Parenting
8 Back-to-School Nutrition Ideas Made Easy
It’s a new school year; many of us look at September as being a good time to start doing things differently. For years I felt as though making my girls’ lunches at night was too exhausting, after having cooked or prepared meals for them all day long. This September, I started making their lunches, while preparing their dinner. The kitchen has been messier than ever but I realized that this is the time in which I have the most energy and when I can be most efficient, as much of the food is already out of the fridge. Why I ever thought that putting the girls to bed and then heading downstairs to make their lunches was a good idea, I will never understand. And the years I spent rushing around each morning, making their lunches, are also over. It feels good to actually sit with my girls on a school day and partake in eating breakfast with them. And what a beautiful start to the day for each of us. So, what are you going to do differently this school year? Here are 8 back to school ideas to provide your children with more nutrition and hopefully keep your world more sane overall:
Read MoreThe Important Job of Parenting
Various parenting methods produce children whose primary emotion is love or fear – these are the only two options. It seems to me that the “authoritarian” parenting style is still very much alive and well in the raising of today’s children. This makes sense due to the fact that so many of us were raised ourselves by parents using this approach. The challenge with this approach is that the children who are punished or told what to do at all times “or else,” end up living in fear. It is the only result of authoritarian parenting. Children parented in this way feel under attack. These children put up defenses around the parts of themselves that their parents don’t approve of and try to protect their vulnerable inner selves by displaying tough outer selves. They keep themselves “safe” but at what cost?
Read MoreThe Emotional Connection to Physical Illness
We now have the sickest generation of human beings to have ever existed in the history of mankind. Obesity, allergies, asthma, autism, ADD, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis and cancer are only a few examples of the epidemics that exist today. The physical reason for these epidemics is that the world is simply more toxic than ever before – our food, water and air are perpetually being contaminated. But why do certain people contract certain illnesses? Wherever there is physical illness, there is always an emotional connection – I have discussed this concept in prior blogs but once I learned of the large interest in this topic, I felt compelled to explain the concept in greater detail.
Read MoreWhat Does a Nutritionist Do and How Can They Help You?
Nutritionists can help you detect food sensitivities/allergies or nutritional deficiencies and then assist you in devising a plan to change your child’s diet. If you determine the foods to which your child reacts and your findings include one of the major food groups, such as dairy and wheat, you might ask yourself, “What can I feed my child?” A Nutritionist will teach you exactly what to feed your child, what the alternatives are and ensure that your child does not miss out on any important nutrients. They will even supply you with recipes and books to assist you, so that you do not need to do any of your own research if you don’t want to!
Read More"Meeting" Robert Pattinson – One Teen’s Dream
Then the loud screams ensued. Robert had arrived. After he signed autographs for a few people, he entered the door beside us. As if in a dream, I heard Taylor beside me, complying with our plan. “Hey Robert!” her delightful, upbeat voice yelled. He turned around with a big smile on his face, scanned the crowd and looked right into Taylor’s eyes, while continuing to walk.
Read MoreMeredith Deasley – Kids Coaching Connection Coach
It is certainly sad when a parent has assumed for years that their child wanted to receive gifts when all the child really wanted was physical touch. Or if your child’s love language is physical touch and you were never hugged or kissed as a child, this language will be a little more challenging for you to learn. In either case, all you need to do is explain this to your child and ask them for their help in reminding you of or initiating their love language. It may have been over the course of many years that your child has not received interaction in their love language and you may have struggled in your relationship but it is never too late to start filling your child’s love tank.
Read MoreLearning to Surrender Regarding Your Child’s Health
Sometimes we do obtain the solutions we need but we are simply not ready to implement them. One mother hears that her underweight child needs to go off of gluten, questions the logic of this recommendation and struggles to imagine how she would implement such a drastic change to her way of eating. Months go by, her daughter continues to be diagnosed with “failure to thrive” and then the mother sees another expert who tells her that her daughter needs to go off gluten entirely. This time, the mother is stronger, her baby is older, she has started getting some sleep again and her other children are slightly less dependent on her and she feels ready to take this step. Her baby gradually gains weight and begins to exude health.
Read MoreRange of Colours on Your Plate Represents Range of Nutrients
Each type of food calls upon a particular set of digestive enzymes to digest it. If those digestive enzymes are continually called upon and your digestive system is not strong (as is often the case these days), the particular digestive enzymes needed to digest your favourite food will wear out. It is no coincidence that the top allergens in North America are dairy and wheat – the two foods that we consume the most. Each time we eat wheat, in our breakfast (toast), lunch (sandwich) and dinner (pasta), we use the same digestive enzyme to break down the wheat. If we start to experience bloating or fatigue or maybe even acquire celiac disease, these are all signs that our digestive enzymes for wheat are not working properly. This is why digestive enzymes are being taken in supplement form, more and more often these days.
Read MoreMy Baby Is Reacting to Formula
First of all, I should explain that babies never react to breast milk itself but they can react to the foods that mom is eating and are therefore going into her breast milk. There will be people who tell you this is untrue but I am here to tell you that this is absolutely true. I have seen this with my daughters and also, had dozens of clients over the years whose babies have reacted to the foods in the breast milk they are consuming. When a mother feels her milk is causing pain or suffering in her child, she often decides that she had better stop breastfeeding. More times than not, reactions to infant formula end up being even greater than the reactions to the foods in the breast milk!
Read MoreSeeing the Beauty in the Beast
The more often that you do this in your own life, the better equipped you will be to offer this assistance in the life of your child. And the more often you train your eye to view people and situations this way, the more often you will see beyond. It takes effort to do this. “Why must I always be the bigger person?” some of you might ask. Because when you see each person and circumstance as beautiful, you experience a beautiful moment. And one beautiful moment leads to another. And before you know it, you are living a beautiful life.
Read MoreWrite Your Own Child’s Report Card
What if we, our children’s parents or other family member or family friend, wrote our own report card for our child or the child we know? For, it is each of us that knows this child best. We could do it at the end of each school year or even each semester, for that matter!
And what might this report card include?
Read More7 Ways to Prevent the Flu in Your Household
The flu, originally called Influenza, has been attacking households for weeks now. Having successfully prevented and treated the flu within our family and with my clients, I felt it was time to spread the information to help others do the same! Below you will find 7 tips to avoiding the flu in your household this season.
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