Not kidding, I referenced this interview FOUR times the same week we recorded — it’s THAT pertinent to our jobs as parents!

Today we’re focusing on the MOST important quality our kids need today – resilience. Michele Borba's book THRIVERS is about 7 teachable skills that set happy, healthy, and high-performing kids apart — and I believe those are listed in an intentional order.

If you find yourself wondering why some kids struggle and others shine, spoiler alert: It’s not about GPA.

This is a must-listen! Find out:

• Why Michele has never been more worried about this current generation – even before the pandemic (and it’s worse now)
• A toxic recipe for resilience that too many of us are using to raise kids
• What makes a child a “THRIVER” – having the skills and abilities to do well in the real world
• The power of observing your kids to focus on their current strengths
• How the 7 traits show up in kids (and how many your kids need to thrive)
• The 2 things all kids need to thrive and whether all kids are capable of becoming a thriver
• One question to ask yourself that will ensure you raise confident kids (this is powerful!!)

We both talk fast, folks, so buckle up for a WEALTH of valuable information that will change the way you think about your kids and the choices you make as a parent!!! The world needs this!

Resources We Mention for Raising Resilient Kids

• Michele's book, Thrivers
• Michele's survey to figure out your kids' strengths
• This PDF has 10 super practical ways to start raising resilient kids who are thrivers!
• The benefits of family dinner
• Jeannine Jannot on disintegrating students
• Raising successful adults
• Letting kids fail to build resilience
• Reducing stress in kids
• Connect with Michele online
• Follow her on social media: Facebook, Instagram, X

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Shannon Miller is a 7-time Olympic medalist and has over 100 national competition medals in gymnastics as well, more than half the gold kind. People in our generation certainly remember her name from the “Magnificent Seven” team gold winners in the 1996 Olympic games, where she captured the first balance beam gold an American had ever achieved.

She’s no stranger to hard work and success, obviously, and she went on after gymnastics to study marketing and entrepreneurship and even earned her law degree from Boston College.

Then life got a little crazier – she had her first baby in 2009, launched her company “The Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health and Fitness for Women” in 2010, and in 2011 was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Now that’s a full plate and plenty of challenges, but Shannon used her Olympic grit to triumph in all areas, had another child in 2013, and wrote a book to inspire others to overcome their own personal challenges.

Today we get to talk about healthy mindset and goal setting and how parents can encourage a gold medal mindset in their children, even if they’re not into athletics.

Healthy Mindset Resources We Mentioned

• You can find out more about Shannon on her website.
• Buy her book, It's Not About Perfect, here on Amazon or here on Bookshop.org.
• Shannon's 10 min fitness videos

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Did you start to question the products you put on your kids’ skin once you were a mom? Meet Tatyana Cerullo, attorney, and formulator of Kōkua Suncare, who came to that realization as she saw the legal system behind the marketing.

We get so much conflicting information these days about whether the sun is something to hide from or embrace, what’s safe to apply on our skin, and how to manage it all. Now as a mom of 2, Tatyana brings a nice balance to the conversation.

Sunscreen is easy to buy, excruciatingly simple to spray on, but deadly hard to understand. Our family has personally tested over 120 kinds of mineral sunscreen, and Kōkua is far and away one of the best! We’ll share our quick 2-minute “what to remember” for parents who want the best, healthy experience of life for their kids AND be able to run to the beach!

Resources We Mention About Natural Sunscreen

• Find all the Kitchen Stewardship sunscreen reviews.
• Get some Kōkua suncare to try for yourself!
• Also read our sun-protective clothing reviews.
• I talked to Tatyana about recent sunscreen legislation in this video.

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Grabbing a piece of whole fruit or a popsicle are both fast, easy, and refreshing in the summer.

But will they give your kids fuel for summer play?

We know we’ll be asked about snacks approximately 5,287 times … in June. 😉 Nobody wants that!

Here are some ideas to keep snacking running smoothly and prevent hungry tummy issues:

1. Make a System
2. Watch for Sugar
3. Teach your kids “Satisfying”
4. Protein and Fat Make it Stick
5. Try New Recipes

Resources We Mention For Healthy Snacks

• My master list of healthy snack ideas for kids
• 10 healthy snacks preschoolers can make
• 5 snacks kids can make
• Healthy snack recipes:
  • Kale chips
  • Ranch dip
  • Dessert hummus
  • Energy bites
  • Gelatin squares
  • Granola bars
  • Pudding
  • Guacamole
  • Allergy-friendly mudballs

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

What life skills are kids and teens going to need in this fast-paced digital world???

We can’t really predict what specific skills our kids will need in 20 years, BUT we know they’ll need to know how to learn and other “soft skills.”

