News: Parenthood

Before I had children, I made my share of "when I have kids, we will/will not xyz" comments. Some, I've been able to stick too, like getting them on a good sleep schedule in their own beds. Others are a work in progress (so much for being stringent about screen time!).

One thing I thought for sure though was that I wouldn't experience separation anxiety. After all, a little distance is healthy, right? No child ever cried themselves to death. It builds their independence. They develop coping mechanisms. Etc, etc. Only when I actually had my first son, did I realize just how heart-wrenching it would feel for ME to leave him- even if only for a few hours!

I am one of the lucky ones that has had the option to stay at home with my children while working part-time on Nona. After starting my career in an industry that demanded long days for months on end (in Manhattan no less, where 2 incomes often isn't sufficient), I saw a glimpse of what could have been my life, and in no way take my situation for granted. Now that the kids are 4 and 2, I'm making the transition to working a more complete work week. Again, all my choice and on my own timeline. In this day and age, that is quite the luxury. Many other mom's don't have this flexibility. The lack of standardized maternity leave in the US is appalling, forcing 25% of new mom's back to work after only TEN DAYS. I was still walking like a penguin 10 days post-partum! New York State recently instituted a mandated paid leave policy for 8 weeks which began in January 2018 and will increase to a maximum of 12 weeks by 2021. This is a start but other states need to follow suit and it still leaves America much farther down the list of standardized maternity/paternity leave benefits than any other developed country. 

This leaves most families dependent on their employer's individual policy. I had read about a few companies making major exceptions to accommodate families- Patagonia and Rachel Zoe immediately came to mind with their onsite facilities to care for the children of employees, but then I stumbled across this Pop Sugar article titled: This New Mom is Applying to Jobs With Her Baby- Here's Why Companies Should Take Her Seriously.

The article opens by describing how job hunter Meesha Chang includes her daughter's 'qualifications' right alongside her own on her resume as she is only entertaining opportunities that will allow her daughter to come to work with her. My initial thought was "WTF? How does that work?" but then as I read through the article, I began an internal slow-clap for Meesha as I realized what guts it takes to not only put the question out there, but to stick to her guns. She is completely unapologetic for prioritizing her career and her child equally and doesn't worry about any potential push-back she may receive. Why? Because, it actually may benefit these companies to take her request seriously and implement comprehensive policies re: children in the workplace for ALL new parents.

Off the bat, the brain-drain of mom's deciding to leave their careers in favor of staying with their children would decrease, therefore employee retention would increase. The impending doomsday feeling of returning to work after maternity leave ends would no longer be an issue, and therefore, potentially encourage a return to work earlier with a cost-savings benefit for the company, and of course, create a happier environment/lift employee morale all around, because babies are magical! 

I still vividly recall the manic dash that the working mom's in my offices made each day to catch their trains home. Most, if not all, were living in the various suburbs of NYC at that point, whether in NJ, Long Island, Connecticut, or in the Upstate area. All had commutes of minimum 1 hour. This crazy ritual they practiced every single day landed them home just in time to perhaps bathe their child and kiss them goodnight. When I think about what a game-changer it would have been for them to collect their baby from the onsite nursery versus rushing off to daycare, and spend that hour on the train bonding instead of anxiously trying to rush through their door, I realize that this is a real request with real benefits and that anyone making this request is trying to pioneer change not just for her own benefit, but to shape a new way of thinking about work/life/balance for all parents.  

1.Homemade Granola: I can't bring myself to spend $$$ on store-bought granola when homemade is so simple and frankly, so much yummier. All three of my guys basically eat this every.single.day for breakfast. I just make tweaks based on what I have in the house. 

2. Fried Rice, Egg, and Avocado Bowl: On the off-chance that someone prefers eggs to granola, or I just plain forgot to meal-plan something for lunch, this is an easy go-to. We typically make a big batch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and can always throw together a bowl with egg and avocado, or any other veggies we have on hand.

