It is my personal responsibility to raise my daughter to become a healthy and happy person not just during her childhood, but for life! I want her to adapt a healthy lifestyle, one that she will carry on past the years that I am the one making her meals and taking her to swim lessons. I want her to take these things I am teaching her and carry it on throughout her life. I of course give her a daily vitamin as well. My choice for her is L’il Critters. Not only because the are the #1 brand of child gummy vitamin, she will actually remind me to give them to her before school! She loves them because they taste good, and I love them because I know she is getting the nutrients that she needs that she might be missing with her diet. They make nutrition taste good, and lets face it, for kids that is what really gets them to voluntarily take them!
It is a good idea to give your child a delish multivitamin every day, but this will not replace good nutrition and exercise, which are the keys to raising a healthy and happy child! For starters, make sure your child is getting enough nutrient through food. I look at vitamins as the safety net, just in case they miss some valuable vitamins during the day, the vitamin is there to be sure they are covered. So start their day off right with a healthy balanced breakfast. Protein will help them feel full longer and them being full with make it just that much easier to focus in class. A common breakfast I make for my kiddos is greek yogurt and fruit. Like I mentioned before, we are wanting to teach them habits that they will carry on throughout life, so lets not even introduce sugary kids cereals. My daughter doesn’t k now what they are, and her teacher thanks me for not dropping her off in the morning loaded with sugar 😉
On top of making sure they start their day off with a healthy breakfast, be sure they have a healthy lunch and snacks as well. The other key aspect of raising healthy and happy kids, make sure they get plenty of play! I like to use the word “play” instead of exercise for kids. The child will get plenty of exercise when they are being active and playing. If you make it into a structured exercise program, you may not be able to hold their attention. If you let them run and play in the yard, ride their bike, go on walks with you, etc.. they will not feel like it is a chore of sorts. Most kids will do this on their own. A healthy and happy kid will already have an abundance of energy to burn. However, a lot of kids are super sedate nowadays. The extent of their exercise is walking from the school, into the car, into their room, and flipping on the TV or video games. We need to limit their TV or video game times to ensure they are getting enough active play in their life! This is something we must really get to become a habit for them while they are a kid, because their metabolism is only going to slow down once they are adults.
Being happy has a lot to do with everyone’s overall health, not just for kids. When we are happy, it seems everything else just falls into place! For me, I know I am happiest when I am spending time with my family. I can tell my daughter is very happy when she gets time and attention from the parental units. Everyone is very busy, now more than ever, but be sure to carve out time to spend quality time with your loved ones. Get time in with your children now when you can, because they won’t be little forever. Also, we are teaching them habits for life, and you might want them coming by to visit you once they leave the nest. So put your time in now with them, and this will help build security for them to be happy and enjoy their family.
What are some tips you would like to share on raising a happy and healthy child?
Disclosore: Compensation was provided by Church & Dwight via Glam Media. The opinions expresses herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Church & Dwight.
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