Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

Sometimes we just need a little mental shift, a small piece of knowledge, an encouragement to break a habit , or a new perspective. That’s my goal today! I want to break into the day-to-day habits that might not be serving your kids and help you make a SHIFT – either in your thinking, your dinner routine, or your language . I challenge you to set one tiny goal for your dinner table after listening...

I was asked a question on a podcast interview the other day that I’ve never been asked before – “ WHY are there so many picky eaters these days? ” It really does feel like it’s an epidemic, far different than our childhood. What gives? I have 4 theories as to the underpinnings , and those lend a hand to create a playbook to avoid picky eating in your own kids if they’re young enough to circumvent...

What’s healthier for your child: a donut or a muffin? I know. That sounds like a trick question. And after decades of talking about real food at Kitchen Stewardship and Kids Cook Real Food, I certainly have some thoughts about the ingredients in both! But Dr. Dina Rose made an argument in this interview that stopped me in my tracks: From a habits perspective, sometimes the donut might actually hav...

If you’ve ever bribed a child with dessert to get three more bites of broccoli into their mouth, this interview may mess with your head a little. In a good way. Because what if our intense focus on getting healthy food INTO our kids is accidentally teaching them some not-so-healthy habits about eating? When I first interviewed sociologist, parent educator, and feeding expert Dr. Dina Rose, her ide...

If part one of my conversation with Dr. Stephanie Gray made you question what you thought you knew about hormones, buckle up. Part two goes even deeper. Dr. Gray is the author of The Hormone Blueprint , and she has spent years researching and working with women on hormones, thyroid health, metabolism, and hormone replacement therapy. And moms, this conversation is especially for us. We get incredi...

Were you scared away from taking hormone replacement therapy? I was. 100%! But this conversation with Dr. Stephanie Gray may have changed my mind.  I’m 46, firmly in the “what is happening to my body and what is ABOUT to happen?” stage of life, and I had definitely absorbed the message that hormone replacement therapy was a Big Scary Decision. I couldn’t have explained the research. I couldn’t hav...

What should you do when your child is overwhelmed, melting down, refusing to cooperate , or acting like they cannot handle something you know they can do? In part two of this conversation, Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge explains how parents can help kids build a more regulated nervous system before, during, and after stressful moments. She shares why parents should regulate first, connect second, and c...

When your child is melting down, refusing to listen, shutting down, or exploding over something small, their nervous system may be overwhelmed —not ready for more words or discipline. Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a longtime friend of mine and Raising Healthy Families, explains what happens in the brain when kids become dysregulated and why their ability to think logically can temporarily go offline....

In the previous episode , I talked about my first two philosophy shifts when it comes to how I feed my own kids and talk about picky eating. We dealt with the "no thank-you bite" and how/when to serve dessert. I'm truly grateful for the professionals who helped me change my thinking and my ways! Today, we'll dive into three other mindset changes I've had when it comes to f...

Have you ever given parenting advice with total confidence…only to learn a few years later that you had it completely wrong? I have. 🙋‍♀️ After 21 years of feeding kids, 17 years of writing about healthy families, and a whole lot of conversations with picky eating experts, there are a few things I used to teach that I simply don’t anymore . And I think it’s important to talk about them. In this e...

What if one of the best things you could do for an anxious, frustrated, or struggling kid is...do a little less? I know. Every parenting instinct in us is screaming, “Help them! Fix it! Tell them it’s going to be okay!” But Dr. Kathryn Hecht says there’s a problem with that last one: We’re not wizards. We actually don’t know that everything is going to be okay, and our kids are smart enough to kno...

What if one of our most loving parenting instincts is accidentally making our kids less confident? Oof. As parents, we’re wired to help. To reassure. To rescue. To make the crying stop in the grocery store before everyone in aisle seven starts judging us. (You know what I mean?) But child psychologist Dr. Kathryn Hecht says kids aren’t nearly as fragile as we sometimes treat them. In fact, they ne...

