Manners Make Family Mealtimes Enjoyable Mealtime manners area taught as soon as baby is sitting in a highchair. Table manners begin before the food is even placed on the plates. Children should wait until the family is seated together before beginning to chow down. One way to accomplish this is to serve your meals family-style. [...]

Brooke recently emailed me about her breakfast concerns. School is starting once again and the rush to get the kids out the door with a nourishing breakfast can be a challenge. Brooke said, “I have a plethora of parenting magazines thanks to dirt cheap Groupon and Mamapedia online deals, but am not finding a good [...]

The days are warm and long. The kids are home and need something to keep them busy. It’s the perfect time to include your kids in meal preparation. Meal preparation is an opportunity for your youngster to have hands-on experiences with various foods. “Multi-sensory learning” is involving all the senses in the process. When kids have chores in the [...]

When I was growing up, kids were expected to help with family chores. The larger the family, the more chores children were given. I frequently could be found at my best friend’s home. Debbie was the eldest girl in a family with five children. Before she was allowed to play after school, her chores needed [...]

If you have a picky eater, mealtimes can be a nightmare. Know that you’re not alone. A recent survey showed more than 68 percent of registered dietitians, who counsel new parents, frequently receive questions about getting finicky eaters to eat at mealtime. Other surveys have found more than 50 percent of moms say they have [...]

Step One: Start Early You can avoid having a picky eater! The earlier you start introducing whole foods the easier it will be. When your baby is ready for solid foods, begin with real foods. Introduce squash, carrots, broccoli, avocado, peas, green beans before sweeter fruit like bananas. Never feed your baby processed foods, especially [...]

One of the primary functions of the family is to produce and reproduce persons—biologically, socially and spiritually. A family is the most basic social unit. The family is the smallest form of government. It’s where children learn to be good citizens. Our families are splintered because we no longer do things together as a family. [...]

Baby food is whole food, pureed. That’s it. Processed baby food can be expensive. It’s certainly not essential to purchase baby food in tiny glass jars. Jars of baby food found on grocer shelves are convenient when you’re out and about, but I never relied on them. I always made my own baby food. Homemade [...]

It’s not uncommon for picky eaters refuse to eat most vegetables. Often when parents claim they have a picky eater, what they are saying is that their child won’t eat vegetables. Teaching children how to enjoy veggies is vital for good health. Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater is about transformation. [...]

Kid Foods Are Fake Foods Kid food looks and tastes like food; offering little or absolutely no nutrition whatsoever. Real food is a substance eaten for nourishment. You can be assured of a picky eater, by regularly purchasing kid foods, training little taste buds to prefer fake foods. If you want to know what kid food [...]