In this episode, we’re talking all about how to raise children that love natural living. Raising healthy kids in a world that regularly gives out sugar as a reward can be challenging but that doesn’t make it any less important.
Don’t feel overwhelmed by this topic. In this podcast, we’ll break down exactly what we do that has helped our children choose healthy habits.
Kids see everything we do, which is why we make sure to include our children into all aspects of our lives.
In fact, actively pursuing our own dreams with God’s leading has matured our children. For example, we involve our kids with Mama Z’s pageants!
Over the years, this has helped them learn to value hard work, perseverance, and good sportsmanship – which is badly needed in today’s society.
Even without such an exciting event, it’s important to do routine daily tasks with our kids too. Everyday things like gardening, cooking, and cleaning can be as important to do together as creating our own natural living traditions for special events, like vacations and holidays.
We share strategies on how we reward our kids for living the natural lifestyle in ways that speak to them and allow them to participate in community activities. We don’t let them cheat with junk food but proactively find ways that encourage our kids to be responsible for their own health.
And we are honest about the reasons for that when they ask difficult questions about it. #HonestyMatters
We want our children to enjoy life. When we work hard, play hard, and honor God around and with our kids, we teach them to live life abundantly!
Table of Contents
Listen Here
Episode Highlights
- What’s in our diffuser & praying for our leaders & pastors (2:20)
- Your testimonial and reviews (5:15)
- Our special announcement – persistence pays off! Thanks to our team. (8:36)
- Modeling values for your children (20:39)
- Raising kids who love natural living (27:43)
- Strategies to raise natural living kids – and gluten-free apple pancakes! (33:33)
- Let kids participate in activities but leave out junk food (45:50)
- Answering their questions about healthy living (52:20)
- Work hard, play hard and honor God as a family (55:16)
- Natural living tip and episode wrap (59:52)
Quotable Quotes
“When teaching your kids, some things are caught, and some things are taught, and some things are both.”- Mama Z“Our kids know if they eat certain things, they don’t feel good afterward. They don’t want to get sick. ”– Dr. Z“When you’re on vacation, you need to create healthy excitement.” – Dr. Z
“It’s about teaching our kids to be good sports no matter what.” – Mama Z“We are diligent and committed to letting our kids enjoy the benefits of life in a way that’s truly abundant and life-giving, with no side effects.” – Dr. Z
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The contents of this presentation are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This presentation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
[0:00 – 1:19] Prelude
Dr. Z: And that’s something we’ve also taught the kids, too.
Mama Z: Absolutely.
Dr. Z: And the kids, regardless, you congratulate the winner. And when we’re playing Yahtzee or Sorry or Monopoly, you shake hands and say congratulations.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: I crushed Isaiah a couple of days ago.
Mama Z: I mean you were blowing up my text, like five or six texts.
Dr. Z: And like a Yahtzee savant. Isaiah just crushed me game after game after game. And if you ever play Yahtzee, it’s a fun little game with dice. Well, I got four Yahtzees in one game. I’m getting like 617 points. I tripled his score. He had a great score anyway. And he sort of was tearing up. I’m like, “No, you’re going to congratulate me. I congratulated you. Okay, you can’t win every game, bro.” And the next game he crushed me again. But that’s what it is.
Mama Z: And as a babysitter, I recognized this as well, especially kids that wouldn’t do that. I would make them shake my hand and tell me that I did a good job.
Dr. Z: Yep, congratulations.
Mama Z: I think it’s really important. There’s a reason why when you play soccer, everybody gives high fives, and in softball. It’s really, really important. It’s not always what happened during the game, but how you react afterwards. It’s your sportsmanship. It’s all of those things put together.
[1:20 – 1:54 Intro
Dr. Z: Hi! This is Dr. Z.
Mama Z: And Mama Z. And welcome to episode 24 of the Natural Living Family podcast.
Dr. Z: Each week we invite you into our home to talk about how you can master the art and science of natural living. And we share the same tips our family uses every day to enjoy an abundant life. And you’re going to love today’s talk.
Mama Z: So, come on in and get comfortable. After all, you’re one of the family, our natural living family.
Dr. Z: But before we dive into all the fun today, we’re excited to share a special note about today’s sponsor.
[1:55 – 2:14] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market
Mama Z: As a special gift to our Natural Living Family podcast listeners, Thrive Market is giving you twenty-five percent off your first order.
Dr. Z: Plus a free thirty-day trial. Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilyPodcast.com to find the special link so you could redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.
[2:15 – 3:47] Diffuser Reveal:
Dr. Z: Well, hey there, everyone. Welcome to the show. Today we’re going to continue our mini-series about kids. And we’re going to talk about raising healthy kids that love natural living. And I’ve got a cool story to brag about Isaiah in just a minute. Don’t let me forget about that. But before we do, Mama Z?
Mama Z: What’s in the diffuser?
Dr. Z: Yea.
Mama Z: So, today we have lime, bergamot, tangerine, and ylang-ylang.
Dr. Z: Oh!
Mama Z: Love it, yes!
Dr. Z: Ylang-ylang. I like this. This is a nice one. I tried to add frankincense to it. And Mama Z wasn’t digging it, so she made me redo it. So, I was like, okay.
Mama Z: Yes. And we had it going earlier and it was just amazing. So, when he did his tweak, sometimes you like to make things better.
Dr. Z: I do; I betterfy things. Hah, hah, hah!
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah. And sometimes more isn’t always better.
Dr. Z: I liked it. Actually, I added clementine. I added frankincense. I only added like two things. So, it wasn’t like a big deal.
Mama Z: It kind of reminded me of when you go to one of those Port-a-John’s.
Dr. Z: No! That’s like pine.
Mama Z: No.
Dr. Z: Frankincense does have that piney kind—
Mama Z: Yea, that resiny…I wasn’t digging it.
Dr. Z: Whatever.
Mama Z: So, I did a redo on that deal.
[3:48 – 5:16] Happy 4th of July!
Dr. Z: Well, before we do announcements, first of all, happy 4th of July week, y’all.
Mama Z: Yay!
Dr. Z: We hope and pray for those of you who are Americans that you enjoy your celebration of freedom. Not only are we free in Christ, but we do enjoy our wonderful freedom in our country. And we salute all the armed forces in our service.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Men and women in armed forces, police, and fire, and whatever, everyone; everyone doing what they do.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: We so appreciate that. And let’s keep our leaders in your prayers. Regardless of your political persuasion, let’s pray that God has his way in our country, that God uses the leaders to give us peace. Like the Bible says, we’re called to actually pray for the leaders so that we will live a life of peace.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: And so, look what God did through Nebuchadnezzar, calling him His servant. God will use whatever. He will use a donkey if he has to.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: That’s not a joke against anyone. But He will use whomever, he or she, to do His will. Let’s remember that. We have a wonderful country, and we’re so blessed and honored.
Mama Z: And pray for your pastors, too.
Dr. Z: Yes!
Mama Z: They need our prayers, absolutely.
