Let’s face it, some kids are naturally picky eaters. As parents we have a choice, help them become creative eaters who try a variety of foods or feed them only what they like leading to unhealthy eating habits and questionable health.

Today we’re talking about how to get kids to eat healthy, and below you get the opportunity to join in the conversation and share your thoughts for a chance to win a Mom’s Getaway Spa Day!

Although it may seem like a strange combination, I have always felt that giving my children the opportunity to eat a variety of foods regardless of their refusals helps them in other areas of life as well. Not only am I making sure that they are eating a balanced and healthy diet, but I’m also ensuring that they are not a frustration to others anytime anyone other than myself has to feed them a meal.

So, how do we get around the picky eater and whining?

When you have worked to prepare a yummy and healthy meal, hearing a child say “I don’t like that” can be so frustrating.  Being part of a big family, there’s truly not a lot of opportunity to be picky, there’s simply no way to prepare a lot of separate meals just because of one or two childrens’  limited tastes.

That’s not to say we haven’t had our fair share of battles with the picky eater over the years, but we have learned a few things. Feeding children a variety of healthy foods right from the start is paramount for growing a healthy eater. Finding fun ways to present healthy foods and using all the great tools and flavors we have at our disposal to make truly deliciously healthy food is ultimately the very best way to encourage our children to eat.

Heres’ a few more tips.

Let them Help

This is probably the best way to get a child to eat something they ordinarily wouldn’t even look at. Letting them help make the food will almost always guarantee a child will eat it. Although kids cooking can be a messy adventure and requires a lot of supervision, they are actually quite creative.

Sometimes we let them help plan from the meal planning and shopping to the cooking and serving. Taking ownership of an entire meal is something that makes the kids so proud!

Be Creative

Serving foods that are not on your child’s list of things that are ok can be a little less challenging if they are presented in a fun and creative way.  Check out the discussions we’ve been having about Bento lunches, there’s plenty of creative and fun ideas by even simply creating food that’s shaped in fun ways.

Also, having theme nights such as food from a certain country or foods all of a certain color (even though I usually recommend serving a rainbow of colors…which could also be a theme…in this case it works for the greater good to serve one color), etc.

Approach it Head On

If all else fails you can talk to them straight out about it. Obviously this won’t work with the toddler/preschool ages who are quite possibly the most picky group of them all, but for kids that are school age, understanding how important it is to eat a balanced and healthy meal is important and can definitely make them think.

In the end, if the child simply doesn’t respond, I always find myself going back to the fact that I’m the parent. I am ultimately responsible for keeping each of our children healthy, and sometimes I simply have to gently but firmly take charge whether the child likes it or not.

We want to know your tips for getting kids to eat healthier! Please join the conversation by submitting your tip in the box below for a chance to win a $500 Mom’s Getaway Spa Day from BlogFrog!

Want to exchange more healthy snacks ideas, money saving tips and back to school shopping advice with other moms? Visit the Horizon® Healthy Families Back to School Community!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Horizon Organic brand. 

I recently was contacted by a subscriber and she shared her heart and a few challenges that she’s having with her kiddos. As I read her email, I felt her pain and the frustration of the part of parenting that sometimes can be so hurtful…disrespectful children.

My kids aren’t perfect. We’ve had plenty of hiccups along the way.  Quite possibly one of the most frustrating …and humiliating…is public disrespect or tantrums.

Since every single thing we do as parents is scrutinized under a very wishy washy viewing lens publicly these days, many parents have actually resorted to doing very little to discipline their children, especially in public. Sadly, the result is very disrespectful children that have no concern for anyone but themselves.

But I digress (sorry!)….

If you find that your children have become very difficult to handle in public (throwing tantrums, demanding things, etc), here’s a tried and true two step process that has been proven to change their tune.

Step 1: Set the ground rules! Prior to going into the store simply take a moment and talk to your children and very pointedly tell them your expectations and consequences for begging and tantrums.

Step 2: If they go with me and begin to get demanding I stop them and take a moment to remind them of the rules and consequences and point out that what they are doing is not only unacceptable but will result in immediate removal from the store should it happen again. This will be the ONLY warning.

Step 3:  If they continue to beg or throw a tantrum, I simply take them out of the store and we go home. Sometimes they fuss or throw a fit all the way out of the store, but the point has been very bluntly made that this behavior will result in getting nothing at all (and that I mean business).

