RFS Board Member Genevieve Patterson is passionate about ensuring her seven-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son get all the nutrients that healthy, growing kids need. And while she has a few tricks up her sleeve, sometimes, striking a balance is all about redirection.
Halloween, for example, with its fixation on the sugary, processed rewards of trick-or-treating, can be challenging to navigate for parents who wish to avoid having their sweet Fairy Princess tranform into The Hulk because they won't let her eat the 5 pounds of candy she toted home in that punkin bucket. But the alternative - caving and allowing kids to gorge on sugary junk until they're sick to their stomach isn't appealing either.
So what to do? Boycott Halloween altogether? No need, says Genevieve.
"You absolutely have to celebrate Halloween," she says, "It's so much fun! No need to deny your kids the chance to dress up!"
Rather than stress about all the candy, Genevieve emphasizes the other fun aspects of the holiday, like fashioning a super cool costume and showing it off to friends, who are also dressed as favorite creatures and characters. Enjoying the silliness and spending time with friends is what Halloween is all about at the Pattersons.
"On Halloween we host a party for our friends with kids and adults, which includes a dinner spread with lots of greens and healthy things to fill everyone up," she says.
The party ends up cutting into trick-or-treat time, too--an added bonus. Before they hit the streets, a time limit is set on how long everyone will go door-to-door. This establishes clear expectations and cuts down on tantrums, not to mention the size of their sugary hauls.
When they get home, Genevieve lets each of her kids pick three pieces of candy to enjoy that evening. The rest goes into the family candy jar and is distributed according to family candy rules, such as a piece for dessert in lunchboxes. Whatever's left after a month gets tossed. (Tootsie Rolls quickly become fossilized, anyway.)
Have your own tactics for a happy, healthy Halloween? Tell us!
Our Culinary Education Coordinator and S2P Instructor Susie Mullen is mom to three active kids. It's super important to her that between homework, baseball and soccer practices and everything in between that they get wholesome, nutritious foods to sustain them on busy days and nourish their growing bodies and minds. Enter an all-star: this Sweet Potato Smoothie is chock full of nutrients and protein to provide energy and keep everyone going. It's perfect for a sippable breakfast, after-school or post-practice snack or as a guilt-free dessert.
