ChildOrganics

Daddy Died

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the March 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Tough Conversations
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have spoken up about how they discuss complex topics with their children. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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One of my favorite pictures of Daddy with Big Z.

I knew I had to say it straight, with as few words as possible. I knew I couldn't add explanations or too many words, or it wouldn't sink it. My brain and body were so overwhelmed with emotions. I had to control myself and be strong for just a few moments to get the words out. My children were seated at a small children's table in the Hospital waiting area with my sister in law. They spent the night for the first time at my brother's house the night before, so I hadn't seen them that morning. I walked into the room and they looked happy to see me, but they could tell something was wrong. I sat down next to my oldest and in a soft yet strong voice I said to my daughter "Daddy died." She just looked at me puzzled, disbelief was in her eyes. She just saw her Daddy yesterday, he was fine. He just called before she went to bed last night and he prayed with her over the phone. Now she just said, "What?!" and I had to say it again, "Daddy died." Little brother was there too, but he didn't say anything. He slumped over and sat on my lap. This was a bit too much to comprehend all at once. This month will be 6 months since I've had to had that conversation with my children.It's still too much to comprehend at times. We are still grieving, but the memories are beginning to get easier to talk about. This was only the beginning of the tough conversations... Why?.. Where is Daddy now?.. Why did this happen to us?.. Will you die too?.. Will I die? Where's Daddy's body?.. Can we keep Daddy's things? ... My strategy is still the same when these questions arise, I try to answer them as simply and as straight forward as possible. What is your strategy when faced with these tough conversations?

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by afternoon March 12 with all the carnival links.)

A Difficult Conversation — Kellie at Our Mindful Life is keeping her mouth shut about a difficult topic.
Discussing Sexuality and Objectification With Your Child — At Authentic Parenting, Laura is puzzled at how to discuss sexuality and objectification with her 4-year-old.
Tough Conversations — Kadiera at Our Little Acorn knows there are difficult topics to work through with her children in the future, but right now, every conversation is a challenge with a nonverbal child.
Real Talk — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama explains why there are no conversation topics that are off limits with her daughter, and how she ensures that tough conversations are approached in a developmentally appropriate manner.
From blow jobs to boob jobs and lots of sex inbetween — Mrs Green talks candidly about boob jobs and blow jobs…
When Together Doesn't Work — Ashley at Domestic Chaos discusses the various conversations her family has had in the early stages of separation.
Talking To Children About Death — Luschka at Diary of a First Child is currently dealing with the terminal illness of her mother. In this post she shares how she's explained it to her toddler, and some of the things she's learned along the way.
Teaching 9-1-1 To Kids — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling talks about the importance of using practical, age-appropriate emergency scenarios as a springboard for 9-1-1 conversations.
Preschool Peer Pressure — Lactating Girl struggles to explain to her preschooler why friends sometimes aren't so friendly.
Frank Talk — Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis unpacks a few conversations about sexuality that she's had with her 2-year-old daughter, and her motivation for having so many frank discussions.
When simple becomes tough — A natural mum manages oppositional defiance in a toddler at Ursula Ciller's Blog.
How Babies are Born: a conversation with my daughter — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger tries to expand her daughter's horizons while treading lightly through the waters of pre-K social order.
Difficult Questions & Lies: 4 Reasons to Tell The Truth — Ariadne of Positive Parenting Connection shares the potential impact that telling lies instead of taking the time to answer difficult questions can have on the parent-child relationship.
Parenting Challenges--when someone dies — Survivor at Surviving Mexico writes about talking to her child about death and the cultural challenges involved in living in a predominantly Catholic nation.
Daddy Died — Breaking the news to your children that their father passed away is tough. Erica at ChildOrganics shares her story.
Openness — sustainablemum prepares herself for the day when she has to tell her children that a close relative has died.
Embracing Individuality — At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy addressed a difficult question in public with directness and honesty.
Making the scary or different okay — Although she tries to listen more than she talks about tough topics, Jessica Claire of Crunchy-Chewy Mama also values discussing them with her children to soften the blow they might cause when they hit closer to home.
Talking to My Child About Going Gluten Free — When Dionna at Code Name: Mama concluded that her family would benefit from eliminating gluten from their diet, she came up with a plan to persuade her gluten-loving son to find peace with the change. This is how they turned the transition to a gluten-free lifestyle into an adventure rather than a hardship.
How Does Your Family Explain Differences and Approach Diversity? — How do you and your family approach diversity? Gretchen of That Mama Gretchen shares her thoughts at Natural Parents Network and would like to hear from readers.
Discussing Difficult Topics with Kids: What’s Worked for Me — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares parenting practices that enabled discussions of difficult topics with her (now-adult) children to be positive experiences.
Tough Conversations — Get some pointers from Jorje of Momma Jorje on important factors to keep in mind when broaching tough topics with kids.
Protect your kids from sneaky people — Lauren at Hobo Mama has cautioned her son against trusting people who'd want to hurt him — and hopes the lessons have sunk in.
Mommy, What Does the Bible Say? — Amy at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work works through how to answer a question from her 4-year-old that doesn't have a simple answer.
When All You Want for Them is Love: Adoption, Abandonment, and Honoring the Truth — Melissa at White Noise talks about balancing truth and love when telling her son his adoption story.

Authentic Grief

noreply@blogger.com (IRK) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the January 2013 Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Authenticity This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting and Living Peacefully with Children. This month our participants have written about authenticity through character, emotions, and establishing authentic communication with their children. We hope you enjoy this month's posts and consider joining us next month when we share about Honesty. ***

