Hyperactivity and Transition - Q&A Tom and Julie Meekins MarchForthFamily.com Here are some real life questions from moms and dads just like you. Perhaps these questions have occurred to you as well: Q: I cannot completely change our diet right now, so what are one or two things that you would recommend we have or [...]

Freaky Friday - Tom and Julie Meekins - What if for one day you could be inside your child's body and mind? You would see what he sees, feel what he feels, hear what he hears, smell what he smells. What if you thought the way she thinks? Had the same experiences throughout the day [...]

5 Tips to Scare Away the Sickie Bugs --  Tom and Julie Meekins -- 1. Drink water. Dehydration causes illness. Pick water first. Help your children to reach for water before sugar-laden even seemingly healthy drinks. Have a reluctant water drinker? Dilute something your child will drink? 2. Decrease sugar intake. Sugar feeds illness. If [...]

It is the day after the holiday, how are you doing? Do you feel like you have been through a war? Are conflicting emotions swirling for you today? Do you feel a sense of loss and wishing things were different for you and for your child? Are you exhausted? Do you wish family members and [...]

Tom and Julie Meekins - MarchForthFamily.com - Now that our Amy has reached the ripe old age of 19 and 1/2, we talk often about who she is and where she would like to go and what she would like to do. Recently, when we were having a March Forth Family business meeting, we took a [...]

One of the hardest things about raising a child who has challenges is the question: "Can we participate in this tradition?" Whether it is Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's or simply a birthday party, there are often many things to consider: Researching the event to see if it is appropriate or feasible for my [...]

When Do I Consider Nutrition? Tom and Julie Meekins --- You may be asking yourself: When do I need to consider that nutrition could be at the bottom of my child's concerns or at least contributing to them? Ask yourself these questions: 1. Am I seeing behavior that is less than desirable in my child? [...]

IS IT POSSIBLE? by Tom and Julie Meekins --- This past week we spoke publicly and Julie also had the privilege of joining several lady's groups in our new town. In the course of our message from the stage and in conversations with individuals, we shared the prognosis Amy received when she was two weeks [...]

What's For Lunch? Julie Meekins www.MarchForthFamily.com For most families, school is in full swing. Whether you homeschool or your children attend school outside the home, they still need lunch. What a dilemma it can be to provide nutritious food that our children will actually eat. As parents, we always desire to provide tasty and healthy [...]

TOXINS - DO WE REALLY NEED TO WORRY? by Tom and Julie Meekins This week something happened in our world that gave us pause. After living in single family dwellings for the better part of the last 35 years, we are currently making our home in an apartment complex. This week our apartment received regularly [...]

EXTRA NEEDS ON FAMILY OUTINGS How Can You Remember Everything? by Julie Meekins www.MarchForthFamily.com If you are a parent or have ever worked with children, you know that all of them have different needs. Some kids have the ability to go with the flow and their needs are pretty simple. Other children have greater needs [...]

Is My Child On Track? By Tom and Julie Meekins Is your baby creeping and crawling and talking on target? Does your preschooler and elementary aged child mostly like to play with children younger than him? Does she look at you in the eye or does she seem to look right through you? Is there [...]

Is your child chewing on his sleeves? Does your little girl chew the fingers and toes off her baby dolls?  Do you catch your little one licking things inappropriately (doors, tables, etc.)? Does your older-than-toddler child walk around wearing extra food after the meal or snack? Do you have a stuffer -- someone who may [...]

Everyone is ready to go on a family outing but your child is writhing on the floor grumbling about the seams and tags in his clothing.  You have already been through everything in the closet.  This is the third time this week. Ugggg!  What to do? It is time for family haircuts. You are agonizing [...]

Summer Tips for Parents Raising Challenging Children Tom and Julie Meekins March Forth Family It is summertime and most likely schedules are changing. This often puts our children who have challenges in a rough spot and us parents in a truly tough spot.  So what can you do to help soften that blow and create [...]

Sleep and Children by Tom and Julie Meekins All children struggle with sleep at one time or another. Sometimes the problem stems from something seemingly unrelated. Since we at March Forth Family are all about getting to the bottom of a thing, let's take a look at some potential root causes that could be keeping [...]

5 Tips For Parents What Books, DVDs, CDs, Curriculum Should I Buy to Teach My Child with Challenges? Last night we had the privilege of chatting with many moms and dads who are like you. They, too, are striving to be the best parents they possibly can be. We were impressed to see that they [...]

Parents, What do we need to be thinking about in terms of our child's visual development? Here are a few things to consider: 1. How is his or her acuity? Does your child need glasses? 2. Does your child have good visual habits, such as: a) is the toy or paper at a proper length [...]

Lack of social cues, immaturity, concentration, ants-in-the-pants fidgetiness, impulsivity, sensory issues, processing, hyperactivity, distractibility, retaining information, reading and math, disorganization, inattention, or following directions? Anything there look familiar in your child? This is what we call SYMPTOMS. We would like to make a distinction between the term symptom and the term ROOT CAUSE. A symptom [...]

