Need Lunch Box Ideas? Tips for Fast, Fun, Healthy Lunch-to-Go

what are you doing for lunch book

Brown Bag Lunch Ideas

It was a tragic lesson in the risks of consuming a fast-food, sugary diet….

Dr. Mona Meighan’s normally punctual 26-year-old son, Luke, did not show up for work one morning in 2009. A concerned co-worker stopped by Luke’s apartment and found the young man dead in his bed. An autopsy determined he died from complications of undiagnosed diabetes.

“For seven years, through college and into his work life, Luke lived on pizza and fast foods, sodas and sweet desserts,” says Meighan, an education consultant and author of What Are You Doing for Lunch?: A Friendly Guide to Brown Bagging as a Better Way to Lunch (www.whatareyoudoingforlunch.com).

“Since we have no diabetes in our family, I can only believe Luke’s diet contributed to his death. Too often, young people aren’t aware of how food affects their health. As an educator, I thought the best way to remember Luke was to give people the tools to change their lunch habits. By brown-bagging, you can avoid a lot of processed foods loaded with calories and carbohydrates. It’s healthier – and less expensive!”

7 Ways to Raise a Good Listener

Raising a Good Listener

7 Tips on How to Make Kids Listen

Ask moms how to raise a good listener, and you’ll be met with a variety of responses. Some, like Eva Gavin, will laugh out loud and say, “If you write about kids who ignore their parents all the time, I’m your woman.” Others may tell you they have it all together and that their children always listen to them and do everything they say (don’t trust these women!).

So many of us are at a loss when it comes to teaching listening skills. Parents are busier than ever, and that can sometimes make it difficult to just stop and listen to our children. Yet making sure you raise your child to be a good listener is crucial for many reasons. For example, he needs to be able to follow directions at school, in college and at a job. He also needs the practiced skill of listening to make and keep friends, snag a spouse and deal with a variety of people in everyday life.

So how do you become one of those moms whose children don’t tune her out?

Help Your Preschooler Make Friends

Preschool Friendships

How to Encourage Preschool Friendships

 

by Dr. Caron Goode

During the preschool years, children learn a lot, including how to be a friend. Up until now, your child has mostly engaged in parallel play with her peers. Around the age of three, she will begin to show interest in the children around her and perhaps even mimic them. This imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It means she wants to be friends.