Most of us have faced some sort of great loss in our life and have had to work through the grief process. Many families have had to deal with miscarriage, infant loss or the death of other close loved ones. I've shared that my husband passed away recently . Five years before that I lost my daughter, Bella, at 16 months of age. Grief sucks, it's ugly and there's no way around it. It can catch you off guard and leave you in an emotional puddle at the most unexpected moments. At other times you want to cry, but feel unable to do so.
As parents, how can we be authentic in our grief? When we are faced with the emotions of anger, shock and depression do we tend to hide them from our children? Sometimes we think that we need to protect them from issues of death and dying. How wrong we are to shield our children from these experiences! Death is a subject that we'll all deal with at some point. Trying to keep your child from experiencing grief or sorrow is impossible. Making death a taboo subject only creates more fear.
It is always best to tell children the truth. Share your genuine emotions on the topic. Perhaps they wondered what happened.Keep your communication simple and honest. It may not be easy to talk about, but it's best to answer the child's questions so they don't fill in the missing parts themselves. When they are left with their own thoughts, they may start to blame themselves for situations that were out of their control.
Feel your loss when it happens, share those feelings with your children. It's okay for your children to see you cry or to feel angry in dealing with the loss your family has faced.(It's also okay to take time for yourself to cry alone too!) Depending on their age, children may not have an adequate vocabulary to explain their feelings. So keep the conversation going as they grow. They'll mature and have the vocabulary to put their feelings into words and this will help them to continue in their grief process. It also helps to preserve the memory of the dead loved one.
When a family is faced with a great loss, often well meaning family and friends may offer to take the child(ren) to give the grieving parent(s) a break. This may be helpful for short periods of time. However, many children will fell more secure being close to their parents through this scary time. It can be so difficult to be dealing with your own grief and reaching out to help your children at the same time. Working towards this balance of healing yourself and your children is key. If possible, reaching out to help our children through their grief will help them in their path to healing, and will reward us in the long run.
Embracing grief and dealing with it in an authentic manner will give your child a strong foundation to build on as they grow. They will grow up more aware of how to deal with tragedy and loss that they will face as adults. This will help them to know how to support others in a healthy, whole manner. It can be a time of unexpected lessons. Often children will learn how to deeply care for one another, because of the love they were shown through this difficult time. I am reminded of my son's prayer last night, he said "We are very sad, but we are happy. We have friends that love us so much.."
*** Visit Living Peacefully with Children and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in next month's Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival! Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants: (This list will be live and updated by afternoon January 25 with all the carnival links.)

Remaining True To Yourself While Parenting - Authentic Parenting compares Western Child centered parenting with African parenting and discovers some ways to maintain your authenticity.
Honoring My Forgiving Heart — Destany at They Are All of Me writes about how honoring her forgiving nature allows her to break down emotional barriers and allow her to more fully connect with her children.
Sincere and Credible — Mari from Honey on the Bum uses the definition of authenticity to relate what it means to her and her parenting style
Being Authentic — Mrs Green at Little Green Blog ponders how to achieve authenticity when there are cultural, community and family expectations to take into account...
Authenticity — Sustainable Mum shares how her values have been shaped through life and are now the basis of how she parents her own children.
Authenticity through Consensual Living — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children challenges parents to push past socially learned reactions in order to foster authentic interactions with their children.
Authenticity Through Emotions — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her belief that being a truly authentic parent means allowing and supporting both her daughter’s emotions and her expression of them but also her (Jennifer's) own emotions.
Authentic Grief — Erica at ChildOrganics talks about not shielding our children from the topic of death and dying. She shares how being open and honest on the topic can help our children grow to be healthy well-adjusted adults.
Authentic Teaching, Authentic Learners — At Surviving Mexico, Survivor shares how learning how to be an authentic teacher was something she discovered rather than learned.

A Child's Loss- Will They Remember Dad?

noreply@blogger.com (IRK) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the December 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Childhood Memories

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have talked about memories of growing up — their own or the ones they’re helping their children create. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Our family the weekend before my husband died

We unexpectedly lost our husband and Father in September. This has put our family in a state of shock and disbelief. It's almost as if we're in some sort of bad dream. We still expect him to come walking in the door, ready to distribute hugs, at any moment. Reality is slowly settling in no matter how resistant we are to it-he's not coming home.

This sudden loss has left me with so many questions about how my children will remember their Dad. He was such an amazing and involved Dad, I want them to have as many memories as possible. Mostly I want them to have a general feeling of how much their Dad loved them. I specifically worry about my three year old. Is he to young to have any memories of his Dad? The thought of him growing up and not remembering his Dad breaks my heart. His Dad played with him every morning. They played Pirates and Spider Man.They sung songs, wrestled and read books. It was there special Father and Son time. This made school time easier. I was then able to work with Big Z while the two of them played together. Will he remember those fun times with his Daddy or will he remember the cold hospital and the confusion that ensued? Will the flocks of people at our house for the following week be etched in his brain instead of the fun times he shared wrestling with his Daddy?

Our last Daddy and Daughter pic at Clingman's Dome

I know Big Z will have memories of her Dad that she holds close to her heart. She lost her sister when she was a bit older than Lil' Z is now, and I know her memories of Bella are very thin. Though she has a few strong memories of her Sister. But she is ten now and her Daddy was her best friend. He was an adventurous man that made every family trip memorable. I know she is old enough to remember that general feeling of being truly loved by her Dad. She has started a journal that I hope will be helpful in working through her feelings of losing her Dad and writing down special memories.

For now we're talking about Daddy a lot. We're recounting many of our special times with Dad through stories and pictures. We talk about him with family and friends and try to have them share their favorite memory with Dad. I hope this will be enough to for Lil' Z to have a good basis for memories with his Dad. Ian, my husband, helped us live a rich life together as a family. I am forever grateful for the memories we created together. I just hope the kids can have some recollection of these and hold them close in their heart.

What was your earliest childhood memory? How old were you? Do you have suggestions for helping the kids remember their Dad?

