A Mom and Dad came to meet with me because their 2 year old son was hitting children and arguing with caregivers in his day care center. Both parents worked full time. Their child had been sweet and relatively easy going before starting the program but they were confident that the school was a good one.

After talking I realized that they were both involved in preparing nutritious and well cooked meals at the end of each day, an important contribution to healthy family life.

Unfortunately the meals that they selected often required a lot of preparation and their son was getting very little play time with Mom or Dad before bed.

An active child I encouraged one or both of them to play whenever they were with him, including lots of fun on the walk to and from his day care.

A few weeks after our talk they called to say that things were going much better. “We’re eating toast for dinner!” they reported proudly.

Somewhat alarmed by their radical new diet I congratulated them on how well their family was doing and assured them that although difficult they could sort through ways to eat well and still have plenty of fun.

Full time working Moms and Dads often have the particularly difficult task of giving their children lots of attention while juggling other important priorities. Finding ways to do so can make a big difference to everyone.