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Healthy Kids

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depressed child being comforted by mom
Healthy Kids

COVID-Related Stress and Isolation in Children

Before you had your child, you may have felt like you knew what was coming. Late-night feedings, diaper changes, and making your way through those challenging teen years are all par for the course when it comes to parenting. While you might have felt ready to handle anything parenting could throw your way, you may not have anticipated being tasked with guiding children through a global pandemic. Parenting right now is more challenging than ever before. Currently, children are facing a huge amount of stress, and an increasing number of them require help for mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Seeing your child struggle emotionally is painful, but you can take some steps to help them learn how to deal with the changes COVID-19 has brought and is bringing into their life. How is COVID-19 impacting children’s lives? Before the pandemic, you aimed to do…

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kids and STEM
Healthy Kids

STEM Lessons Your Kid Will Learn in their 1st Year of Kindergarten

Science abilities can be acquired through simple hands-on activities and tests performed right under the safety of your home. Studies show that even before age two, children have a robust understanding of the principles of science. Scientists have shown time and time again that kids are curious, want to explore, and want to learn by doing. Around the time they’re in first grade, they know how to work out a theory, and if time remains to investigate it on their own. According to your state’s program, you may expect your kindergartner to learn the fundamentals of experimental experiments, though, you can also expect to discover the following concepts: Physical Science Life Science Earth Science We’ve compiled a few helpful tips on how you can improve your child’s newly developed science skills at home.  Weather & Seasons Young learners discover the physical phenomena they see in their day-to-to-day lives. Children will…

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kids having fun
Healthy Kids

Road Trip: Non-Screen Entertainment to Bring For Your Toddler

There are a number of ways parents have found to entertain their little ones in the car on road trips over the decades. For instance, one dad enjoyed singing off-key really loud (not very effective by the way – kind of made their kid want to cry to make him stop), another couple constantly fed their kids snacks to keep them quiet (which led to lots of bathroom stops or a very smelly vehicle). All in all, the various methods and ideas are all random and based on individual parenting styles for the most part … until today’s generation of parents. We have at our fingertips the harmonious beauty of online shopping for securing the most enjoyable and affordable entertainment for our children that can be delivered right to your doorstep! How convenient is that? Try as we might, our tired minds simply cannot compare to the brilliance of a…

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Food & Recipes

Why This High-Protein Pizza Is My Go-To Lunch Staple For Picky Eaters

This post is sponsored by Sweet Earth, but all opinions and thoughts are my own! #ad #SweetEarth #ConsciousbyChoice Back-to-school season is officially here in Florida, which being a Pacific Northwestern, it seems a little crazy to be starting school the beginning of August. This means I have to wake up early, pack food and get everyone dressed in one, quick swoop. In order to accomplish this with all three of my boys, I HAVE to have lunches and snacks packed the night before. My children are also not big eaters and very picky. This makes packing a lunch they will actually eat very challenging. I made the mistake of packing two cookies for dessert, and of course he ATE NOTHING but the cookies. That was a fail on the first day, so I needed to get smarter. My first-grader also won’t eat a tuna or turkey sandwich because it gets…

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Baby Goods

5 Signs Mama and Kids Need Probiotics: A Top Guide

5 Signs Mama and Kids Need Probiotics: A Top Guide Your gut plays an important role in your health and your kid’s health, yet it can often be overlooked. Breastfeeding mothers, breastfed babies, and kids benefit greatly from a healthy digestive tract and gut microbiome. The good news is that the gut and brain have a symbiotic relationship, and I have learned from personal experience with gastrointestinal issues (irritable bowel syndrome) the impact your gut can have on your emotional and mental state. For me it seemed that stress affected my gut, and my gut issues affected my stress levels. Because of this I did a lot of research on the gut and digestive health, and I found this article and this book to be one of the best resources for fully understanding how your gut is directly connected to your brain. In this day and age, with stress, added sugar, processed…

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Healthy Kids

How To Get Your Kindergartner + Preschooler To Pack Their Own Lunch

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ‘Build a Better Sandwich’ at Publix. The opinions and text are all mine. Packing lunches for kindergarten and preschool isn’t super complicated, until you come face to face with the fact that many kindergartners and preschoolers would rather play than eat lunch. I recently spent the day in my middle child’s preschool, and I found out that they have a very fun game of snack trades that happens. Little did I know the price for gummy bears or strawberries. Those are high-ticket items right now. I decided that my kindergartner and preschooler would take much more pride in their lunches and relieve me of scrambling for snacks and goodies at the last minute if I switched it up. So, I have a fun little sandwich and snack bar, where they get to make their own sandwiches, pack their own…

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Healthy Kids

5 Activity Alternatives to Cut Back on Cumulative Screen Time

Thank you Amazon for sponsoring this post. Give the gift of reading this holiday season with Prime Book Box! Screen time-free entertainment for young children is hard.  The Cable TV shows, Youtube and Netflix are just three of the main sources for our screen-time entertainment with three boys under 6 years old. Things haven’t gotten much easier as we’ve transitioned into the older-toddler years. Now it is 2, 4 and almost-6 that brings a whole lot of physical, wild, unbridled energy in and outside of the house. SCREENS GIVE ME A BREAK!  But, recent research shows us how we are teaching our children to never be calm, bored or less-than entertained. We are giving them toys, activities then screens to keep them always stimulated and totally enthralled. I’ve been reaching for less screen time here, and I’ve found some tips and tricks that really help. It isn’t as hands-off as…

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Healthy

5 Health Challenges For The Whole Family To Try This Fall

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PurinaONEPets #CollectiveBias There is something about a health challenge that is so motivating and exciting. I believe in not only setting health challenges for yourself, but also the whole family. Many mamas attempt to follow health challenges on their own, but forget their family can totally get involved as well, and may even enjoy doing the health challenge too! I put together 5 challenges for the whole family to try this fall to encourage better eating and activity habits. Sometimes all you need are a few small steps, to add up to big steps, which then turn into changing habits. I also love a challenge to get myself, and family, out of a funk, which happens easily soon after school starts. With the onset of little colds, darker and colder weather, and busier…

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Food & Recipes

5 Ways To Make PB+J Just A Little Better

#ad This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time favorite here. As in, almost-daily staple because my kids love it, and I actually love feeding it to them. Fat and protein in the peanut butter is amazing for growing brains. It keeps them satiated, helps build muscle and brain power, and the little bit of sugar from the jam gives them immediate energy! It also tastes amazing, and there are no negotiations when it comes to eating. Sometimes I get bored making peanut butter and jelly, so to spice things up for back to school and make things just a little bit better, I came up with 5 ways to improve the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, plus I have a recipe for peanut butter and jelly bars!! They…

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Food & Recipes

5 Super Fast Ways To Make Healthier Meals When You Have Zero Time

Thank you Village Harvest for sponsoring this post. Every day Village Harvest is planting seeds of change and growing possibilities, one bag of goodness at a time. Making healthy meals always seems way more time-intensive than it needs to be. I get big ideas, or the sensation that it is faster to pop some chicken nuggets in the microwave and throw some carrots and fruit on a plate. BUT, I have figured out some super quick tips to whip up healthy meals in seriously a matter of minutes. Feel free to shop my favorite rice in the photo above! I use it for my quick and health meals, and it is AMAZING! First Tip: Rotisserie Chicken Our local grocery store has delicious rotisserie chicken. Like super good, and very affordable. It is literally just a dollar or so more to buy it fresh and already made. We get two at…

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