Dr. Z: And so, we hope you enjoy. And listen to our previous podcast about “Healthy, Happy Summer Tips.” That was a couple of weeks ago. And if you haven’t, now is a great time to get Mama Z’s salads cooking class and her gluten-free Italian, to get those awesome recipes.
Mama Z: Yes, for the summer.
Dr. Z: What are you going to make for the 4th of July cookout? Just go to MamaZItalian.com, go to MamaZSalads.com, and start cooking away.
[5:17 – 8:37] Testimonial Time!
But before we go into some fun announcements, we have a couple, actually a lot, of wonderful, wonderful reviews, testimonials. Thank you so much for all of your reviews. This is from SD Moss from Great Britain, who gave us a five-star rating. So, thank you! We so appreciate that.
Mama Z: Yes!
Dr. Z: The title is very informative: “I Had a Great Listen.” SD Moss writes: “Great podcast. If you are already on this path like me, or you want to be on this path, super informative even for someone who isn’t based in the States. England! Keep up the good work.” I love that because we do have a global audience.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: And you look at our analytics. You go and see how many people follow us of the five and a half to six million people on our website. And, of course, number one, most people follow us from the United States. And then you have Canada. And then you have Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand; and then India.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: And then everyone else. I love it.
Mama Z: And you know what’s cool?
Dr. Z: Thank you SD Moss.
Mama Z: Yes. One thing that’s really cool, I got asked to speak in Atlanta. And my trainer had asked me, because she works with a lot of at-risk kids. And we’re talking about healthy living. And she told me today, she’s like, “Yes, I even have a clip from Food Matters. And I said, “Food Matters? We love them.
Dr. Z: We love James and Laurentine!
Mama Z: Yes. So anyway, it was so cool that she mentioned that. So, she’s going to use that clip. She’s going to use the clip from our book, The Essential Oils Diet. And I get to speak in August to this group of seventh graders.
Dr. Z: Nice! I love that!
Mama Z: I get to encourage them to healthy living and stuff like that.
Dr. Z: Well, we’re still in our heart, and we believe that we’re going to have an Australia tour.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: And our dear friend, Kim Morrison, out there from The Company 28, and her book The Art of Self-Love. We actually had a mini-tour planned out, but we’ll see.
Mama Z: We’ll see. Yea, we’ll see what God does.
Dr. Z: Yes! Well, we have to make our announcement.
Mama Z: Oh yes!
Dr. Z: Here’s another good one. Thank you, another five-star rating! This is from, I don’t the know the name. Oh, the name is; actually, I’m sorry, I don’t have a name here. I don’t know why I don’t have a name. I deleted it. But anyway, thank you nameless. Hah, hah, hah!
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah!
Dr. Z: “Thank you, Dr. Z and Mama Z, for this great podcast. It is inspiring and gives me hope to know that you both have worked so hard to overcome some very serious health challenges. For those of us still working on becoming the healthiest we can, we thank you for your honesty and frankness. Your support means the world to us.”
Mama Z: Oh, I love that!
Dr. Z: And that’s what we try to do, y’all. Like the Bible says, we defeat the enemy, satan, the Devil, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. And God has given us victory in Christ. And go listen and tune into episode 2 of the podcast, where we talk about how an extremist and an eating disorder combined into this crazy marriage, and this natural living family was born. From the depths or our sorrow and from the depths of our suffering have come passion and purpose, basically finding purpose in our pain.
Mama Z: Yes.
[8:38 – 20:42] Guess Who Won the Mrs: Georgia America Pageant?!
Dr. Z: And with that said, there is a little bit of that in this next announcement. But let me see if I can be kind of like high tech here. And maybe hopefully Chris doesn’t have a heart attack. I’m going to try to do something and see if this works out. So, anyway, for those of you who are following along, thank you so much. We’re a couple of weeks late, and our apologies.
We’re actually recording this podcast five days after the Mrs: Georgia America competition. And for those of you who have been following along, Mama Z has been telling you about her pageant experience and her training. This is the fourth time she has competed for this event. So, you can listen to a previous podcast and hear about persevering, overcoming all odds. It’s a very, very empowering show.
And so, what we want to do is let you know the results of that. And let me see if I can do it in a fun, creative way. Hold on. I love the music, by the way. “And I give you Mrs: Georgia America 2019. It’s Sabrina.” What did she say there?
Mama Z: Persistence does pay off.
Dr. Z: That’s what the pageant director said: “Persistence pays off.” I’ll let this play for a quick second. I’m going to try to get your speech. (Pageant director): “Is there anything your highness would like to say?”
Mama Z: “I just want to first and foremost thank my husband, because he took my children to Disney for a week before just so I could do all of the final prep. And he’s just so amazing! But all my fans, I love you so much! And this is my fourth time! So, to each and every one of you girls, I’ll tell you, three times isn’t a charm; it’s four times, because this was God’s plan. And I give Him the glory. Hallelujah!”
Dr. Z: Ah! Congratulations, baby!
Mama Z: Thanks! You made me cry!
Dr. Z: So, the announcement is, I’m the new Mr. Georgia! Hah, hah, hah!
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah!
Dr. Z: Hey, without a Mr., there ain’t no Mrs:.
Mama Z: That’s true.
Dr. Z: Hallelujah! Man, oh man! And for those of you who don’t know this, we actually recorded this, a video. And we put these podcasts up on You Tube and Facebook. So, be sure to follow. Go to Natural Living Family on You Tube, and then you’ll see, because of Chris, our audio/video. Chris, are you there?
Chris: Yessir!
Dr. Z: Chris is like sweet! I’m glad he did that. Chris is going to have the actual video of that. We have the video. And he’ll have some B-roll so you guys can see. How are you doing, babe?
Mama Z: Good!
Dr. Z: You’re wearing your crown.
Mama Z: I am.
Dr. Z: You have your sashes here, your awards.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Wow! What a blessing and an honor. What do you want to say?
Mama Z: I’m touched and just completely honored that we’ve had thousands of comments and just our natural living family—I’m just blown away. It’s been so cool! And a few times, I had to like pinch myself, like, “Oh my gosh! This really happened.” It’s so cool! And I really felt, people always ask me, “Do you get nervous or whatever?” And I would say, “Well, I don’t get nervous. My stomach does.”
But I just had this calmness. And so, I remember saying to my makeup artist, Arianna, and I said, “Is it weird that I actually feel really calm?” And she’s like, “No. You’ve got this.” And just all the encouragement from everybody on our team, not just the Natural Living Family team. They were amazing, just the people that have worked with me for so many years.
Sally, she’s an 81-year-old. She came from Michigan. She was the pageant director for the very first pageant that I competed in. And it took me four times running in her pageant to win that one. I had won another local one before that for Mrs: Michigan, Mrs: America. But the year that I won, she was transitioning out of being a director.
So, we just kept each other. And she stayed with me years after that. So, it was so cool. We meet for lunch all the time, and we talk regularly on the phone. I mentioned her our book, because she has been such an inspiration to me. So, having her there, and my mom, and my best friend, Lisa, and her daughter. And we had people from five different states.
