Episode 12
🍪 From Cookies to Confidence: Using Cooking to Foster Emotional Connection with Kids
In this episode of Mealtime Magic & Mayhem, host Tricia Clark is joined by parenting and behavior coach, Meagan Duncan. They dive into the unique perspective of using cooking as a way to build emotional connections with children. Meagan, who is both a foster mom and a bio mom, shares her journey of bringing foster kids into her home and creating a cohesive household with her own children.
🔸 Meagan emphasizes the importance of cooking with kids, highlighting how it touches on various points. Cooking allows parents to model making mistakes, cleaning up, and understanding that mistakes don't define them. It also provides an opportunity to bond and connect with the children.
🔸 Tricia and Meagan discuss how cooking not only promotes connection but also instills important life skills like cooperation, math, and problem-solving.
🍽️ The conversation moves on to modeling behaviors while cooking together. Meagan stresses the importance of parents modeling quality behaviors for their children, such as trust, tasting each other's creations, and rating dishes together.
Tune in to this episode of Mealtime Magic & Mayhem to learn more about the emotional power of cooking with kids and how it can foster confidence and connections. 🎧👨🍳👩🍳
Meagans Links:
Website: Connectedkidsthrive.com
20 Tips for Cooking with Kids: https://4kids.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/20%2BBenefits_of_Cooking+_with_our_Kiddos_ConnectedKidsThrive+(4).pdf
Transcript
Welcome to another episode of Neil Time Magic in mayhem.
Speaker:We're mixing things up a little bit today, and I have Megan
Speaker:Duncan here with me. She is a parenting and behavior
Speaker:coach, and she has a really unique perspective on cooking the kids in the kitchen.
Speaker:She is a foster mom and a bio mom, and she's been
Speaker:serving families for over 16 years. She's certified and positive
Speaker:discipline with a background of pediatric speech therapy,
Speaker:and really uses proven tools of positive discipline to get kids
Speaker:to listen and cooperate without having to yell, bribe, threaten,
Speaker:or Umish. She really loves to encourage parents to cook
Speaker:with their kiddos, and we're gonna hear more about her
Speaker:philosophy on making connections in the kitchen, but I'm so
Speaker:excited to have you here to talk to us
Speaker:about all of these things from really building that sense of
Speaker:family, to how we connect with kids in the kitchen
Speaker:to a discussion on maybe some picky eating. I think
Speaker:there's just a wealth of information that we could go into. So welcome
Speaker:to podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you. I'm excited to be
Speaker:here. So could you share a bit about
Speaker:your journey, or what does that look like? You're a parenting and behavior coach.
Speaker:You've got your own kids. You're bringing foster kids into your home.
Speaker:What does that look like? Like, I can only imagine the challenges
Speaker:that can lie in that space because you're bringing foster
Speaker:kids in, and there's a reason that they need to come to your home. Right?
Speaker:They have their own challenges. And then you've gotta create this
Speaker:cohesive household with your own children. What does that look like? And how do
Speaker:you use cooking to do that? So I will scream
Speaker:from the rooftops that cooking is the biggest bang for our parenting buck
Speaker:cooking with our kids. And as soon as possible when I get a
Speaker:foster kiddo in, we make cookies because it
Speaker:touches all the points I wanna touch. I can model making a mistake. I
Speaker:can model just cleaning it up. I can help them understand that
Speaker:mistakes don't define them that we can just clean it up and
Speaker:move on. We can work on all the skills I'm not that that's a priority.
Speaker:We can just bond and connect. And I am inviting
Speaker:them into this realm that has been forbidden for so many of them. they
Speaker:can do no wrong. We're side by side and my bio
Speaker:daughter loves to come in and we become a team
Speaker:right off the bat and it is cookies really do
Speaker:save the world, I think. So -- I mean, what kid does love cookies?
Speaker:Right. And then we can enjoy them together. There's
Speaker:evidence of the cooperation that we had, evidence of the awesomeness of
Speaker:our time together, and evidence that they can do good
Speaker:because they have forgotten so much at the time that they can do good,
Speaker:that they are good. So I get to load up on their good the whole
Speaker:way through, touch on all five love languages as we're cooking and
Speaker:it's it's amazing. It changes everything right off the get go.