As with anything consistency is key. You have to be prepared to abruptly stop your shopping trip at any moment and remove your children from the store. Taking them out isn’t always pretty, they sometimes carry on and fuss and may even throw a tantrum all the way out. Simply remain calm, load up and go home.

You can tell them that you will try again later or another day when they think they can control themselves better. This process must be repeated until they can make it through a shopping trip without throwing a fit or making demands.

Until then every shopping trip you take your child on must be viewed as a training exercise. So you may have to make sure you have time to make important trips to the store alone in order to make sure you can complete the shopping trip.

If you have any questions, or have tips to add please feel free to share with us!!!

Note: I learned this idea while taking a class using the book Parenting With Love And Logic. I did not reference the book in writing this post, simply shared what has worked for us over the years, so the process I have described here may be very different than what you find in the book. I wanted to point it out though because I consider that book to be a wonderful reference for ANY parent’s library!

Once upon a time two little Princes went happily off to sleep each night with a bedtime prayer and story in their quiet home and room….

As the years went on however, this story did not get so “happily ever after”.  As more Princes joined the story, bedtime got a little less peaceful and a lot less structured.

This is now going to change!

I love quiet. A bit of an oxymoron with 6 boys, but I do, I simply cannot help it. I actually crave quiet time and over the last couple years have found myself staying up later and later at night to get it.

Not every parent craves quiet the way I do, but I think we all crave peace not chaos, especially at bedtime. Letting the routine disappear wasn’t an intentional thing, but it happened.

So, getting back in the routine will have to be very intentional and possibly a little bit challenging. But I have to say that out of all the challenges I face as the mom of 6 boys, I have a feeling this will be one of the easiest ones.

I say that because, although they will not just go about the routine on their own, they enjoy bedtime routines more than anything else and are quite happy to go along with it (most of the time). The key is to be relaxed and involve them.

While most families have some sort of established bedtime routine (as we did years ago), if you happen to be a mom that feels like bedtime is a little out of control, the solution may be simpler than you think.

Get prepared.

Most of the tools you will need to start your routine will already be on hand, but prepare ahead of time for the evening so that you have everything ready to go and can stay on track.  Things you may want to have on hand:

• Bible, children’s book, etc.
• Quiet music

It’s really that simple.

The process.

Again, this is so simple, but it’s intentional which makes all the difference in the world. Walking the little ones through the process of washing up, getting on their jammies and brushing their teeth begins the process of course. It also helps to make sure that they don’t have anything left that they feel they desperately must share with us before bed (this is a frequent occurance for the twins so we give them this opportunity to “get it all out” so to speak… within reason of course).

As I tuck them into their fresh sheets and blankies, they get excited if they see I have a story book to read to them and they are always disappointed when I finish reading it. I read it only once, then tuck them in, have prayer time and give them their kisses and hugs and watch as they settle.

This isn’t a miracle process.

It won’t magically erase all bedtime issues. They still wake up with bad dreams occasionally, they have achy legs (the twins always have had these aches), there is sometimes still general chatting and carrying on after lights out (this tends to happen when more than a couple kids share a room). Overall however, they settle in and are off to dreamland with lightening speed… something that is such a blessing to me.

So, the hope of having my quiet time and still go to bed at a decent hour prevails once again. Oh the happiness.

Often the unexpected comes in forms that we never could have anticipated. Both good and bad come from the unexpected, we just never know what we’re going to end up with.

What happens though when an unexpected turn of events in life that you think might be a blessing in disguise goes terribly wrong. This is not a fun reality when you’re going through it.

I can’t fix it.

When my youngest sis who just had her baby was close to her due date we found out that my other sis (also a writer here at A Frog In My Soup) was expecting. This was a surprise but we all felt it was a blessing at the same time.

She had just begun to enter her second trimester this week, a milestone in any pregnancy, but on Tuesday everything started going wrong. She went in yesterday for an ultrasound and found out that she was miscarrying.

This is such a horrifying experience for any woman, but she’s been through this before and although it’s been a very long time the terrible memories of her very first pregnancy began to surface again. Today she’s dealing with the loss of a baby, her family is dealing with the loss as well and my Princess (who is almost 11) is taking it oh so hard.