Dr. Z: How many people?
Mama Z: We had over sixty people at the pageant.
Dr. Z: And some of you are listening, and we thank you, we love you, for your support.
Mama Z: Yes. It was so awesome! So, every time I came out, I was like blown away, because everybody was so amazingly loud and awesome. I felt like I was at home. You know, I felt like I was home. So, that was just awesome.
Dr. Z: And who else was part of your team? Like, give a shout out to LaLona.
Mama Z: Yep. LaLona is my trainer, my pageant trainer, Mrs: Georgia 2010. And then Randall and Quentin, known as the “King of Bling” and “The Randall Effect.” What they do for all my outfits and my competition gear, many, many hours.
Dr. Z: And sponsors, who were your sponsors?
Mama Z: Yea, so Living Fuel was literally my fuel, leading up to the pageant, and, of course, at the pageant. And then my amazing dry cleaner, Sunshine Cleaners, they got all of my stuff ready. And then Orangetheory and Twisted Cycle, those are the places besides my workouts that I do at home. I mean I live at either one of those places every day. They were amazing. Also, Viper Apparel.
And, you know, the Santa School, they’ve been some of my biggest supporters over the years. One of the things, the dean of students, his wife really, really, really wanted to be there. And she was really sad that she wasn’t going to be able to be there. And I really wanted to dedicate this year, all of my competing, to her, because she’s been such an inspiration to me over the years. And so, it was just so cool that I had all these people a part of everything.
And another sponsor that I really want to thank is Gentle Force Chiropractic. Dr. Linda, she’s been a sponsor ever since we started. Even when I was just thinking about competing, she offered to be a sponsor.
Dr. Z: One of the best chiropractors in Atlanta. She’s in Canton, Georgia.
Mama Z: Yes, absolutely.
Dr. Z: She’s taken care of our family for many years.
Mama Z: Yes. And also, Clear Path Wellness, one of the places that I go regularly for infrared sauna and colonics. And they have lots of different modalities there for health and wellness. And so, I just absolutely love them. And I’m just so honored and blessed by all of our sponsors.
Dr. Z: So, what’s next is Mrs: America. And that will be held on August 24 in Las Vegas. So, those of you who are looking for an excuse to go to Vegas, or if you’re local to Vegas, or if you’re in San Diego, or if you’re within any three-hour drive. A lot of California folks follow us. We would love to see you in Vegas.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Dinner is on me. We’ll have another after-glow party or whatever it is. We appreciate your love and support. We just want to love on you and thank you. Keep Mama Z in your prayers, because she had a couple of days off, and then she went hard right back at training.
Mama Z: Yep, I had two days off. I promised everybody that I would take two days off. And so, yep, I’m back at it. It was kind of hard, because even on the days off, I still woke up like really early. Like I had to force myself to go back to bed, because I’m used to waking up at 4 and working out really early. So, anyway, you know you’ve gotten enough sleep when you wake up a half hour before your alarm.
So, at the pageant, I was so blessed. Our friends had come in. And we had had girl time and lots of extra. Like I still did workouts and all of that. But I kept waking up way before my alarm. So, I knew that that meant that I got some good night’s rest, which was great; even though we did have a fire alarm in the middle of the night.
Dr. Z: Well, quick recap. You were blessed and honored to win the swimsuit, the fitness competition; the evening gown, the grace and beauty competition; the most photogenic; and interview. And all of the training that you have done has paid off. And this was your fourth time competing. Every time up until now, you have earned first runner-up.
Mama Z: Well, and Dr. Linda said today, she said, “At some point, throughout all of this, I think you’ve won like every category at different times, right?” And I was like, “Yea, we were just talking about that, just different years winning different competitions.” But it was pretty awesome. I was really blown away.
Dr. Z: Yea. And the girls that you competed with, they were beautiful.
Mama Z: They were.
Dr. Z: Some of them have had a lot of experience with pageants. Others, this was their first. And, you know, at the end of the day, this is very much a sport of opinion, kind of like a dog and pony show. I meant this is kind of what it is, you know. Hah, hah, hah! I mean, even like figure skating.
Mama Z: I have always tried to compete with myself. I always tried to do better than myself. And I really don’t focus on anybody else, just me, while I’m competing. If we start looking at other people, then we get our eyes off of God. And I really think that it’s important to focus on yourself and the journey, because the journey is in the trip. And just this last year, just all the growth and development, had I not won, it would have been worth it. And we went knowing we would do the best we possibly could do and leave the results up to God. So, you can’t lose that way at all. It’s always a win-win.
[20:43 – 27:46] Do You Know How to Win Even When You Lose?
Dr. Z: So, this is episode 24 of the Natural Living Family podcast, “Raising Healthy Kids that Love Natural Living.” This is part of this.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: We all hear, “It takes a village.” But it took the family. It took the children. The children don’t know any other way of life, our natural living life. I remember two years ago, that was your second competition. And Esther and the boys were just crying.
Mama Z: They were crying.
Dr. Z: It was so hard for them to see.
Mama Z: We Mrs:ed the family picture because they were crying.
Dr. Z: Crying too much.
Mama Z: So, last year, I took them all aside separately. And that year I had said, “Hey, do you guys cry when you don’t win a running race?” “Well, no.” And I said, “Well, what would the winner think if you cried?” And they said, “Well, that might hurt their feelings.” And I said, “Well, you could be hurting some other mommy’s feelings, too. So, no matter what happens, you need to be happy, if it’s mommy, or if it’s somebody else’s mommy.”
Dr. Z: Yep.
Mama Z: And so last year, it’s about teaching our kids to be good sports no matter what. If you really commit everything to the Lord, and you leave it out there on that stage or whatever you do (it doesn’t have to be pageants; it could be anything), it’s important to remember that it’s about the process, and the experience, and what you’re teaching your kids, going after your dreams. It’s important for them to see that you have dreams, and that you’re going after them.
And for the kids, this year, it was so cute. I snuck home, and we got to see you guys after you came back from Florida. And the kids and you all prayed over me. And I remember Esther saying, “And may we all be happy, whether mommy wins or anybody else wins.” And so, you know, some things are caught, and some things are taught, and some things are both. And so, it was really cool to hear that.
And a few people had taken video of the kids when I won. And it was so cool just to see their expressions. And, of course, Bella was probably the cutest. “Momma, are you Elsa? Momma, I like your Elsa hat,” my crown.
Dr. Z: Yea.
Mama Z: So, it was just really cool to have them be all a part of all of this and be able to see that perseverance pays off. And no matter what your dreams and goals are, you should go for them, because if you give it all to the Lord, He will guide your path and open the doors that no man can open.
Dr. Z: Amen, amen! And we know that a happy heart does good like medicine. And so, we’re teaching our children how to count it all joy. And that’s important. That’s part of it. You know, you could feed your kids the best diet in the world. But if they have a bitter heart and if they are filled with unforgiveness, they’ll end up getting sick. And we know that.
