Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

For real, let's talk about Kid POOP. Because it doesn't get enough press! Dr. Song talks about kids' poop with every patient at every visit. You're going to love this interview!

Dr. Elisa Song, MD, holistic pediatrician, is back today with some very important instruction for parents and kids about WHY we need to be aware of our kid's poop each day, what to look for in a healthy poop, and what "text messages" our poop is sending us.

Once we learn to interpret the language of poop, we might need her tips on:

• How gut health impacts our brains and immune system and alllll the many ailments that likely begins in the gut
• Kicking constipation naturally (she explains why Miralax is NOT a good solution)
• How to find a good probiotic
• Best exercise for good digestion
• What happens to our digestion when we literally "eat on the run"

Dr. Song's new book Healthy Kids, Happy Kids: An Integrative Pediatrician's Guide to Whole Child Resilience releases on Tuesday, May 14! You can purchase it on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or ask your local bookstore or library if they'll get it.

Kids' Poop Resources We Mention

• Bristol Stool Chart
• Poo Keeper App
• Dr. Song's blog post Oh, Crap
• My post on natural alternatives to beat constipation
• An alternative to Miralax
• FREE probiotic guide for kids from Dr. Song
• Our huge guide to probiotics on Kitchen Stewardship
• Great choice for an infant probiotic: WellBelly
• Dr. Song talks more about infant reflux relief here.
• 3 part Facebook series on healthy gut in kids: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
• My post about how to ferment vegetables
• Buddies in My Belly is a book to teach kids about probiotics

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 Virtual Summer Camp!
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

In today's Healthy Parenting Handbook, I'm going to take 5 different arguments against kids doing chores and learning life skills and counter them with facts, stories, research, and a big ol' dose of common sense.

These are real arguments I hear from both well-meaning parents AND keyboard warriors on social media, plus one from a well-established expert I heard on a podcast that I simply do not agree with!

If you've ever had to listen to someone say it's cruelty to make your kids clean a bathroom or have felt yourself that maybe kids are busy enough - maybe life skills aren't important to learn now - this one's for you.

Resources I Mention for Chores and Life Skills

• Reserve your spot in our 2024 Life Skills Now Summer Camp
• Purchase access to Life Skills Now Season One from 2022 or Season Two from 2023
• 3 Reasons Giving Kids Responsibility Is a Gift

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 Virtual Summer Camp!
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Oh, parents. Parents in the tech age...there REALLY is no handbook for this! We've never seen our parents struggle through having the Internet in our kids' pockets, and honestly? I don't like the feeling of making it up as I go along.

That's why I've been following Andrea and Tyler at Better Screen Time for a few years in my personal email, and I don't know why I didn't ask her to do an interview sooner!

We dug deep in this interview, including:

• Risks of screen use and technology, including some I NEVER even considered
• Why we can't parent from a place of fear (even though that bit above is scary!!!)
• How parents can consciously choose when a child gets a personal device
• The risk of allowing our kids to self-soothe with screens
• The importance of kids under 6 doing the hard work of playing
• The difference between watching a show and playing on an interactive touch screen (mind-blowing!)
• What questions you should ask your kids to help build a family tech plan (and why "together" works better than "rules from the top")

This interview is required listening for all parents, and we really dig into healthy screen boundaries for kids younger than 10. Lay the foundations for family tech use with this interview, and watch in a few months when I have Andrea back to tackle the tough topic of tweens, teens, and smartphones.

Andrea offered a free gift for our listeners 100 screen-free activities.

Andrea is a camp leader for #LifeSkillsNow Summer Camp this June! Sign up for free here!

Check out 3rd Rock Essentials and use code KITCHENSTEW for 20% off!

Resources We Mention for Better Screen Time

• My second interview with Andrea about teens and screens
• Find Andrea Online
• Andrea's book: Creating a Tech Healthy Family
• Andrea's Courses: Creating a Tech Healthy Family, Untangling Teens and Tech
• Dr. Dimitri Christakis is a leader in screen research with kids
• Reset Your Child's Brain
• Here's the interview I mentioned with Dina Rose about healthy eating habits
• Follow Andrea on social media: Instagram, Facebook

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 Virtual Summer Camp!
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Power. Control. Parenting.

Which of these three doesn’t belong?

My guest today is Wendy Snyder, a positive parenting educator who reminds us, “Control is not the goal of parenting.”

Obviously, there is a balance of power in a parent-child relationship, but taking the power or fighting over who has power isn’t the right game to play.

Wendy will teach you:

• Why yelling is sometimes what parents do when they feel powerLESS
• Why it’s so difficult to parent “cactus kids” - aka those who want to be in power
• Steps to reduce your reliance on fear, force, bribery, rewards & nagging to influence your kids
• Powerful positive strategies that not only help you self-calm, but also work to decrease pushback from your kiddos
• How to get to the root of your child’s power-seeking misbehavior so you can effectively redirect them toward better behavior

If you’re struggling with a powerful child or wishing you had a roadmap to calmer parenting, this one is for you!

