Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

Ever wonder how to handle picky eating at parties without creating food battles? Or how to set healthy screen time boundaries when screens feel like the only babysitter?
In this Ask Me Anything episode of the Healthy Parenting Handbook podcast, I’m answering your real-life parenting questions about dessert rules for kids, the Division of Responsibility in feeding, raising independent children, and building healthy family habits that actually stick.
We’re talking about practical strategies for limiting screen time for toddlers and young kids, alternatives to screen time that encourage creativity, and how involving kids in chores builds responsibility and executive functioning. I’m also sharing how to create a real food family culture without labeling foods as “bad,” how to monitor sugar and food dyes without being extreme, and how to gradually pass ownership of health to your kids so they can make wise choices when no one is watching.
If you want less pressure around food, more confidence in your parenting decisions, and a clear path toward raising healthy, independent future adults, this episode is for you!
Resources We Mention in This Parenting Q&A
Get the one-page “cheat sheets” at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/handbook.
Register for the No More Picky Eating Challenge
Check out my chores system here
For my lemon water: collagen and vitamin C powder
The blue light glasses I have
Starting to eat real food is easier with the Monday Missions!
The risks of synthetic food dyes
Some ways we deal with sugar and desserts at the Kimball house
Tap over and see the YouTube shorts channel
Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today!
Get four free workshops now at https://raisinghealthyfamilies.com/skills
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!

Did you know that picky eating can sometimes be caused by the messages the bacteria in your gut are sending to your brain?
So the CHILD isn’t being a sugar monster…or making stubborn choices just to drive you crazy…their gut bugs are the sugar monsters and their brain has pruned too much!
I learned so much from Elissa Arnheim in this interview, both the philosophical to feed MY brain and the practical—some of which I implemented that very day!
Here are my favorite quotes:
“Let’s start with this: Our bodies are designed perfectly.”
“If a child cuts out an entire category of healthy foods, it’s a sign that something is wrong – and it’s all figure-out-able and fixable.”
“Step 1 for sugar monster kids: serve sauerkraut!” 😮 (Don’t worry, Elissa shares multiple ways to make that a reality in your family…because I thought the same as you! My kids would never…!)
“Resilience comes from diversity – both inside and outside our bodies.”
“Risk to probiotic use = monoculture in our guts.”
And so, so much more! Pretty much if there are human beings in your family, you need this info too. 😉
Resources We Mention for Picky Eating and Gut Health
Join our FREE Picky Eating Challenge
The link between sugar and chronic inflammation
Fermented kimchi recipe
Fermented veggies in small batches
My review of all the probiotics we’ve tried
Connect with Elissa on Substack
Connect with Elissa on Instagram
Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today!
Get four free workshops now at https://raisinghealthyfamilies.com/skills
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 a box in your house and felt like it was… talking to you?
Not literally. But emotionally.
Because in this second half of my conversation with decluttering expert Katy Wells, we go deeper than surface clutter. We talk about the hidden reasons we hold onto things. And friends, it is not about storage bins or label makers.
It’s about stories.
Stories about who we used to be. Who we hoped we would become. Stories about guilt, failure, scarcity, and expectations we didn’t even realize we were carrying.
And once you see that, you cannot unsee it.
In this episode, Katy unpacks the three hidden forces that keep people stuck in clutter cycles. These are not the things most organizing shows talk about. But they are the exact things that determine whether decluttering actually works long term.
Here’s what we cover:
Why decluttering is emotional work disguised as a logistics problem
The hidden stories your belongings might be telling you
How guilt and fear silently control what you keep
The three pillars that shape your personal “stuff story”
How childhood beliefs influence adult clutter habits
The connection between procrastination and clutter
Why some habits are not problems but personality clues
The simple 5-second trick that can break overwhelm instantly
You’ll also hear one client story that might stop you in your tracks. Because once you recognize your own version of that box in the garage, you may never look at clutter the same way again.
And the best part?
You do not have to fix everything today. You just have to start.
Resources We Mention for Decluttering and Emotions
Order Katy’s new book, Making Home Your Happy Place, on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Check out her courses if you need help at home: Toy Clutter Cure System, Home Management Mastery, Clutter Challenge
Get the one-page handbook episode guides at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/handbook
Here is Katy’s earlier episode of the podcast: Expected Mess Vs. True Clutter
More on decluttering and working together as a family in my interview with Tidy Dad
Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today!
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 the stress you feel at home is not just about your schedule… but about your stuff?
I know. That sounds almost too simple.
But when Katy Wells came back on the Healthy Parenting Handbook podcast, we did not just talk about decluttering. We talked about cortisol. About magnets for your attention. About why walking into your own kitchen can change your mood in seconds.
And friends, this one hit close to home.
Because if you are trying to raise independent kids, teach life skills, keep up with meals, laundry, school, sports, and somehow protect your own nervous system… your environment matters more than you think.
Here is what we dig into in this episode:
The surprising research linking clutter and elevated cortisol levels
Why the average American home may be holding over 300,000 “magnets for your attention”
How clutter quietly fuels anxiety (even if you think it does not bother you)
What a “nightly reset” looks like in real life with kids
How to pass ownership of the home to your children without nagging
The difference between modeling and inviting kids into responsibility
Why action creates motivation (and not the other way around)
The simple starting point that breaks the clutter and anxiety cycle
We also talk about something that might sting a little: why systems alone will not save you.
If you have ever walked into a messy kitchen and felt your shoulders tense… or walked into a clear counter and felt yourself exhale… this episode is for you.
Let’s talk about how simplifying your home can actually strengthen your parenting.
Resources We Mention for Making Home Your Happy Place
Order Katy's new book, Making Home Your Happy Place, on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Check out her courses if you need help at home: Toy Clutter Cure System, Home Management Mastery, Clutter Challenge
Get the one-page handbook episode guides at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/handbook
Here is Katy's earlier episode of the podcast: Expected Mess Vs. True Clutter – What’s the Difference and How to Solve Them
Visit Katy at her website Katy Joy Wells or on Instagram
Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today!
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!

