Cooking is Connecting

Kids are gross. They can be especially revolting at the dinner table. How do we address eating habits in a way that makes dinner less stressful while still being compassionate and building connection?

In today’s episode of the Cooking is Connecting Podcast, we’ll discuss a common issue with children - table manners - from a trauma-informed perspective.

This subject was inspired by a thread on a TBRI for adoptive parents Facebook Group. If you are looking for more support and encouragement in your pursuit of compassionate parenting, I encourage you to join me there.

Cooking (or even the idea of cooking) can have a profound impact on your level of anxiety.

You may see the kitchen as a place to relax, have fun, and express yourself; alternatively, you might feel your heartrate increase at the mere thought of having to prepare a meal.

The intensity of these feelings is only heightened by the looming holiday season that is quickly approaching.

Cooking with your child can be an effective way to reduce their anxiety around food, safety, and connection - but only if we can allow ourselves to manage our own triggers around the process and the desired outcome.

I encourage you, no matter what relationship you have with the kitchen and how it affects your nervous system, to listen to this episode and be challenged to take a different look at the trust-building, anxiety-reducing potential of the shared act of cooking and eating together with your child.

Have you ever felt powerless?

If you have been alive during the Covid-19 pandemic, there's a good chance you understand the feeling of powerlessness.

In this episode, I'm reflecting on the experience of the public health crisis and what it can teach us about the daily experience of children who have been affected by trauma.

Then, we'll discuss how the shared act of cooking and eating together can be a great place to start in giving power to a child who has lived with a lack of it.

Have you ever experienced a dish or a meal that forever changed your life?

Mine came in the form of a salad. I know, it sounds weird already, but that's only the beginning: this wasn't a salad from an impressive 3-star Michelin restaurant, or from a restaurant at all. In fact, I didn't even take one bite of it -- we fed it to our chickens!!

However, the experience of this salad being made has altered everything about me: my mindset about myself, my children, my parenting, and the connecting power of the kitchen.

I can't wait to share this story with you!

I'm not trying to deceive anyone: this is not an episode about the TBRI-based conference of the same name... but don't go anywhere!!

If you are looking for information about Trust-Based Relational Intervention and the transformative power it can have on your parenting, you've come to the right place. In this episode, I'll share with you my foster and adoptive journey and the hope that I found in the resources created by the Karyn Purvis Institute for Child Development and others in the trauma-informed parenting space.

I also want you to know how this renewed perspective on parenting has informed the creation of my Cooking is Connecting mindset. There is hope for your journey!

Are you old enough to remember DTR talks? You know, the ones where two people sit down to discuss the ground rules for the relationship upon which they are preparing to embark?

Whether you do or not, I'm spending some time in this first episode of the Cooking is Connecting Podcast to lay a clear foundation for what you can expect to receive from me as one of my loyal listeners. I hope it serves you well. If so, be sure to hit that Subscribe button and leave a review wherever it is you're listening!

Welcome to Cooking is Connecting. I’m Chef Kibby – a biological, foster, and adoptive dad who struggled for years wondering why my parenting wasn’t creating stronger attachments between me and my kids. This is a show about harnessing the inherent trust-building power of cooking and eating together with our children as a method to overcome the negative effects of trauma on the mind, body, soul, and relationships – because while trauma is disruptive, cooking is connecting.