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

Childhood Memories of Peace, Support, Joy, and Love — Amber at Heart Wanderings wants to make sure the majority of the memories that her children have as a part of their family are ones that are positive and help support the amazing people that they are now and will become as adults.
Hand Made Baby Books — Destany at They Are All of Me talks about why baby books are important to her for preserving memories of her childrens first years, and shows how she made one by hand for each child.
Can your childhood memories help you keep your cool? — Here's To A Boring Year uses memories of being a child to keep her on the path to peaceful parenting.
Inter-Generational Memories {Carnival of Natural Parenting} — Meegs at A New Day talks about her own childhood memories, and what she hopes her daughter will remember in the future.
Snapshots — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings reflects on the ways our childhood memories appear to us, and hopes her own daughter's childhood will be one she remembers as being happy and fulfilled.
What makes the perfect parent? — In a guest post on Natural Parents Network, Mrs Green from Little Green Blog reflects on camp follow and camp no-follow...
In My Own Handwriting — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen talks about her journals and the hope that they will be able to keep her stories alive even if she isn't able to.
Candlelight, fairylight, firelight — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud re-discovers the ingredients for bringing magic to life, especially at Christmas.
Making Memories (or) How We Celebrate Christmas — Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis talks about creating new memories at Christmas, and the joy their adventures bring to her whole family.
The Importance of Recording Feelings and Emotions and Not Just the Experience — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares why she puts pen to paper every day to record more than just her experiences as a mother and her daughter's experiences as a child. Jennifer looks at the importance of capturing feelings and emotions that accompany the experience.
Dredged up — Kenna at Million Tiny Things has been forced to recount childhood memories at bedtime, due to the failure of her middle-aged imagination. She resists, of course.
Crafting Memories — Handmade is what makes the holidays special for Christy at Eco Journey In the Burbs, and she wants to create the same connection with her daughters that she remembers with her mother and grandmother.
My Childhood Memories; beacons of light in the darkness — Stone Age Parent shares the impact of her childhood memories on her life as a parent today, listing some of her many rich childhood memories and how they now act as beacons of light helping her in the complex, often confusing world of child-rearing.
10 Ways I Preserve Memories for My Children — From video interviews to time capsules, Dionna at Code Name: Mama wants to make sure her children have many different ways to cherish their childhood memories. Dionna's carnival post features ten of the ways she preserves memories; check out her Pinterest board for more ideas.
Memories of my mother — Luschka at Diary of a First Child remembers her mother and the fondest moments of her childhood, especially poignant as she sits by her mother's sickbed writing.
Creating Happy Childhood Memories through Family Traditions — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells why family traditions are so important to her and her family and shares how she’s worked to create traditions for her children.
Traditional Christmas Tree — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep remembers the great times spent with her family driving for the Christmas Tree and the lessons learned.
Wet Socks and Presents — Kat at MomeeeZen writes about her favorite Christmas childhood memory and why it's so special. And she hopes one day her kids will also have a feel-good memory of their own to look back on.
Stuff does not equal memories — Lauren at Hobo Mama learns that letting go does not mean failing to remember.
A Child's Loss- Will They Remember Dad? — Erica at ChildOrganics writes about their family's loss of their husband and father. She trys to find answers to the question: Will they remember their Dad?
Childhood Memories - Hers and Mine — Jorje of Momma Jorje wished for her daughter the same passions and experiences she loved as a child, but learns the hard way to accept whatever passions strike in her child.
Holiday Non-Traditions — Erika Gebhardt enjoys her family's tradition of not having traditions for the holidays.

Appalachian Bear Rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the November 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Service Projects

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about what service means in their families.

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Last year our small home school group learned about the Appalachian Bear Rescue (ABR) at the Wildlife Wilderness Week in Pigeon Forge,TN. Our home school group decided this month to take on a service project in support of the Bear Rescue Program. The ABR mission is to: 1) rehabilitate orphaned and injured bears for release in the wild 2)provide public education on black bears and regional threats facing them 3) to research bear attributes which may lead to other environmental or health related issues. Our group would participate in the Adopt-A-Cubby program. This would involve the kids saving their pennies to donate to ABR and collect acorns and hickory nuts to provide food for the orphaned bears. ABR encourages the children to do chores around the house to earn the pennies, not to just take them from their parents.

Joey, a volunteer from the ABR, came to visit our home school group and educate us on Coexisting with Bears. We learned about some mistakes that people often make when around a bear and how this can cause problems later. I can't tell you how many people I've seen getting dangerously close to a bear just to get a good picture. It always surprises me, these are wild animals people!
Joey shared his wealth of knowledge in relation with the black bears that live in our area. Personally, I was really fascinated by the skull comparisons of a bear that was fed a natural diet (bark and berries) and that of a bear that ate garbage. The color of the skull was yellow compared to the healthy white skull. Also their teeth were decayed and rotten. Did you know that a bear eating human food and garbage will live half as long as a bear that eats a natural diet? The kids loved exploring the samples of bear skat, fur, teeth and food.

The children were eager to learn about the black bears and how we can help protect them. Each family was thrilled to receive an adoption certificate. As a group we adopted a young cub named Colton. It was exciting to see a picture of the bear our money and acorns will be helping. Joey emailed us later to let us know our pennies added up to $76.62. Colton will be released back into the wild after the winter, so any time we see a black bear in the Smokies, it could be Colton!
Would you be interested in support the Appalachian Bear Rescue in their mission of helping the black bears of the Smoky Mountains? Their website offers a lot of information and there is a lot of great pictures of black bears and a way for you to make a donation via paypal. There is also some kids activities and more, visit them online at: www.appalachianbearrescue.org You can see some great picture of Colton and the work they do at ABR on their facebook page.

***

Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon November 13 with all the carnival links.)

Acts of Service: The Great Neighborhood Clean Up — Sarah at Firmly Planted shares how her daughter's irritation with litter led to eekly cleanups.
Running for Charity — Find out how Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction uses her love of running and a great new app to help feed the hungry.
50 Family Friendly Community Service Project Ideas — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares a list of 50 family-friendly community service project ideas that are easy to incorporate to your daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonal rhythmn.
Volunteering with a Child — Volunteer work does not need to be put on hold while we raise our children. Jenn of Monkey Butt Junction discusses some creative options for volunteering with a child at Natural Parents Network.
Family Service Project: Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina — Erika at Cinco de Mommy volunteers with her children at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, where 29% of the recipients are children.
Family Service Learning: Advent Calendar — Lyndsay at ourfeminist{play}school offers her family's approach to some holiday-related community service by sharing their community focused Advent Calendar. She includes so tips and suggestions for making your own in time for this year's holidays.
How to make street crossing flags as a family service project — Lauren at Hobo Mama offers a tutorial for an easy and relatively kid-friendly project that will engage young pedestrians.
Pieces of the Puzzle — Because of an experience Laura from Pug in the Kitchen had as a child, she's excited to show her children how they can reach out to others and be a blessing.
Appalachian Bear Rescue — Erica at ChildOrganics shares how saving pennies, acorns and hickory nuts go a long way in helping rescue orphaned and injured black bears.
Volunteering to Burnout and Back — Jorje of Momma Jorje has volunteered to the point of burnout and back again... but how to involve little ones in giving back?
How to Help Your Kids Develop Compassion through Service Projects — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares service projects her family has done along with links to lots of resources for service projects you can do with your children.
Involving Young Children in Service — Leanna at All Done Monkey, the mother of a toddler, reflects on how to make service a joyful experience for young children.
A Letter to My Mama — Dionna at Code Name: Mama has dedicated her life to service, just like her own mama. Today Dionna is thanking her mother for so richly blessing her.
5 Ways to Serve Others When You Have Small Children — It can be tough to volunteer with young children. Jennifer at Our Muddy Boots shares how her family looks for opportunities to serve in every day life.
When Giving It Away Is Too Hard for Mommy — Jade at Looking Through Jade Glass But Dimly lets her children choose the charity for the family but struggles when her children's generosity extends to giving away treasured keepsakes.
Community Service Through Everyday Compassion — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children calls us to Community Service Through Everyday Compassion; sometimes it is the small things we can do everyday that make the greater impacts.
School Bags and Glad Rags — Alt Family are trying to spread a little love this Christmas time by involving the kids in a bit of charity giving.
Children in (Volunteering) Service — Luschka at Diary of a First Child reminisces on her own experiences of volunteering as a child, reflects on what she thinks volunteering teaches children and how she hopes voluntary service will impact on her own children.

