Real Mom Nutrition
A no-judgments zone about feeding a family.
Lately I’ve gotten a lot of success stories from parents who have joined the ranks of “That Mom”. They’ve spoken up and changed the snack culture in their child’s class or sports team (read “Change the Snack Culture: 3 Steps to Take Now” and “Be Bold. Take Action. Make Change.“). But occasionally, I hear from …
Right now, in many communities around the country, kids are trying on cleats and shin guards and parents are busting out camp chairs and coolers from storage. Soccer season is upon us. And so are soccer snacks. If you’re fed up with soccer snacks (or baseball, swimming , or basketball snacks), if you’re done with frosted …
When I talk to people about soccer snacks or class parties or more recently, candy Valentines (read: “I Have No Love for Candy Valentines“), the discussion invariably turns to how how things were when we were kids: “But we had class parties, ate candy, and washed down birthday cupcakes with cherry Kool-Aid. And we turned …
I organized the Valentine’s Day party in my son’s classroom this year. We have a lot of food allergies among the third graders–and I’m always looking for ways to reduce junk anyway–so we planned a buffet of red fruits and vegetables: red pepper strips, dried cherries, red raspberries, pomegranate seeds, strawberries, and all-fruit smoothies. My …
My mom tells a story about eating lunch at school as a little girl—and being embarrassed by the homemade cookies my grandma had packed for her. The rest of the kids had store-bought cookies. And even though my grandma’s cookies probably tasted 100 times better than those packaged treats, she wanted theirs instead. I think …
My son’s day camp at the local university had everything going for it: Flexible drop-off for working parents, after-care swim lessons, a full day of sports and activities that made bedtime blessedly early. But alas: The snacks. The first day, the campers were given Fruit Roll-Ups and Powerade. The next, it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch …
There’s a brand new way to brag about our kids: Talk about how much they hate junk food. It’s not enough that we crow about traveling baseball teams or casually mention the pre-K chess semi-finals. Lately, it seems like a lot of us are quick to recount stories of our children denouncing processed foods. I’m …
In my efforts to bring healthier snacks to the sidelines, I dubbed myself THAT Mom. But there’s one mom I can’t be. It’s the one who, while all the kids are diving in to the donuts and Capri Sun after a game, pulls her child away and says “You can’t have that”. I know some …
I still remember the cupcakes my mother made for me on my 5th birthday. She arranged them on a tray and used frosting to write one letter on each cupcake, spelling out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY” ( if you look closely at the photo, you can see the little boy on the right has the “D”). …
When Henry was two years old, we were out with another mom and her child when Henry pointed to a vending machine and squealed, “Pepsi!” I was horrified. I fell all over myself explaining that Henry had never tasted soda and we didn’t keep it in the house and he never saw commercials so I …
I loosen up a lot about food when we’re on vacation. There are quite a few things I don’t keep in the house (like hot dogs and Hawaiian Punch) that I don’t mind my kids having once in a while. Ditto for visiting friends or relatives. I was once at a gathering where a mom …
