Lately, my blog posts have been rather technical, not so light and maybe overwhelming to some of you. Today, I decided to talk about a challenge that many parents face but sometimes have a hard time discussing.  There are parents who want to do right by their children but are powerless to do so.  You may be a parent who wants to feed your child nutritiously and ensure they get enough sleep and exercise but circumstances are preventing this from being possible.  Maybe you have a teenager who refuses to listen to your ‘lofty’ ideas of eating healthier.  Maybe you are so stressed out with working and trying to pay the bills that you cannot even begin to think about taking the first steps towards improving the health of your child.  Maybe your spouse has no belief in the power of nutrition, even though you are certain of its value.  There could be any number of circumstances preventing a child from receiving the care they require.

Then one of my blog posts shows up on your computer, inducing guilt as soon as you scan its content.  It is never my intention to add to your guilt as a parent.  I know that every parent carries enough guilt as it is.   We all know that we can do infinitely more for our children.  There is a never ending list of ways in which we can improve their lives, as well as our own.

My job is simply to make you aware of the impact of food on your child’s wellbeing because our society refuses to believe that what we put into our children’s bodies multiple times a day has any effect.  My job is not to add to your sense of overwhelm and please do not let me have that power over you.

If you are in a place to try something new to improve your family’s health, then I give you the information to do that.  Or if your child is becoming sick too often and you can’t bear to see them suffer any longer, you might decide to implement some of the ideas I share with you.

But for the rest of you, I invite you to learn to let go and know that there might be aspects of your child’s wellbeing in which you have no control.  To be able to do this, you might need to come to love and accept yourself enough to know that none of us are perfect and we can only do so much.  Because if more of us would come to love and accept ourselves, we wouldn’t be so hard on ourselves and we would all be so much happier.   We need to focus on the aspects of raising our children that we are capable of controlling and that is all.  And if anyone deigns to judge the job you are doing in raising your child, I want you to remember that they have not walked in your shoes.

Most importantly, I encourage you to notice the next time your child smiles at you or laughs or hops on your lap and bestows a kiss on your lips.  Those are the moments to cherish.  For truly, the only indication of a life well lived, is the amount of joy a person experiences each and every day.

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Until next time,

Meredith