Babywearing Post Round Up from Natural Parents Network

noreply@blogger.com (IRK) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:04:00 +0000

I am proud and honored to be a volunteer with the Natural Parents Network (NPN), a community of natural-minded parents and parents-to-be where you will be informed, empowered, and inspired. When you visit the NPN’s website you can find articles and posts about Activism, Balance, Consistent Care, Ecological Responsibility, Family Safety, Feeding With Love, Gentle Discipline, Healthy Living, Holistic Health, Natural Learning, Nurturing Touch, Parenting Philosophies, Practical Home Help, Preparing for Parenting, Responding With Sensitivity, Safe Sleep, and so much more! Today I would like to share some bookmark-worthy posts that highlight all aspects of babywearing. These posts were featured on the personal blogs of the Natural Parents Network volunteers and are some of my favorites. We hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as we enjoyed writing them. We are always looking for new volunteers so please, contact us if you are interested. Just a few hours per month can help other mamas in a huge way!

Benefits of Babywearing/Reasons To Babywear

Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares "5 Reasons Why I Love Babywearing." The ultimate babywearing photo collage is also included. You can find I Thought I Knew Mama on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares "The Minimalist Parent." Wearing your baby or toddler in a good sling or carrier minimizes the need for a lot of baby gear. You can also find Living Peacefully with Children on Facebook.
Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares "Buying A Pram Or Pushchair." In this post Luschka discusses all the reasons why she thinks you shouldn't, but should try a baby carrier instead. You can also find Diary of a First Child on Facebook or Twitter.

Types of Carriers/ Choosing A Carrier

Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares "Babywearing for Newbies: Types of Carriers." This comprehensive post explores the myriad of babywearing options and the strengths and limitations of each. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.
Momma Jorje shares "Boba Carrier Review." Read her opinions on the features Boba offers. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook and Networked Blogs.
Ever wondered what baby carriers were good for hip carries, and at what ages and stages a hip carry is best? Dionna of Code Name Mama shares "Hip Carries for Every Age and Stage" and "Baby Carriers Appropriate for Hip Carries of Infants and Beyond" - both are filled with excellent information from Steffany Kerr, a Master Babywearing Educator for Babywearing International. You can find Dionna on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares "The Moby Wrap." This post describes her experience with this popular stretchy wrap as part of her Babywearing Series and includes an opportunity to win your own! You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.

Babywearing Safety

Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares "Wearing Baby Safely." All you need to know to safely babywear is summed up in nine points in this first post of her Babywearing Series going on this fall and winter. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.
Erica at ChildOrganics shares "Safe Babywearing." This discusses the CPSC warning of certain baby carriers and how you can wear your baby safely. You can also find ChildOrganics on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Babywearing How-Tos

Wondering how to nurse in your new carrier? Check out tips and tricks in a series of posts Dionna of Code Name: Mama published at NursingFreedom.org. She touches on Breastfeeding While Babywearing in a Mei Tai, in stretchy wraps, in a ring sling, and in soft structured carriers.
Lauren at Hobo Mama offers a video tutorial on "How to breastfeed while babywearing in a mei tai," making it easy to nurse hands-free and feed your little one discreetly on the go. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.
Momma Jorje shares "Wordless Wednesday: Mei Tai." Follow her process of making her Ball Baby Mei Tai. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook and Networked Blogs.
Amy at Anktangle shares a quick and simple tutorial for how to make your own no-sew stretchy wrap, one of the easiest and most inexpensive baby carriers to own. Bonus: with this tutorial, you end up with three wraps—one for you, and two to give away as gifts! You can also connect with Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

BabywearingToddlers/More Than One Child

Lauren at Hobo Mama issues a "Call to persist in babywearing." Even our kids who can walk on their own appreciate being snuggled and carried next to us. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Personal Babywearing Stories and/or Photos

Shannon at The Artful Mama gives her recommendations for "Babywearing While Pregnant" and tells us why "Breastfeeding and Babywearing - It's Awesome!" You can find her on Facebook and Twitter as The ArtsyMama or in her Cloth Diapering Consultant role at Diaper Parties by Shannon on Facebook and Twitter.
Lyndsay at Our Feminist Playschool shares "Goodbye to BabyWearing." This is a post documenting Lyndsay and Aodhan's years of babycarrying in tribute of their last carry! You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
Amy at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work shares "Why We Wear Our Babies." Amy has enjoyed wearing both of her children and talks about the carriers she's used and the benefits of babywearing she's experienced . You can also find Amy Willa on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
That Mama Gretchen shares her post "Close to My Heart", a brief reflection on her babywearing journey. You can also find That Mama Gretchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares "My Little Kangaroo." This photo-heavy posts detais the author's personal experiences with babywearing, including ring slings, mei tais, and wraps. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.
Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares "Babywearing Around The World." This is a photo essay highlighting traditional babywearing options from all over the globe. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.
Lyndsay at Our Feminist Playschool shares "Daddy BabyWearing." This is a wordless post that follows her son being carried by his papa! You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares "A Sling is a Wonderful Thing." In this post she shares her first experiences with and love of babywearing her first child. You can also find Diary of a First Child on Facebook or Twitter.