I can’t fix it.

I am her big sister. It’s always been my job to pave the way and make the path just a little easier. I can’t do that and it makes me feel a little crazy. I want to take away the pain and the hurt and the memories and … well just the whole situation.

But I can’t.

Loss comes in many forms and is always difficult. To all of you who have been through this I just want to say I’m sorry and that I sincerely hope that you had friends and family come alongside you and hold you up when you didn’t think you could stand in the hardest part of it.

If you are the friend or family of someone who has miscarried or is about to have a miscarriage and you know about it, be that person that is willing to be strong through the tough parts. I am hurting too, but my sister needs strong supporters right now.

I still can’t fix it for her, but I want her to know that I’ll be strong for her, that she can totally be real and be herself with me and that I am 100% available to her through this!

Please feel free to share your heart in the comments.

I’m pretty sure there comes a time in every blogger’s life where they aren’t entirely sure what they will share or even if they should. Although my blog started so small, I know that now there are many that actually read it and I want to make sure that the things I share are an encouragement not a downer.

That said, life happens. I have found it necessary occasionally to put down the blog and pick up my kids. That would explain my absence last week. They needed me…and…well…you didn’t so much.

I am so close to feeling normal again, it has been very nice. We still live in our cramped little house as a family of 8 and that still makes me a little crazy from time to time but the laughter has come back and that’s what I love.

Depression is an ugly word and can do very ugly things to a person’s life. I won’t (and don’t) talk about it often here because it is so heavy and in many ways just too personal and even difficult to explain. I will say this though, as a mom of so many my biggest frustration was wanting things to be back to “normal” for my kids!

But I digress….I really just wanted to say thank you to all of you for hanging in there as things have been fairly inconsistent. This week there should be yet another great giveaway for all of you to participate in so I will talk to you all again soon.

Until then, be blessed and hug your family!

Moving into a difficult season in life isn’t something that anyone ever hopes for or dreams of…but most of us understand that it is likely to happen at some point (or several points) in our life.  There are many things for me to be thankful for, though I tend to forget them in the middle of the daily grind.

Sometimes, as with me, the situation arises unexpectedly and unavoidably. No, there was no one thing that happened, but there are many many things that basically overwhelmed me but were/are completely out of my control.

Moving into self-preservation mode is probably a normal reaction, this is the point where having a little conversation with myself was completely necessary. Remembering that I need to find balance…the balance that works toward getting me healthy but also remembers to keep an even keel in the home for the family.

Not an impossible mission, but I found it to be a very difficult one.  I struggle with our culture’s need to focus solely on self and do whatever necessary to make self happy. So possibly in rebellion to that attitude I (and many other moms I know) buried myself in my family.  No I don’t feel that I lost my identity…it was altered yes, but lost…no.

Once again, I am reminded that as with everything in life, finding balance is the key.  Finding a way to take care of what I need to be healthy right now, as well as the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of my family. It’s the basics, easier said than done but how often do we make a mountain out of a molehill.

So in the process of balancing I’m also remembering to simplify. Again, much easier said than done but I’m tired of making life too complicated and difficult. There’s enough of that out of my control so why add that in where I do have a little say?

As I enter what I hope will be a new season of refreshing, balance and simplicity I hope that you can also find joy and fulfillment in the simple things in life.

Yes, after a few months of being quiet I suddenly feel like the fog is lifting and I want to talk again.  So if you’ve noticed that I’m suddenly blogging again…you aren’t mistaken.  I’m just doing it a bit differently and still kind of ‘going with the flow’ of whatever is on my mind, or when I have time. In other words I’m back but things might still look a little different.

I can’t say that the process of what I’ve been dealing with lately hasn’t been without side effects. My normally happy and optimistic nature has been…well…not so happy or optimistic much of the time.  The idea of sharing what I was going through was very difficult for me.

Honestly not because of pride, but because it felt wrong somehow that my normally encouraging and uplifting blog would be tarnished by difficulties beyond my ability to completely explain or handle in every day life.  To be in a place in my life where I didn’t feel like I had anything encouraging to offer was foreign and frustrating for me.

I’m not going to tell you that I’m back to “normal”, in a way I’m not sure if I ever will be. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but everything we go through in life will shape us and transform us just a little (or a lot). But the constant haze I was in seems to have faded a bit, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally visible and while I still have bad days, there are good ones now too.

