Parenting

The Secret of Social Media

The Secret of Social Media Right now, I’m working with the U.S. part of a major corporation to plan their social media strategy for the next twelve months. We’ve identified buckets of topics to discuss, like insider info on their brand, fun contests, debatable questions and lots, and lots, and lots of photos. We’ve selected… Read more »

How to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables

The secret The secret to getting kids to eat vegetables is really quite simple. Give them the choice. Before you click away saying, “My kid would choose not to eat them,” hear me out. I didn’t say give them the choice whether or not to eat vegetables. Give them the choice of which vegetables and fruits…. Read more »

Fun Food for Your Picky Preschooler

I know it’s tough to to the parent of a picky preschooler. They are not at the age when you can reason with them and their tastes change so quickly, it can feel so frustrating. But there’s another way to approach the challenge: make it fun. I was so lucky to visit a Bright Horizons… Read more »

Trying New Foods

Not everyone likes trying new foods. It’s funny that while my husband and I will be adventurous about our eating out and about and restaurants, we often exchange nervous looks when our CSA serves up a vegetable that neither of us are used to using. Enter the red cabbage. It’s actually quite beautiful when you… Read more »

Gardens: Great Idea for Picky Eaters

                    Even if you live in an apartment with no yard at all, you can grow food in containers and help your picky eater learn to try new foods. I loved reading about a study from Australia that showed school children who participated in gardening and… Read more »

Stick it to Picky Eaters

At the Farm to Table Conference in Pittsburgh last month, I spoke with many parents looking for ways to encourage their children to try new foods. So at my workshop, “Kids’ Tasting Party” I introduced a concept that works wonders for us: serve food on a stick. I taught kids and parents how to make… Read more »

Picky Eaters by Nature?

Is your child genetically a picky eater? At the Farm to Table Conference in Pittsburgh on March 22 and 23, I talked with a lot of parents about their little picky eaters and how My Food Notebook worked for us. We discussed many strategies that help kids try new foods and a big one that… Read more »

Farm to Table Pittsburgh 2013

I’ll be at the Farm to Table Conference this weekend, hosting a table and a workshop on Saturday called “Kid’s Tasting Party.” Our family really enjoyed Farm to Table last year and we love supporting our local farms. If you’re in Pittsburgh, join us!

Classroom Workshops featuring The Bumpy, Grumpy Road

I love visiting schools and sharing The Bumpy, Grumpy Road with kids. They all understand exactly the challenges that the main character Dylan faces – siblings who borrow their toys, sibling who don’t listen. And they all struggle with how to handle those challenges. I recently spoke with a parent who shared that she wants to… Read more »

How far would you push a picky eater?

I recently read this news story about a teacher who forced a second grader to retrieve a portion of his uneaten lunch out of the school trash can because she was concerned he wasn’t eating enough. I, too, dread dinners where my picky eater just sits there and claims he doesn’t like anything we’ve served…. Read more »