Babywearing Series/Multiple Topics

Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares "Attachment Parenting Series: Babywearing." Describing the ways in which babywearing and attachment parenting are related, this series installment includes benefits, styles, uses, and alternatives. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.
What is the safest way to carry a baby in a carrier? What have studies shown about the benefits of keeping baby close? Discover these answers and more in Beyond Bonding: The Power of Positioning in Babywearing at Natural Parents Network. Connect with thousands of parents who practice attachment parenting and strive for a healthy, eco-conscious lifestyle through Natural Parents Network on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Babywearing - Other Interesting Topics

Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares "A Ride on Mother's Back." Not many children's books on attachment parenting exist, but Emery Bernhard's book, A Ride On Mother's Back, is a lovely book for children and caregivers alike. You can also find Living peacefully with Children on Facebook.
Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares "The History of Babywearing." Come on a global journey and learn a brief history of babywearing. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.

A special thank you to Erika Hastings of the blog Mud Spice for creating and sharing her babywearing art with the world!

GLOB Botanical Paint Kit Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (IRK) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Giveaway: GLOB Botanical Paint Kit — $24 ARV {9.22; US}

This is a joint giveaway with ChildOrganicsand Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

GLOB is offering our readers a paint kit and two bamboo brushes, a value of $24. This includes 6 color packets, 6 compostable jars with lids for mixing, and 2 additional bamboo brushes. GLOB is an eco-friendly company making art time safe and fun. GLOB makes paints from natural and organic fruits, vegetables, and spices that smell amazing. From our reviewer, Erica at ChildOrganics:

I learned something new about children’s art supplies here in the US and it really bothers me. Arts and crafts paints do not need to list their ingredients on their labels. You know what’s worse? Even those supplies that contain synthetic pigments that have never been tested for toxicity can use the label “non-toxic.” How can that be? I really thought non-toxic meant it had been tested and proved to be safe — well, apparently not. They use the rationale that it’s considered non-toxic because there is no data to prove otherwise. This includes chemicals such as formaldehyde, which is one of the most common arts and crafts preservatives. ICK! Ready for some good news? There are great companies out there that are working to change the standard of quality in the arts and crafts industry. GLOB Eco Arts and Crafts is doing something different. It is a company founded by Ashley Phelps who is an artist with sensitivities to chemicals. She set on a mission to create her own paints using natural and organic fruits, vegetables, and spices. My personal favorite about the products is the use of organic aromatic compounds. This makes the products smell good enough to eat! They take natural sources of beautiful colors such as basil green and tangerine orange and make them into a powder. You simply add a little bit of water and, voila, you have your eco-friendly paint. They work on paper more like a water color than an acrylic or tempera paint. The colors are beautifully natural. As I said, my favorite thing about these supplies is the smell. They truly smell like the herb or flower from which they were derived. They are scrumptious smelling. After realizing how good the first packet smelled, the kids and I were excited to open each little packet of goodness to mix up the next color. You simply must sniff them first. My littlest exclaimed “I want eat dat!” I think the GLOB It On art materials do a great job of providing fantastic stimuli for your budding artistic geniuses. These paints would be excellent in a Montessori setting. They really encourage the full use of your senses, including sight and smell. GLOB really takes eco-consciousness seriously. They provide high quality art brushes and paints that really are safe for your children to use. We first tried them out as paints, using watercolor paper and the bamboo brushes supplied. The kids had fun getting creative. After painting with them, we tried to use the paints as a wood stain on the kids’ picnic table. The color was very light and didn’t show up very strong as a wood stain. Perhaps I should have mixed it stronger. Our favorite way that we used the GLOB paint kit was in making play dough. GLOB has activities and recipes on their website. I didn’t have cream of tartar as their recipe calls for, so I used a different play dough recipe with great success. Here’s the recipe I used: 2 ¼ cup flour 1 cup salt 4 TBS coconut (or other) oil 1 cup water 1. Combine flour and salt in mixer. 2. Add coconut oil and water. You can mix the paint packets with the water if you are making one batch of a solid color. 3. Remove dough from bowl, knead on surface, and add paint to dough. Knead until color is mixed thoroughly. Store in an airtight container. The play dough smells fruity and fresh. The colors are more of a pastel. The kids are having a great time playing ice cream shop with their play dough creations. So, as you can see, GLOB paint kits are very versatile … and did I mention they smell soo good! GLOB is a company that puts their money where their mouth is. They are dedicated to bringing safe, natural craft products to schools. Each year they do a School Giveaway and provide free paints and green art supplies for art programs. You can learn more about their efforts here: http://www.globiton.com/schools/index.htmlThey work with a grant from Eilieen Fisher’s Woman Entrepreneurs Business Grant Program. This grant has enabled Ashley’s company to expand not only nationwide, but worldwide.

BUY IT!

You can purchase your own botanical paint kid at www.Globiton.com.. The Paint Kit is $18 USD, and there is free shipping on orders over $69. These would be a great addition to your home art supplies.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win a Botanical Paint Kit from GLOB, enter by leaving a comment and using our Rafflecopter system below. The winner will receive a GLOB paint kit and two additional bamboo brushes. This includes 6 color packets, 6 compostable jars with lids and a total of 4 bamboo brushes in a rice paper pouch. Contest is open to US residents only.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit GLOB and tell us what GLOB products your kids would love best! You must enter your name and email address in the Rafflecopter entry system for your entry to count, after leaving a comment on this blog post.

Leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. Email addresses in Rafflecopter are not made publicly visible. Please leave the same valid email address in your mandatory comment so we can verify entries. This is a joint giveaway with ChildOrganics and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only, and we'll be recording IP addresses to ensure that there are no duplicate entries. That said, please do visit and enjoy both sites! BONUS ENTRIES: See the Rafflecopter entry system for bonus entries to increase your chance of winning after completing the mandatory entry. All bonus entries are entered directly into Rafflecopter. Give it a try, and email or leave a comment if you have any questions!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest closes September 22 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Disclosure: Our reviewer received a sample product for review purposes. We try to seek out only products we think you would find relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent. If we don't like a product, we won't be recommending it to you. See our full disclosure policy here.

