Growing Up a Chiropractic Child

We are a chiropractic family. For us, that means HEALth is something that comes from the inside out, and it's something we teach our kids as part of everyday life.

When someone in our house isn't feeling well, we look at it as exactly that. We're not feeling well. We're not "sick". The biggest thing we want our kids to learn is to ask why. Why do I feel like this today when I didn't feel like this yesterday? What's going on in my life that may have changed? What is my body struggling to adapt to?

That one question takes the focus away from being a victim. It's not about what I've caught or who gave it to me. It's about what is happening inside my body, and how it's coping with whatever stress it's under.

The words our kids use

My children don't say "I'm sick". If they have a snotty nose, they say "I'm snotty". Otherwise it's "I'm not feeling well" or "I'm tired".

The answer is never "how do I make this go away". It's "can I rest?", "can I sleep?" and "can I have some water?". They're listening to what their body is asking for and then giving it that.

It's a small change in language, but it changes the whole way they think about their own body.

Our medical kit

We recently travelled through Botswana, and we had to pack a medical kit. We took everything you'd expect for cuts, bumps, bruises, breaks and burns, and something to clean a wound properly.

There was nothing in the kit for symptom relief. I went through it with the kids, what was in there and what each thing was for. Not once did anyone ask how we'd take the pain away. It's just not part of their vocabulary.

That doesn't mean we don't care about symptoms. No one likes to feel sick or be in pain, and I don't want my kids to either. We acknowledge it, and then we try to change the cause. We're also not against medication. It's just that there's often no need for it when the body is doing what it should be doing.

Where chiropractic fits in

I adjust my whole family and we check each other regularly. It's not because chiropractic fixes anything. It's because it helps keep a healthy nervous system, and your nervous system is what your body uses to adapt to stress. If that's working well, we'll recover and adapt as well as we possibly can.

Alongside that, we try to eat well, move a lot, spend time outdoors and be happy. Chiropractic is the core of it, but it sits inside the whole picture.

It goes way beyond HEALth

This is the part I think matters most. It isn't only about HEALth, it's an attitude to life.

We don't play the victim. It carries into schoolwork and into sport. The more you put in, the more you get out. If things aren't going your way, there's no blaming someone else. If there is any blame, it's on you, and that's not a bad thing. It means you're the one who can do something about it. What can I do differently? What can I bring to the table next time?

That's what I want my kids to grow up with. The sense that they are in control, and that they get to determine, to a certain point, their own destiny.

Why I'm writing this

I'm not writing this to say we've got it all worked out, because we haven't. I'm writing it because I think it's worth asking yourself how you see your own family's HEALth.

When your child isn't well, what's the first question? Is it "how do I make this go away", or "what is my child's body trying to tell me, and why is it happening now"?

If this makes you second guess any of that, it's worth having a chat with a chiropractor who looks at the whole family. And if you want to know what chiropractic actually is, this is it. It's not about fixing symptoms. It's about a body that's able to adapt, and kids who grow up knowing that.

Hugs!