The National Restaurant Association has identified kids nutrition as one of the hottest trends on the horizon. According to Joy Dubost, the association’s director of nutrition and healthy living, nearly one million restaurants are in tune with consumer’s increasing interest in healthful eating. Kid’s menus, once the predictable fried-chicken fingers and corn dogs, are growing healthier as parents are demanding better options. The ideas range from as unusual as a nut-and-strawberry sandwich to as ordinary as traditional salads. In addition, when standard kids fare is offered, it will soon be made from more healthful ingredients. For example, there are thoughts about using organic cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches and grass-fed beef for burgers.
Archives for Parenting in the News
Trends toward Healthy Dining
Table Talk!
Dinner table conversations are now making the news! Moms today are reporting all different styles of talk that they experienced at their tables when they were growing up. Here are some fond remembrances:
- Oral math games about the speed of different planes, trains, and cars
- Debates about economic policies and civil rights issues
- Everyone reporting on how well their day went
- Eating and watching the news on TV
A new book called The Family Dinner by Laurie David includes almost as many discussion starting points as it does recipes. She explains that it is important today to teach kids how to have a real conversation and not just a texting one.
Guess who brought to Americans the most popular mealtime ritual we have today? If you said the Obama’s, you would be right. They created a simple fail-safe method in which each family member talks about his or her low and high points of the day. Is this really new? It turns out that the 1998 film “Stepmom” featured a family talking about their daily highs and lows.
This high and low idea is not only good for children. It is also good for parents. Educators point out that as parents share their ups and downs of the day, they seem more real to their children. “Be a person not a god” is a major tenet of guidance discipline. Here is an example of it from Wednesday Evening Wine that parents really like: Ohhh… the Good Old Days!
Dating with Difficulty!
Raising a child is hard.
Raising a child alone is harder.
Raising a child with autism alone is even harder.
Raising a child with autism alone and dating is hardest of all.
Hannah Brown discusses this issue in her new book If I Could Tell You about raising autistic children.
Dating is hard enough under normal circumstances, but Hannah explains in her book about the dilemma of meeting someone on a first date and having to tell him about your child with autism. If you use the word “autistic” to describe your child, you are probably doomed and just about assured of not getting asked for a second date. If you don’t use it, you are more than likely misrepresenting your situation. As a mother, you love your child more than anything else in the world and will go to any lengths for your child! As a man dating a mother of a child with a problem, no matter how much he likes the woman, he is likely to go to any lengths to avoid her in the future!
Friends with Kids
This is a new movie that is causing quite a stir! It is all about couples who had been good friends before having children and that are now finding themselves with struggling relationships. Why? What is happening?
It is a little like that old saying, “One person’s treasure is another person’s trash.” What one parent loves doing is exactly what makes another parent feel uncomfortable.
Here are some of the most common examples of important issues that are causing parents problems today:
- The kind of crib or bed to use
- The type of baby food to serve
- The kind of nursing or bottle feeding to choose
- The type of diapers to select
- The kind of potty training to do
- The type of discipline to use
Many couples who easily connected before being parents now find themselves growing further apart. That is not good!
What did she say?!!
A spokesperson for the Democratic party said that Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life.” Hmm… She brought up five boys. How could that be?
Here’s how work is defined in my on-line dictionary:
To exert oneself physically or mentally in order to do, make, or accomplish something.
Here’s the second definition:
To be employed; have a job.
Interesting… very interesting!
NOTE: As you know, Ann Romney is the wife of a candidate, not a candidate.
Chew the Food Well!
Some celebrity moms are saying, “Chew the food well.”
They mean they will chew the food well and then give it to their babies when it is the right consistency for them. They really believe they are doing the right thing.
I know, you think I made that up on April Fool’s Day and that I am passing it on to you for the fun of it. However, probably you also know that even if I tried to make up something like that… I never would have been able to do it!
Therefore, that is exactly what some celebrity moms are saying.
April 22nd!
Is it Earth Day or Birthday?
Earth Day is one way of saying happy birthday to our world. While April 22nd is not the day the earth was born, it is the anniversary of the day in 1970 that the United States took on the global awareness to make one day each year a reminder that the earth is a precious gift of life. The message was so well-received that we still have that day today to remind us to take care of what we all share together–our wonderful planet.
Therefore, just as you celebrate your child’s birthday this year, set aside April 22nd to celebrate with your family another year of our collective lives. Talk about all we have accomplished so far as a society and have fun as you think up new and different ways to help our earth continue to flourish for many years to come.
Happy Earth Day!
Picky-Eaters!
The French make parenting news again; and interestingly enough, it is all about food. While “picky-eaters” is a common topic among American parents, it doesn’t even make the top ten subjects that French parents discuss.
What is the deal? Once again it is all in the culture. French parents, and the early childhood providers who care for their children, all conduct basic meals in the same way–as if they were some version of fine dining. For dressy occasions even small silverware and small wine glasses can be part of a children’s table.
It reminds me a little of the whole puree concept in much of the Latin community. Parents puree their own table food for their little ones. For young babies they puree the food to a very soft texture. Then as baby grows, little by little, they make their in purees more and more of a table-like consistency. Before long… voila… young children are eating like adults!
Parent Power!
Did you know that “parent power” really exists? Did you also know that you have it?
A mom in Louisville, KY saved her two kids from the ravages of a tornado. Even though she lost a leg limb and had severe damage to her other leg, she new just what to do to protect her children with a blanket and then make it safe for her son to go to get help. Everyone wanted to call her a hero, but she called herself a mom doing what she needed to do to protect her children.
You are are child’s expert. You are the one person who always knows just what to do and exactly how to do it.
Congratulations, Mom! Enjoy your special power!
Tribute to Whitney Houston
Thank you Whitney for the wonderful self-esteem building lesson in your masterpiece
The Greatest Love of All
Parents, read the words carefully and get an important message for your child.
The Greatest Love of All
I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me
[Chorus]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
With this well-known popular song, so few people know the real message. Now you do.
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