__________________________________

The Place Where I Can Say "YES!"

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:52:00 +0000

Welcome to the August 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Farmer's Markets
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about something new they've learned about their local farmers.
***

The farmer's market at New Harvest Park is a relatively new farmer's market in the Knoxville area. It's not the largest market around, but at least I can find a parking place, the kids can jump in the fountains and it's close to my house.

There are so many reasons to love your local farmer's market. It's a great place to foster a sense of community and to get to know your local farmers. Each week our market usually offers some sort of educational experience to accompany our trip, so it's educational too. There is also a small community garden that is taken care of by a few volunteers and home school students. The kids and I have loved the learning opportunities provided by Ijams Nature Center. Learning about the birds and bugs in our area has provided some awesome opportunities for nature study.
Do you feel like you're always saying "no" to your children? "No!" to the junk food everywhere. "No" to the processed food on every corner. I love that I can say "yes!" at the farmer's market. We do enjoy the home made treats each week at our market. I know these are local folks, with small businesses who put their heart and soul into their product. Here are some of my favorites:

VG's Bakery is our treat spot each week. We usually bring our treats home and enjoy them with a cup of tea in the evening before bed time. It's become a family ritual. We look forward to it! My favorite this year is the blueberry roll with lemon glaze. YUM! Dave (fondly known as 'the bakery guy' in our house) brings the goodies to most of the markets around town, we're lucky enough to have a market somewhere around town almost every day of the week. He barters with local farmers to get the freshest fruits to have VG make the best hand pies and rolls. So you'll see the fruit that is in season reflected in the assortment of treats available that week. Best of all I love that he knows my kids' favorite cookies and I can say "yes" to these made from scratch goodies. I dare you to visit VG's bakery website and just look at their photos...I'm drooling at the very thought! You know Michael Pollen's food rule that says "eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself." Well, I kind of extend that rule a bit to include these handmade goodies.

Cruze farms is a local, family dairy. They have the BEST ice cream with flavors like lemon buttermilk and salty caramel. Their flavors of ice cream are also reflective of the local, seasonal produce available. Their milk has a cream top and tastes delectable. My kids look forward to a cone of ice cream from one of the Cruze farm girls. They are a staple at many of the market's around town. With fall around the corner, I'm already looking forward to heading out to Cruze farms and having a blast at the corn maze.

Nothing beats local honey. Doug's Other Honey is one of our favorite sources for local, raw, unfiltered honey. He has a wildflower honey that is so my absolute favorite at the moment. Local honey has so many health benefits. The taste of their honey is astounding. They offer free samples each week and he has the cutest labels of any honey I've ever seen.

We love Mountain Meadows Farm. We are members of their fruit and veggie CSA. This is the third farm where I've used their CSA program. I am most impressed with the quality of Mountain Meadow Farms, I love that we get fruit in our CSA. We've enjoyed the most amazing peaches, grapes, blueberries and blackberries so far this year. They use non-GMO seeds, pick their produce the same day as market the food travels less than 25 miles to get to market. We pay ahead for the season and then we are responsible to pick up our share each week. I love the variety and look forward to the fruit and veggie surprise each week.

Wisner Farms is a farm that is close to our heart. This is where we bought our lovely ladies, our laying hens! They are a small family run farm. We always enjoy ourselves when we visit their farm. There are happy chickens, turkeys and cows around every corner. They sell grass fed, pasture raised meats, eggs, and home made breads.

We just had a new aquaponic greenhouse start coming to the market. Greater Growth is a local, sustainable organic company that harvests fish (tilapia) and greens here in Knoxville.
The true advantage of shopping at the farmer's market each week is truly the people. The vendors as well as the customers are gems. I always run into a friend from Holistic Moms, La Leche League or a home schooling friend while I'm there. It really does foster a sense of community each week to be around the people the plow the fields, that raise the animals and that care about our planet and the food we eat.
If you're new to shopping at farmers markets, I highly recommend bringing cash though many of the vendors will accept checks. The market has also started to accept EBT cards, isn't that fabulous? I've also learned that I should bring more cash than I think, because you never know what new and exciting options may be there each week. I do get frustrated if I end up running out of money and didn't get everything I wanted. I also recommend bringing a cooler. It's a good idea to keep your fruits, veggies, treats and meats cool in the hot weather. It also prevents you from getting an overload of plastic bags to lug home.

Most of the farmers are not certified organic, which can be quite expensive. This really doesn't present a problem because once you talk to your farmers and learn about their farming practices you'll see that many of them are chemical and pesticide free. Many small family farmers are also dedicated to sustainability and practice environmentally friendly farming. If you're not sure, ask! Many of the farmers are Certified Naturally Grown which is a grassroots organization that makes certification for organic, small farms much more attainable.
So the next time your Knoxville on a Thursday afternoon between the hours of 3:00-6:00 I hope you'll consider stopping by the New Harvest Park Farmer's Market. Pick up a cinnamon roll, a cone of ice cream or a basket of organic vegetables, you won't be disappointed.
***
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon August 14 with all the carnival links.)

10 Simple Ways to Make the Farmer's Market More Fun for Kids — Lorie at Reading Confetti shares ideas and books to help kids get the most from the farmers market experience.
10 Things I Want To Teach My Daughter About The Importance of Shopping at the Farmer’s Market — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares the ten lessons she hopes to impart to her daughter about the importance of shopping at local farmers markets.
Charmed by Two Small Town Markets — Shannon at GrowingSlower was charmed by two small-town farmers markets while on vacation.
The Olympia Farmer's Market (and a giveaway!) — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes and family took a trip to their state capitol to experience a new market. See what they saw, and enter to win a book written about that very market.
— Exploring the farmers market by Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy writing at Natural Parents Network — with a scavenger hunt!
Exploring the Market ... Alphabet Style — That Mama Gretchen is in the midst of creating a learning tool for her toddler and it's all about the market!
Unschooling at the Farmers Market — Megz at Aspen Mama loves building memories as a vendor at the Market.
Montessori-Inspired Vegetable Unit — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares links to Montessori-inspired vegetable printables and activities to help your family get the most out of a trip to the farmer’s market.
Markets — How sustainable mum has fitted a monthly farmers market into a weekly food shop.
The Farmers Market In Under An Hour ("Carl Style") — Andrea and family at Tales of Goodness adapt their farmers marketing approach to make everyone happy.
Tales Of a Troubled Gardener — Sam at Love Parenting writes about her dream of self-sufficiency and her lack of gardening skills!
A Few {Of The Many} Reasons Why I Love Our Farmer’s Market — Even though the experience can sometimes be less than peaceful, MomeeeZen shares why she enjoys taking her family to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.
Experiencing the Farmer's Market from a Different Perspective — Emily at S.A.H.M. i AM had a great time letting her toddler lead the way at the farmer's market...
Ask A Farmer's Daughter — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter answers questions about her life growing up on a small family farm in New England.