Thank you all so much for standing by me through this…I have great friends, many of which simply email me when they read posts here and I appreciate you all.  I wish you all great blessings today!!!

Hugs…

There comes a point in every child’s littlehood that they decide they shouldn’t take naps.   If I were content to leave it alone, none of my children would have continued to nap during the day into their third year.

The thing is, I’m not content to leave it alone.  That is the only time of the day where I get a few short minutes of quiet, rest and solid work time.  Even more though, I found right off the bat with boy number 1 is that although they may hit this “no nap” sometime when they are three, most of them weren’t truly ready to give it up permanently, it was merely a temporary thing.

Through all 6 of my boys they have been very varied in their napping.  Some of them nap until Kindergarten (and even then aren’t truly ready to give it up), others are definitely ready to move on to “rest time” at the age of 4.  None of them gave it up completely before that, though they may have tried.

The twins are now 3 1/2 and sometimes struggle with the nap thing…though sleeping has never been something they excel at (LOL).  My 6 year old (Sir Lion) on the other hand, who is in half day Kindergarten this year, still shows signs of definitely needing a nap a couple times per week.

Even if it seems like the end of napping is at hand, I really like everyone to have quiet time each day…even the bigger ones during summer break.  They don’t have to lay down of course, but I do ask that they keep their voices down, there will be absolutely no rough housing, and I encourage anything quiet: reading, games, playing quietly, etc.  They occasionally slip and get noisy, but for the most part, they reap the benefits of this arrangement too.  I really do believe that it is healthy for everyone to have some quiet in their day.

So the dilemma?  Like I mentioned the twins are terrible sleepers (Ok, so I put it nicely before, but let’s not be in denial here) and at 3 1/2 they are terribly difficult to get to nap.  Do they still need a nap?  Yes, all signs point to the fact that they are definitely not doing well without a nap.  So, as unruly as they are, I am trying now to teach them about “quiet time”.  You may play quietly or read quietly on your nap bed (they do NOT do well if they are in the same room at naptime), but you may not get up.

So, in the midst of my current dilemma which may or may not mean that my last children are done being nappers (sigh), here’s a little info I thought I’d share on the subject that I’ve learned over the years.

• Some children will go through stages of napping.  Just because they are having a difficult time napping right now, may not mean that they are done napping altogether, they may be ready again next week so keep up the routine.
• If your child is young and you don’t want them to give up napping completely, go into it like it’s a temporary thing, and continue with their routine.  They may simply lay in their crib hugging their cozy for the hour and a half they would normally nap, that’s fine.  This gives both you and the little one time to recouperate from the morning by having a little down time.  Some don’t go for this easily, and many a parent has given up after a few days thinking that there’s no hope.
• If you don’t want to continue trying to get your child to nap after a few days, that is entirely up to you.  But if you really do want to give it a fair shot, keep going every day and if nothing else, you will at least establish a routine.
• When do you know that your child needs to cut out or down on naptime?  If your child cannot get to sleep at night, they are restless when they do sleep or they wake up in the night unable to go back to sleep.
• When do you know that naptime is simply a challenge, but that your child still needs a nap?  For my children, it depended on the child.  But, by around 5 or 6pm (way too early), they would exhibit one or more of the following:  overly emotional (crying for no reason), mad at the world (crabby and angry at everyone about everything), rollercoaster emotions (laughing one minute, bawling the next – way more than usual even for the personality that does that), falling asleep in the car (especially if you go somewhere around dinnertime), bouncing off the walls (a couple of my kids get ultra hyper when they are tired – total oxymoron, I know, but they did).

I’m sure there are plenty of things I’m forgetting about, but that’s quite a bit for now.  Feel free to leave a comment with your naptime dilemmas, solutions or questions.  If you have a question, be sure to come back and check comments in a few days for an answer.

There are many times throughout parenting when we hurt for our children.

Mommy Realities … they’re all about what we can learn from the things we experience daily with our children. Some of these realities are minor (we always hope that there are many more of these), some of them are a little more major (these aren’t too bad I suppose) and putting us into the AAAAAAAH department (we do NOT want many of these).

I’ve been having an AAAAAAH week with my oldest!