As parents, it is our innate and primary role to provide proper nutrition for our children. We are hard wired to feed our offspring. If this very natural process is in any way disrupted, as parents, we are stricken and cannot help but take it personally. For it is our job to keep our children well fed. So when our children don’t eat well, eat too much or too little, fight us about healthy food choices, collect food in their rooms and other trauma responses, we, as parents are unnerved.

When “felt safety” is present, we can be connect to our bodies and feel if we are even hungry or full. Without this, if your child is constantly in a fight or flight mode, they are not able to feel any connection within their bodies, besides fear. Often these children, when placed in a safe home, will gorge on food as they may be worried there won’t be any tomorrow, or perhaps they do not feel the full signals from their bodies. Bottom line is first you connect to your child, help them to regulate, then you can truly help them learn how to eat well.

Learn easy to implement strategies to help your child eat better, to decrease those inevitable power struggles over food, and to eliminate food hoarding and other complex food related issues.

You can connect with your family, unwind from the daily grind, and feel rejuvenated by embarking on a STAYCATION. All it takes is some real planning and then shifting your point of view. A staycation actually can be just as wonderful as a proper vacation if you present it to your family in the right way. So go ahead and plan a big reveal to your family for your upcoming summer staycation. The great thing about a staycation is that there are no rules. You can develop a customized and of course, exciting plan that suits your family’s unique needs and tastes.

Check out this list of local PA family trips to insert some fun into your summer.

Dear Director,

Summer is fast approaching. I am having such ambivalence about it. My two elementary school children and my two middle school ones will soon be under my feet 24-7. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my kids, but sometimes it just gets too much. Please advise.

Yours, Ambivalent

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are invisible disabilities.  The majority of those with FASD show no facial features at all. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a range of physical, emotional and developmental delays that affects a person when they were exposed to alcohol during pregnancy. Even 1 drink during pregnancy can cause FASD. When a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy, it is passed from her bloodstream directly to the fetus’ umbilical cord. The bottom line is this exposure to alcohol in utero causes harmful brain changes so severe that we call this brain damage. Hence  FASD truly a brain disability: in fact FASD is the most prevalent brain-based disorder in the world. Thus we need to CONSIDER the BRAIN.

If you made it this far, you are ready to throw your old strategies to the curb. This CONSIDER the BRAIN business sounds promising. Let me tell you none of this will be easy. Throwing away your usual ways of doing things is never easy. Getting the school on board is daunting. Learning how to see your child differently will be tough. But the rewards are endless. For your child is walking around feeling misunderstood. They often feel like they are a failure because certain areas are just too hard for them no matter what they do. They may be feeling like they are unlovable as they just keep getting trouble over and over again. This new approach can help! Read on to begin your CONSIDER the BRAIN parenting journey.