The Innovative Dad

Struggling to get your kids to eat their veggies? Our new blog post shows how family meals can be the key to healthier eating habits! Learn the benefits & tips for making it work in your busy schedule! https://www.ariyares.com/2024/06/17/family-dinners-healthy-eating-kids/

**Looking for fun ways to help your child learn emotional regulation? Board games can be a powerful tool! **
Read more and discover some great game recommendations!

How to Use Popular Board and Card Games to Support Emotional Regulation - Dr. Ari Yares - Licensed Psychologist Learning emotional regulation is serious business, but it doesn't have to be boring! This post explores how board and card games can be a fun and effective way to teach kids how to manage their emotions in healthy ways.

Is your child struggling with big emotions? Co-regulation can help! My latest blog post shares tips to calm meltdowns, develop coping skills & build social confidence.

How to Use Co-Regulation with Children Who Are Having Difficulty with Self-Regulation - Dr. Ari Yares - Licensed Psychologist Does your child struggle with meltdowns? Discover co-regulation, a powerful strategy to help them manage emotions, develop coping mechanisms, and thrive socially. Learn calming techniques, positive reinforcement, and more!

Explaining a cancer diagnosis to your kids can be scary, but open communication is crucial. Here are some tips to get you started:

5 Years Out: Reflections on Talking to Kids about Cancer - Dr. Ari Yares - Licensed Psychologist This blog post offers advice for parents on how to talk to their children about a family member's cancer diagnosis. It emphasizes the importance of age-appropriate honesty, open communication, and addressing children's specific concerns. Resources and tips are provided for different age groups, from...

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
-Elegant meat pie
-Peach Turkey
-Roasted brussel sprouts
-Spiced carrots
-Wild rice stuffed acorns

This is one of the posts that you write and then pray that you never have to share again.

Talking to children about violence, particularly in a place we want to be safe, like our schools, is hard. Here is some guidance on how to do that.

How to Talk to Children about Violence - Dr. Ari Yares - Licensed Psychologist For parents, it is difficult to figure out how to talk to our children about acts of violence, particularly when we struggle with understanding them ourselves.This video contains guidance on how to have those conversations.

Passover is around the corner and it's time to start planning and then cooking. We've been thinking about our Passover menu for a little while and even put together a shopping list for you.

Thank you to TasteofHome, California Gourmet, The Jewish Kitchen, The Kosher Baker, Jamie Geller and Busy In Brooklyn for ideas and inspiration.

Link in the comments 👇

Busy nights ahead? Us, too! Trying to find quick and easy dinners without crazy ingredients can help you keep your sanity and your family fed.

Thanks to Heron Earth, Cooking Light, Dad with a Pan, Damn Delicious, Spaceships and Laser Beams, Tastes Better From Scratch, The Cookin' Chicks, tatertots & jello, Together as Family - Recipes from my family's kitchen to yours, Once A Month Meals, Corrie Cooks, Cook the Story, Smack of Flavor, GimmeDelicious, Saucyrecipes - Magazine, The Recipe Critic, Epicurious, Well Plated, and Girl With The Iron Cast for ideas and inspiration!

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Did you know that you can use a smart speaker to help with your executive functioning at home? See how Alexa helps our family.

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Stuck in rut for Taco Tuesday or looking to expand your palette for Mexican food? Try these yummy recipes.

Thanks to Eitan Bernath, RecipeTin, Cookie and Kate, Two Peas and Their Pod, Recipes that Crock, Mirlene's Savory Thoughts, Spend With Pennies, Prevention RD, Making Thyme for Health, Damn Delicious, The Chutney Life, Tastes Better From Scratch, Veggies Don't Bite, The Spruce Eats, Feasting at Home, The Foodie and The Fix, Cooking Light, Delish, Mexico in my kitchen, Lil' Luna - Kristyn Merkley, and Isabel Eats - Easy Mexican Inspired Recipes for ideas and inspiration!

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Getting a meaningful conversation going at the dinner table can be a struggle. Too often, we ask the generic "How was your day?" and then get an equally generic answer ("Fine") in return. If we want our dinner tables to be a place where we can more deeply engage with our kids, can we figure out better questions to ask?
Try out this strategy and see if you can get more meaningful responses.

https://www.ariyares.com/2018/07/30/parenting-strategies-to-kid-habits-getting-conversation-started-at-dinner/

Breakfast for dinner is a favorite menu in our house. It's a chance to trot out breakfast foods that I'll probably never have the chance to make in the morning for the kids. Plus, many of these foods are chock full of protein!

Thank you to Mother Thyme, Busy In Brooklyn, Spend With Pennies, Tastes Better From Scratch, A Saucy Kitchen - Gluten Free Recipes, The Spruce Eats, Love and Lemons, Mexican Please, Tasting Table, Half Baked Harvest, Allrecipes, Lana's Cooking, Foodie With Family, Kosherdotcom, Corrie Cooks, What Jew Wanna Eat, Food Network, Gather for Bread, Momma Fit Lyndsey, Lil' Luna - Kristyn Merkley, Preppy Kitchen, Jamie Geller, Tori Avey, and Turntable Kitchen
for ideas and inspiration!

Link 👇

When was the last time that you told someone that you were feeling 🐵📣🎉? Or described your emotional state as awumbuk (the emptiness you feel after your house guests depart)?