3. Chicken Tikka Masala: This is seriously such a hit in my house. If we've overdone it on the meat for the week, we'll switch this to a vegetarian version. 

4. Whole30 Pumpkin Chili: A great way to sneak in some extra nutrients with creamy pumpkin. It sounds like a weird combination, but trust me- this will end up on your weekly menu plan!

5. Fiery Hot Chicken Chili: My mother in law actually made this recipe for me several years ago and we've been hooked ever since. I usually tweak it by subbing ghee or avocado oil for the butter, and omitting the sugar. I also sometimes sub veggies for the chicken in my quest to eat more plant-based. The combination of spices gives this a super addicting flavor, and despite the name, it's actually not that spicy.

6. French Lentil Soup: Beans in general are a big hit with my kids, and they especially love this lentil soup. We make it vegetarian, or sometimes crumble sausage into it for a heartier meal, and serve over rice. 

7. Almond Crusted Chicken: A healthier take on chicken fingers, this is actually one of my favorite meals- delicious with or without the strawberry balsamic sauce.

8. Stuffed Zucchini: My kids would never voluntarily eat zucchini, but the "boat" shape of these makes them fun to gobble up.

9. Savory Paleo Breakfast Meatballs: Amazing for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever. 

10. Ina Garten's Roasted Chicken aka "Engagement Chicken": Whether you're looking to get engaged or just feed some picky eaters, this engagement chicken recipe will do the trick (it worked for me in both instances!).

11. Easy Fried Rice: If you need a very basic meal with a twist, this is your go-too. Make a big batch like we do, and you can use it all week as your base for any rice bowl you need to throw together. Having this on hand has saved me for many meals when I'm not on point with my meal-planning game. 

12. Beef Stir-fry: Our kids have been eating flavors like soy, ginger, and garlic since they were little thanks to their chinese grandmother, so they love a good stir-fry. The good thing about stir-fry's is that you can use whatever you have on hand and make it as basic or complicated as you want.  

13. Banana Chocolate Ice Cream: If you have a high-speed blender, and some ripe bananas, then you can make banana ice cream and add whatever you want to flavor it. Normally, I have cacao powder so that's what my kids get. They literally love this just as much as the real thing, and I love that it's a vegan treat.

14. Chocolate Peanut Butter Avocado Pudding: The Minimalist Baker Blog is one of my favorite food go-too's when I need inspiration, and this recipe is no different. Once again, it's very simple and I usually have the ingredients on hand but if nothing else, you can blend avocados/cacao powder/sweetener of choice and have an amazing chocolate pudding. 

Do you think you'll try any of these with your children? What are some other recipes that you swear by in your house? Let us know in the comments!

Header image c/o Glamour.com

One of the biggest challenges many parents face is dealing with mealtimes and picky eaters. It certainly was one of my fears before having my first son, and something that I really wanted to bypass if at all possible. Building a foundation to have a healthy, robust eater in the house is definitely a process, but with both of my children I have seen that it's totally possible to create good eating habits at a young age. I'm very lucky in that I think I was blessed with fairly adaptable children, but I also created a few guidelines that encouraged their good eating habits. Below is a list of things that worked for me- every child is so different, so I can't say it's failproof, but if you're struggling to find creative ways to feed your child, this may offer up some inspiration. 

1) You Don't Necessarily Have To Start With Rice Cereal

Right around the time I was starting my oldest on solid foods, the  dietary recommendations for introducing foods were changing from exclusively offering carbohydrates like rice cereal and plain oatmeal to foods with slightly more complex nutrient profiles like fruits and vegetables. I never saw the need to begin with cereal's as I knew my son would be fine digesting avocado, so that's what I started with (I did this with my 2nd son as well). Both have gone through phases where they ate copious amounts of this fruit, to months where they wouldn't consider eating it. At 2 and 4 years old, we are currently in a 'love' phase where they both go crazy over having guacamole as a side to whatever meal they're eating. As a mom, you need to trust your gut- if you think cereal would be safer to start with, or something different like sweet potato, homemade unsweetened applesauce, etc. go with it!

