We managed to escape Hurricane Lee's path on the East Coast this weekend, but I haven't been able to escape the proverbial hurricane called back to school. I'm up to my eyeballs in parent meetings, room mom meetings, TPA meetings, coffees and back to school nights. While I love being back in the swing of things, schools are often a place where diet culture lurks. 

Leaving one in person meeting this past week, I hopped on a zoom for my daughter's school. They happened to be soliciting help for their "snack shack" which is a little spot on campus where kids can buy all sorts of food after school. 

The presenter said, "Now we really need your help and know that you can just pretend that everything being sold to your kids isn't all garbage". Her comment was met with a round of laughter that sounded like it was piped in for a game show. Hello, diet culture. It's these subtle, yet not so subtle, comments that perpetuate anti-fat bias. 

The messaging that you...

Drumroll, please……

Today is my book birthday! Raising Anti-Diet Kids: A Parent’s Actionable Guide To Ditch Diets and Cultivate Body Respect is out in the world!!

Cue the confetti, streamers and dance music, but no gifts, please!***

Friends and Family who preordered their books sent me texts and photos with my book having a party in their very own homes! It’s wild this idea I had years ago actually turned into a real live book that people are reading. Like any author, I worry. Will people like it? Will it make a difference in their lives? Will only my mom and dad buy the book? I do know that I poured my heart and soul into this book and tried to make it a valuable tool that completely changes the way you think about food and your body not only for yourself, but for your whole family. I can't wait to hear what you think! 

If you still haven't bought the book, what are you waiting for?
For two lucky readers, the book...

I didn't want to order my son the milkshake. It was 9am on a Tuesday morning and we had just arrived at The Nantucket Pharmacy Counter. 

He sat at the counter stool swiveling around and around looking at me through his straw-turned-telescope that he was hoping would be dunked into a milkshake. He remembered how good they were last year. 

"What about a croissant? Blueberry muffin? Bagel? Acai bowl? Eggs and toast?" I asked skimming through the menu. 

"No, no and have you lost your mind, Mom? I hate eggs. Remember??" he sighed. 

 "Ok, I don't even know if they make milkshakes this early in the day."

He looked at me with those sad puppy dog eyes, scowl on his face and arms crossed. 

The sweet woman behind the counter heard us talking and said she would make him a milkshake. 

His siblings kept reminding both of us that milkshakes are not a breakfast food. 

I ordered two of my sons a milkshake for breakfast. 

...

I sat in the hot sticky sun next to a mom trying to cajole her squirmy toddler into a swim lesson. Her little swimmer was having none of it despite everyone watching the lessons wanting to jump in the cool water to beat the heat. She happened to be eating a ceasar salad and her daughter asked for a bite.

“You can have a bite, but you’re not gonna like it” replied her mom. 

I overheard another parent on the pool deck telling their child that they weren’t full and should try eating a few more bites.

I hate to admit it, but I used to say all these things and more.  

Friends of mine asked me why I wrote my book this weekend, and one of the many reasons I answered was to help parents like the ones I overheard at the pool. While their comments seem innocent, they’re actually undermining their child’s ability to trust their body and make choices around how much and what kind of foods they eat. It’s so important to give kids...

I passed a mom at the pool hauling her double wide stroller with buckets and sand toys and towels draped over the sides. It was a scorcher and the smell of sunscreen hit the nose at the same time the sound of happy splashers hit the ears. But what caught my attention most was what my eyes saw. Her two toddlers holding ice cream cones filled with fruit. 

We did a little stop and chat and she laughed at herself saying that she wanted her kids to have a cone so they didn’t feel totally deprived. “It’s still something sweet, right?” she laughed. 

“Next time just let them have the real thing!” I said half jokingly. 

This encounter reminded me of the “almond mom” sweeping TikTok. The almond mom was coined from a controversial comment made by Real Housewives alum Yolanda Hadid (yes, Gigi Hadid’s mom). Back in 2014, her daughter called her sounding shaky after eating half an almond and her mom’s reply was to eat...

