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Mini was getting dressed for bed Friday evening. She came out from the bedroom and her shirt didn’t quite meet her pants…In fact, her shirt came nowhere near her pants. Her belly was too big. By a lot, really. It’s an issue that I’ve noticed and tried to make slight, not-so-feelings-hurting comments on, but I don’t think Mini really caught on…until this weekend.

We had decided to buy her some new clothes for when she’s over. Nothing crazy, just a few pairs of jeans, couple of shirts and some pajamas. AM helped and I can’t stress enough how lucky I am to have her in my life. Apparently in the dressing room, Mini got a little frustrated when clothes she thought would fit didn’t…And that’s when I think the light bulb came on her for her.

After she had made her choices and we were in line to check out, I asked if Mini wanted a soda. She said “No. I have root beer at home and I think two sodas is enough for a weekend. Don’t you?” She had fruit and chicken tenders instead of cheeseburger and fries at lunch, only ate half her ice cream at bedtime and only rarely snacked on half-cups of snack mix during the day Saturday and Sunday. She also drank lots of water and only one can of the root beer. She played Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resorts quite a bit and ran around the park a lot more than she had the last few times we went.

I hope that she’s made the connection between her diet (which is usually a lot of fast food) and her lack of activity. And I hope she’s willing to not ask for so much fast food when she’s with her mother. She’ll definitely eat less fast food when she’s here.

Do your tweens had diet and exercise issues? How do you help them to make better food and activity choices? Share you suggestions, ideas and questions in the comments.

Here is the typical situation I face: We are on our way home from basketball practice, gymnastics or church and someone is starving.  I groan in frustration because I forgot to grab something from home.  We have about 20 minutes until we get home.  The thought goes through my head, if we stop for fast food, I won’t have anything to clean up when we get home.  So I give in and we pull through the drive-through.  Fifteen dollars and a stomach ache later, I vow to never do that again.

Do you find yourselves caught in this situation?  Our lives are so busy, we forget to do that little bit of extra planning for our children.  It is 7 o’clock, we are on the road and haven’t even thought about dinner.  I have found myself in this situation many times and decided I wanted to put my foot down.  Fast food isn’t good for myself or my children and I am teaching them negative actions.

Now the real question becomes, how do you plan so this won’t happen?  We all have different evening routines, but this is what works for me.  If we are ever out during the day, I make sure to pack healthy snacks for the children.  If I know we will be away during lunchtime, I am sure to pack individual lunches for each child.

During the evening, it seems like a lot of our activities are right around dinner time.  I fill that lunchbox full of food for dinner.  I have found this process to work wonders.  Here are a few ideas on what to pack while you are away from home.

-Fruit-  apple slices, strawberries, bananas, bags of grapes and Tupperware full of cantaloupe.

-Veggies – carrot sticks, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), edamame with sea salt, cucumber slices and sugar snap peas.

-Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, turkey and cheese roll-ups, pasta salad, ham and cheese wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla or crackers and cheese.

-Boxes of raisins, granola bars, dried fruit, caramel rice cakes, almonds and pretzels.

Don’t forget a bottle of water and you are SUPER MOM for the day.  You will feel better, your kids will be healthier and happier and you will save lots and lots of money!!!

How do you plan lunches, dinners and snacks when you’re busy? Please share int he comments below.

My oldest child will try anything I put on his plate. If he likes it…he will eat A LOT of it. He has tried sushi, fried pickles, calamari…you name it and he will take a bite. I myself had been a choosy eater as a child so I was very excited to see him so eager to branch out and try new things. I should have known karma was going to visit me and bring me a second child more like myself…..10 times over!

Many kids scoff at veggies, don’t eat much meat or have favorite foods. My little man did not even try ketchup until he was FIVE! Yes, you read right…he was FIVE. I did what the experts say…offer it over and over until they try it. Well, this one might have set a world record. While most kids dip fries and nuggets, he would always refuse. Finally he caved in and now it is a staple in his diet. That is not to say he has tried much since then.

He has yet to take a bite of a hamburger or peanut butter and jelly. He whines when he sees vegetables on his plate and he picked off every sesame seed on a bun on our recent visit to Five Guys Burgers (it was a grilled cheese!). While I know he is healthy and that eventually he will expand his menu, it can be very frustrating in the moment.