Wendy is a camp leader for #LifeSkillsNow Summer Camp this June! Sign up for free here!

Resources We Mention for Raising Strong-Willed Kids

• Wendy's free power struggles master class
• Find Wendy online
• Is your child highly sensitive?
• Get more practical tips for picky eaters here
• Follow her on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube
• The Fresh Start Family Show podcast
• Wendy's free guide to raising strong-willed kids

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 Virtual Summer Camp!
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I used Tosha's tips the very DAY we recorded this interview, and I have to tell you -- they work. So well.

Once you hear about her strategy for reducing frustration and nipping "negative spirals" in the bud, you'll know why when my husband spent a ton of time hanging with our then-5-year-old, Gabe, over Christmas break, he said:

"You know, Gabe has had a really good break. He hasn't been having any tantrums or behavior issues at ALL. And I'm really treasuring my time with him...he won't be little for very much longer!!"

Tosha Schore is a parent coach who specializes in the biggest surprise of her own life -- parenting boys!

In this interview that I did NOT want to end, you'll learn:

• Why empowered women can still raise strong, balanced boys
• The very first step to disciplining without punishment (I kind of had to ask this twice because I wasn't understanding; I was a little slow to catch on because the answer has nothing to do with children!!)
• Why words are not powerful enough to stop aggressive behavior
• How the isolation of modern parenting is hurting our efforts
• The mindset shift that rocked my thinking when Tosha explained how to respond to and appreciate a boy getting upset when fun time ends (I will have to work HARD to implement this one, folks, I need all the encouragement I can get!)
• The most powerful antidote to aggression (and it's free to use!)

I do think a lot of Tosha's tips apply to girls too, but I really appreciate her focus on boys and the disconnect a lot of mommas in particular feel with their opposite-gender child. (Yes, boys and girls are different! Amazing fact!!)

Resources We Mention for Parenting Boys

• Tosha's 10-day reconnect: Register now
• Tosha's website
• Tosha's book: Listen: Five Simple Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
• Tosha's Facebook page
• It starts with a healthy parent: Interview with Dr. Ryan Wohlfert
• Positive parenting strategies: Interview with Suzanne Tucker

Visit today's sponsor, Happsy, at https://www.kidscookrealfood.com/happsy and see full show notes and video at https://www.kidscookrealfood.com/017.

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 Virtual Summer Camp!
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I’ve been telling everyone about this book!

Ever since I read The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey, it has truly changed my parenting. My mindset about the mistakes my kids make and little accidents they have is totally more peaceful, and the whole time I was absorbing the information, I was thinking, “How can I interview this author so I can share her amazing wisdom with my audience???”

Turns out all I had to do was post something I had done using the Failure Philosophy with one of my kids here on Facebook, and someone tagged her and now — here we are! 😀

Here are a few things we talked about:

• How teachers are finding that kids these days are literally “less teachable,” and how fear of making mistakes and inability to deal with frustration turned out to be at the root
• Jessica’s surprising story of how old her child was when he learned to tie his shoes, and how that wake-up call brought her middle school teaching strategies into her parenting
• What simple three-letter word we need to use so much more with our kids to help them focus on process and progress
• Why it’s so hard for us as parents to let our kids fail!
• The reason college kids are taking longer to finish college even though they are really smart and have high test scores…
• One simple step to help our kids break free from their helplessness
• Why “self-directed executive function” should be part of your interaction with your kids, and some questions to ask them regularly
• An easy equation for figuring out how much responsibility we can give each of our children at various ages
• Why the kitchen is an excellent place to promote failure and the motivation for us to do it!

If you have kids in sports, want more homework help, and wish you knew what to do with report cards or chores and more, The Gift of Failure is a must-read (or listen to)!

Resources We Mention for Letting Kids Fail

• You can find Jessica at her website.
• The Gift of Failure (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
• Mindset
• How to Raise an Adult
• Screenwise
• The Stinky and Dirty Show
• Jessica’s blog post on laundry
• If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy my interview with Shannon Miller on instilling a “Gold Medal Mindset” in your kids and my talk about mastering social and emotional learning in the kitchen.

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I'm so happy to have my stress mastery mentor here today!

Heidi Hanna, PhD, is one of the most intellectual, intuitive and compassionate people I know, and I'm honored to host her wisdom today. We recorded this interview in March 2020, when we were all in a tailspin and figuring out managing our stress was more important than ever!

