Spring or Garden Party: Paint flower pots and include a pack of flower seeds for children to grow at home.

Survivor Party: Send children on a scavenger hunt equipped with compasses and trail mixes that they can make before hunt. The compass will become a new favorite gadget, and trail mix is a lot healthier that candy treats.

Tea Party:

Let girls decorate straw hats with artificial flowers, which they can wear for party, and later take home. Complete party with candy necklaces.

Have fun!

It’s time we started to really pay attention to what love is regarding food. Is it loving to reward a child for good behavior with sweets? The child may feel loved at moment, just as we feel good for moment when we reward ourselves with junk food, but in long run it is not loving to indulge ourselves or our children in eating foods that erode rather than promote health and well-being.

There has been much research into health and nutrition since I learned about it forty years ago. I try to keep up by reading latest books, but it tends to get confusing regarding what is healthy and what isn’t. I have learned to tune into my body so I know which foods are good for me and which are not. I know how much protein I need, how much carbohydrates I need and in what form, and how much fat I need. When my children were growing up, I encouraged them to pay attention to how they felt in reaction to foods they ate. Only by encouraging our children to tune inside and trust their inner experience will they learn to know what is right for them and what is wrong for them. It is too easy to get swayed by latest diet, latest information regarding health. Yet each of our bodies are different so we each need to know what balance of proteins, fats and carbs we each need to support our health.

This means that we can’t impose on our children what works for us. We need to notice, and encourage our children to notice, what works and what doesn’t work for them. But what does not work for anyone is processed foods, preserved foods, foods with pesticides, and sugar. Loving ourselves and our children means eating whole natural foods, even if your family complains.

Do not underestimate effects of good or poor nutrition on health of your children’s minds and bodies. Is it more important to you to have control over how your children feel about you by indulging them in unhealthy foods, or is it more important to be loving to them by providing them with opportunity to have strong and healthy bodies and minds?

If you really want to be loving to your children, learn about good nutrition and be solid in your convictions.