Let Kids Help
|
One fantastic way to get your children involved in what they are eating, is to have them help. A great way to start is to let them make up their lunch for the next day. Obviously you will need to set some guidelines. For example, when I turned 9 I was allowed to make up my own lunch. In my girlfriends' houses they were 10 and in some others 11. However, we all felt very important and grown up that we were allowed to make up our own lunch. Again, my mom had certain guidelines. We had to pick a lunch meat, fruit or yogurt and bread to put it on (white, wheat, rye or a roll; today wraps are another alternative). As I got older however, I cut down to a half sandwich as I found I didn't always finish a full sandwich. I continue to eat lunch this way today, a half sandwich and some fruit.
Large meals make people full and sleepy, and they cut down on employee's productiveness. Think of what large meals do to your children at school. We want our children alert so that they can learn, not falling asleep at their desks, so let's keep those lunches on the lighter side. You can do this if you provide them with a good breakfast.
By working beside your children and discussing what they eat for lunch (healthy protein, fruit, veggie and healthy carbs) you are helping them to understand the importance of whole foods and the avoidance of junk foods. You are helping them to learn and make smart informed choices and as they get older these good habits will stay with them. They will learn that these types of food will help them feel better and look better, give them more energy. Try to drop the phrase healthy foods from your vocabulary and let them see that the food choices they are making will help them feel so much better. Put the emphasis on how their body is feeling and all the energy they have rather than "that food is bad for you, why don't you eat this healthy food".
I know of one family that actually had the food pyramid on their bulletin board in their kitchen and it helped them to pick out what foods they wanted. Their mom actually let them help plan not only their lunch meals, but the meals during the week also. Everyone got a chance to decide what to eat on certain nights. Again, however, the caveats were there about food choices. They had to pick a protein, vegetable, carbohydrate and fruit. By keeping the food pyramid handy her kids got to see what was available. I also remember her taking out pictures of the various meats (beef, pork, chicken) so they could see what they looked like. In addition, she had a book available with recipes of chicken and rice, corn beef and cabbage, standing rib roast, etc. The book also had the different kinds of vegetables and recipes for different ways to prepare them. It also included different types of salads, lunch meats, breads and fruits. All of the recipes had pictures of what the food looked like. She usually baked a cake or pie over the weekend and they got to have a dessert other than fruit, Jell-O, pudding or fruit cup on Saturday and Sunday.
Unlike today, when we grew up we played outside, rode our bikes, ran around, roller skated, and the list goes on and on. We didn't have computers or computer games. So in addition to the above healthy eating choices you need to plan some activities for your children today other than the television or video games. This is a topic however, for a future article.
Copyright 2005, DeFiore Enterprises
Introducing Keep Kids Fit: A How To Guide For Setting Up And Running Your Own Business In One Year Or Less! Solutions for parents who want healthy children in body and mind! Our motto, "Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Help Keep Kids Fit" Keep Kids Fit asks the question: Do You Want To Help Foster A Healthy Lifestyle For Your Child! If you answered yes, then visit our web blog at: http://hbsblogs.typepad.com/keepkidsfit/ and visit our website today at: http://www.keepkidsfit.com
|
|
|
?gimme? Proof Your Kids: How To Keep Your Child?s Materialism In Check
It's the first day of the summer holiday. Five year-old Stephanie is shopping with you at Wal-Mart and picks out three stuffed animals that she saw in the movie Madagascar. "Oh Mom please! I want to bring Alex and Gloria and Melman to Kinder Gym with me!" she says and stomps off in disgust when you tell her she has to choose only one.Your eight-year old, Alex, comes home from Summer Day Camp. "I need an iPod!" he declares, "Thomas has one and it's sweet!" Your first thought is, "What's an iPod?" Once Alex fills you in on the latest must-hav...(related: Parenting)
Advocating For Your Child With Ld
Advocate: you've probably heard the term before. But what does it mean to you?
Advocating happens when you speak on behalf of someone else. You say for them what they can't say for themselves.