Fill your brain with Dr. Hanna's research and her personal experience today:

• At age 10, Heidi was fainting from stress - literally. Find out how to help if this happens to your child, or if they seem to get stomachaches and headaches in uncomfortable situations.
• Highly sensitive kids actually fare better than other kids if raised in the right environment...but we don't always get that right as you'll hear.
• What research is showing about how stress-sensitive people's brains work and why Dr. Hanna doesn't love the term "negativity bias," even though it's technically accurate to describe stress-sensitive people.
• Why HSCs sometimes spiral into thinking like, "It's all my fault, I messed that up, I'm so dumb, and this is why NO ONE LIKES ME!" (I feel like that's my whole high school life!)
• And more importantly, what parents can do to help kids stop that spiral, appreciate what their reactions are trying to tell them, and reverse the reaction.
• How we can look at the ways in which our kids (or ourselves) are reacting to stress and understand what recharge techniques they need to get more capacity.
• Dr. Hanna's encouragement for parents of HSCs and how we can see the positive about our children's personality.

Resources We Mention for Managing Stress

• Dr. Hanna's website
• Dr. Hanna's courses: Stress Mastery Fundamentals 101 and Stress Mastery Foundations
• Elaine Aron's Website
• My Healthy Parenting Handbook Episodes on Stress Mastery: part 1 and part 2
• My interview with Dr. K, an expert on highly sensitive children
• My introduction to highly sensitive people
• GoNoodle
• HeartMath device helps regulate stress response

Check out today's sponsor, JustThrive, at https://www.kidscookrealfood.com/justhrive, and use Katie15 for 15% off!

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

We talked last week about STRESS and its impact on our health and our relationship with our families. I challenged you to be more aware of your breath and take the “Moment to Breathe” challenge, and a few of you chimed in after trying it that it’s really working!!

Personally I found being aware of my breath and its ability to control my bodily reaction to stress to be life changing and revolutionary! Why? Because I can control my breath, and in this world where too often things feel out of control, that’s a game-changer.

In part 2 today, we’ll discuss how to close the gap between demand and capacity…it turns out that stress ISN’T what happens to you that’s stressful, it’s a combination of what happens and how capable you are in reacting to it. (Hint: Responding is better than reacting anyway. More in the video!)

I’ll teach my Stress Mastery instructor’s BFF method – you’ve learned the “B” and now for the rest! Dr. Heidi Hanna is the director of the American Institute of Stress and absolutely brilliant at making stress positive fuel for change, plus keeping everything easy to understand. I hope I share her information well as I’m certified as a “Stress Mastery Educator"!

Show Notes

• Take this free quiz to find out how stressed you are.
• Free recharge suggestions and meditations.
• The Inner Balance sensor
• Our sleep hacks post on Kitchen Stewardship
• Check out the free Stress Mastery for Busy Moms Challenge here!

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Raise your thumb if you feel STRESS on a normal day!

We busy moms (and dads) tend to experience stress and feel it right down to our breathing and heart rate, and it affects the way we parent, our productivity, and our own mental AND physical health.

Today I’m so excited to use my stress mastery training to teach you about how our brains respond to stress, how it affects our bodies, and best of all, how WE CAN be in control of it!

Check out this one simple technique that you can teach your kids for stress relief!

Notes for Today

• The American Institute of Stress
• Chef Junior cookbook
• Get more help with my Stress Mastery for Busy Moms free challenge!

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Ryan Pink is a survivor. Like many of us, he’s faced some hard things, and has come out the other side swinging.

In this episode, we dive pretty deeply into trauma - what it is and isn’t, and how we can protect our kids from trauma digging too deeply into them.

Ryan walks through his own healing journey, including how expensive it was (I hope you’re sitting down!).

That experience led him to ask a lot of questions and talk to over 500 adults trying to heal from their own trauma, and he came up with some answers…and more questions.

“What did we do to heal from trauma before therapy existed? Can we still tap into those strategies?”

What if people don’t have a lot of money or bandwidth to figure out how to heal from their own demons?

Ryan founded HopeGuide, an online service designed to reduce the barriers to healing for those with trauma. You’ll love hearing about how HopeGuide works, and even more, how Ryan instructs us to build resilience in our families for our children.

Shall I spoil the ending? I think so:

”Relationship is THE most important thing we can have.”

If you’re on board with that, this interview is for you!

Resourced We Mentioned Today:

• Hope Guide, for lower-cost guidance on healing from trauma
• The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
• I talked all about helicopter parenting and free-range kids with Lenore Skenazy
• Building resilience in kids through self-compassion with Dr. Mary Wilde
• Tips for improving sleep quality
• Research on the different forms of magnesium
• Dr. Kelly Brogan on helping kids with depression and anxiety
• The benefits of family dinner
• Dr. Meg Haworth on how your body might be holding onto trauma from childhood

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!