2) Show Them That You Also Eat Healthy

Setting a good example for your children can go a long way. Mine constantly saw me drinking green smoothies and it was only a matter of time before they started asking for a sip here/there and then it became a regular part of their routine. My oldest son actually calls them green milkshakes because to him, that is the only milkshake he knows! He is at the age where he wants to be big and strong just like daddy, so knows he has to eat his vegetables to achieve this. We've also been known to foster a little sibling rivalry by reminding him that his younger brother may just grow up to be bigger with all the veggies he's eaten and that always lights a little fire to finish his plate!

3) Don't Let Them Snack Their Appetite Away

I purposely held off on keeping snacks everywhere (thanks to Bringing Up Bebe) until my kids had their meal habits pretty established. I think my son was about 18 months before I bought cereal puffs/puree pouches for the 1st time and that was only to keep him occupied on a long flight. I never offered them anything in the stroller as infants, nor the carseat. Now, I'm much more lax because I know they won't opt to snack in place of eating meals. 

4) Juice Is A Treat, Not An Everyday Thing

Water is the most-requested things my kids want and I made sure to encourage that from the 12 month mark when we introduced non-breastmilk liquids. I actually hate the idea of juice boxes, and only allow them here/there when we are at playdates or birthday parties. In our house, we sometimes stock freshly-squeezed juices (the perks of living in South America where this is as common as having Coca Cola). If they want a little juice, that's ok but I make sure to dilute it with water before serving it. 

5) Offer New Foods To Them At Every Possible Opportunity, Along with "Safe Foods"

They can't try something if you don't offer it. My son got a tiny piece of plain lettuce with a carrot stick on his plate every night for weeks before I could get him to try it- along with foods I knew he already enjoyed. The salad inevitably got left on the plate, but little by little I convinced him to try it. Now, he eats a small plate of salad most nights. If he has indulged earlier in the day, he knows the salad will be a bit bigger to compensate. My 2 year old is in the 'tempermental' phase where one day, he loves a certain food, and the next won't even look at it, so we are not quite there in establishing the regularity with which he'll eat something, but I kow we'll get there.

6) Do A Pantry Audit

Does your pantry look like the cookie/cracker aisle of a grocery store? If you are trying to improve your child's picky-eating, then you need to get rid of the culprits. They won't insist on eating gold fish if they're not constantly in the house. 

7) Creatively Hide Nutritious Foods and Make Healthier Versions of Store-Bought

In this day and age of Pinterest, and a huge clean-eating movement, it's so easy to find healthier substitutions for just about any guilty pleasure. Your child will only eat sweet foods? Sneak spinach/kale/spirulina in their smoothies. Make black bean brownies, banana ice cream, whatever you need to do. I make my own granola so they get their sweet cereal fix but it's a healthier version of what I would find in the store. My toddler won't eat steamed veggies on their own but when we chop them up and mix them in with brown rice, he'll happily shovel it down. My mom also happens to be the best dumpling-maker on the planet and sneaks a ton of veggies into the filling so the kids don't realize how much they are eating. There are neverending opportunities to sneak in nutrient-dense foods.

8) Include Them in the Meal-Prep Process

Kids love to copy their parents, and this is no different when cooking is the activity at hand. If they are invested in the process, they are more likely to try the fruits of their labor (no pun intended). Something as simple as letting them sprinkle rosemary on the potatoes, putting the fruits and veggies into the Vitamix before you blend up your smoothie, or sprinkling the cinnamon on the granola mixture can generate a lot of curiousity and interest on their part. 

9) You Don't HAVE to Order From The Kid's Menu 

There is no reason that you can't order from a regular menu. My kid's have always loved soup, so I tend to order that and have them split 1 portion before I look at the hot dog/grilled cheese options. 