I pledge that I will not fix him his own meal every night, but I am forced to make sure there is at least one item on his plate I know he will eat. At this point I can only sit back and wait for him to finally understand that everything new is not bad.

Anyone else with a picky eater? Any great strategies to get them to try something new? Help all of us out there struggling with these dear children.

Sometimes dinner time feels a bit like I am running a race.  It is the time of day when everyone needs mom.  By the time dinner has been cooked and the family is in the kitchen, I try to get everyone fed as quickly as possible.  I often don’t even sit down.  I feed everyone at the bar that faces the kitchen.  While I am trying to eat, I am filling water glasses, grabbing napkins and anything else that is needed of me.  I really am not a fan of dinner time.

Last week, when  weather was nice, I felt I needed to set the table properly and eat around our table.  I enlisted everyone to help.  One child got the silverware, another brought the food and napkins to the table and I filled a pitcher full of water.  When the food was ready, we all sat down, said a prayer and ate together.  We laughed, we talked and we were able to look at each others faces. It was delightful! 

I have always been a big believer in eating dinner as a family and while we had been doing that, it  just wasn’t around the table.  I realized that everyone can help and they enjoy helping. It was fun for them.  I also enjoyed feeling like I was part of the family, rather then just the cook.

Wonderful memories can be made around the table.  It is the perfect time to ask your children about their day, ask how they are feeling about whatever activities and classes they are involved in, and even discuss current events.

In the world we live in today, we are constantly pulled in hundreds of different directions.  The computer, our cell phones, outside activities and work scream to us to spend more time outside of the home.  Let’s all make it a habit to take meal time as the time of day to turn off the cell phones, turn off the television and reconnect with our families.  Our children and families are the most important part of our lives.  Let’s all ‘take a little time’ to gather around the table and reconnect with our children!!

Here are a few fun questions you could use to get conversation going with your children around the table.

- What was the happiest part of your day today?

-If you had three wishes what would they be?

-What is your favorite time of day?

-Do you have a friend or teacher who really inspires you right now?

-What would be your dream job?

These are just a few ideas to make lots of happy memories around the dinner table.

What’s the question that helps you reconnect with your family? Please share in the comments below.

As we wrap up our conversations discussing tween nutrition this month, it might be a great time to look at OHealthy’s article “Teaching Your Kids to Choose Good Foods.” Here’s an excerpt:

According to Joel Steinberg, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and supervisor of a weight-guidance clinic at the school, it’s up to parents to ensure that today’s children don’t turn into tomorrow’s artery-clogged, diabetic, obese adults.

And parents can start as soon as infants are ready for solid food, such as beans, peas and carrots, in baby-food form.

“When you move to table foods, offer those same foods — and don’t doctor them up with ketchup, butter, salt or cheese,” he says.

All is not lost if a preschooler or grade-schooler has already had a taste of chicken nuggets and won’t eat a baked chicken breast as a result. Dr. Steinberg advises parents to place healthy foods on children’s plates during mealtimes anyway.

“Don’t force them to eat the food,” he adds. “Even if they don’t eat it right away, they’re curious and will eventually try it.”

Also resist the temptation to prepare separate meals for children.

“Everyone eats the same, or they don’t eat,” says Dr. Steinberg. “In other words, if your 6-year-old doesn’t eat his vegetables, he goes without.  When he gets hungry enough he gets another chance to eat his vegetables.”

Do as I do

You should also look at your own diet if you want your children to be healthy eaters. Kids follow their parents’ lead. It’s not fair, for example, to tell them they need to eat vegetables while you chow down on a pizza. If you eat a well-balanced diet, your kids also are likely to eat well.

Encouraging healthy eating means more than serving healthy foods — it means lifestyle changes, as well. Dr. Steinberg recommends that all meals, including snacks, be eaten at the table with the television off.

The television — and computer — should be kept off at other times during the day as well, in order to encourage a less sedentary lifestyle.

“It’s amazing,” says Dr. Steinberg. “People walk their dogs every day, but they don’t walk with their children every day.”

So next time Fido is leashed up, take the children, too.

Dr. Steinberg acknowledges that adults have little influence over children’s eating habits once the youngsters reach middle school.

“But if you bring them up in a home where they eat the right food, their diets tend to be easier to maintain and they tend to make the right choices,” he says.

Visit OHealthy to read the entire article.

How do you inspire your tween to choose the right food?