Speaker:fat is beautiful. I just it gives me goosebumps. It really gives me
Speaker:goosebumps. The other thing I think that's really cool about you getting those kids in
Speaker:the kitchen, the connection is amazing and so much of what my business is about.
Speaker:But I think we forget sometimes that cooking instill
Speaker:so many life skills from that cooperation, that connection, but
Speaker:also math skills, process,
Speaker:and probably a lot of these kids haven't had parents that are working with
Speaker:them on their homework and on those skills and had a problem solve when
Speaker:something isn't going right. And so it encompasses so much. Not only
Speaker:do I think it's really cool that you do that in general, but as that
Speaker:first connection point, that's so cool. And what a great way to
Speaker:get your kids involved in the process and show them what that looks
Speaker:like too. that's just beautiful.
Speaker:Just beautiful. So you've touched a little bit already, but
Speaker:you emphasize the importance of cooking with kids. How did you discover this unique
Speaker:avenue for enhancing that parent child connection. Right? Like, I know you're a
Speaker:parenting and behavior coach, but how did you discover that cooking was that
Speaker:thing? Is it just because you've always loved to cook or Was it an
Speaker:experiment? How did you discover that nugget?
Speaker:Right. So full transparency, I don't love cooking at all.
Speaker:Whatever. I had a preschool when my kiddo was 3,
Speaker:and we just started making our lunches together.
Speaker:And my preschool was way cool. Playbase,
Speaker:naturebase. We were outside fishing all the time for crawdads. We were building dams. We
Speaker:were making our tents outside playing in the mud. and the kiddos
Speaker:love cooking the most. Our cooking sessions for our lunch were an
Speaker:hour. They sat, they absorbed, and I discovered I could teach
Speaker:any skill or concept that I wanted them to really hone
Speaker:right there at the table making cookies or pancakes or
Speaker:what sandwiches or whatever I'm going for. And what I you touched on
Speaker:this a second ago, that math and building their vocabulary, and
Speaker:I loved my own transformation because There was a point when I focused on
Speaker:that more. But as I worked with kids more and more often, I
Speaker:discovered that emotional connection the social and emotional
Speaker:skills are always priority. So when we have
Speaker:that connection, then we can talk about nonutonian fluids, viscosities,
Speaker:fractions, all those things after that
Speaker:connection has been made. And so that was in my kiddos 3 in my
Speaker:pre goal and then I took that right into fostering. And in that
Speaker:middle interim piece, my daughter gets to explore in the kitchen
Speaker:as much as she wants, and she has a great sense of autonomy
Speaker:and self significance. And because she just gets to go
Speaker:and create in the kitchen, and we did have to put a boundary in place
Speaker:over time and do one. The one boundary is
Speaker:whatever you create can only
Speaker:result in two cups. at the end.
Speaker:And because we had bowls of things being created. And so
Speaker:we put a little bit of a boundary and The other thing that I
Speaker:actually write a lot on is hypocrisy in our
Speaker:parenting. And do I taste every dish she
Speaker:creates Absolutely. That is how we have trust. How
Speaker:often do we expect our kids to taste our things or
Speaker:taste all the things on their plate? I will 100%
Speaker:unless she has mixed baking soda and vinegar. I
Speaker:taste everything, and we'll rate it together. And We make
Speaker:videos about this. I have the cutest little video since the time she was for
Speaker:cooking in the kitchen by herself, me tasting it, and I was just
Speaker:giggling. And when those memories pop up, So fun. So
Speaker:I yeah. I just get giddy too. I get goosebumps too. What I wanna point
Speaker:out to our listeners is hear what Megan said. Children as young as the
Speaker:age of three can help you with something in the kitchen. It isn't
Speaker:something to wait until they're older. I moved out of the house and didn't
Speaker:know how to cook and ended up teaching myself. And I'm here now,
Speaker:but I would have loved that interaction in the
Speaker:kitchen to feel welcomed into that process
Speaker:that that road would have been easier. Now, obviously, this is the road I was
Speaker:supposed to be on, and that's great. but help your kids develop those life
Speaker:skills that they are gonna need when they move out. So they're not living on
Speaker:fast food and ramen. We all go through a ramen and mac and cheese season.