10) When All Else Fails, Bribe Bribe Bribe

If left to their own devices, my children would eat sugary cereals, cookies, lollipops, and pizza/pasta on a regular basis. Getting them to agree to healthy options can still involve a bit of negotiation and bribery. There have been MANY instances of "if you want to eat that, then eat this first". This has been especially useful when we are out at a birthday party where the meal looks a little something like chicken nuggets/fries/juice, followed by candies from a pinata, followed by cake, followed by a goodie bag with additional treats in it. If possible, I'll grab some raw veggies and tackle my sugar-filled child with the ultimatum that they cannot eat a slice of cake unless they compensate with some healthier foods first. He is so accustomed to this, he doesn't even think twice about accepting carrot sticks and broccoli. 

So there you have it, my simple-but-effective list of ways to make your child a healthier eater. Come find us next week, where I'll be sharing some of my kid's most-requested recipes. 

Do you have any tips and tricks to convince your little one to eat better? Share them in the comments!

photo courtesy of: @organicfoodforkids

To say that there is a vast difference between the birthday parties I had/attended as a child and the parties thrown for children today would be an understatement. I literally remember my birthday cakes coming from the grocery store cooler case, with the price sticker still intact on top of the clear plastic domed lid. Themes? Nope. Entertainment? Possibly a round of pin the tail on the donkey. Every once in a while a piñata would be involved but that was as crazy as it got. 

While I enjoy attending a Pinterest-threw-up-here-event, be it a wedding, a dinner party, a baby shower, etc (mainly for the Instagrammability factor, obviously), I in no way, shape, or form am interested in being a Martha Stewart-level entertainer. I'm just not a very efficient person who can do it all and I know my limits. I left my child alone in the crib this morning while I spent 15 minutes attempting to not look like a sleep-deprived crazy person, and came back to what can only be described as a scene of utter and complete carnage. Let's just say it looked like my son had gone to town on a chocolate cake...except there was no chocolate cake involved. I'll just leave you with that. But, I digress- my point is, I can barely keep it together with my current set of responsibilities and planning any type of event is so much additional work that I could only take it on if I was willing to let something else suffer- like spending time with my kids or working on my business.

Enter my 4 year old son. These last 6 months, he has truly learned what a birthday party is as he not only attended many, but started developing concrete ideas as a result. When he started talking about what he wanted for his birthday party 2 months in advance, I knew I wouldn't just be able to serve a cake in the house anymore and call it good.

While the parties we attend may be a bit extreme (we live in an urban setting in a very upscale neighborhood), they are typically a combination of the following:

-held in the party room of a luxury apartment building or at a country club that may or may not be 45 minutes away

-themed everything down to the color-coordinated linens, custom-labeled water bottles, and modern floral arrangements in the party color palette

-every inflatable possible- balloon arches and bounce houses, as well as some sort of playground because most building's have a kid's zone

-broadway show-level entertainment, complete with a full cast reenacting said theme's disney interpretation (for boys it's cars, toy story, and paw patrol, for girls- pick a princess and make sure your daughter wears the princess gown of her choice, because it is just a given that she just happens to have 10 in her closet).

-a sit-down plated meal of chicken nuggets and fries served by hired waitstaff, obvi.

-a piñata filled with prizes

-a custom layer cake complete with fondant figures

-a goody bag filled with more prizes and candies

-the event coordinator who oversees the entire production

And we haven't even gotten to the cost portion of it. While I am a bit practical and can't really wrap my brain around spending $500+ for a 3 year old, this mom's informal Facebook poll showed that most parents are ok spending this. 

With that being said, I do have friends who go overboard in throwing birthday parties for their kid's and I support them 1000% because they actually love the process. And for a party-goer, it's really fun to attend for the eye-candy factor alone. It's just never going to be my thing, and I don't think my children will feel like they've missed out on anything as a result. 

So, back to that 4 year old...what did we end up doing? Tune in next week when I post a roundup of althernative birthday party ideas.

What do you think about throwing extravagant parties for small children? Leave your thoughts in the comments below:)