Giving Up the Grocery Store — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares her family's summertime challenge to eliminate trips to the grocery store and rely almost exclusively on local, farm-fresh foods.
Urban farming and fresh food in the city — Lauren at Hobo Mama takes trips to farms, gardens, and markets within reach of a big city.
Market Tip: Get to Know Your Farmers — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger finally gets up the guts to talk to her farmers and learns she is among ardent food lovers.
New Farmer's Market Find — Kellie at Our Mindful Life is excited to make a new find at her new farmers market.
"The Real World" Grassroots Edition — jessica at instead of institution takes some time out to write a love note.
9 Insider Tips for Farmer's Market Newbies — Dionna at Code Name: Mama chatted with a few farmers to bring you some insider information on how to get the most out of your local farmer's market.
The Place Where I Can Say "Yes!" — Erica at ChildOrganics gives you a tour of her favorite vendors at her local farmers market and discusses the benefits of creating community through the market.
Raw Local Milk — Jorje shares her family's field trip to a local dairy. Learn what you can appreciate from a small town farm at Momma Jorje.com.
Italian Secret Vegetable Soup Recipe — Alinka at Baby Web convinces an Italian Farmer & Cook to reveal a precious minestrone recipe and shares it with her readers.
Where do our eggs come from? A visit to Sucellus Farms. — Carli at One Fit Mom takes her family to meet the chickens that have been providing their daily eggs.
Beyond the Farm — Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy and her family enjoy looking beyond the food at the local farmer's market to see the wares of the over vendors.
Magic at the Market — Do you ever take time to really look at the food you eat? Amy at Anktangle enjoys marveling at the beauty (and the utility) of the foods and goods available at the farmers' market.
Farmer's Market Discoveries — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen reminisces about the discoveries she's made at the Farmer's Market throughout the years.
Are You Getting the Most out of Your Farmers' Market? (My List of Not-So-Common "Musts") — Sheila at A Living Family shares some uncommon ways to squeeze even more joy and connection (and yumminess!) from your local farmers' market experience.
Pick Your Own And Eat It — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares their trip to a PYO farm and the journey from picking to eating her favourite food

A Pets Role in the Home School

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the July edition of Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Pets and children.
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by The Positive Parenting Connection and Authentic Parenting. This month our participants are sharing their thoughts and experiences with pets and children! Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

We have a lot of pets. We have fish, reptiles, chickens, rabbits and a dog. We had a pot belllied pig, Percy, for over 12 years. Pets are an important part of our family. They contribute so much more than we may first realize at first glance. As a homeschooling family, I feel sometimes that our house resembles a zoo. Have you ever felt that way? We may have caterpillars hatching in one corner, a hermit crab in another and tadpoles on top of the dresser. Pets offer a lot in the way of education. Let's examine some of the ways pets can benefit a home schooling family.

"A house is not a home without a pet."- Unknown

Learning Opportunities. Whether you're learning about the metamorphosis of a tadpole to frog or a caterpillar to butterfly seeing it first hand is the coolest way to learn it. The kids LOVE watching their pets change before their very eyes. They made a connection with their new friends and had mixed emotions when it came time to release them into the wild. Our pets have become the topic of many school projects. My daughter drew a very informative chart in demonstrating the proper way to care for rabbits. She also wrote a report on how to train your adult dog, pointing out that it was never to late to teach an old dog new tricks. This led us to look into training courses for our dog. Encourage your children to learn more about their pets. Research their breed or get them involved in obedience training classes. It's a win-win situation, your kids are learning and you end up with a well behaved pet. Veterinarian appointments are also excellent places for children to learn, take them with you.Some of our favorite books are by James Harriett he tells some fascinating true tales of life as a veterinarian. A veterinarian's office is a great place for kids to ask questions.

" Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog; it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs, your heart is very big. "-E. Jong

Companionship. This may be a very obvious benefit of having a pet.Your pets often become a part of the family, your family friend. I get such a kick out of seeing my daughter lay sprawled in the front yard with her loyal dog next to her. Pets have a special way of being in tune with their owners. Often they can sense when we're sad or worried. This has really amazed me. When kids are feeling emotional they often turn to their pets for comfort and friendship. Pets can help children build trusting relationships. Many kids may feel more trusting around animals, this can lead to building trusting relationships with other children and adults.

"Animals are reliable; many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful, and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."- Alfred A. Montapert

Responsibility. Pets require work. This is a great opportunity for children to learn how to care, feed and play with their animals. Even toddlers can be responsible for scooping dog food and carrying food scraps to the chickens. It gives children a sense of worth to know they are responsible for caring for another living creature. They learn to nurture and feel empathy at a young age through their interactions with their pets. They learn qualities such as kindness and compassion by interacting with their family pet. Being responsible for some aspect of their pet helps them realize the importance of commitment and daily responsibility.

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."- Immanuel Kant

Stress Relief I have been able to witness first hand the calmness that holding her pet rabbit, Burt, has on my daughter when she is doing her math. She often finds her math to be stressful, she holds Burt in her lap and she is able to calmly proceed with her math. Holding a pet has been shown to ease anxiety. This is huge in the homeschooling family. You sure can't take your bunny rabbit to set on your lap in the traditional school setting. When your child is a happier learner, this reduces stress for the entire family. Pets are non-judgmental and kids appreciate that. Doing their school work with they furry companions can help build self-esteem. They may feel comfortable reading to their dog, this can help build their self confidence. Pets can be emotional healers for children.