When you have a child who has been diagnosed with a learning disability, this is exactly what you must do for them. You must speak on their behalf. You know your child the best of anybody, and you are the best person to speak for them.
It sounds like a tall order, and it is. It is not always an easy thing to do. I know. I've been there. Even with a college degree and a special education classroom of...(related: Parenting)
Kids And Chores - Make It Easy On Yourself!
My neighbours' kid impressed me the other day.I was busy painting the backyard fence, when their ten-yearold son came out with the vacuum cleaner. He opened thefront panel, removed the bag, and put it in the bin. Then hetook a replacement bag, fitted it, and went back indoors -probably to get on with the vacuum cleaning!Fifteen minutes la...(related: Parenting)
Homeschooling ? Can I Do It?
Many parents would like to homeschool their children but are afraid they don't have the training or ability to be their children's teacher. This is certainly understandable, because most parents never had any formal training to be a teacher. However, most parents don't have to worry about this issue.There is literally a supermarket of education resources available for parents to choose from to help them homeschool their children. These include low-cost Internet private schools that take most of the homeschooling burden off parents' backs.There are also hundreds of low-cost instruction books on how to teach your child reading, math, and many other subjects. These are available in most libraries and great book stores like Barnes & Noble and Borders. There are also thousands of computer sof...(related: Parenting)
Your Company Vehicle Is A Portable Bill Board; A Word Of Advice On Children Passengers
Child Safety Restraints and children in work vehiclesIf you take your child in your work car, van, SUV ...(related: Parenting)
Teach Your Children About The Importance Of Water
The Flow of WaterWater is essential for life on the Planet, we all know this, water holds a very special place for us for that very reason. ...(related: Parenting)
Eating Disorders In Children
If I had a dollar for every time I persuaded a girl of 8 or 9 that they were not, in fact, fat, I'd be considerably richer. When my older daughter was about that age, their mothers were putting a lot of her friends on diets. It drove me absolutely crazy to see these poor little girls, worrying about their "tummies" or "fat" that wasn't even evident, except to a mother who was hoping for a super model-skinny pre-pubescent child, which is ridiculous. When they were at my house, they ate well, I wouldn't allow them to drink or eat anything diet and I encouraged them to eat healthy food that would strengthen their bodies and bones. I also tried to assure them that they were not fat; that they would grow into their bodies and they were absolutely beautiful jus...(related: Parenting)
Strategies To Help Boost Your Childs Self Esteem
Self esteem in an important quality for all children to have. As parents, you can help to boost your child's self esteem by following the steps below:
A New Dad To Be? Deer In The Headlights?
Ok. So you're a dad to be. If you're like most men, this can be a scary situation. We go through so many emotions a...(related: Parenting)
Moral Armors Irrational Parenting, Part Iii
Not Letting Them Think.We all implicitly know that anything questioning the process of cognition itself will be met with massive irritation, making us want to respond with "Don't question my capacity to think." Their moronic reasoning to show how logic is derived, provokes the thought, "Don't try to tell me how to think." Forcing their opinions down your throat earns the response, "Don't tell me what to think." Some parents show no respect for personal boundaries long after childhood, straightening your clothes, your hair, invading your privacy-incessantly buzzing around you like a mosquito. This belittlement implies incompetent dependency-a fundamental insult to Man or animal-any way you slice it. These actions tick every...(related: Parenting)
The Best And Worst Of Motherhood
Until the moment I became a mother, I couldn't quite understand or comprehend the depth when people say "Mothers are the strongest, most noble and loving people in this whole wide world" It's just a whole bunch of cliché stuff that I could live without, thank you very much!The pain. The joy. The sacrifices. The love. The fear. The confusion. The anxiety, panic, loss of time, loss of privacy. The internal battle between a person's own inner personality conflicting with those of being a mother. The need to be alone and oneself roughly pushed aside because a child needs caring,...(related: Parenting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved. | Parenting