Speaker:Don't get me wrong. But we need to arm them with more than
Speaker:that. We need to arm them with more than that. So
Speaker:You talk a lot about modeling behavior. And in the
Speaker:kitchen, you really emphasize modeling quality behaviors for kids. Can you
Speaker:give some examples of the behaviors that parents can instill while
Speaker:cooking together? And I'm thinking like quality behaviors, not necessarily the
Speaker:math and the cooking. Mhmm. Yes.
Speaker:But I would love to take a step back and argue that
Speaker:Our kids can come into the kitchen. Month
Speaker:3, month 4. I had my kiddo sitting in the sink
Speaker:when she was four months old eating a raw beet. It looks like she was
Speaker:eating a rat. She saw it everywhere and that
Speaker:beet that beet tail and my kid will eat
Speaker:salads. She will eat anything. and
Speaker:when I have foster kiddos, they come in really with palettes that are
Speaker:very specific to certain foods, very processed foods, but
Speaker:as they come in, as they're empowered to explore, They end up
Speaker:eating so many of the things too because their bodies are fully immersed in
Speaker:creating the things. So 3 years
Speaker:younger can come into the kitchen and make sure they're safe. But when
Speaker:we squash opportunities and squash risks that really may
Speaker:not be there. I just invite us all to think, and maybe we can
Speaker:be a little bit more flexible with what we're doing. So Yeah. That's a really
Speaker:good point. I was more thinking from the, like, helping you cook perspective, but absolutely
Speaker:having them in there. I mean, somebody younger than 3 can rinse the green
Speaker:beans in the sink and sit there and eat while you're cooking. Like, that encouraging
Speaker:the trial of all the different kinds of foods as young as possible And then
Speaker:the other thing I would say, and we'll get into more of this. I think
Speaker:as we talk about picky eaters is it's not just about having them
Speaker:try it once. because our taste buds and our taste and our
Speaker:preferences change frequently throughout our lives.
Speaker:Mhmm. Flavors change based on how you cook things. Right? changes
Speaker:changes so much. It's alright. Just to stay on this one more
Speaker:second. Kittles is young as 1. They can have a bowl and they can have
Speaker:the components that you're cooking with just stirring in the bowl,
Speaker:tasting different things. And what we're doing here is developing
Speaker:their skill of focus. They want to be by you
Speaker:anyways. My my niece can stay with her
Speaker:mom for an hour. just stirring and
Speaker:whatever my sister is cooking and my niece can beat
Speaker:an hour with her mom just stirring things, random things, So
Speaker:we're developing so many different skills way beyond what we
Speaker:think. Yeah. And not just for them, but that makes me think of the moms
Speaker:that I talk to that are like, I have this newborn, and I
Speaker:have 3 toddlers. And I don't even have time to cook because I'm trying to
Speaker:wrangle them. It's a great perspective to bring them in and give
Speaker:them one task that's in there with you. And,
Speaker:yes, you might have a little bit more of a mess clean up. We're gonna
Speaker:talk about that too, but that will also allow
Speaker:them to learn how to help you do that. and give you a
Speaker:few more minutes to get that dinner on the table. Yes. So
Speaker:let's talk about perfectionism. Okay.
Speaker:How can parents let go of the pressure to be perfect in the
Speaker:kitchen and focus on that connection rather than the outcome? I know
Speaker:perfectionism is I'm a recovering perfectionist. And it really
Speaker:came out in how I attempted to cook for my family and a
Speaker:source of the frustration for me that kind of led me on this journey.
Speaker:And so I I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on those ideas.
Speaker:I would love to invite us all to think about perfectionism
Speaker:as to sort out the window because it's so limiting.
Speaker:And honestly, what the dish looks
Speaker:like doesn't matter. It's about the connect of how that
Speaker:dish came to be. And it's about
Speaker:us being present and being involved in the
Speaker:process. being present in the process. Those three p's let go of
Speaker:perfectionism because we're perfectly imperfect and
Speaker:if we just are present and are asking questions
Speaker:and just being part of the process, the food's gonna end up on the
Speaker:plate and we're gonna eat the food and the
Speaker:kitchen's gonna be messy. Yeah. But it's gonna be messy anyways.
Speaker:We're gonna spend the time anyways keeping the kids out of the kitchen, and then
Speaker:wondering where they are or just inviting them in, having them sit
Speaker:with bulls, we're gonna spend the time anyways.
Speaker:That's so true. And so much of what I work on in my programs is
Speaker:that mindset of how do we shift that energy of
Speaker:perfectionism of it feeling like a chore, the stress, the overwhelm, but
Speaker:having them, you know, all of those things into This
Speaker:is an opportunity to connect with my people, not
Speaker:an obligation. And we all have to eat. We're all gonna, like you said,
Speaker:spend the time anyway fixing the food and sitting down at the table. So we
Speaker:might as well make the most of that time. And so I
Speaker:really work with busy women and moms to really break down those barriers
Speaker:so that they can really approach it from that space because
Speaker:that stress comes out in the flavor of your food and in the quality of
Speaker:your food. Regardless of how it looks, we're not talking. Everything has to be gourmet
Speaker:or you have to do it every night of the week, but it does
Speaker:energy is contagious one way or the other. Yes. I would
Speaker:love to add, even if you can't or
Speaker:choose not to invite the kiddos in and have them all lined up with their
Speaker:own bulls, if you are getting a sense that one of your
Speaker:kiddos needs an extra bit of connection It can be so
Speaker:simple. Invite them in for 1 minute, cut the cheese, break the
Speaker:broccoli, whatever they can do, and then you can invite them to go back
Speaker:to their leggos. or go back to the TV, but you were
Speaker:able to connect with them for a minute, highlight how amazing they are.
Speaker:And then in 20 minutes, when you're all sitting down, You can say, by the
Speaker:way, everybody, little Jack here, cut the broccoli for us.
Speaker:How amazing is that? And then he gets to be appreciated, and then he'll want
Speaker:to repeat that behavior in the future. That's how we reinforce
Speaker:good behaviors also. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker:Alright. So you shared a fascinating statistic with
Speaker:me. And one of the big
Speaker:challenges I hear from moms a lot is the challenge of
Speaker:picky eaters. Right? And so I've had a lot of
Speaker:conversations with women about what that looks like and different
Speaker:reasons why they might be picky. And I know that work can ruffle
Speaker:some feathers, but the truth is as parents, so that's how we look at it
Speaker:as picky eaters until we start understand why
Speaker:they're being picky, what's really behind that. And
Speaker:so you mentioned that well, I'm gonna let you share the
Speaker:statistic about how many times kids are told what to do and
Speaker:how that can really play into this realm, kiddos. And I was just
Speaker:talking with a colleague about this. kittles are told what to do. They're
Speaker:commanded or demanded 500 to a 1000
Speaker:times a day on average. And
Speaker:kiddos who have expressive and receptive challenges and behavior
Speaker:challenges are even commanded and demanded upon more. And
Speaker:so we are adding fuel to the fire. and they are going to
Speaker:bulk. They're going to fight. They're going to scream. They're going to ignore. They're
Speaker:going to insert their sense of self preservation.
Speaker:I always encourage my parent clients and all of us to always put
Speaker:ourselves in our children's shoes and just try to experience. For some perspective,
Speaker:what that could feel like. And so I
Speaker:personally try to tell my children what to do zero times a
Speaker:day. Now we have systems in place where they do the things they need to
Speaker:do with small, very light. What should you be doing
Speaker:right now? Or do you have a plan? like, what's going on? Like, I invite
Speaker:them. So it gives them power and control. We all need
Speaker:power and control, and we really need to and this goes
Speaker:right into cooking and picky eating, where are we as parents
Speaker:asserting and demanding and gaining our own power and control and
Speaker:why? and then how are our kiddos fighting back for their own
Speaker:power and control. So, you know,
Speaker:cooking or eating is just one thing
Speaker:that as long as we're providing the nutrients
Speaker:available to them, we can really let go
Speaker:of our need for control in this realm. Let it be
Speaker:about connection. Yes. Of course. There's kiddos with
Speaker:true sensory stuff that really there's
Speaker:really things going on, but so much of the time, our kiddos are
Speaker:just dying for some control. And so are we. And so we create
Speaker:this huge power struggle around dinner time, around meal
Speaker:times when honestly that's the time that should be most precious. most calm,
Speaker:most preserved for connection, and we kinda
Speaker:ruin it a lot of the time. In that study, actually of those
Speaker:commands and demands that 500 to a 1000, most of those are given around real
Speaker:time. 3 more bites. Take a taste of this. Why aren't you beating that? Go
Speaker:get a spoon. Quit snacking. all of those things.
Speaker:Kiddos have no choice but to bulk.
Speaker:That's really interesting. That's really interesting.
Speaker:So I guess what I would ask
Speaker:is you talked about having your systems in place
Speaker:and giving 0 demands a day, but let's
Speaker:say you've got a mom that's starting from ground 0, right, got
Speaker:a real struggle with a picky eater, and they don't have those
Speaker:systems in place. What's and I'm a big believer in starting
Speaker:small to create those stackable habits. Like, what are a
Speaker:couple of small things that she can do to start
Speaker:creating those systems to get on that path
Speaker:to not creating so many orders, if you will, or
Speaker:demands. So it it really comes from
Speaker:just looking at our own childhood stuff
Speaker:and what happened there and why we do the things we do because it
Speaker:makes a huge difference. We don't even know the things that we
Speaker:interpret it as kids and how they fester and pop up in us.
Speaker:One little system that I have in place for the cooking piece
Speaker:especially is what I call having a poopy mindset or
Speaker:doing the poopy approach. And so what this means is The
Speaker:first p is patient. We have to decide it's gonna be messy. We
Speaker:have to decide, you know what? I'm going to just
Speaker:breathe through this 10, 20 minutes, whatever it takes, it's gonna be messy, and
Speaker:that's okay. So patience. And then those two oves is oopsies
Speaker:into opportunities. So we are gonna be actually
Speaker:looking for those messes as opportunities. Oh, you ripped that bag of
Speaker:chocolate chips right open. Wow. Well, it's okay. I'll help you clean it up. I
Speaker:get the broom, or you think a rag would be better? We're giving them power.
Speaker:We're modeling these great behaviors. And
Speaker:then the other p is playful? Can we be
Speaker:playful at all? And this is where I love to touch on the 5 love
Speaker:languages myself, but if you're still starting at a
Speaker:foundational level. Just touching their back.
Speaker:Just aim to touch their back. Let and that lets them know that they mean
Speaker:a lot to you that you are thinking about them and you're
Speaker:ensuring they have a sense of significance and that alone
Speaker:is the number one thing to get better behavior. is when our children
Speaker:feel significant to us. And then
Speaker:if it's a yes, that last y for poopy, if it's a yes to all
Speaker:of those, Invite your kiddos in for as much time as you
Speaker:can and then there's one little
Speaker:system you have for success where you can just
Speaker:be present and let go of the perfectionism and be
Speaker:involved in the process. I love that. You talk a lot about
Speaker:control, and I think this is an opportunity where there's an
Speaker:opportunity to change the things that we want control over. And maybe
Speaker:it's resetting or reframing to have more
Speaker:control over or change the way that we plan the
Speaker:meals so that there's less fighting. And I don't mean cook all your
Speaker:kids' favorites every day. I mean things like cook something
Speaker:you know they enjoy, put something you know they enjoy on the plate,
Speaker:something you want them to try, and something that maybe they don't love, but you
Speaker:know that they'll eat it. Right? Because really pays
Speaker:dividends to, and I love to rotate the family's favorites.
Speaker:Right? And it doesn't mean I cook everybody's favorite meal, and I don't cook what
Speaker:I love. I always plan to cook what I love, but I incorporate things
Speaker:that I know that they will because then they know that they feel seen loved
Speaker:and heard, and they feel that sense of significance, right, And it's
Speaker:really about transforming meal time into that space.
Speaker:And there are so many different ways that we can do that.
Speaker:So I encourage anybody who's listening to we'll have all our contact
Speaker:information in the show notes. Obviously, reach out to Megan or reach out to me
Speaker:if these are things that you need help because our kids
Speaker:deserve it, and we deserve more at meal time. We all
Speaker:do for it to really be that sense that really piece of
Speaker:connection. Right? Yeah. It's yeah. There's lots of
Speaker:things we can do to give our kiddos power and control it. They're so desperately
Speaker:wanting it during mealtime so that they can inspire to cooperate
Speaker:during mealtime. It's a dance. It doesn't have to be a war. It
Speaker:really is a dance of give and take. and that's our best
Speaker:work and real time is so important. So I wanna come back to some
Speaker:actionable tips and strategies again because I feel like that the most helpful if
Speaker:you're talking to a mom who's at that foundational level. Right? We've talked about tips
Speaker:and tricks for less demands. tell us some of
Speaker:the guardrails. Like, you've mentioned, one with your daughter. I I say guardrails. You say
Speaker:boundaries, but in terms of, like, to bring them in,
Speaker:and let them have that sense of experimentation. You mentioned discovering that you
Speaker:needed to have it. It can't be in any bigger of a cup. Are there
Speaker:other guardrails or boundaries that you found to be helpful? And does that
Speaker:vary by age, or do you just have some kind of tried and trues that
Speaker:you found to be very helpful given the kids in your household. Right.
Speaker:Yeah. So I think one of the number one things we can do across the
Speaker:board every day is front load our expectations.
Speaker:if we want to if we can see our kid needs some connection and
Speaker:we know we've got a lot to do, we really don't want all the kids
Speaker:in the kitchen, that's perfectly fine. But if we want that one kid to come
Speaker:in for that one minute, we can say we can front load that
Speaker:expectation. So we could say you know, hey, buddy. Come here. I
Speaker:have a question for you. And then so they're gonna come and then you can
Speaker:say, I just need a little bit of help. Would you like to know,
Speaker:we we wanna give a choice. Would you like to cut the cheese really quickly,
Speaker:or would you like to break some broccoli? And then you can go right back.
Speaker:Would you like to do that? I only need help for one minute. and
Speaker:they're most likely going to say yes. And then they're gonna get some power because
Speaker:they get to choose which one. And then you've front loaded one minute,
Speaker:then you can send them back and they are loaded up. And while they're doing
Speaker:that, you can give them a back rub, whisper in their ear, Thanks, buddy, so
Speaker:much. I love being by you. You light me up.
Speaker:And then thank him, and then he can go. And so that front loading,
Speaker:no matter what it is, we're going to the park. We're gonna be here 30
Speaker:minutes. What's our plan for getting back to the car? So front
Speaker:loading is such a powerful strategy, just letting our kiddos know
Speaker:the expectations ahead of time. Even better is
Speaker:asking them Hey. What's we're going to the parks. What's our expectations here?
Speaker:When they tell us, they're giving us buy in.
Speaker:I hope that the framing of a of I need help
Speaker:and which of these things would you rather do? Yeah. It's not get in
Speaker:here and help me. It's not I need you to do this.
Speaker:Yes. I I hope that whoever's listening can and or watching
Speaker:can really feel how that
Speaker:changes the the energy and the tone of that conversation.
Speaker:I with you, I also get parents saying my kid hates cooking, and I'm
Speaker:like, that is so interesting and so telling to
Speaker:me. So we wherever you are in the cooking journey,
Speaker:when we invite. So, hey, buddy. I have a quick question. Would you like to
Speaker:cook with me? I have about 1 minute or anyway. And if they say
Speaker:no, say, oh, okay. Cool. Maybe next time. This is
Speaker:about connection. We cannot make it about control.
Speaker:I love that. You hit on something else earlier about
Speaker:really as parents and perfectionism and looking back to our own
Speaker:childhoods. And I've had some amazing conversations with
Speaker:different moms and different women, and it really is that relationship when you
Speaker:hear, I hate cooking or I don't like cooking at all. It's really
Speaker:interesting to really dig into what created
Speaker:that. And not always. What I want you to think about is it's not always
Speaker:negative experiences. I had a friend Lynette Williams on the
Speaker:podcast a couple of weeks ago And hers was
Speaker:always wanting to have her own nontraditional. She didn't wanna
Speaker:follow that same traditional lifestyle. that she grew up
Speaker:with. And she said, I loved having my mom home. I
Speaker:loved that she cooked for us all the time. I just knew that I didn't
Speaker:want that to be my life. And that transformed
Speaker:into, I don't think I like cooking because to her,
Speaker:that meant following in those footsteps One thing I wanna say, it's not always
Speaker:a negative that's causing us to have those feelings and those
Speaker:beliefs. Right? And so really thinking about
Speaker:that and then deciding if you look at your
Speaker:meal time routine today, Whether it's your own or with your
Speaker:kids, do you like the energy that you're bringing to the experience? And if
Speaker:you don't, Let's change it. Yeah.
Speaker:Right. Yes. And be willing to reflect
Speaker:back on our childhoods and see was our parent resistant to us coming
Speaker:in, like, where and maybe it was not a negative thing just like you said,
Speaker:but we all have these
Speaker:triggers that pop up and are we
Speaker:repeating those patterns with our kids? Are we, you know, how is that
Speaker:looking? And just being curious and loving and grace, lots of
Speaker:grace with ourselves and with our parents. They did the best they could with the
Speaker:tools they had. I fully, fully, if we can believe
Speaker:that, then I think we'll all be on a different level of consciousness,
Speaker:but it's just if you have resistance, where is that coming from?
Speaker:And Yeah. Just being curious. Yeah. And if you wanna have a
Speaker:conversation about it, by all means, book a call with me. I'm gonna hand
Speaker:it over to Megan to tell us what she's got going on, where you can
Speaker:get in touch with her. And I do believe you have, like, a list of
Speaker:top 20 benefits of cooking with kids you can share. I can.
Speaker:Yeah. So it would be awesome. If you're interested in learning more, you can go
Speaker:to connect to kids thrive.com. Find me on Facebook. I have a big parenting
Speaker:group where we're cooking. Yes. But if you're there, if you're not there, you
Speaker:can kinda see what's going on and lots of strategies on how to
Speaker:empower kids to listen and cooperate. the first time or even
Speaker:before the first time so we can get away from that 500 to a 1000
Speaker:demands and commands so that we have harmonious, joyful,
Speaker:households again. Yeah. You can find me there. And, yes, you
Speaker:can reach out to me and request that or we may put it in the
Speaker:show notes. I have do you have a document of 20
Speaker:amazing benefits of cooking with kids that
Speaker:we should all be if we can receptive to. So it's
Speaker:amazing. My challenge to you listeners is when you get that
Speaker:20 benefits, just look at 1. Figure
Speaker:out. Just think about one of them. And how can you take
Speaker:one small step toward that? Just one small step. We're not we're not
Speaker:talking about trying to change everything all at one because that's when we set ourselves
Speaker:up for failure and we go right back into that perfectionism cycle. Right?
Speaker:Gotta do it all right now. I'm gonna go from here to here. Okay. So
Speaker:I realized I forgot to ask you my favorite
Speaker:kickoff of the interviews. Isn't well, it was supposed to be an
Speaker:icebreaker question, but today, we're just gonna call it a fun Are you ready?
Speaker:Uh-huh. If you had to compete in an eating contest,
Speaker:what food would you choose to consume and why?
Speaker:my guy's telling me spaghetti because I think it'd be so hilarious. I
Speaker:don't watching the or I don't know. Although the noodles slapping against
Speaker:your all the slurping noises. The slurping and
Speaker:I think it'd go down the throat easy as long as they're with the big
Speaker:meatballs. That's a
Speaker:great answer. I'm gonna keep this one up this week, and I'm this is gonna
Speaker:be my question of the week for everybody I come in contact with. And it's
Speaker:a fun one. I don't know what mine would
Speaker:be. Let's think about that. Mine would probably be
Speaker:popcorn. I can eat a lot of buttered
Speaker:popcorn. Now I might make myself sick, but I can do it. Then you never
Speaker:want popcorn again. That would be -- Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I haven't
Speaker:found that to be true yet. True. Okay. Offwards.
Speaker:Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us. It has been such a
Speaker:pleasure. We will be sure to drop all the links in the show notes
Speaker:And if you're interested in the previous podcast episode with Lannett
Speaker:about nontraditional breaking those traditions,
Speaker:So go back and check that out, and I will talk to you all