And that’s something that’s really been impressed upon me the more research that I do preparing for our upcoming next book, which we’ll, of course, announce soon. But, you know, people, especially women that battle with the feeling of being wronged and they harbor unforgiveness and bitterness in their heart, they are much more likely to develop low back pain and chronic pain and also fibromyalgia.
And so, just think about what this means to live a natural living life. Yea, it’s about what you put in your mouth. But it’s about how you harbor emotions and how you deal with disappointments.
Mama Z: And, you know, we had talked about this before. But last year, it was really hard for you. And it was really hard for my coach. And, you know, it was really funny. She said, “I’m really sorry. I couldn’t come and see you for a little while. I needed some time by myself. And before I came and saw you, I had to pull it all together.” As my other friend said, “She didn’t ugly cry; she cute cried.”
And, you know, when we go after something, and it’s still on our heart, even if we haven’t gotten there, God gave me my heart’s desire, and didn’t even withhold the request of my lips. And I think that’s important, because God opened the door for me to compete again. And I know you had said, “Why would want to do that? Why would you want to put yourself through that?” But I really felt led by God to do it.
So, my pageant trainer, Sally, said, “Well, remember, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, Mrs: America 1988.” She had been first runner-up three times for Mrs: Michigan. She had gone to a Chinese restaurant or whatever and opened up her fortune cookie, and it said, “Try again.” And she took it to mean… Who knows what those things say anyway? And I haven’t had one of those things in decades. But she took it to mean try again, and she did. And not only did she win Mrs: Michigan, but she won Mrs: America.
And I thought back to how many times it took me to win a local for Mrs: America. And you just have to follow after your heart, you do. And, of course, always acknowledge God, because He will guide your path. You don’t want to be out of His will. But I am just so grateful to be able to be Mrs: Georgia.
Dr. Z: And one thing that really blessed my heart the last three times was you were adamant—it wasn’t even an option—we’re going to the after party. It was always at a local diner. And we were going to congratulate the reigning queen, and we’re going to be a good sport. And then we saw it through.
Mama Z: Absolutely.
Dr. Z: And that’s something that we’ve also taught the kids, too.
Mama Z: Absolutely.
Dr. Z: And the kids, regardless, you congratulate the winner. And when we’re playing Yahtzee or Sorry or Monopoly, you shake hands and say congratulations.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: I crushed Isaiah a couple of days ago.
Mama Z: I mean you were blowing up my text, like five and six texts.
Dr. Z: And like a Yahtzee savant. Isaiah just crushed me game after game after game. And if you ever play Yahtzee, it’s a fun little game with dice. Well, I got four Yahtzees in one game. I’m getting like 617 points. I tripled his score. He had a great score anyway. And he sort of was tearing up. I’m like, “No, you’re going to congratulate me. I congratulated you. Okay, you can’t win every game, bro.” And the next game he crushed me again. But that’s what it is.
Mama Z: And as a babysitter, I recognized this as well, especially kids that wouldn’t do that. I would make them shake my hand and tell me that I did a good job.
Dr. Z: Yep, congratulations.
Mama Z: I think it’s really important. There’s a reason why when you play soccer, everybody gives high fives, and in softball. It’s really, really important. It’s not always what happened during the game, but how you react afterwards. It’s your sportsmanship. It’s all of those things put together.
[27:47 – 32:54] Raising Kids who Love Natural Living
Dr. Z: So, speaking of Isaiah, again, this is episode 24 of Natural Living Family podcast. We’re talking about raising kids that love natural living. Isaiah blessed my heart. He just blessed my heart. I was so touched this week. The kids went to the local summer camp, local day camp at the rec center. And I got a call from Tammy, one of the camp counselors. And she said, “Hey, I need to get the kids a snack. And I just don’t know what to get them. And I want to reward them, because Isaiah’s group was really good yesterday.”
Mama Z: Mind you, I had three snacks in the bag.
Dr. Z: Well, she wanted to buy him something. So, she gave all the kids candy. And so, what Isaiah said was, “I can’t have candy.” Wow! Like he’s eight years old, and he said that. “No, I can’t have candy.” She’s like, “Well, what can you have?” He goes, “I like popcorn, and I like mango. Can you get me a mango?” We just came back from Florida. We had mangos almost every day.
And the poor lady, this was so sweet by the way. Tammy, I love you. She had never bought a mango before. So, she went to the local Kroger. She Googled how to buy a mango. And she was like, “What do I do with this thing? Do I cut it?” She actually said, “Tell me how to pick a mango. I’ll go back to the rec center. I’ll cut it up.”
And so, what she did was she defaulted on this popcorn that had cheddar cheese flavoring. Well, she’s proud of herself. She gave Isaiah what he asked for. Again, this is like she went to the store to give him a special gift. And she didn’t have to do this, by the way.
Mama Z: No, it’s so sweet.
Dr. Z: And Isaiah is like, “No, I can’t have that. I can’t have cheese.” And her heart was broken. She was like, “What can you have?” And again, he just wanted a mango. And so, she asked me, “What can I do? I’ll get whatever.” I’m like, “You know what? Let me take care of it.” So, I went to the store. Thankfully, the store had precut mangos. So, I didn’t have to even cut it up. And I got him a skinny pop. And I got them some of their gluten-free cookies that they like. And I just blessed them. But to know that he—
Mama Z: Those are the Simple Mills cookies.
Dr. Z: Yes, we love Simple Mills. Again, raising healthy kids that love natural living. She also said that Elijah’s group was really good, too, and she wanted to surprise them. And so, because Esther was there, I just bought a whole bag of snacks. I came there at lunch time.
I was such a proud papa, because Isaiah could have said, “Okay, I’ll have the candy.” He could have done whatever. He could have done it. But he didn’t. And one thing that we have tried to impress upon the kids is your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We eat a certain a way because it makes us feel good, and it keeps us healthy and strong.
Mama Z: And you don’t get any negative reactions that way either.
Dr. Z: No. And what a blessing! And how did that happen? It’s been a life-long of them always having alternatives.
Mama Z: Right. Is this water gluten-free?
Dr. Z: He’s the same one, Isaiah. I mean he goes to the waitress when we were at Disney a couple of weeks ago. “Is this gluten-free water?” And it’s so cute. I mean he’s at a point where we’re teaching him to question. We’re teaching them and they realize they reap what they sow. And they know if they eat certain things, they don’t feel good afterwards, and they don’t want to get sick. And ultimately, though, he’s at a point where he doesn’t want to get in trouble, too. He knows that he’s not supposed to. And so, there is an element of punishment. And there’s an element of reward.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: See, that’s the thing. I will rain on them the blessings. And that’s one thing, God is very clear in Deuteronomy chapter 28. If you disobey God, you’re cursed. If you obey God, you’re blessed. I mean go to the curses and the blessings of chapter 28 of Deuteronomy. Your mind will be blown. God opens us the floodgates of all the blessings in the world if you follow Him and honor Him. And that’s what I try to teach the kids. Like if you’re doing what’s right, like what do I say?
