Archive
Past Questions & Answers
My child will not eat any vegetables. What can I do to help make sure he gets all the nutrients he needs?
"Try mixing veggies into muffins—like zucchini bread or something similar." — Susan R.
"When working with preschool kids, I would boost their vegetables by making pizzas and boiling carrots and zuchhini, then mash them and mix them into the sauce, under the cheese. Also, make zuchini apple muffins, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisons crawling on it) black bean burgers with onions in them." — Alyssa H.
"I find you can put almost anything in a smoothie and cover the taste, color, and smell with banana, peanut butter, or strawberries. What a great breakfast, good anytime really, and very nutritious. My girlfriend adds kale to hers and you'd never know it. A perfect way to make sure your child is getting vitamins and minerals their little bodies need. My child will not eat veggies so this is a nice alternative to fighting at the dinner table." — Denise T.
"I do think that getting kids involved with the cooking/mealtime prep - whether it be the child picking out the veggies at the farm market or setting the table — helps them eat and enjoy the meal better." — Cindy W.
My child's room is always messy. How do I get my child to start cleaning his room and helping with other household chores?
"Organization is key! As long as the child's room is neatly organized and everything has a home/place it makes cleaning that much easier…Children also love anything that's a game…so turn cleaning into some sort of game…when it's time to clean the playroom I "race" my girls to see who can pick up 10 things first…we work on counting skills and cleaning at the same time…they always help this way!" — Brandy F.
"Chore charts are the way to go! Everyone knows what they need to do. I have my children fill them out and choose their chores for the week. The chart is on the fridge and when they are done with a chore they can go and check it off. At the end of the week we sit down and evaluate what is done - they can earn up to $5 a week if all of their chores are done." — Nicole B.
"Learning Consequences. My 3 and 5 year old don't get to eat breakfast in the morning until they make their bed. I do generally let the messy room go until there is something of interest going on for them, and then they are not allowed to participate until the room is clean. If it is overwhelmingly messy, sometimes breaking it p into "picking up 5 toys/books and putting them away" at a time helps or one category at a time (i.e. pick up just your stuffed animals)." — Beth W.
"Age Matters! [With young children] We set a timer and make a game of cleaning up ... every night. Habits start early. [With Siblings] I made a chore-chart, with a pocket for each child,balancing each list on index cards. Each week I moved the index card. So, they each got different chores each week. Then, when they wanted to go somewhere...I checked the card to see if they had completed their list. [With older chillden] I gave the ultimatum: 'Your room will be cleaned by ___ date or I will clean it for you.' On that date, I brought in a garbage bag and everything that was on the floor went in; I put it on the front step to be taken away. (It was always rescued.) I guess I won the bad-mom award on that one. After a couple of bags-full, he finally cleaned up. Sometimes, it ended up on the bed, just to say it wasn't on the floor ... but at least I could walk in there." — Marsha N.