Our hearts tell us we want to be outside, that we were created for nature…when it’s warm and beautiful and sunny!
I don’t know about you, but I do find that when it’s cold, rainy, snowing, or blowing, I tend to be grateful for my 4 walls, central heat, and mug of tea indoors.
How can we change this paradigm in ourselves and in our culture where the outdoors is becoming less and less popular all the time?
It doesn’t happen by accident. To be intentional about outdoor and nature time, we have to be inspired. My guests today are the co-authors of a wonderful book about getting outdoors, Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids, and they share research and physiology to remind us: Our kids need time outside. Much, much more time than they’re getting!
You’ll be inspired by:
how parenting has changed in the last 30 years & Dr. Glassy’s wake-up call
outdoor benefits to physical and mental health
why parenting actually becomes easier when your kids are outside!
what “counts” as a dose of nature
simple ways you can incorporate nature into your day – without even going out!
how children’s development is actually supercharged with outdoor experiences
the ways in which time outside builds resilience and prepares kids and teens for real life
I figure I need to listen to an interview like this about every 2 months to re-inspire me to make outside time a priority! Maybe every 2 weeks in the winter…
What do you think?

Resources We Mention for Nature Time for Kids
Drs. Glassy and Tandon’s book: Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
Simple Strategies to Relieve Anxiety as a Family
Why Everything You Know About Vision is Wrong
Living Dangerously with Caution: We Bike Our Child to School without Apology
Building Resilience and Reducing Stress in Kids with Jess Sherman
20 Ways to Preserve Apples (without Sugar)
Check out Project Nature Washington for more from these doctors
Take control of your stress with the Stress Mastery Challenge today!
Get four free workshops now at https://raisinghealthyfamilies.com/skills
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!