Healthy Conversations & a living document

On Monday, a child walked into the kitchen, saw the food in the picture below, scowled, and said angrily, "What can I even EAT mom? There's nothing in this house."

How's it going over here, with our family health challenge?  About like that. :)

We are still detoxing, so that's fun. I am allowing extra screen time and friend time to help us through. Best of all, we are having great conversations. 

My favorite part of homeschooling has been learning how to appreciate the power of good questions, and to foster meaningful conversations. I no longer see something like "health" or any other topic as a subject to tackle, teach, and file away. Rather, it's a piece of life that we will spend time together exploring, considering, and looking for truth, goodness, and beauty in this area so we can see how it applies to life. We will not FINISH this task this summer (or in our lifetimes!) and that's ok! That is not the goal.

So instead of having a curriculum or a book to work through this summer, my goal is to lead conversation regularly about health-related topics, using whatever I find that interests me or the others as a springboard. 

I have found a few things, and I know some of you are curious, so I created a living document to share with you all. Feel free to use these springboards in your own way, and let me know if you find any good ones of your own!

Health Conversations (a living document)

Let's see what happens if we actually do this.

This is a basic one.  We've heard it a million times. "Eat more fruits and veggies." Blah Blah.

We all know we should, but why is it so hard to do?

Well, because junk tastes better.

But we all know we should. So let's try a little experiment. Let's do it, and see what happens.

What's the best way to make sure you get it done? Accountability. 

Even better, little people accountability.  If this is an option for you, I strongly encourage you to enlist your children to help you stay on track. No children? Borrow someone else's if you can. Children are excellent behavior police!

Sing it to the children!

Fearfully and wonderfully made, we are, and so are our children. Here are a few of our favorite songs on the topic. Yes, they are cheesy, and the videos are hilarious, but the words are beautiful: sing them to your children, let them soak deep down into their little hearts!

You knit me together

 I'm so wonderfully made

Coloring page: I'm so Wonderfully Made by the Donut Man

What a miracle

What are your favorite songs for kiddos?

There must be one thing you can do right. [Monday's Challenge]

 I’ve been having this conversation with myself lately. I invite you to listen in.

Me: This healthy eating stuff is just too complicated.

There is no way to do it 100% right all the time. It’s just not possible.

I might as well just eat what I crave and stop worrying about it.

The other me: What do you crave?

Junk food.

Did you know that eating junk food is likely to make you crave more junk food?

Uh, yes, I know that very well. I’ve been living it.

Wonderful Wonky Tortillas (best made with shirtless little boys.)

Quesadillas are one of our favorite lunches.  So this week, I tried making tortillas at home with our fresh ground whole wheat flour.  They were wonky, but they were wonderful.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour)

1/2 cup oil (she used avocado oil, I used olive oil)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water (heat in the microwave for 1 min)

(See the full recipe here- follow hers!)

Also needed (in my opinion)

Good music playing in the kitchen

Shirtless boy helpers

an iPad for backup

My notes 

Our Theme, Writ Large

I need reminders, big ones.  I have such a tendency to barrel through the day, getting stuff done, and I forget to pray, or to focus on the important things until the end of the day.  And that's no way to live.

I love words.

Why not put them everywhere?

So, I enlisted some help...

Shirtless boys are great helpers.

Or something.

We painted.

And I ran upstairs for paper towels and my camera, and I said to my husband, 

"What was I thinking, trying to paint with kids this age?"

But then, I saw this, and I remembered. 

Remind yourself, and your little ones, that you are wonderfully made this week!

Make a poster, hang it by your sink, pack a note in your child's lunch!

If you do this, I'd love to see your pictures!

How I used their love of things gross to teach them a healthy habit

Healthy habit for the month of January: Drink more water (read post #1 here.)

"Hey kids, water is extremely good for our bodies, and we need to drink more of it."

(Do your own reading to learn how much. I know there are conflicting reports, but in this house, any of the daily recommendations seem like a HUGE jump for us, even when you factor in the milk.)

Roughly 8 cups a day.
That's per child, not per FAMILY, kids.

We focused on the following:

Benefits of drinking water

Healthy heart
Healthy skin
Healthy joints
Healthy blood flow
Eliminates toxins
Helps the body fight infection
Mental clarity
Boosts energy
Helps the body absorb nutrients and oxygen

(I didn't mention weight loss. No need to focus here with the children, though this is a benefit that I would welcome.)

Signs of dehydration

Irritability
Headache
Low energy
Illness
Poor concentration
Constipation

I printed out water-related coloring pages for them, and I added the details as they colored.
Now, we have a wall full of drinking inspiration:

The gross advantage

Of course, the boys loved talking about constipation.  So, I thought I'd take advantage of their youthful love of all things gross, and go a step further.

"How do we know if we are getting enough water?  Any guesses kids? Your body gives you an easy clue!"
(blank stares)
"It's something you can check many times a day... when you go to the bathroom! Any guesses?"
(curious heads shaking, smirks, wide eyes)

"Pay attention to the color of your urine."

(What? Really? Ba hahaha!)
They could hardly believe their mother was talking about such things at the table.
And not only did I talk about it. I drew them a picture.

"Mommy, are you sure the smiley face isn't supposed to be on the OTHER side?" said a disappointed child, post-evacuation.
"Yes, honey, I'm sure. Your body is telling you that you need more water."

They are sighing a little bit about this new habit, but I continue to remind them that it could be worse. We could be eliminating sugar, or eating 3 veggies a day.

(Insert mom's evil laugh here, and then imagine six children submissively drinking their water.)