“Structure” might not be the most exciting word in parenting. In fact, if you’re anything like me, it might sound a little too much like schedules, color-coded charts, and someone who actually knows where all the matching socks are. I am not that person. But here’s what I’ve learned: structure isn’t about controlling our kids. It’s one of the ways we care for them. I was recently talking with an 1...

Have you ever looked at your kid’s schedule and thought, “How are we supposed to fit all of this in?” School. Sports. Music practice. Homework. Clubs. Family stuff. That giant project they somehow remember at the most inconvenient possible moment. And then we wonder why our kids feel stressed …while we’re over here acting as the family calendar, reminder system, transportation coordinator, and hum...

Have you ever moved the same task from Monday’s list to Tuesday’s list...then Wednesday’s...and by Friday you’re pretty sure that task has taken up permanent residence there? Meanwhile, you’ve accomplished 47 other things. So why do you still feel behind? My guest Megan has a name for this: time debt. And once she explained it, I started seeing it everywhere. It’s a lot like financial debt. You be...

Have a great summer! We'll be back in late August with new episodes of the Healthy Parenting Handbook.  Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families  follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the...

If you thought choosing a sunscreen was as simple as looking for the words “mineral” on the front of the bottle, this episode might surprise you. In this conversation, Autumn Blum and I dig into the sunscreen label details that most parents never hear about—and some new ingredients to watch out for. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why reading the active ingredients matters far more than the marketi...

I was once called the Wikipedia of sunscreen by a morning news anchor. I consider myself a total sunscreen geek! Wait until you see my jaw drop in this conversation with cosmetic chemist and Stream2Sea founder Autumn Blum. She taught me things I had never considered before! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why a scuba diving trip halfway around the world completely changed the way Autumn formulates...

If you’ve ever looked around your house thinking, “Why am I still doing everything for these capable humans?” — this episode is for you. I’m deeply passionate about helping parents raise kids who are not only healthy, but independent, resilient, and prepared for real life. And honestly? Chores and family responsibilities are one of the most powerful tools we have to make that happen. In this conve...

If your family does not deal with food allergies, it can be easy to assume this episode is not for you. But after this conversation with Kathlena, The Allergy Chef, I think every parent will walk away with more empathy, awareness, and practical tools for helping all kids feel included. Kathlena’s stories are powerful, heartbreaking, and deeply hopeful. We talked about the hidden isolation many fam...

I have to tell you, this episode completely stretched my understanding of food allergies, chronic illness, and what it means to truly listen to your body. Kathlena, also known as The Allergy Chef, has one of the most unbelievable stories I have ever heard. She personally manages more than 200 food allergies and intolerances, was once given 30 days to live, and today somehow works as a chef helping...

If you listened to part one of my conversation with Tania Johnson , you already know how powerful it was to understand what is happening inside the teenage brain. In this second half, we move from the “why” into the “what now?” We talk about the practical side of parenting teens in today’s world, including chores, emotional intelligence, resilience, family connection, and of course… technology. On...

If you have ever looked at your teenager and thought, “Why are we suddenly having toddler-level emotional meltdowns again?” this episode is going to make so much sense. I had such a fascinating conversation with Tania Johnson from the Institute of Child Psychology about what is actually happening inside the teenage brain, and honestly, it completely reframed some things for me as a parent. We talk...

Artificial intelligence is changing so quickly that honestly? I don’t think any of us can accurately predict what our kids’ jobs will look like in 10 or 20 years. But I also don’t think parents can afford to throw up our hands and say, “Well, who knows?” and ignore the conversation. In this second part of my AI series on the Healthy Parenting Handbook podcast, I’m digging into the question I think...

What happens when the future changes faster than parenting advice can keep up? Artificial intelligence is already transforming jobs, schools, communication, creativity, and even the way businesses run day to day. And as parents, it can feel equal parts fascinating and terrifying. Should we be worried? What skills will our kids actually need? And how in the world do we prepare children for jobs tha...