Mama Z: Good girls and boys get good treats. And bad boys and bad girls get nothing, or something like that.
Dr. Z: I’m like, “Good boys get good treats; naughty boys don’t.” And they know that. I’m like, “Isaiah, good boys?” And he’s like, “Good boys get good treats, naughty boys don’t.” And we want to instill upon them that mentality. And that’s part of it, y’all. Like how do you instill a desire to live a natural living lifestyle and to be healthy? You reward it. And you reward it in a way that speaks to them.
Sometimes, I mean that’s just like maybe playing a game. Like the kids love playing Sorry or Yahtzee or Monopoly, spending time with them. That might be giving them a treat.
Oftentimes it doesn’t have to be, by the way. That might be something special, having a special date. There are so many things. And there are so many things we want to talk about to you today as we wrap up this. Again, congratulations, Honey! I give glory to God. Being Mr. Georgia is a huge responsibility. But I am prepared for Mr. America. Hah, hah, hah.
Mama Z: Do you have your sash?
Dr. Z: I do.
Mama Z: It’s written on your heart?
Dr. Z: Yea. So, we’re going to transition more to really health, happy natural living raising kids tips. But before we do, a word from our sponsor.
[32:55 – 33:35] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market
Dr. Z: There’s nothing like hearing the doorbell of the delivery person, letting me know that a Thrive Market package has landed on our doorstep. It’s like Christmas time every time we get a package.
Mama Z: Yes, from ingredients to snacks, it’s so awesome. And the kids go nuts.
Dr. Z: We love Thrive Market, the convenience, the price, and just the movement, because we know that every dollar spent goes towards a more sustainable, healthy, natural world. So, if you haven’t joined, then what are you waiting for? You’re going to absolutely love it.
[33:36 – 45:56] Strategies for Natural Living with Kids
Dr. Z: All right, so, what do you think? What’s the most important thing?
Mama Z: Well, it is summer. And, you know, I really like to focus on a couple of the aspects that are important for travel, because a lot of people are traveling.
Dr. Z: And we have a podcast, “How to Have a Healthy, Happy Summer Tips.” So, refer back to that, a couple of episodes ago.
Mama Z: Yes. A few highlights are really, number one, if you’re traveling by car, every hundred miles doing a present for your kids. And it doesn’t have to something crazy. It can be underwear. It can be socks. What do they need? Think healthy, toothpaste, a new toothbrush. Who can’t use a new toothbrush every trip? I mean if you see some of the conditions of our toothbrushes, I mean they could probably use a new one every week. I mean, I’m like what do you do with this thing?
Dr. Z: Shoot them.
Mama Z: I mean seriously, it’s flat, and not in a good way. So, finding things that they need and swapping things out, because they don’t care what it is. It’s a present, and they open it up. And so, I recommend doing that. It doesn’t have to be wrapped like origami. It can be thrown together; you know what I mean? It doesn’t have to be wrapped pretty.
The other thing is making sure that you have a good bag of healthy snacks in your car, so there are always options. You know, they’re sitting in the car, and you want them to be entertained. But you want them to have snacks. So, plan that around your stops that you do.
And the other thing is I love to make lunch and dinner and put it in their lunchboxes. Then you have everything all set there. And they have their little lunchbox. I usually put one of the snacks in there. And then they’re able to have that while they’re there, because you just never know what options that you’re going to have when you’re on the road. So, you always plan for success, to that you have all those things at your fingertips. And no matter what, they’re going to have a good meal while you’re traveling.
Dr. Z: Yep. I think it’s so key when we’re talking about raising healthy kids that love natural living is that they see the benefits. They do. They’ve got to see the benefits. And there’s no other literal transformation that is as profound as a garden, like reaping what you sow, and how the kids water, and how the kids help pick. And they see the transformation.
And so, you get the immediate benefit of some things. And gardening isn’t immediate. A garden takes weeks or months. So, this is about living life with your kids. Garden with them. Bake with them. Set traditions. And this is something that I was raised with, and I know you were, too, that I wanted to instill in our children. I love baking.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: And I love being in the kitchen when I’m allowed to be. And especially when you go away. You’re going to be going away soon on the Mrs: Minnesota pageant. We’re going to have some fun in the kitchen. And so, one thing we do, our little tradition is apple pancakes. The kids love our apple pancakes.
And by the way, here’s the thing, y’all. If you haven’t, you need to get Mama Z’s Makeover Guide. Like it’s super, super easy to convert anything in your Betty Crocker cookbook and convert it to something healthy. So, you can go on our website, NaturalLivingFamily.com, and you’ll be able to see the Mama Z makeover guide. It’s right there on the home page, or if you click on the newsletter button, it’s so simple.
So, it’s like where it calls for milk, you use coconut milk. Where it calls for flour, you use gluten-free flour. And it’s so easy. Two eggs, a half cup of flour, a half cup of milk, and what I do is I add—
Mama Z: And that Califia Farms—
Dr. Z: We love it.
Mama Z: Unsweetened vanilla almond milk is so amazing.
Dr. Z: I mean this recipe, Esther knows it’s like page 77 of the cookbook. We don’t need the cookbook anymore. But they always ask, like especially if you’re gone. They always ask for apple pancakes. Or on Saturday is our little deal, or Sunday after church. It’s usually like one of those. And they could eat them every day. So, it’s so easy to do. Actually, here’s a tip for y’all. To make them fluffy and to puff out, you put them in your blender. We have a Vitamix. And you buzz that up for like fifteen to twenty seconds.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: I add a little bit of Himalayan salt. I add a little bit of liquid stevia. Again, a little bit; do it to taste. I’m Italian. I’m allowed to do that.
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah! Yea, I like to follow these recipes and write them down.
Dr. Z: It’s so simple. That’s it. And I like, of course, pumpkin pie spice. You buzz that up, and what you get, you get like an eight-inch, what’s it called, pie dish or whatever.
Mama Z: Pie pan.
Dr. Z: Yea, you get an eight-inch pie pan. We have glass. And you do a little of, it’s like two tablespoons of coconut oil or butter, or you can get some ghee. And you melt that in. And you slice up apples. You put that on top. You can sprinkle some stevia.
Mama Z: By the way, we finally broke our apple peeler/corer after all these years. So, I had to get a new one. And so, we’re all stocked and ready to go for next time.
Dr. Z: So, I think I actually have the recipe on the website. But anyway, I’m trying to make it so easy to do, right?
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: So, Esther knows what to do. Esther gets the apple peeler/corer. She starts doing the apples. Elijah gets the flour. Isaiah, he’s still kind of like one foot in, one foot out.
Mama Z: He’ll get the supplies.
Dr. Z: Yea, he’s just so into his cartoons. He’s eight years old. He’s in to like Ben 10 right now. We love him. So, anyway, Elijah is the one who wants to be a baker and a dad when he grows up, by the way.
Mama Z: Yes, so cute.