After years of palate expanders, retainers and braces, my daughter will finally be getting her braces off next week. 

Just as I was about to hit "add to cart" on some confetti, streamers and balloons, our orthodontic technician delivered the grim news in his monochromatic tone. 

"Well, after you get your braces off, you'll wear a retainer 24/7 for four months and then shift to wearing your retainer at night only for the rest of your life".

"I'm sorry, did you just say.....FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE, like when she's seventy years old??"

Owen looked at me straight in the face and said, "yes, ma'am". 

My daughter mouthed from her reclined dentist chair position, "nobody wears them, mom", but I was still mortified. 

All these year of enduring pain and suffering and annoyance and it will never end? What kind of a deal is this?

You know my mind went straight to comparing this to a diet. 

The diet companies promise you they'll make your body smaller in no...

My sons and I stared at the scoreboard incredulously while my newly minted three year old pumped her fists in the air. The rest of us didn’t feel like dancing in the dark to the pop tunes blaring from the speakers anymore. None of us were feeling the neon strobe lights either.

Somehow this little girl had just smoked us all in bowling. And not just regular bowling, but Candlepin bumper bowling. There were no awkward, heavy balls or open gutters that we could point at for our loss. She even chose a practical twirling dress for the occasion and didn't even wear the official bowling shoes. 

It was here carefree attitude about the whole thing that was most annoying. 

The rest of us sweated it out and gave our best effort at the line every time. Swinging our arms straight forward and back, aiming for our ten pins, looking where we wanted the ball to go, doing the classic "move over" bowling arms to magically guide our ball, strategizing and...

It was the quintessential fall day last week.

A trip to the pumpkin patch (still wondering if professional pumpkin finder could be my seasonal day job), a bumpy hayride, a not-so-scary corn maze and the farm store for fresh apple cider donuts and apple cider. 

A walk along a lane filled with trees boasting the perfect autumn hues. 

Mid-60’s and sunshine, jacket optional. 

Enough time to make it to the grocery store and score fresh baguettes and butternut squash soup.

I even bought new napkins at my favorite home decor store in town a few days back which made the dinner table look extra festive. 

I was feeling rather proud of my dinner table spread. 

Two kids happily ate the soup, two tried it and wrinkled their nose and two gave an outright refusal. Thankfully warm bread and chicken came to the rescue…..and cereal. That’s right. Barbara’s cereal came straight out of the pantry and into the bowls that were supposed to be for that...

To this day, I refuse to buy a Kindle. It would be ridiculously convenient to use that fancy little e-reader while traveling with six kids, but its never happening.

There’s something special, even magical, about holding and reading a real book. Whether turning the page feels like a fresh start or the weight of the book just feels like a small treasure that was written just for me, books are powerful.

I’ve always loved books and am excited to tell you that I’m writing a book that you’ll be able to hold in your hot little hands very soon! 

In this book I’ll be sharing all my tips, strategies, coaching exercises and ideas that will help you handle everything from trips to the doctor’s office, to school lunch monitors to body image. The book is full of additional resources and is the guide I wish I had when my kids were born about how to handle and what to say about all things food and body.

What should you say and not say...

My son ran towards me with an enormous, squirmy frog dangling from his hand. 

“Finally!” he shouted. It had been over an hour of searching before he caught this elusive Spring Peeper. 

I ran towards him to see the evidence because minutes earlier I had given up the search and started walking home. 

We live near a wooded area with several small ponds (aka vernal pools) which are a hot magnet for Spring Peepers. The sound of these nocturnal creatures rivals a gorgeous orchestra and makes you feel like you're in the middle of the rainforest. It’s a true sign of New England Spring when this evening melody fills the air. 

We'd been listening to this critter chorus for a few nights and our draw to hunt for these frogs felt like following a siren song. We simply had to go!

Yesterday late afternoon when the orchestra started tuning up, we donned our rain boots and jackets and headed toward the music. 

We searched the pond edges, nothing. 

We...