Ask a Parenting Expert

How to Make Healthy Eating Fun for Children

sarah fragoso, paleo pals, paleo diets for kids, kids eating healthy

We all know how hard it can be to get kids to internalize healthy eating habits. They groan and grumble. Then, when you do finally get them eating right more often, they may be in the minority among their peers, which doesn’t help your cause much. Now, for the first time, parents have an entertaining tool they can use with younger kids to introduce them to paleo eating (a diet of fresh and natural non-processed foods, including meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts) and even make it fun.

sarah fragoso, paleo pals, paleo diets for kids, kids eating healthyIn a follow-up to her best-seller Everyday Paleo, author and fitness trainer Sarah Fragoso has released a new children’s book, Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship. For many parents of young kids, Paleo Pals has been a dream come true for the way it helps get kids personally invested in this healthful lifestyle. Fragoso talked with BOYT about her new book and her insights about kids and paleo.

How to Raise Strong, Empowered Girls

jennifer hartstein, princess recovery, princess syndrom, empowered girls

At a time when women have more choices and opportunities, why is it that so many girls are obsessed with being thin and pretty? What happened to the liberated woman we fought for? The issues that young girls deal with today are complex and perplexing.

jennifer hartstein, princess recovery, princess syndrom, empowered girlsChild and adolescent psychologist Dr. Jennifer L. Harstein has some good news, and she’s put it into her book Princess Recovery: A How-to Guide to Raise Strong, Empowered Girls Who Can Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters to show us how to curb the world’s influence on our daughters. Here, she talks with BOYT about the long-term dangers of messages that are detrimental to a girl’s self-worth and independence and how to combat them.

A Guide to Raising a Spiritually Conscious Family

annie burnside, soul to soul parenting, conscious family, spiritual family, soul

As parents, we want our children to thrive, both physically and spiritually. But how do you teach kids spiritual depth and conscious living? Now there’s a guidebook to show us how from author and soul nurturer Annie Burnside, M.Ed., who specializes in conscious relationships and spiritual development.

annie burnside, soul to soul parenting, conscious family, spiritual family, soul nurturerIn this interview about her award-winning book Soul to Soul Parenting: A Guide to Raising a Spiritually Conscious Family, Burnside discusses her own family’s spiritual journey as well as how all of us can infuse greater spiritual awareness into everyday family life. For more information about Burnside and her book, visit www.annieburnside.com.

BOYT: Tell us a little bit about why you decided to write Soul to Soul Parenting. Why “Soul to Soul”?

Shed the Light and Bring Awareness to this Matter

randy ellison, boys don't tell, child sexual abuse, abused children

The statistics says it all: an estimated 20 million male and 30 million females are victims of child sexual abuse; 80 percent of people being treated in residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers were abused as children; over 90 percent of perpetrators are known by their victims and 30 percent are family members. Child sexual abuse is pervasive in our society, yet it’s often swept under the rug, hidden and ignored.

randy ellison, boys don't tell, child sexual abuse, abused childrenAuthor and advocate for victims of child sex abuse Randy Ellison, himself a victim as a teen, is trying to do something about it, because, he says, we can’t stop the cycle unless the abuse is acknowledged, talked about, understood and prevented. We interviewed Ellison and discussed his book Boys Don’t Tell in an effort to shed some light on this chilling subject. Ellison is a victim’s advocate and activist for cultural change regarding child sexual abuse. He works with several organizations on abuse prevention and awareness.

Learn How Moms Can Heal the World By Healing Themselves

terri amos-britt, enlightened mom, mom heals, the world heals, the family heals

You know those times when you’ve blown it with your kids? Something they say or do causes you to go off, and you respond in a way that just perpetuates the problem, possibly even making the child feel bad about herself. And you hate yourself for it. Spiritual coach and author Terri Amos-Britt shares her own experiences cleaning up the emotional chaos in her life and family in her award-winning book The Enlightened Mom: A Mother’s Guide for Bringing Peace.

terri amos-britt, enlightened mom, mom heals, the world heals, the family healsHer specialty as a motivational speaker, and as founder of The Enlightened Mom Global Healing Community, is relationship healing and improvement.  Other books Amos-Britt has written include Message Sent: Retrieving the Gift of Love, Wake Up Women and A Juicy, Joyful Life.

