trying to give up smoking. Help them by coming up with alternative activities to smoking, like going on a walk, starting a new hobby, joining a book club, etc.

Has participating in the Great American Smokeout worked for you or someone you know? Do you have any tips for quitting that you can share?

My nose is running, my ears are clogged and I’m coughing. Ah yes, the beginning of another cold and flu season is upon us. Every other week my daughter brings home a new and exciting virus from the germ factory (that’s how I like to refer to the elementary school at this time of year). Bailey brings home the cold and is sick for a few days, then her little sister picks it up and she’s sick for a few days and it seems like my husband and I are constantly battling a virus. Sometimes we get it and sometimes we don’t. Does this sound like your house? I suppose we’re not alone.

It's important to know the difference between colds and flu and try to prevent colds and flu by following the advice of the experts. I eat really well, exercise, drink plenty of fluids and even take a multi-vitamin regularly, just to be sure I’m getting the nutrients I need. I try to get enough rest, but with a full time job and two little kids, sometimes I have trouble getting the rest I need. I’m even an almost compulsive hand washer, and still, I get sick.

So what do I do? I stay warm, I drink plenty of fluids. I especially like nice, warm cups of tea. Green tea, white tea, red tea, herbal teas with honey and lemon are soothing and I drink tea all day long. Our old family remedy for, well anything, was whiskey with honey and lemon, but I don’t find that to be a very good prescription on a work day. I’ll stick with my tea and hope that one of you has a comforting cold remedy for me to try.

They are the doctor's words that send chills up a parent's spine.

"Discontinue giving your baby that medicine immediately!"

A routine call to my baby's doctor last week left me more concerned than I was before I called about his lingering cold. Apparently the over-the-counter antihistamine that the pediatrician had prescribed for him was no longer recommended for babies.

The panic I felt was too similar to last year's discovery that my infant son's baby bottles contained the potentially harmful chemical, bisphenol A. And the shock I had several months later when over-the-counter infant cough medicines (including the one prescribed for my little guy) were taken off the market because they were potentially harmful.

I delved into the Internet to learn what I could about the most recent change in the minimum age for certain medications. I found that it was the latest development during an ongoing study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of over-the-counter children's cough and cold medicine, an annual $2 billion industry.

In January, FDA issued a nationwide Public Health Advisory recommending that these products not be used in children under the age of two because of the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.

Now, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (the nonprofit for over-the-counter medicine companies) has announced that its members are voluntarily modifying their cough and cold medicine labels to state "do not use" in children under four years of age—a move that FDA supports. The companies are also introducing new child-resistant packaging and new measuring devices for the products.

The labels will change in the coming months, says FDA, while the medicines' availability will not be affected.

You can see a list of the products that will sport the new warning labels. You might also be interested in FDA's tips for giving over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to children, and information about giving nonprescription medicine to children in general.

You can also subscribe to FDA's e-mail lists. I signed up for its press releases and consumer health information to hopefully help me know sooner if there's a change in an over-the-counter children's medicine that my little guy's taking.

Have you been affected by a recall or relabeling of a children's medicine?