Enjoy meeting a handful of our #LifeSkillsNow summer camp leaders as we explore what our youth need most and how parents can serve. Whether it’s about owning ones health, planning ahead, or responding well to others, you’ll love this info as well as a 3-step process to make it happen. Mental first, then verbal, then intentional. You got this, parents!

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I actually HUGGED my to-do lists, all of them, during this interview!

My guest Megan Sumrell warned me that she was going to tell me task lists are no good. I added that to my list. ;)

If you’ve ever felt like you have too much to do, too many demands on your time, or like you’re bound to that to-do list, this episode is for you!

We discuss:

• Why traditional time management systems often fail to address the emotional and mental load
• The difference between task lists and plans
• The challenge of estimating how long something will take (spoiler: I’m terrible at this!)
• Why that time right after school deserves to be called “running the gauntlet” and how to reduce anxiety about that time of day
• Whether tech is a help or a hindrance to productivity
• Some incredible tips for building routines with your little ones and teaching tweens and teens how to begin to manage their own time effectively
• The connection between time management and a financial budget
• Why you shouldn’t feel guilty for “not being on top of everything”

I learned a lot about myself and why I sabotage my own to-do lists even as I cling to them, and I hope you get to introspect as well!!

Resources We Mention for Time Management

• Time Management for Creatives course
• Megan's website
• The Work-Life Harmony training
• The Pink Bee app

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Grocery budget hurting?

Erin Chase of $5 Dinners has been making inexpensive meals to save her family’s grocery budget since the real estate crisis of 2008. She says the current inflation problem is similar in how it’s making people feel about money and savings, and it’s TIME to pay attention to your food budget, no matter who you are.

In this episode, prepare to learn:

• How to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the ever-changing world
• Why thinking about your dinner cost is even more important than finding a sale or thinking about what’s in your cart at the moment
• The most important part of the meal to focus on to cut costs
• How one appliance can make a huge difference in your planning
• Erin’s awesome four-step process to gradually let go and teach kids to cook
• How parents need to be intentional about teaching budgeting to kids (and it’s a lot more like raising toddlers than you think!)

We guarantee you’ll learn at least one (hopefully many!) hack to save time, money, or stress while you nourish your family!

Erin is a camp leader at #LifeSkillsNow summer camp, season 3, teaching kids how to make double the food in half the time – yum!

Register for free!

Resources We Mention for Cutting Your Grocery Budget

• Find Erin online
• Feeding Teenage Boys on a Budget
• Some of my tips for saving money on food
• Teaching kids to meal plan and budget for groceries
• How to stretch your meat to maximize your grocery dollar
• 5 steps to meal plan on a budget

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

You’ve heard people say it …You may have said something similar yourself …

It’s a negative judgment on teens, especially parenting teens.

“Oh, just look out for when they’re teenagers!”

“Teens are just moody…just confrontational…just tough to parent.”

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I’ve said it too, and I feel regret!

Turns out, most of the time, I puffy-heart-love parenting teens. They’re spectacular! They’re inquisitive! They’re deep thinkers!

And they’re a joy to be around.

Parenting teens is not without its challenges, but what in life is?

Joey Mascio has been an actor and a middle school teacher, not much difference there. :)

Today he joins us to inspire us to be our teens' mentors, not a villain, and I know your mind will be challenged (in a good way). We discuss:

• Why parents and teens have such trouble understanding each other (spoiler: it’s not the teen’s fault)
• Whether parenting was more difficult for our parents or now, and one (reversible) reason WHY that’s so
• The way you’ll talk to your teen once you start thinking about your teen the right way
• Why teens have trouble starting conversations
• The 3 things teens NEED to be successful (and how parents can use those elements to do better at our job and build our teens' confidence)
• How teens can go from a sidekick mentality to a hero mentality
• The importance of failure and telling our own imperfect stories

I feel like that only scratches the surface - if you’re a parent of a teen or will be someday, get the foundations right with the strategies in this interview!

Resources We Mention for Mentoring Teens

• Register for free for #LifeSkillsNow Summer Camp Season 3!
• Helping kids thrive in spite of screens
• Helping teens build a healthy relationship with screens
• Find Joey online
• Follow him on Instagram
• Get a free month of his app: Sidekick to Hero

• Kitchen Stewardship
• Kids Cook Real Food
• Register now for #LifeSkillsNow Season 3 mini-camp, Aug 4-6
• follow Katie on Instagram
• follow Kids Cook Real Food on Facebook
• Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
• YouTube shorts channel for HPH
• Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at kidscookrealfood.com/podcast

Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!