While You’re at the Beach, I’m Launching a Blog

By Stephanie Walsh, M.D., Medical Director, Child Wellness, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Today, many of you are officially kicking off your spring break week. Hopefully somewhere fun like the beach, or just spending time with the kids outside in the beautiful Atlanta spring (well, ok, summer) weather.  I am from New York originally so I have no complaints about this streak of warm weather coming sooner than expected.

Well, today, I am officially kicking of my new blog, Dr. Walsh’s Healthy Dose, which I started to help parents like us. Because I know that choosing healthy behaviors for our kids is necessary, but hard to do in the world we live in. We need to support each other in this journey and I hope this blog is one way for us to help each other and stay connected.

I’m here to be your friend, your coach, your cheerleader and fellow parent who is trying to stay on top of it all—even though sometimes we all fall a bit short.

So, let me tell you a little bit about me. I am short, standing at 4’11,” which leads to a bit of teasing from my kids. But don’t let my stature fool you; I am in charge of a household of three busy boys between the ages of 7 and 12. Trying to keep everyone on schedule, on top of my job as Medical Director, Child Wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (more about this in a future post, I promise), is very much like juggling…with knives.

Like you, I’m doing the best I can, but there’s always room for improvement…which leads me to tell you about the purpose of this blog.

As parents, each and every day we are faced with choosing healthy—and unhealthy— behaviors for our kids. We all know that too many of the wrong choices can lead to health risks, even though some days we feel like it’s just easier to order pizza than to cook a healthy meal.

I know it’s hard to have a conversation with your family about healthy choices; trust me, I have to have those tough conversations with my kids and patients and families every day. I know it’s hard to make healthy choices at the grocery store, especially when your kids are in tow, begging for sugary things to satisfy their taste buds.

But, I’m here to remind you that you have a choice in how you parent and to help you take a stand at home (pizza is OK every now and then, by the way!). Are you ready to get started?