Raising Vital Children

My perspective of parenting children has shifted as I've bumbled along my journey of raising two healthy and vital boys. It has never been simple, nor easy, but parenting them has always been rewarding. Just when you think a 'phase' is getting the best of you, you're onto the next phase. No need to fixate on the moment.

I'm often convinced my perspective on health and healing is fairly mainstream until I'm engaged in a conversation with a parent about a child's health and/or overhear something that makes me want to cringe in the grocery aisle. Right, wrong or otherwise I become constantly amazed at how my thoughts and theories are so wildly different from a significant portion of society.

Here are some of my most basic premises on children's health:

1. My children's bodies are vital. They are in constant flux, shifting and adjusting to whatever comes their way. They aren't suppressed, numbed or manipulated. Their bodies are adaptive.

2. I never seek to suppress their body's innate responses. Ultimately I believe that our body has an inborn/innate intelligence that 'knows' how to heal itself in every situation. My job is to support it in doing so.

3. Supporting my children's innate intelligence means that I try never to override their body's basic mechanisms. Fevers exist for a reason. Fatigue exists for a reason. Vomiting exists for a reason. These healing mechanisms aren't always 'comfortable', but they are useful in serving a purpose.

4. Supporting my children's inborn healing mechanisms also means that I pay close attention to their lifestyle. When their body's resources are strained I am even more vigilant about the quality of food they take in, the amount of clean water they drink and the amount of sleep, stimulation and exercise they receive.

5. Having a child raised in this way also means that I explore and regularly engage the resources of natural health care practices including chiropractic care, naturopathic support, homeopathic care, registered massage therapy and cranial sacral therapy.

Healthy is much more than the absence of disease. It is the vital expression of human potential on every level. If you'd like to explore more of these ideas feel free to email me and/or speak with me at your next chiropractic adjustment. DR. F