Healthy, Happy Children

    I started the year commited to making changes. I have never been one for "New Year's Resolutions" because I believe that most people make them and never follow through, so why waste my time. Instead I woke up after Christmas unhappy with my health and said it ends here. So in the past three months I have revamped my eating habits and started exercising regularly. In the process I realized I have already begun to teach my children "bad" habits.
    I think when it is just ourselves who we see as unhealthy we can accept that much easier than when it is our little ones. As parents we hold an obligation to raise our children to be better than we are, or at least I do. So when I had to re-evaluate my own health habits, I could not ignore the kids' either.
    My children are young, Naomi is 4 and Danny is 6. All is not lost! Danny has special needs, so getting him to eat can be a bit tricky. He has sensory processing disorder, ADHD and an anxiety disorder. With his SPD (sensory processing disorder) he is unable to eat certain foods. We have begun oral therapy with an OT, so in time I hope to see improvement, but for now, ya work with what ya got. Luckily, my daughter is excited to see a salad sat before her. She eats almost any fruit or vegetable given, but she also has picked up my sweet tooth and desiressugary foods first and foremost.
    I have switched to organic produce, eggs, milk... But I am going to begin exploring all the options, not just the basics. I have cut out alot of our pantry usuals and replaced them with better choices. Fruit snacks for dried fruit, Whole wheat crackers for saltines. But last week I decided to take it a step further. Iwant to teach the kids to make good choices. So I decided to make fruit popsicles instead of buying ice cream. I got out the fruits, and some veggies, and the yogurt and my trusty food processor. We made mango-cherry frozen yogurt popsicles (with spinach and carrot juice) and they loved them!
    I decided it may take time to get us were I want us to be as a family, but that is ok. It is the choices and steps that get us to those places. While adults need a healthy diet and exercise, we need to remember our kids do too! Turn off the t.v., go outside for a walk together (even in the rain). Enjoy the budding spring and clean air with your children. They will be happier and healthier because of it.