Sometimes our children are capable of more. Strike that. Most of the time our children are capable of more. Children with challenges often are either comfortable and content to be just where they are in their development and don't make the effort to move forward or are fearful of moving forward. And, let's face it, [...]

Does your child eat the same foods day in and day out? You work hard to present a variety of healthy foods to your child, but for some reason he is very limited in the foods he will allow to pass his lips. There can be many reasons for this problem and when we work [...]

CAN ADHD BE DUE TO A WEAK FOUNDATION? One Potential Root Cause for ADHD There is an order to child development and there are important components to each level. Sometimes our kids with an official diagnosis of ADHD or the kids who are showing symptoms of ADHD without a formal diagnosis miss something along the [...]

You Can Do This -- And YOU Do it Best! This week we have heard from several parents telling us that they feel battered, tired, exhausted, judged, and misunderstood in their journey parenting children who have challenges. You may be dealing with the with the big names: Autism, ADHD, Downs Syndrome, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia,  Sensory Integration [...]

Are You Compassionate or Judgmental to "Out of the Box" Children and Their Parents? by Julie Meekins Today we had the opportunity to attend an event for homeschoolers to swap and sell supplies, books, etc. no longer needed. Since we are down to one homeschooler and she is a high school senior, we decided to join [...]

What Do You Want Them to Know? This week we have had the wonderful privilege of hosting our daughter-in-love soon to be who will be marrying our one and only son in the fall. Our Kimberly has a heart for children who have challenges and their parents. Of course, we would love her anyway because [...]

You are tired. You have done much. You have cared much. You have loved much. You are not done yet. You still will do much. You still care. You still love. But -- you are tired. Your body is exhausted and may even be ill. Your mind is a bit foggy. Your spirit is a [...]

Silver Linings in Challenging Children Finding the sweet kid inside. Do you have a child who you love with all your heart but who drives you crazy? We all have our tolerance levels but even the most even keeled adults can be rattled by some of our more challenging youngsters. Let's face it -- some [...]

4 TIPS TO GUARD YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR JOY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON by Tom and Julie Meekins www.MarchForthFamily.com Are you feeling a little nervous about the upcoming holidays? Are you worried how your child will react to a change of routine or unfamiliar foods? Is there concern for what Gramma or Aunt Millie or Cousin [...]

Food Battles Question: My little 3 year old is a really bad eater. We have tried many many many things to get him to try new foods but he pretty much lives off of crackers and popcorn. Dinner time is always a fight. We are so frustrated. He refuses to even try one little tiny [...]

Okay So My Child Has [fill in the blank]. Or I Think My Child May Have... By Julie and Tom Meekins, www.MarchForthFamily.com Now -- What Do I Do About it? Is this you? Are you sitting with your head in your hands in total confusion or maybe even despair? Please look up for just a [...]

CHOCOLATE and TRANQUILITY By Julie Meekins As we thought about what today's article/blog should be about, it became apparent that it was going to be all about chocolate. Just kidding. Although, chocolate will play a very important part of this post -- we really want to focus on resting. There are many facets to the [...]

The Terror of Transitions Transitions. Are you in transition? New school year? New home? New job? Redecorating your home? Building a new home? New friendship? New baby? New stepchild? Newly married? Living without a loved one? The transitions mentioned above are pretty big deals and can be quite the thing to deal with for any [...]

IT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! What's to be Done About  Perfectionism in our Children? Tom and Julie Meekins Do you have a child in your family or your classroom who is a perfectionist? Perfectionism can be caused by many things. A perfectionist may believe (consciously or subconsciously) that their self worth or someone's love for [...]

Social Skills and Life Skills INPUT  INPUT  INPUT     You know your child is very smart. He or she may struggle in some areas but overall they are intelligent and sponges in terms of learning. Sometimes social skills and life skills need some enhancing. A lot of the time it is just a matter of [...]

Is your child stuck with: school? baby development? maturity? social skills? behavior? respecting authority? following directions? a syndrome? a label? a diagnosis? health? eating habits? phobias? Have you been told that if your child is over a certain age -- then you can pretty much give up the thought of any more development?  We really [...]

Have you recently returned from an out-of-town event or meeting? What is life like when you return? When you pull into the driveway, do you see that the grass needs cutting? Are there more weeds in the garden than you remember? As you look around, is your "to do" list growing? And what about the [...]

You watch your child with other children the same age. Red flags go up.  While everyone displays some immaturity at some time or another -- your child consistently operates at a younger level. Some parents would wring their hands and cop a "woe is me" type of attitude, thinking that this is just the way [...]

The excitement is in the air. Something new is about to happen. The fireworks are about to begin. The pitcher is ready to throw the first pitch. It's Kickoff time. Start your engines. Runners take you mark, get set, go! Three-Two-One Liftoff! Out with the old, in with the new. Put off the old, put [...]

BAND AIDS OR ROOT CAUSES? Tom and Julie Meekins When your child is screaming in pain but you don't know exactly what the source of that pain is -- what do you do? Do you reach for the band aid box and slap a bandage on it without any further investigation? Of course, you don't. [...]