In part, this conversation is about embracing the moment and doing the things each day that bring joy. However, it is even more so a frame-shift to focus on being intentional. Intentionality may be the most important life priority, and ultimately what leads us down the path to purpose. Change is your choice. Intentionality is your choice, too.

Talking to your children about hard or sensitive topics is challenging and likely to evoke all kinds of emotions. It is even harder when that topic is YOU.

Know that your children are resilient and so are you.

Most importantly, remember - it is not our job as parents to protect our kids from hard; it is our job to help them learn how to manage it.

In the spirit of embracing my “realness”, it is with great heartache that I now have a new title to add to my list: Patient. And specifically, Cancer Patient. As a doctor, this is never a title I ever imagined I’d own. As a mom, it is the one I dreaded most. Yet, here I am; a new reality, a new path in life, a new type of real.

The return to school can be filled with all varieties of emotion - excitement, anxiety, or even dread. Some children love shopping for school supplies and skip happily into school on the first day. Other have a bit more trepidation and may express some concerns for what the new academic year may bring. Here are some tips for how to decrease the return to school anxiety.

Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters. It seems like either their taste preferences change on a daily basis or they never change. Ever. One day strawberries are the most delicious food on the planet and the next day they act like you are trying to poison them. Or perhaps, your child will only eat honey nut cheerios, peanut butter and jelly with the crusts cut off, clementine oranges, and grilled cheese. In that order. Every. Single. Day. 

What is a parent to do??

Head lice are a common frustration for children, parents and schools alike. Many people will start to feel itchy just thinking about the word.  While, school outbreaks are bound to happen, there are few strategies that kids and families can try in hopes of avoiding lice. l

Toddlers are natural born scientists who love to experiment, create, and explore their environment. Watch a toddler in a room of toys for even just a few minutes and you will notice how quickly kids will bounce around from toy to toy! Learn some tips for an engaging your toddler in educational fun!

As parents, it can be overwhelming to know which food choices are best for your kids. You try your best, but your time and energy are often limited. Some days, it is much easier to pull prepared foods out of the cabinet and make a quick meal. Other days, your kids refuse to eat anything other than mac and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. Making nutritious, homemade meals is rough. Being a parent on top of it all is exhausting!!

As a parent, one of the true frustrations and daily challenges with having kids is all of the clutter. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my daughter for anything, but having kids, sure does mean lots and lots of stuff and often lots and lots of broken and missing toys! Over the years of parenting and as a pediatrician who counsels families on the little tricks to help in keeping their sanity, I have learned an important rule: Less is More. Except when it comes to love. You can never have too much love.

Family traditions are integral to the health of a family. While they may seem trivial, and your kids may even resist you at times, these traditions are more sacred to the well-being and development of your child(ren) then you may realize. While many family traditions are often associated with holidays and special occasions, they can also impact the daily and weekly interactions of a family and shape the values, beliefs, and culture that is passed down through generations.

Physical therapy flexes gross motor skills, just as speech therapy helps with word and language development, and occupational therapy for fine motor skill development. In this video, Dr. Keili, MD, MPH shares some tips to help parents supplement physical therapy at home with their children.

Between the ages of 0 to 8 years, your child’s brain grows a tremendous amount – likely more than any other time in life. Children are like sponges and are constantly absorbing the world around them. Often, without even realizing it, children are investigating, exploring, and creating scientific experiments all in their own heads! As parents and caregivers, we have so much that we can offer our children to make this learning experience even better to aid in brain development.

Play is a valuable tool for little ones to foster growth through a range of developmental benefits, including awareness of and interaction with the world around them. Guided play together with a parent or caregiver presents opportunities to use engaging descriptive language in order to help children learn to play and flex their new skills as they get the hang of the activity. They’ll also learn social skills put into play when friends or siblings join the fun!

Summer is a time for backyard barbecues, relaxing days at the pool, camping trips, baseball games, and vacation road trips to name a few. It’s a time for fun and families, friends and festivities. After this past year of 2020, to say that we have all earned a vacation is quite the understatement!

Sometimes, we need to talk to our children about important and often tough topics. It can be difficult to know where to start and how to present an idea to your children in a way that they can understand.

As parents of toddlers and young children, we often find ourselves feeling like our homes are overtaken by toys. They’re everywhere—in every room, inside, outside, everywhere. You clean them up, and the second you turn around, your little love has managed to dump that bin of toys right back out again. It’s exhausting!

The data is clear: Kids are spending too little time out in the sunshine and too much time in front of screens.

The trend is dramatic. Over the past decade, the amount of time that kids under the age of 8 years old spend on mobile devices has increased from a mere 5 minutes to nearly 3 hours per day. This is true of even our smallest kids who are now averaging at least 1 hour per day on screens before their second birthday.

Learning cause and effect is one of the key cognitive development milestones of childhood. Ultimately, cause and effect are the basis for most of our interactions in the world—and children waste no time in starting to explore!

Some of our most proud moments as parents are watching our children show kindness and gratitude toward others. Whether it’s watching your daughter share her favorite toy with another child or thanking an adult for a gift, these moments truly make parents feel like they’re doing something right in raising their kid.

Play is one of the most basic yet most essential components of childhood development. Pretend play is the lens through which children learn about the world; it’s immensely critical to their social, physical, emotional, sensory, and cognitive development. What can we, as parents, do to encourage our kids to play? Easy—just support it!