F is for Fiber
Yup...it's not just for the old folks. Our kids need it for digestive health and for qualitative & quantitative eating habits. Ways we sneak it in at our house:
- add ground flaxseed meal
and wheat germ to oatmeal for breakfast
- make homemade granola
- serve only whole wheat (introduce it early and they won't ever know what they're missing!)
- make smoothies with a scoop of psyllium husk at breakfast
- offer trail mix and dried fruit instead of chips and cookies
- Green Juice and Garden Patch at Trader Joe's
and wheat germ to oatmeal for breakfastFor more information and inspiration, look here.
E is for Enthusiasm. Sometimes I find myself saying "uh-huh" blithely to my kids as they circuitously describe their latest discovery or Lego creation...while my mind wanders off to what I'm fixing for dinner. Then it hits me: Enthusiasm encourages; indifference extinguishes. Let's help keep the fire lit in our children.
D is for Discipline.
My kids need both kinds of discipline: correction and routine. Here are my two favorites on how to train up a child in the way he should go:
