Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

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 episode, I’m sharing some of the biggest changes I’ve made in my picky eating philosophy—and why learning more sometimes means being willing to do a complete 180. We’re digging into two especially common feeding practices: requiring kids to take a “no thank you bite” and making dessert something they have to earn by eating enough dinner.
You’ll hear:
Why I no longer recommend requiring even one bite of a new food
The simple phrase that can take an enormous amount of pressure off picky eaters
Why making dessert a reward may accidentally make it even more desirable
How our family shifted from “eat enough dinner to get dessert” to choice within boundaries
Why there probably isn’t one perfect dessert rule that works for every child and every family
And we’re only halfway through my list!
This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. In Part 2, I’ll share the rest of the major picky eating philosophies I’ve changed my mind about, including a powerful story of one child’s transformation and more of what I’ve learned while writing The Picky Eater Playbook.
If you’ve ever wondered whether the feeding advice you’ve heard (or even followed for years!) is actually helping your child build a healthy relationship with food, this conversation is for you.
Resources We Mention for Pressure-Free Feeding
Find all the places you can pre-order my book, The Picky Eater Playbook (and get those pre-order bonuses!)
Jump start your learning with the No More Picky Eating Challenge
The real cause of picky eating with Dr. Kay Toomey
Why We Should Stop Thinking About Nutrition and Build Our Kids’ Eating Habits Instead with Feeding Expert Dina Rose, PhD
Our real food sweets rules – are they necessary?
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
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 Healthy Parenting Handbook!

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 know it too.
So what can we say instead?
In this episode, Dr. Hecht gives us an incredibly simple formula that combines empathy with confidence, plus a 10-second parenting rule that might be harder to practice than it sounds. We’re talking about how to help kids do hard things, tolerate frustration, become more independent, and build real confidence without throwing them into the proverbial deep end.
And I love this because we’re not talking about manufacturing scary experiences for our kids. We’re talking about the everyday stuff. Buttons. Homework. Birthday parties. Trying something new. All those little moments when we have to decide: Do I swoop in, or do I give my child a chance to discover, “Oh. I can handle this.”
If you want to raise kids who see uncertainty less as a threat and more as something they can navigate, keep listening. This one is practical enough to use today.
Resources We Mention for Raising Brave Kids
See Dr. Kathryn’s books:The Be Brave Activity Book: 100 Exposure-Based Challenges That DARE Kids to Boss Back Their Worry and Anxiety Once and for All (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
Releasing in February 2027 – The Can-Do Activity Book for Kids: Try Things on Your Own, Deal with Big Feelings, and Grow Confident Along the Way (Amazon/Bookshop.org)

Watch Dr. Kathryn’s TEDx Talk, “How to raise kids who can handle hard things”
Get your kids started learning to do hard things with #LifeSkillsNow!
Germ theory vs. terrain theory with Dr. Catherine Clinton
The “Worst Mom in America” on Raising Confident Kids
Have kids anxious about eating? Start the No More Picky Eating Challenge right now and check out my forthcoming book, The Picky Eater Playbook.
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
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 Healthy Parenting Handbook!

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 need age-appropriate challenges to build what she calls “handleability”, that deep-down belief that says: This is hard, but I can handle it.
I absolutely loved this conversation because it gets right into the practical question so many of us are wrestling with: How do we raise kids who can actually handle hard things?
We dig into:
Why constantly removing obstacles can undermine a child’s confidence, even when we’re doing it out of love
The fascinating idea that kids are anti-fragile, and why some stress and challenge actually help build emotional resilience
Why “healthy kids = happy kids” is a parenting myth we may need to toss out
How rescuing a child brings short-term relief but can create more distress long-term
Why our kids sometimes interpret our help as evidence that they couldn’t have handled it themselves
What “coping efficacy” or “handleability” looks like in normal family life, without turning your home into a psychology clinic
Why exposure therapy is much less scary than it sounds, and how parents can help kids take small, voluntary steps toward something difficult
The difference between roller-coaster scary and horror-movie scary, and why that distinction might completely change how you help an anxious or hesitant child
Dr. Hecht has this incredible ability to take clinical psychology and turn it into language that makes you think, “Ohhhh. I can actually use this with my kid.”
And I have a feeling you’ll finish this one looking at your child’s next hard moment a little differently.
Resources We Mention for Raising Resilient Kids
See Dr. Kathryn’s books:The Be Brave Activity Book: 100 Exposure-Based Challenges That DARE Kids to Boss Back Their Worry and Anxiety Once and for All (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
Releasing in February 2027 – The Can-Do Activity Book for Kids: Try Things on Your Own, Deal with Big Feelings, and Grow Confident Along the Way (Amazon/Bookshop.org)

Watch Dr. Kathryn’s TEDx Talk, “How to raise kids who can handle hard things”
How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims and my interview with Julie
Get your kids started learning to do hard things with #LifeSkillsNow!
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
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 Healthy Parenting Handbook!

“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 11-year-old who, I realized, didn’t really have a bedtime. No adult was telling him when it was time to sleep, and he was regularly falling asleep in class. That hit me hard.
Kids need choices, absolutely. But they need choices inside a fence. They need adults who create boundaries that say, “You’re safe here. I’ve got you.”
And mealtime is one of the best places to practice this.
In this episode, I’m sharing six practical habits that can make meals healthier, calmer, and far less exhausting for parents. We’ll talk about:
Why structure can actually reduce stress for kids instead of creating more of it
The ridiculously simple “veggies first” system that does not require you to chop carrots at 5:47 p.m. while everyone is melting down
Three questions we use at our table to get kids talking about when they laughed, learned, and loved
Why parents need a good poker face at the dinner table, especially with picky eaters
How to give kids plenty of food choices while still keeping the very important boundary that you decide what gets served
The after-dinner rule in our house that has helped my kids become people who automatically notice when there’s work to be done
One tiny lunch-packing habit that can save you from pulling seven containers and three utensils out of the refrigerator the next morning
You do not need to implement all six ideas tomorrow. Please don’t.
Listen for the one that makes you think, “Ohhh. We need that.”
That’s probably your action step.
Resources We Mention for Mealtime Habits for Families
The Kimball Family Chores System helps develop good habits to make getting a clean house simpler!
You can learn how all these habits work to solve picky eating from the No More Picky Eating Challenge and also in my upcoming book, The Picky Eater Playbook!
My interview with Deborah MacNamara about food and family connecton
Why kids have anxiety
Family dinner rituals for physical and mental health
Why “veggies first”?
A good divided vegetable tray to try
My interview with Shannon Miller where she talks about the three L’s
Yes, we have nights when our kids cook dinner! Here’s how to start one.
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
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 Healthy Parenting Handbook!

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 human push notification.
In part one of my conversation with productivity expert Megan Sumrell, we talked about time debt and why so many of us keep carrying unfinished tasks from one day into the next.
But this time I wanted to ask a different question:
Can we teach our kids to avoid that mess before they become adults?
Because I did NOT start life with excellent planning habits. Megan didn’t either. So if we can give our tweens and teens some of these skills at 12, 15, or 18 instead of making them figure it out at 35 while juggling work and kids…yes, please.
Megan shares a very practical system for helping kids actually see their time, instead of treating everything that isn’t happening right this second as some vague place called “later.”
And parents, there are some really good ideas in here for us too.
In this interview, we dig into:
Why Megan says most kids basically have two categories of time: “now” and “not now”
The four levels of planning that can help students manage a whole semester without Mom becoming the Chief Information Officer
Why writing tasks in a little box labeled “Monday” might still be nothing more than a glorified to-do list
How one teen used her calendar to make a completely logical case for getting out of family yard work (and yes, it worked!)
What kids should do when a teacher assigns a five-week project so it doesn’t magically become a five-hour panic session the night before
Megan’s surprisingly helpful strategy for procrastinators who look at the thing they planned to do and think, “Nope. Don’t wanna.”
Why you may need an actual uncertainty budget for your time, just like an emergency fund for your money
How teaching kids these skills can eventually free parents from remembering every exam, practice, deadline, and assignment for them
One idea especially made me stop and think: Megan intentionally blocks time on her calendar for problems she doesn’t even know about yet.
Because something always comes up, right?
The internet dies. A teacher assigns something unexpected. A project takes twice as long as you thought. Somebody needs a form filled out by tomorrow morning. (Naturally.)
Instead of pretending those surprises won’t happen, Megan plans for them.
And that may be one of the most practical ways I’ve ever heard to get out of the constant cycle of, “I’ll just squeeze it in somewhere.”
If you want your kids to head toward high school, college, and adulthood knowing how to manage their own responsibilities without you constantly chasing behind them, this conversation is packed with skills worth teaching now.
Because the goal isn’t to raise kids who can cram more into every day.
It’s to raise capable humans who can look at their time, make good decisions, and know when the answer needs to be, “I actually don’t have room for that.”
Resources We Mention for Time Management for Kids
Check out Megan’s TOP Program and the TOP Program for Students
Get her free training here to start figuring out that time debt situation!
Watch my first interview with Megan on to-do lists
Workshops with Megan are available in #LifeSkillsNow Seasons Two and Three
Denise Albright has some really fun and colorful planners and visual planning products! (Use code Katie for a discount)
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
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 Healthy Parenting Handbook!