Dr. Z: So, everyone knows what they’re doing, right? And then Bella is like, “Yea, pancakes!” So, we have so much fun. But that’s a blessing. That’s a reward. That is you reap what you sow. After church we like to go to Nature’s Corner Market, one of your sponsors.
Mama Z: Sponsors, yes.
Dr. Z: And we like to get their gluten-free diet cheese pizza. And you and I will get a smoothie or a matcha latte.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: That’s something we like to do.
Mama Z: I love their Bodycology shakes.
Dr. Z: Oh, it’s just veggies, right?
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: And we like during Christmas time (again, this is on the website) our Pignolata, also known as Italian honey balls. Like it’s a really nice treat, coconut oil fried, gluten-free dough with honey. Like it’s so easy to make. But the thing about it is to make them, you have to roll the dough into little snakes, and you cut them up. It takes hours.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Hours to get the amount that you need for a holiday. But we’re rolling dough, like we’re rolling Play-Doh. We’re cutting snakes up. The kids are enjoying stuff. We’re all messy. Like how to raise kids that love natural living, you just do life with them.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: How do you do life with them? What do you do every Tuesday, Thursday?
Mama Z: Well, so, we do a lot of stuff. And one of the things that I love, we love run club. We love our activities. And each one of the kids has kind of one of their own activities that they do, too. And so, that gives me an opportunity, another opportunity to be alone with them in the car and talk to them.
And when we get ready in the morning, I have them up, like we have a high-top bar area that’s on the other side of where I chop and make things and stuff like that in our kitchen. So, with that, I have them right there, so I can talk to them the whole time. And they’re right there. And they ask me all kinds of awesome, crazy questions. But it’s nice, because you get that chance to like know their heart and know what’s going on and be a part of it. And, you know, sometimes it’s tattle-tale hour. Hah, hah, hah.
Dr. Z: Seriously.
Mama Z: But we always know what’s going on. And they just open and bare their heart in the kitchen. I mean that’s just where it happens.
Dr. Z: They’ll do their own breakfast now.
Mama Z: So, Esther has now come up with a list of twenty things that she does. So, I actually got her a pad that she can write all these things down so she can check it off.
Dr. Z: She didn’t get this from me.
Mama Z: She came up with this on her own. It was a totally a mom and pop Frawley thing.
Dr. Z: Yea, but this is you. You have a list.
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: And you have a list for Alex, our nanny. She sees this.
Mama Z: Oh, yes.
Dr. Z: She’s never seen me do a list. I’m just not a list guy.
Mama Z: Oh, she has it out. She says, “So, mom, I think that with my list here, I have everything that we need to make this morning complete. And because I’ve watched you make your tea so much, I know how to do it.”
Dr. Z: She saw this from you.
Mama Z: So, the first few times we tweaked it a little bit. And I said, “Oh next time, make sure you add a little bit of cinnamon.” So, she gets as crazy as you did this morning on the stove with the cinnamon.
Dr. Z: I don’t know how to do cinnamon, by the way.
Mama Z: Well, pumpkin pie spice.
Dr. Z: Huge difference.
Mama Z: Well, it was all over the stove.
Dr. Z: Cinnamon is a waste.
Mama Z: It was the same kind of thing that you did. But like over the hot pottery, it was everywhere. So, she’s got it dialed in. She’s like, “I put this in there, and this in there.” She goes, “Mom, don’t worry. I tasted a lot of it. It’s really good.”
Dr. Z: Hah, hah, hah! I love it!
Mama Z: Yea. And so, Isaiah, he’s good at certain things in the morning. And Elijah, Elijah is meticulous about folding up his things.
Dr. Z: Yes.
Mama Z: He’s so good about that. So, it’s neat. So, we have this checklist. I go over it. I’ve gone over it so many times that she wrote it down. And so, I watched her. She had her clipboard one morning, and she was asking the boys, “Have you done this? Have you done that?” She’s like, “I got this morning covered.”
Dr. Z: Our ten-year-old; going on twenty-five.
Mama Z: Yes, exactly.
Dr. Z: It’s instilling in them the life, in the spirit of raising healthy kids that love natural living. And I’m telling you, I cannot stress this enough. They get to enjoy the benefits.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: And when we just went to Disney, I call it Disney protocol. When you’re on vacation, when you’re on summer vacation, winter vacation, whatever it is, you need to create like a cool excitement. And we had all-natural orange Julius, my favorite drink, like a cream sickle. I got my organic orange juice, my stevia, and that’s it, with a little bit of Califia Farms coconut milk. And buzz that up with some ice, that’s yummy goodness.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: It’s like virtually zero sugar in it, besides natural, not from concentrate orange juice, and a little bit of stevia.
Mama Z: Fresh prep.
Dr. Z: And it was like, “Who wants that? Have fun, right?” It’s like they love it. And they love the benefits of yumminess and feeling good afterwards.
Mama Z: I thought I remembered you put a drop of orange essential oil.
Dr. Z: Oh, I take that back. I did, actually a little bit of orange, a little bit of lemon. Yea, that’s a good point. To add that just to get that nice little citrus flavor.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: But you know, again, instilling in kids that love this lifestyle, we make it enjoyable. And that’s something that I remember being a kid and the “kid with allergies,” like literally only ate rice cakes.
Mama Z: Yea, I remember a season I actually was that kid.
Dr. Z: That’s tough.
Mama Z: I ate the rice cakes.
Dr. Z: That’s not enjoyable.
Mama Z: Well, because I was on an elimination diet at the time, it was pretty much rice cakes and rice cakes.
Dr. Z: That’s tough. So, rice cakes with like almond butter.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: Like that’s the treat with a raisin on top. Oh, poor kid.
Mama Z: And you know what? My mom was the one at Halloween that gave out raisins. And I remember, because that’s what I could have, right? And so, I remember the kids saying, “Your mom was the one that gave out raisins. Seriously?” Like, “We don’t want to go to your house. They give out raisins.”
[45:57 – 52:26] How the Z’s (Don’t) Do Halloween
Dr. Z: That’s the other thing. What do we do during Halloween? We as Christians don’t subscribe to Halloween. I don’t get overly religious about it. We don’t like boycott it. We like these harvest festivals that churches have.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: And several local churches have these “trunk or treat” festivals, where they go and open up the back of their cars and give people candy and treats. And so, we’ll let the kids participate in that. And they collect candy for papa, because your dad likes to the candy.
Mama Z: But he is not doing that anymore.
Dr. Z: What? I didn’t know about this. This is news.
Mama Z: No, it isn’t. My mom is on the essential oils diet.
Dr. Z: You mean Papa Frawley is not eating candy?
Mama Z: No.
Dr. Z: No way!
Mama Z: Because he’s kind of been doing the essential oils diet somewhat, he has already lost some weight.
Dr. Z: Your dad?
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Your dad and candy, your dad will eat a bag of Tootsie Rolls driving here from Michigan.
Mama Z: I know it, I know it.
Dr. Z: Congratulations Nile.
Mama Z: We might not have officially converted him all the way, but like he’s on his way.
