S5E110: Food, Parenting and Unschooling with Deena Barselah

Food, Parenting and Unschooling FOOD. What does that word bring up for you? Does it make you think of work, hurt or frustration? Or does it conjure up feelings of joy, positivity and empowerment? It's interesting how our ideas, thoughts and even judgements around food are similar to those we hold around learning. For some of us, food can certainly play a large part in our parenting framework. Deena Barselah joined me on this episode to talk about our expectations and ideas around food. We went deeper and explored how food fits into our parenting and learning life. I loved this conversation. Deena lays out such a powerful connection between food, parenting and unschooling that I had never looked at before. Holistic and Integrative Coach Deena is a Holistic and Integrative Health Coach who guides mothers and families all over the world to remove the chore from food and cultivate a more joyful, connected, easier, and confident relationship with food.  She's supported her own disordered eating, autoimmune conditions, and chronic digestive distress with shifts in diet, habits, and nervous system healing.  Deena believes there's no one-size-fits-all to family food and that by cultivating a system that works well for your unique family, you can let go of the "shoulds" that weigh you down.  She lives in Encinitas, CA with her husband and son and is a homeschooling mama.  Previously, Deena worked in the corporate world in areas of Organizational Psychology and People Development.   In This Episode In this episode Deena's connection between food, parenting and unschooling was fantastic. She had me step re-examine my ideas around food, snacks, mealtime and what I model for my family. She asks are the rules or expectations around food truly ours? Do they apply to who you are or are they prescriptive ideas that we have taken? We also tackled some of those food topics that seem to be regular sore spots for parents: Snacking Dinner time Meal Planning The pressure of the "well rounded meal" Picky Eaters Candy and Treats Halloween Deena leaves us with actionable tips and thoughtful questions that help us reframe unrealistic expectations we may be holding on to around food. Resources If you would like to learn more Deena and her community, you can find her on her website http://deenabarselah.com/ Her workshop is The Joyful Family Meal and you can also find her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deenabarselah/ If you enjoyed this conversation, I am sure you will like my conversation with Liana Francisco. Liana is a grown unschooler that now unschools her son. She's also a serial entrepreneur and coach who helps other moms make plant-based eating easy with a system.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.