Episode 187: The One Skill Your Kids Are Missing Out On…with Katie Kimball from Kids Cook Real Food
For the Busy Mommas…
Raising 'whole' children isn't actually about raising children at all…it's about raising adults!
Our job as parents is to teach our children how to hone life skills (from everyday living basics to critical thinking) AND to instill and grow holy characteristics in their little hearts.
...And our guest today has taken the idea of teaching life skills to kids to a whole new level…
For years, she's been helping to change kids’ relationships to food through her work in the kitchen and her support of parents of picky eaters.
She’s a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4.
She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which The Wall Street Journal recommended as the best online cooking class for kids.
And, if that wasn't enough, her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy.
She’s on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and instill those all-important life skills!
Katie Kimball (01:30)
Katie was blessed that her mom raised her as a curious and critical thinker…which means that she asks many questions, but it also leads to her getting the answers she needs.
Katie’s husband was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in college, and he actually had surgery two days after college graduation. The surgeon said, “We’ll see you back in 7 years.”
In the seven years, Katie learned a lot about nutrition (and had a baby). The hamburger helper shifted into more homemade meals, and because she was responsible for feeding another small human, the bottled salad dressing turned into healthy oils and other things.
When baby number 2 was born, Katie’s bible study blessed her family for many weeks with meals, and at the end of those few months, her husband ended up with diarrhea that would not stop.
About this time, Katie attended a talk from a man who had the same disease as her husband and learned how to bring himself back to life through diet. So Katie went home and told her husband they were giving up gluten, dairy, sugar, legumes…almost everything. They ate poorly seasoned millet for the first few days, but it took exactly 2 days, and the diarrhea disappeared!
She was so thrilled and called the doctor to share it! She could tell they weren’t even going to tell the doc, so moving forward, she was constantly asking questions.
Asking Difficult Questions (07:00)
Pulling back the curtain is a big part of teaching critical thinking. All children are born with curiosity; we need to allow them to keep it!
Creativity is rooted in curiosity, and we can even resurrect the skill for ourselves (with some practice). To keep the curiosity going, ask kids what they think and what they observe.
As kids get older, studies have shown that children start (before proper schooling) with incredible curiosity. Almost all the curiosity is gone by the time they reach adulthood (however they measure it).
Between 10 and 12, concrete thinking begins to open up, and kids can look at gray areas. It’s a great time to ask good questions and engage in conversations. Anything that is fed to your kids, we want to make sure we’re questioning it. The more tweens and teens see that issues are multi-faceted, the more they’ll learn to question things (respectfully, of course).
It can be scary to encourage kids to question things (as parents), but this curiosity can lead to a deeper foundation and strength in things that DO matter.
Prepare for Anything (12:00)
Adaptability is the next of Katie’s three suggestions for building critical thinking. Allowing your kids to ask questions about things like faith will give them ownership and allow deeper roots.
Adaptability and flexibility don’t necessarily come easily to children (think about your favorite 2- or 3-year-old), but they are skills that can be practiced and learned.
One of Katie’s podcast guests encouraged her listeners to role-play what to do when something doesn’t go as planned. Katie does this with screen time. She’ll work with her son to plan and practice how he will handle the end of his screen time (before he begins).
These things play out in adulthood daily, so it's important to learn and practice them as kids grow! While we’re helping our children, we’re learning ourselves as well (which will grow who we are as parents, too). This is all a gift from the Holy Spirit!
The Result of Adaptability (17:10)
Resilience is the long-term effect of adaptability. Rather than seeing a failure, challenge, or struggle as ‘the end,’ it can be framed as a weight being lifted (and a muscle being trained).
We can do this by not following the culture's lead. We cannot bubble-wrap our kids. They need to do hard things and struggle, which will help them as they get older. Katie will catch herself when kids ask questions and she wants so badly to just give them the answer, she reminds them (and herself) that they do need to find some answers on their own.
Christ redeemed suffering and gave it meaning; it can be good even when it feels hopeless. Katie’s family cared for her mother as she battled ALS. Although her mother was a lifelong agnostic, she was baptized 10 days before she passed away (a beautiful testament to the grace offered in suffering). Suffering is a beautiful means to an end.
Do the short-term hard so you and your kids will have the long-term easy. We’re here to help these little people grow into beautiful, whole adults!
The Fruits of Critical Thinking (23:15)
Katie’s oldest is almost 20. Initially, he was planning on taking a gap year post-graduation, but by Thanksgiving and Christmas, he was answering the “Where are you going to school?” question differently.
Katie believes that soon, the question will shift to “What are you doing?” post-high school, but we’re not there yet.
Now, her son is charting his path with his own video production business. Instead of talking about a gap year now, his answer is, “I don’t want college debt.”
So far, these critical thinking skills are panning out well.
For moms, this whole thing is a marathon. We may run for a long time before seeing the lessons make a difference in our kids’ lives. What we do now will affect our family for generations!
Understanding the ‘why’ behind this different way of living (using critical thinking, eating real food, and making healthy choices).
Life Skills (27:00)
Katie loves teaching kids critical thinking through basic life skills…especially in her camp! Her daughter is in charge of QC’ing the Life Skills Courses for the camps (they’re on season 4 this year)!
The point of these workshops is for kids to realize they can do hard things! They can look at a problem in the house and know they can handle it without getting outside help.
Britt’s husband tried something with their 16-year-old. He showed him a basic plumbing problem, told him he could get paid if he could fix it before he got home, and her son watched a video and fixed it!
Katie’s daughter did something similar with an oil change!
Britt’s 12-year-old is an entrepreneur to his very core. He’s always selling something, and what a gift it is to support that as a mom.
A secret about this year’s Life Skills Now is…the CEO of Troomi (the kid-safe phone) is doing a workshop on how to make a business plan, and he will give $250 to the child who submits the best business plan.
Life Skills Now is a free summer camp from June 8th-13th, with 100 workshops and 70 experts! Teaching kids 5-18 basic life skills, including hands-on stuff, minds on stuff, and heart stuff (the Sisters of Mary, Mothers of the Eucharist, even have a workshop).
For our homeschool mommas, this can be an excellent addition to a portfolio and a great use of technology!
A's to Our Q's (39:00)
Katie’s go-to dinner in a pinch is sausage with potatoes, pasta with sugar-free jarred sauce, and ButcherBox meatballs.
Currently, Katie is reading a few books—first, Sal Kahn’s book about AI. Then, Untangled by Lisa Damour (she highly recommends this one). Finally, Finding Dorothy for her book club.
One thing Katie does every day is family prayer at the end of the day with whoever’s home.
Each day, Katie starts her day with some warm lemon water and collagen.
Katie just wants to inspire moms! You can do it, and she’s here to help!
Check out the Life Skills Now Summer Camp (affiliate link), and you can catch Katie’s Ted Talk on Youtube!
And beautiful mommas, never forget…
YOU are doing beautiful work!
