One of the most important lessons about food I want my kids to learn is the importance of variety. Eating fresh, whole foods is important, but your body doesn't benefit nearly as much unless you are eating a wide variety of foods. Since for kids St. Patrick's Day is all about leprechauns and ...
Parenting
The Dinnertime Rules
A while back I got an email from a reader asking if I could "pull back the curtain" on how I handle dinnertime. I love getting topic requests from readers, but I found that choice of words a little odd. It made me feel as if I'm hiding something. I assure you that I'm not. I can see, however, ...
Snow Art
What a week! We started the week with Luke breaking his leg and then the cold, snowy weather means Meghan hasn't had school yet this week. This isn't the post I had planned for today, but with one child needing me for every little thing ("Mommy! I can't reach my car!") and another one looking to ...
Extended Breastfeeding: Why I Did it, What it Was Like, and the Bittersweet Tale of Weaning my Toddler
Breastfeeding can be a polarizing topic. Women who breastfeed sometimes like to shout loud and proud about the benefits of breastfeeding and tout it as the best way to feed a baby. Then there's the equally passionate women who formula feed and are quick to defend their decision. As far as I can ...
10 Activities to Do with Your Kids over Christmas Break
Happy Monday! If you have school-aged kids, this is probably the first day of their Christmas Break. Are you wondering what you're going to do with them for two weeks? If your kids are anything like mine, they like to be busy. Even though Luke is home with me all the time, it's different when ...
6 Things I’ve Learned in 6 Years of Motherhood
6 years ago yesterday, my first child, Meghan Jane, was born. I spent my pregnancy reading books on babies and parenting, trying to prepare myself for what was coming. I didn't know, of course, that there isn't a book out there that will prepare you for this wonderful, crazy, exhausting, ...
What Can Happen If You Decide To Speak Up?
During Meghan's first year of preschool, they served juice and some sort of processed food (such as crackers) for snack everyday. It bothered me because those were not things I gave her at home often, but I didn't say anything since she was only there three mornings a week. The next ...
Learning to Say No
It seems children today are offered candy or junk food during or after every activity in which they participate. Where do you draw the line? This is the story of how I'm learning to say no. Meghan had her first day of school yesterday. (She's repeating kindergarten at a new school.) I picked ...
2 1/2 Years
Remember this guy? He's 2 1/2! I am in awe of the toddler my little baby's grown into. He's a walking, talking, big-boy-potty-using cool guy who is equally loving and gentle as rough and tumble. And I just keep falling more in love with him everyday. Ready for some updates? Feel free ...
You Can Go Your Own Way
Meghan had a ballet recital this weekend. The opening act danced to Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac. As the older dancers moved across the stage to those iconic words, I couldn't help but think about how sure I was Meghan wouldn't be dancing this year. Well before her first recital last year, ...
Kindergarten Redshirting: Why We Are Doing it With Our Daughter
Redshirting kindergarten is a term given when parents hold their child back a year before starting kindergarten, or in some cases, give them an extra year of kindergarten. The term comes from college athletics when freshmen take a year off from competitive play to gain an extra year of eligibility ...
How to Grow a Reader
Although I don't consider Happy Healthy Mama exclusively a food blog, food talk does tend to dominate around here. I'm passionate about health, nutrition, and feeding my family well, so you'll always find healthy recipes and some fitness talk when you visit. But I want to share another one of my ...