Dr. Z: Okay. So, what this means, like again raising healthy kids that love natural living, we let the kids have fun. We let them participate. What do we do, though? What’s our alternative to that? We don’t want them to feel left out that they’re not eating candy. They have fun collecting the candy, knowing it goes to Papa. But what do they get? What treats do they get?
Mama Z: Well, we make certain things that they love.
Dr. Z: Yes, like cinnamon rolls. Mama Z’s, it’s like, oh!
Mama Z: I make my cinnamon roll bread.
Dr. Z: It’s so yummy!
Mama Z: And they love it. We have like a certain meal.
Dr. Z: Yes.
Mama Z: My mom made it.
Dr. Z: Well, your pretzels.
Mama Z: Yep. We had pretzels.
Dr. Z: So, again, they don’t get the junk candy.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: I don’t want to sound crazy, but we’re not going to poison them. Let me tell you about James Randolph. Can I talk about James Randolph for a second?
Mama Z: Go for it.
Dr. Z: I think it was London, maybe, or Mercedes. Anyway, one of our dear friends from Midland, Michigan, was a pastor at Living Word Church. I’ll never forget James coming up to me one day, telling me how he was so blessed. I think it was Mercedes, his daughter, at the time. I forget what it was. I think he was bragging on his kid in a good way. She did something so awesome. He was like, “Man, yea, I was so blessed by that. I wanted to bless her, so I took her to McDonalds and I got her an ice cream cone.”
He started telling me the story, and I looked at him, like my jaw dropped. And he looked at me, and he was like, “What?” I’m like, “How did you bless her?” He’s like, “I gave her an ice cream cone.” And then it dawned on him, because he knows me. He’s like, “I didn’t bless her, did I?” And I was like, “Brother, you’re going to bless your daughter with poison sugar and like hormone stuff, cow milk? Like you’re kidding me?” And so, he was convicted about that. And so, next week, Dakota, his son, did something cool. He said, “I blessed him with carrot sticks, brother.”
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah!
Dr. Z: But the thing is, we have this mentality that if you want to give your kid a treat or reward, like the rec center gives the kids candy, gives them sugar. I’m going to challenge everyone out there on how to raise healthy kids that love natural living, you don’t set the bar so low.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: Where, “Hey, great job! Here’s trash. Great job! Here’s McDonalds. Great job! Here’s poison. Great job! Here are things that are going to hurt you.” You’re instilling upon them compromise. So, one thing we are diligent and committed to always doing is letting our kids enjoy the benefits of life. We do it in a way that’s truly abundant life giving, with no side effects.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: And you can do it. The Essential Oils Diet book has all the recipes. Our website, Natural Living Family, has recipes.
Mama Z: It even has our wedding cake in there.
Dr. Z: It does have our wedding cake.
Mama Z: A real wedding cake that we really had.
Dr. Z: A yummy wedding cake. We do like cakes and pizzas and cookies and chips. But we do it in moderation, all good things in moderation. Listen to that podcast.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: But that’s what’s important here, y’all. Once you start instilling compromise in your kids, they will walk through this life confused. And at least ours, they can choose.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: I mean when they get older, they could choose whatever life they want. But I hope and pray to God that they’ll see so much benefit in the life that we’ve given them, that they see that they’re going to want to continue. Right now, thankfully, we’re four for four. And we’re almost up to eleven years old with Esther. So, that’s pretty cool.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: I don’t see Esther sneaking candy and stuff. So, we hope that she will continue to benefit and see those benefits, knowing you reap what you sow.
Mama Z: Absolutely.
Dr. Z: Good boys and good girls get good treats. Naughty boys and girls—
Mama Z: Get nothing.
Dr. Z: So, what else you got? Any fun little ways that we’ve instilled upon them natural living and helping them just want to embrace this lifestyle.
Mama Z: Well, one thing I love is that we have five watering cans. And each one of them, in fact, they do like to argue over the Mickey can.
Dr. Z: Poor Bella.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: She can’t compete. She’s just three. All she could do is like scream.
Mama Z: Ah! Yea. But they love to have their own watering cans out there. And sometimes your flowers will get picked that aren’t supposed to be picked. But it’s all part of the process. And, you know, if they bring in green tomatoes, you can do fried green tomatoes in a healthy way, or you can put them on the window ceil and let them turn red. So, you just let them always know and encourage it.
I’ll never forget when my dad watched Esther when she was young. Every time he watched her, he put her diaper on backwards. I never said one thing, because, hey, she at least had a diaper on, and it was clean.
Dr. Z: Hah, hah, hah! Yea, yea, yea.
Mama Z: Then my sister made fun of him. And he never changed a diaper again.
Dr. Z: Oh.
Mama Z: And I want them to have that same kind of experience where we use it as a teaching moment, but they know that they did good. And so, if they always are knowing that they are doing good and we add new things that they’re learning at different phases of the game. They’re not going to all know how to fold other bedding and brush their teeth and wash their face and put on their clothes all at one time. You know, it’s going to be a gradual thing.
And so, to praise them at each step that they’re at, I think is really important. And focus on those positives, because they’re going to keep adding to that. And it’s going to keep growing. And like I always tell them, I’m their mom. And my responsibility is for them to be successful humans. And so, it’s really important to nurture those things, and then help them grow in other areas.
[52:27 – 55:22] The Role of Education in Natural Living
Dr. Z: Yep. Education is key. And that’s something that before we go into our natural living family tip, that I think you’re covering today, right?
Mama Z: Yes.
Dr. Z: Cool! Before we go into our natural living family tip, the one aspect to this whole thing about parenting that I found is so critical is education. I was raised in a household, “You do what I say, don’t do as I do.” That’s tough. Double standards are tough. And, “Do as I say because I say it.” That’s tough, too, because kids question.
Like Isaiah, again being the inquisitive one, asking, like “What’s wrong with gluten? Like why can’t I eat sugar? My friend can, and my friend isn’t dead, right? I mean seriously, look at Jonathan, he’s not sick.” “Well, buddy, this is why we do things.” And I’m unabashedly honest with them.
I’ll say things like, “Sugar is poison. It will hurt your body. It might not kill you today, but it will hurt you in the long run. And you know So and So died of cancer. Well, we don’t want you to get sick. And we’re trying to be healthy and strong. And Isaiah, you know that when your friends get sick, they’re out of school for four or five or six days. And you’re only out of school one day, because you get so healthy so quick. That’s because of the way that we live.”
And so, again, he’s eight years old. But I’m trying to speak to him in a way that honors him, that doesn’t talk down to him as a kid, as like someone stupid, or, “You don’t need to know. Just do what I say because I say it.” But the key is they see us live.
And we are so uncompromising because we love our life. I don’t want to go back to the old way of life that caused me suicidal thoughts, depression, and that caused you an eating disorder. Why would we want to go back to that? They see, and they see you with the crown. They see us on TV. They see the benefits, the books.
Mama Z: You have to say that Bella was so adorable when we were on TV in Tampa.
Dr. Z: Oh, it was so fun!
