Happy Kids! A Healthy Birthday Party

(These boys are Samantha and Jamie’s sons, who share a birthday!)  Text by Jamie Lynn

Yesterday was a big day for two very special kids. Soran and Gates had a roller skating birthday party and what a success it was. Often parents will ask me, “how is it possible to have a healthy birthday party?”

Soran and Carver, yukking it up!

It is certainly possible. Our menu included: apples and almond butter, turkey hot dogs, grain-free dairy-free chocolate cupcakes, and dairy-free ice cream. The kids were so happy, as you can see.

Offering kids healthy food does not have to be difficult. Often times, I believe parents think that kids expect to have “yucky,” as my son calls it, food at parties. They do not want to feel badly. At our party, we had left over cupcakes, but all the apples were gone in no time. Interesting huh??!!

If I were not willing to put a certain food in my body because it will not serve me, why would I feed it to my child? I believe if we as parents spent a bit more time planning ahead for our children’s meals, parties, etc, our children would have more balanced behavior, sleep better, and perform better in school and sports.

A great place to start is with school lunches. Stop allowing them to buy school lunch. Encourage your child to be part of making

Gates & Soran prepare to blow out candles

school lunches. We go to the grocery store every Sunday and the kids help me to choose what they want to eat. Invest in a good stainless steel thermos and make soups or chili for them. Hummus and sliced carrot and celery, almonds and raisins, rice cakes with almond butter, tuna with crackers, sliced fruit. The feedback I receive from my kids is that they often do not have much time to eat, because they want to get outside to recess, so pack things that are quick and easy. Once again, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HARD!!

Jamie & Soran

Bottom line? SIMPLE, QUICK, FUN FOODS!!!