Parenting

Meal Planning with Kids + a Kid-Friendly Meal Plan

I LOVE eating healthy and challenging myself to feed my family right. My main motivation in writing this blog this morning is to help make natural & healthy living easier for other families. Certainly, this job is easier said than done, and getting kids to actually eat the healthy foods we prepare can be difficult.

I’ve also found that having kids help with acquiring the food (through gardening and shopping) and preparing the food with kid-appropriate tasks like chopping with a crinkle cutter, stirring food or helping serve goes a long way toward helping my kids want to eat the food I prepare.

By Mary Bockert, ago

Staying Active With Your Kids on Rainy Days

I don’t know about you but winter/ grey skies/ rain/ etc. gets me into a FUNK! I could just wrap up in an overly soft blanket with a good book and read my day away…and then there are kids 5 and under…which want nothing to do with sitting still and reading books all day under a blanket. Humph! What is a momma to do?

By Mary Bockert, ago

Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies

Getting my girls to eat their veggies can be tricky if it isn’t one they prefer. I usually have to think creatively, be mindful of their nutrition, and a bit sneaky as well. Here are some tips that may help keep your little one from turning up his/her nose at the dinner table. I know there are some I have not used yet that this momma plans to implement!

By Mary Bockert, ago

How “Help Me Grow” Changed Our Lives

When our daughter (Annora) was just 13 months old, I was out of town on a work blitz and my husband was holding down the fort with her. When I returned, he explained to me that she had been doing some strange head thrusts and he wasn’t quite sure what it was. I quickly grabbed our baby girl to embrace her. As I was holding her, sure enough she demonstrated the head thrusts my husband had just described. My heart sank! I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was going on and I did what any momma would do, I frantically called the pediatrician’s office. They directed us to go to the hospital where Annora was admitted for further testing. She was poked, proded, tested, retested, etc. and the tests came inconclusive. We were referred to a developmental pediatricianwho got to the bottom of our daughter’s ailments. She quickly realized that Annora suffered from hypotonia (low muscle tone) and that her iron levels were low as well. She referred us to a GI doctor for peds and also gave us the information for an organization called Help Me Grow.

By Mary Bockert, ago

How do I effectively Explain Easter to Children?

As my kids get older and are ready to learn more in depth about Jesus, I find myself scrambling to explain and worried that they don’t “get it.” Explaining Christmas is so much easier than Easter right?!? – babies, sheep, angels, stars. It’s pretty much all about love and presents: things your kids can relate to. Sure there’s the nasty part where Herod kills the baby boys, but that’s not an essential part of the story and you can leave it out if you want to.

Easter, on the other hand, is much tougher. You have the joy and celebration of Palm Sunday and the even bigger joy and celebration of Easter one week later. But in between, there is betrayal, denial, torture, pain, and death. How do you explain all this to children?

By Mary Bockert, ago

The Stay-At-Home Mom Game Plan

I don’t know about you, but as a stay-at-home momma, I can start to go out of my mind if I don’t have a game plan for the day. Winter months are always the worst because many days we are stuck inside. On days we stay home, sisterly tiffs can break out, television gets turned on, and momma gets TIRED! The best of my days are the days when I have various activities planned throughout to keep the girls “busy” and entertained. Here are a few of my go-to activities:

By Mary Bockert, ago

How to Create Healthy Habits with Little Ones in the House

I haven’t mentioned this much on the blog but I am a health and fitness coach through Beachbody along with being a mom blogger, a Homeschooling parent, a wedding coordinator, etc. It’s a busy life and because I spin a lot of plates at once, I have a lot of friends and people ask me how I fit it all in. How do I exercise everyday with 2 very young kids at home? How do I eat clean with toddlers in the house? How do I fit in a healthy lifestyle when chaos breaks out?

While these are all good questions, they all fall into one category. I have created a healthy “lifestyle” for my family and me. My week consists of a lot of planning, implementing and executing strategies to keep our lives “healthy.” It has become a habit for us and can for you too…with just a little work on your part.

By Mary Bockert, ago

“Me Time” Indulgences

These days, I don’t get a lot of time to myself (unless I schedule it in) but when I do it’s kind of a big deal. As women and moms it’s imperative that we take care of ourselves. I had to learn that taking time for myself was a way that I could refill my love tank and give love to my family without feeling depleted or drained.

Here are some of my favorite indulgences that I like to do when I get a little time to myself.

By Mary Bockert, ago

Meal Prepping to Satisfy Young Kids

Being such a health and fitness geek, I get asked all the time if I make 2 meals every night for dinner. My answer is always No. My kids are expected to eat the same food I prepare for my husband and me. I do make adjustments such as adding Garlic Expressions salad dressing to Couscous to make it more flavorful, Ranch dressing on their baked chicken, etc. Although they eat the same dinner, it is easy to make some adjustments to their diet for breakfast and lunch.

By Mary Bockert, ago

Teaching my Child the Act of Kindness…NO MORE BULLYING!

I specifically remember being in the first grade and another child saying to me…

“Mary, You’re pretty!”

Which I replied…”THANK YOU!!!”

Then he said….

“PRETTY UGLY!”

Wowsers…I am now 35 years old and that seems like it was just YESTERDAY! Our words pierce…and they stick. That little bullying act affected me for YEARS until I realized it was simply a way for someone to just be mean. Kids are mean and unless we teach them what kindness truly is, how can we expect them to show it towards others? We teach kids math, reading, writing, science, etc. but sometimes expect that they will naturally know how to treat others.

By Mary Bockert, ago