Mama Z: “Hi, mommy, daddy!” I mean you were like sitting right there. But you got to see it after taping.
Dr. Z: Oh, yes.
Mama Z: And then just the pictures of her in front of the screen. “Hi, mommy, daddy!”
Dr. Z: And like I’m behind her, right?
Mama Z: Right, right. It was so cute.
Dr. Z: Yea, it was so fun. They’re seeing. And, of course, our life is different. We understand that not everyone, and I’ve got to say to y’all, for those of you who have been following us, you know the story. But if this is new, if you’re new to this podcast, this was not on our five to ten-year plan vision board, y’all.
Like I went to school. We quite our job. I say we, because Sabrina was with me every step of the way. We quit my job at Dow Chemical (we were living in Midland, Michigan) in 2009 to chase after a dream of being a chiropractor and having a health center. Like we should be right now helping people local at a chiropractic clinic. But God had a different story. I never thought we would be doing this.
Mama Z: Right. And like you’ve heard in our other ones, we didn’t have a vision board. We really continually committed it to the Lord, and He continually guided our path.
[55:23 – 59:59] Word Hard. Play Hard. Honor God.
Dr. Z: And that’s one thing. Last we talked about raising hard-working, grateful kids. Just to kind of touch base on that before we wrap up today. Let them know you reap what you sow in every area. And I’ve been saying this a lot to them. We work hard, we play hard, and we honor God.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: And that’s just where we’re at right now. I’m thirty-nine. Sabrina is forty. She’ll be forty-one in a couple of months; actually, next month, by the time people listen to this. August 7 she’ll be forty-one, exactly two weeks before Mrs: America.
Mama Z: Yea.
Dr. Z: You know, how old was the oldest Mrs: America?
Mama Z: I don’t know; I don’t know.
Dr. Z: Forty-one, pretty cool.
Mama Z: Really?
Dr. Z: You’re hot.
Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah! Oh, you’re so sweet.
Dr. Z: You’re so lovely. But what I’m saying is this is something I’ve really tried to instill on them, that we work a lot, we work hard, we minister, we help a lot of people. Yet when we go, we get to enjoy some things, too. And let’s enjoy Mickey’s houses, Bella calls it. And let’s go to Disney. And let’s go on vacation. Let’s enjoy that.
And we just want to help you whether you are at a different stage of life, because we were living this way even when we were on food stamps, too. We did the best we could. And our trips were camping, or we would do whatever we had within our budget. We took a lot of day trips, actually. We didn’t go overnight a lot.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: We did a lot of day trips up north, to go hiking and waterfalls. And we would save up our money and get like an apple cider slushy, that kind of stuff.
Mama Z: Right.
Dr. Z: Don’t let money hold you back.
Mama Z: That’s right.
Dr. Z: That’s so important.
Mama Z: And you know, one of the other things that we did is no matter what the stage of the game, we’ve had our kids along the whole way.
Dr. Z: Yep.
Mama Z: And so, our kids have been a part of all of our processes. So, they can sit through a pageant and be really good kids. And, in fact, I got the highest compliment from my designer, Randall. The boys ran up to him, because they remembered him from last year, and they know all what he does. And one of them hugged one leg and one of them hugged the other leg. And he says, “You know, I’m not really a kids kind of guy. And they melted my heart.” And they said, “Mr. Randall, thank you so much for making my mommy beautiful.” And it just melted his heart.
Dr. Z: Oh!
Mama Z: He’s like, “Those two are my boys,” you know. And it was so cool. He was like, “They were so well behaved. All your kids were so well behaved.” And because they’ve been part of the whole process with everything that we do, they act really well when we go places. And setting your kids up for success is really, really important.
Dr. Z: Yea. And I’ll kind of drop a cool seed for the future, before we wrap up today. We took them to Cancun last year when we were filming for the upcoming documentary. And so, just stay tuned, y’all. This is a really cool cliffhanger. We have a full-length feature documentary coming out in November. And you’re going to want to watch it. And we hope and pray this can be a very revolutionary, pivotal, artistic just shift in how we look at movies, shift in how we look at documentaries, shift in how we view health care. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
But you know who we are. But we have taken the kids through that experience. They were there. And they were there as we continued to walk through Angie’s life and all the things.
Mama Z: And Angie and her mom, dear, dear friends.
Dr. Z: We love Angie.
Mama Z: And they were at the pageant.
Dr. Z: Yes, they were. And Angie is going to be our very first guest on the podcast coming up soon.
Mama Z: Yes, absolutely.
Dr. Z: So, just a little sneak peek. The documentary is called The Hope for Breast Cancer. And we followed Angie’s story, who was a breast cancer patient, stage 2.
Mama Z: Yep. And amazing person.
Dr. Z: Amen, amen! And so, how to raise kids that are healthy and that love natural living. I hope that you got a couple of little tips. I hope that you are smiling inside and celebrating Mama Z’s and mine, Mr. Georgia victory. Hah, hah, hah.
Mama Z: Of course, yours, for sure.
Dr. Z: And that you root Mama Z on for Mrs:. America. We hope and pray that we will get a chance to connect with you. And to wrap up today’s show, Mama Z has got a really special natural living tip for you.
[1:00:00 – 1:00:39] Natural Living Tip: Healthy Snacks Away from Home
Mama Z: So, this summer as you are preparing for summer camp and other activities, make a bag that you have all of your approved snacks. Have your kids, if it’s going to be a homemade snack, have them help you in the kitchen to not only make the snack, but be a part of it. And then when it comes to whether you’re at home and it’s snack time, or you’re at camp and it’s snack time, or you’re in the car and it’s snack time, then they get a chance to choose from the approved snacks or ones that they’ve made, so that they always have a good healthy option when it comes to snacks.
[1:00:40 – 1:01:24] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market
Dr. Z: As a special gift to our podcast listeners, Thrive Market is giving you twenty-five percent off your first order.
Mama Z: Keep in mind, Thrive Market’s prices are already twenty-five to fifty percent off. And now, they’re giving you an extra twenty-five percent off your first order, plus a free thirty-day trial.
Dr. Z: Now many of you are going to be making a grocery run this week. So, why not give Thrive Market a try and shop from home?
Mama Z: Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com to find the special link so you can redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.
[1:01:25 – end] Episode Wrap-Up
Dr. Z: Well, folks, thank you so much for listening. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the show. And as a reminder, you can find all of the Natural Living Family podcast episodes, show notes, transcripts, and sponsor specials on NaturalLivingFamilyPodcast.com.
While on our website, please don’t forget to sign up for our weekly podcast newsletter, which includes a personal invite to join our private Facebook group, so you can connect with Mama Z and me one on one and meet more then three-thousand at this point natural living lovers just like you. And don’t forget, please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review. We love hearing what you have to say. And maybe next week we’ll read your story and testimony. Well, as always, this is Dr. Z.
Mama Z: And Mama Z.
Dr. Z: And our hope and prayer are that you and your family truly experience the abundant life. God bless y’all.
Mama Z: Bye, bye!