BOYT: What was the defining moment that started you on your personal journey to being an enlightened mom, author and advisor to other moms?

Help Your Child Conquer Emotional Stress and Anxiety With Guided Imagery

dr charlotte reznick, the power of your child's imagination, guided imagery

No doubt about it—children have incredible imaginations. Why not use it to empower them to face and conquer their emotional stress and anxiety? In her bestseller The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success, Dr. Charlotte Reznick explains how to help kids work through their turmoil from the inside out using guided imagery.

dr charlotte reznick, the power of your child's imagination, guided imageryDr. Reznick is a nationally recognized child and educational psychologist and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at UCLA.  In Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Reznick, she talks about why she wrote the book, breaks down the guided imagery process, and discusses how art, music and writing can be used as therapeutic tools. For more information go to www.imageryforkids.com.

BOYT: What inspired you to write The Power of Your Child’s Imagination? 

Change Kids' Bleak Outlook of Life with This Technique

charlotte reznick, the power of your child's imagination, stressful kids

Being a kid today is more stressful than ever. From the often bleak world outlook on the nightly news, to divorce, to financial issues, to schoolyard bullies, there is plenty going on in a child’s life to cause poor self esteem, anger, frustration, and even the symptoms of physical illness. Dr. Charlotte Reznick, a child educational psychologist and author, has helps kids cope using guided imagery.

charlotte reznick, the power of your child's imagination, stressful kidsWe interviewed Dr. Reznick to discuss her bestselling book, The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success, and to introduce our readers to this fascinating approach. In Part 1, we talk about counseling with guided imagery and how the technique works.

Guide Your Child with Autism and Help Them Become a Fulfilled Individual

ellen notbohm, autistic, autism, thing things every child with autism wishes you

How does a parent raise a child with autism to be a fulfilled, independent adult? Author Ellen Notbohm, a mother of sons with autism and ADHD, says it’s a long journey during which you need to accept the child for who he is and use common sense.

ellen notbohm, autistic, autism, thing things every child with autism wishes you knewHer books Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You knew, Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew and The Autism Trail Guide: Postcards from the Road Less Traveled have received many awards and nominations, including the Eric Hoffer Book Award, iParenting Media Award, and Learn Magazine Teacher’s Choice Award. Notbohm is a columnist for Autism Asperger’s Digest and Children’s Voice (Child Welfare League of America).

Proper Guidance Will Have Positive Changes to a Child’s Outlook and Behavior

Dr. Jane Nelsen, positive discipline, child counselor, child development, parent

As many of our readers will tell you, parenting is one of the hardest jobs out there. What you say—and what you don’t say—shapes a child’s outlook and behavior. It’s a big responsibility. In our commitment to keeping you informed about effective parenting approaches and techniques, we interviewed Dr. Jane Nelsen, a respected licensed marriage, family and child counselor and author or coauthor of the Positive Discipline Series. 

Dr. Jane Nelsen, positive discipline, child counselor, child development, parenting habitsPositive Discipline, Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World and Positive Discipline for Single Parents are just a few titles within the series of books, which teach how to parent in a way that will provide your kids valuable life skills.

BOYT: Your books on the topic of parenting effectively are incredible. What was your motivation to write?

Help Your Child Overcome Childhood Issues with These Strategies

parenting expert, dawn huebner, parenting advice, healthy development, OCD

We tell our kids not to touch a hot stove, but how about fear, anger and other stressful emotions? Should they avoid those as well?  No, says psychologist, author, and parenting expert Dawn Huebner; instead parents need to teach their kids to work through these feelings and learn to cope—and that takes plenty of thought and practice.

parenting expert, dawn huebner, parenting advice, healthy development, OCDIn her What-to-Do Guides for Kids book series, Dr. Huebner teaches strategies to help children struggling with common troubling childhood issues. In such books as What to Do When You Grumble Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Negtivity and What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety, she encourages and motivates children to think and act in new ways while empowering them to work toward change.

BOYT: As a practicing psychologist, what was your inspiration to write?