Meal Plan #84 & The Talk

Happy meal plan Monday! Gracie and I went on a girl’s trip to Hershey Park this weekend to have “the talk” that subsequently involved lots of laughter and fun.

Despite being a nurse practitioner with two Masters degrees that has seen, heard, and worked more with the human body than most people do in a lifetime – I still felt incredibly uncertain where to even begin when it came to talking with my child about sex.

I don’t know about you, but growing up this was not exactly a topic of conversation around the dinner table, or a conversation at any time, for that matter.

Luke & Tricia Gilkerson’s 3 part series called “The Talk: 7 Lesson To Indrocue Your Child To Biblcial Sexuality,” an interactive script for parents, came highly recommended to me, and now I cannot recommend them enough.

Here is an excerpt from the first book’s introduction…

For many parents the biggest question they have when it comes to talking about sex is whether their child is “ready for it.” They fear telling their child too much too son, awakening sexual interest or curiosity too early, or “saying the wrong thing” . . . but the opposite extreme – your children not knowing your values as they pertain to sex – is far more common and far more dangersous. The fear of too much too soon often means we speak too little too late.
Many times parents’ gauge of “readiness” is often not related to anything they see in their child. Rather, to their own sense of sex as a taboo subject – even a shameful subject. They can’t picture themselves sitting down across from their sweet little child saying words like “penis” and “vagina” in the same sentence. Parents must remember, the vast majoirty of children have not yet learned to think about sex as a taboo subject. Parents are the ones who feel the awkwardness.
As parents, we should become our children’s trusted source of information… waiting as long as possible to talk about sex is a risk no parent should be willing to take.
Luke & Tricia Gilkerson

The format of the books is laid out as an interactive script, and even in my conversation with Gracie the truth of the above words struck me as undeniably true. This conversation is not a once and done deal, but having that first “talk” helps set the stage for ongoing dialogue wherein she should ALWAYS feel that I am her most trusted confidant. I am grateful for these books to have provided more organization and direction for that initial conversation. We will definitely not wait as long to talk to Caleb.

I would love to get the authors onto my podcast, so stay tuned! In the meantime, here are the links to the 3 books:

Part 1: “The Talk: 7 Lesson To Introduce Your Child To Biblical Sexuality”

Part 2: “The Talk: 7 Biblical Lessons To Make Sense Of Puberty.”

Part 3: “The Talk: 11 Lessons To Give Kids a Greater Understanding Of Biblical Sexuality.”

I wanted this initial conversation to be surrounded by fun memories instead of a hurried cram session so that she also had a lot of space to ask questions or share more if she wanted to, so I booked us a cheap hotel of questionable quality in Harrisburg (I assured myself the deadbolt was in working order twice). Her questions and commentary were such that I almost peed myself laughing more than once.

At one point after we turned the lights I heard her dramatically sigh into the darkness and moan, “My life will never be the same.”

I think I choked on air. She wasn’t wrong.

The next day we spent at Hershey Park enjoying the water park and as many rides as we could before it closed at 8p.

Several times I asked her if she had any questions for me. Other times I would ask her what’s on her mind.

By the way, I have found “What’s on your mind” to be a fabulous question as a parent. I have learned of many things going on in the little hearts and minds of my kids this way. The key – actually letting them share what’s on their mind without interruption or parental commentary.

There’s no smooth transition from sex to dinner recipes, so on that note, let’s get to the healthy meal plan for the week!

Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad
Cauliflower Tater Tot Casserole
Slow Cooker Egg Casserole
Shrimp Fried Quinoa
Beef Zucchini Au Gratin

Download a healthy weekly meal plan with a grocery shopping template for macro-friendly recipes to make meal planning easy.

In case you missed any posts last week you can read them here!

Healthy Weekly Meal Plan #84

MY COOKING PHILOSOPHY IS TO KEEP IT “HEALTHY AND EASY.”

RECIPES AT HAMMERS N HUGS WILL INCLUDE ALL-NATURAL INGREDIENTS THAT CAN OFTEN BE FROZEN AND HAVE BEEN TESTED AND APPROVED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

Click HERE to download a macro-friendly healthy weekly meal plan to your phone/desktop with linked recipe instructions and a digital grocery list template to make your life easier!

Watch the video below to see how to use my digital meal plan and grocery list template.

All of these recipes include macros per serving and can be added to My Fitness Pal by typing “fat macro” etc in the ingredient search tool.

Bon appetit!