Building our kids emotional vocabulary (and our own) is a critical part of helping us navigate our feelings in a way that goes beyond just the characters in Inside Out.

https://www.ariyares.com/2018/08/13/parenting-strategies-to-kid-habits-labeling-emotions/

Love Chinese food? We do and we've been trying to duplicate that take-out taste at home.

Thanks to Damn Delicious, Life Currents, The Worktop, Whole Lotta Yum, Simply Nourished Living, NatashasKitchen.com, RecipeTin, The Woks Of Life, Tales of an Overtime Cook, Pups with Chopsticks, Oh My Veggies, Yummy Tales Of Tummy - Lata Lala, Home-Cooked Roots, Running to the Kitchen, Savory Bites recipes, Happy Foods Tube - Quick and Easy Homemade Recipes, Busy In Brooklyn, Jamie Geller, and Peas Love & Carrots for the ideas and inspiration!

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There are a lot of parenting books out there. Some had advice worth reading and some don't.

Have your read any of Amy Morin's 13 Things You Shouldn't Do books? Check out my review of her parenting book.

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One thing is certain in our lives - we will have to make choices between things. The challenge is making healthy, values-based decisions that we will not regret later on. As parents, it is our job to help our children develop their decision-making skills.

Here are some great ways to help them become better decision makers.

https://www.ariyares.com/2018/08/21/parenting-strategies-to-kid-habits-helping-kids-make-good-decisions/

Diner food is the ultimate comfort food for me. It brings back memories of nights sitting in diners with friends talking. When I can, I like to add a little diner food to our menu.

Thanks to Food Network, Lidl GB, olive magazine, Spend With Pennies, Mom On Timeout, My Gorgeous Recipes, Tastes Better From Scratch, Lil' Luna - Kristyn Merkley, Blue Jean Chef, Plated Cravings, Sweet & Savory, Between Carpools, Rookie With A Cookie, The Spruce Eats, A Couple Cooks, Food Republic, Jamie Geller, and I Heart Naptime for the ideas and inspiration!

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Most of us spend more time than we would like in our cars, often moving our kids around from one place to another. Do you know that it is also a great place to have a conversation with your kids?

https://www.ariyares.com/2018/09/17/parents-having-conversations-in-cars-with-kids/

Have you tried Meatless Monday? What are your go-to recipes?

Thanks to Love and Lemons, Vanilla And Bean, Delish, Family Friends Food - kosher recipes & positivity, Crafty Cooking by Anna, acoupleofcooks, Super Healthy Kids, Simply Recipes, Lite Cravings, Greatist, WellPlated, Peas and Crayons, and Hummusapien for ideas and inspiration!

What's a parenting decision that you are proud about?

The pandemic has made it difficult to help our kids socialize and build friendships. As we negotiate our way through pandemic times, there is a lot to think about as our kids re-engage with their social lives.

Check out the link 👇

Problem-solving work with kids can be difficult when it starts and ends with strong emotions encouraging us to blame others. Help kids take ownership of their feelings while moving away from the blame game with this strategy.

https://www.ariyares.com/2018/10/22/parenting-strategies-to-kid-habits-using-i-statements/

One of the best ways to warm up on a cold evening is to add soup to the menu. It's warm, yummy, and nourishing. Plus, they are often easy to make and jazz up a simple meal.

Link to recipes 👇

Thanks to Fork Knife Swoon, Jamie Geller, Renana's Kitchen, Two Peas and Their Pod, Damn Delicious, The Recipe Rebel, Sweet Peas & Saffron, The Kitchn, Meatless Monday, Food Network, Martha Stewart, CopyKat Recipes, The Kosher Baker, No. 2 Pencil, Plant Based Instant Pot, and Happy Foods Tube - Quick and Easy Homemade Recipes.
for ideas and inspiration.

I'm bored...

Seriously, there are a million things to do in the house and none of the kids can find them.

Here are some ways that we're combating boredom on yet another snow day.

Link 👇 with a printout of the graphic.

TGIF!
Tell us what's on your mind for this weekend.

Disney 's new animated movie, Disney's Encanto, addresses the challenges of stress & worry which resonates for kids & parents during the COVID pandemic.

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We're kicking off 2022 with a list of salads that are more than just lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes. These yummy salads will be a great addition to your dinner and help you eat healthy in the New Year.

Inspiration from Wholesome Yum - Low Carb Recipes, Eating Bird Food, Julie Wunder, Blessthismess, Peas and Crayons, Dinner at the Zoo, Busy In Brooklyn, EatingWell, The Spruce Eats, Tales of an Overtime Cook, Ronnie Fein's Kitchen, smitten kitchen, and Food Network.

Link to recipes 👇

2020 was rough and while 2021 entered with a lot of hope, it brought its own parenting challenges as we struggled to return to something that felt like normal.

Here are the top 10 resources used by our readers during the past year.

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Yes, it's a top 10 list! That means that the end of the year is coming. Check out our fan-favorite recipes and add them to your meal plans for 2022.

Shout out to Busy In Brooklyn, CopyKat Recipes, Taste and Tell, Kosherdotcom, What Jew Wanna Eat, Between Carpools, smitten kitchen, Oh My Veggies, Let the Baking Begin, and Tales of an Overtime Cook for ideas and inspiration.

Link 👇

TGIF!
Running the birthday circuit this weekend? What are your survival tips?