"Animals are such agreeable friends--they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."- George Eliot

Health Children who are in a home with dogs and cats are shown to be more resistant to developing issues with allergies and asthma. Isn't that fantastic? Some studies even report less incidents of ear infections and upper respiratory infections in families that have dogs. I'm always looking for ways to keep my kids healthy, it's nice to know that having pets helps. Also children tend to be more active when they have pets to play with. Taking their dog for a walk is an excellent opportunity for exercise. Beyond physical health, pets benefit the family via emotional and mental health. Children learn qualities such as love and empathy from spending time with their pets.

"They motivate us to play, be affectionate, see adventure and be loyal."- Tom Hayden

Food Pets can teach us about our food systems. We have chickens and therefore we have eggs. My kids get the connection between their pets and their food. I know some families won't consider their chickens, their pets, but we do! Some families also will eat their chickens, not us. I think most people that raise their animals to eat, do not view them as pets. Our chickens will live to a ripe old age just like our pig.There is so much to learn from having your own hens in your back yard. Dairy cows and dairy goats can be great pets that can also be beneficial to the family by providing food.

"There's nothing like sitting back and talking to your cows, and if they talk back, you know you're really relaxed."- Russel Crow

Life and Death. Our pets are often our companions on our childhood adventures.Having a furry companion for your little ones as they make their own adventures can make for some fantastic memories. They frolic in the mud puddles with our kids and warn them of danger. Most all of us have some memories of a childhood pet that touched our heart. Those memories are dear to us, even many years later.
True also is the fact that losing our family pet is often times our first taste of dealing with death. Children are often faced with their first emotions of grief and loss from the death of their beloved family pet. They learn life is fragile and they learn to respect it. Through losing a pet children start to ask new questions, to process their experiences and contemplate what they have lost.

"If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness."- Marjorie Garber

What pets do you have? How have they added to your family life?

***
Visit The Positive Parenting Connection and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in the next Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival! Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

A Pet's Role in the Home School — If a house isn't a home without a pet, how can you imagine homeschooling without one? Erica at ChildOrganics discusses the many benefits of home schooling with pets. .
Toddlers and Whiskers, Co-existing as One — Mama Duck at Quacks and Waddles explains how to introduce new pets to toddlers and babies
Children and the Death of a Pet — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama offers suggestions on how to help children work through the loss of a pet. She includes a variety of books to support both parents and children during this tender time.
10 Reasons to Be a Foster Family for a Pet in Need — Christy from Adventures in Mommyhood: Mommy Outnumbered gives her top 10 reasons to consider fostering a pet until a forever home can be found.
Preparing Dogs for New Baby — Jennifer from Mother of the Pack gives advice to new parents for preparing their dog(s) for a baby
Children, Pets and Death — Lauren at Hobo Mama has walked with her son through the untimely death of their cat, a fascinating and troubling journey.
The Health Benefits of Having Pets — Laura from Authentic Parenting tells us exactly why having pets is beneficial to your child's health.
Romeo, My Healing Dog — Bianca at the Pierogie Mama writes about her loveable old dog, Romeo, who at one point she had to give away but a few years later he was placed back in her life when she least expected it.
6 Tips to Help a Child That is Afraid of Dogs - Ariadne at Positive Parenting Connection is sharing helpful tips and using play to help children overcome a fear of dogs.
The Value of Pets - Caroline from Stone Age Parenting writes about how pets have brought so much more than happiness to her life and how she has learned to appreciate and respond to the needs of animals and of humans.

Summer Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:53:00 +0000

I was so grateful to host the Natural Parents Network Blog Hop last week on Summer Fun for Children. Many great ideas were shared, some I've already put into practice. Here are some highlights from the blog hop:
Rebecca from Simply Natural Mom is one of my very favorite local, Knoxville bloggers. She shared several simple, fun summer fun ideas. I really loved her idea of making a picket fence chalkboard. This is an idea I am stealing! I know the kids will love this, and it looks so simple. She just used a little bit of chalkboard paint on a piece of plywood. What fun!
Momma Jorje shared some very helpful reminders for summertime especially since we're expected to hit record breaking heat this week. I learned a few new things in her post Keeping Your Children Hydrated. She really has inspired me to stay on top of hydrating the kids on these hot summer days. We're making sure we have plenty of water with us, always!
Little Hearts shared a fantastic post on 25 Reasons You Should NOT Keep Your Children Busy This Summer. This was an inspiring and fun post complete with heartwarming photos. It really encourages us to relax a bit and step back, let the kids take the reigns. When given the space to learn, children will get creative and learn on their own. I think I'll be checking back in with this list throughout the summer. What's a summer without imagination and wonder anyway?
If you are looking for some fun summer activities, don't worry we have you covered. There were some great posts on Tag games, Geo-Caching, colorful rice sensory bins, making a pirate treasure hunt and building your own obstacle course.
Lastly, Gabby guides us through the creative process of drawing with our kids, particularly a watermelon. It's not so much of a step by step tutorial, but more of a reminder of how to gently lead our children through the artistic process of creating and becoming an artist. I really enjoy how she encourages us to ask our children how they feel when they think about what they're drawing, then make marks representing those feelings. I will be putting these techniques to use.
Thank you to all of the bloggers that participated, I enjoyed reading all your posts and learning from you. It wasn't a minute too soon, summer is in full effect! We're supposed to have temperatures here over 100 degrees this week!

A Day in the Life

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:02:00 +0000

It's that time again! You might remember the great post in December 2011 that highlighted the Natural Parents Network Volunteer's most popular or favorite posts from the year. Or what about March 2012 post which featured Do It Yourself projects, How To's, Tutorials, Recipes, and anything related to a step by step guide or informational how-to from the NPN Volunteers? Well, we are back and this time we are bringing you a collection of posts that focus on what our lives really look like!

Yep - we are giving you a sneak peak into things like a typical day in our life, special or fun outings, or photos which show all of you what motherhood looks like for us. Basically, we are keeping it real!

There are a lot of really wonderful posts here that show that even though we blog about our parenting ideals, we really are just regular moms, getting by one day at a time! So enjoy our typical day in the trenches!

Laura at WaldenMommy: Life Behind the Red Front Door shares "Just Another Monday." This post appeared in March of 2012 and is a typical busy day with the Herd. You can also find Laura on Facebook.

Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares a typical day in her life, complete with a blood test, a stop at the thrift store, and lots and lots of books. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.

Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares A Day In The Life: Two Years Old, a photo journal commemorating her daughter's second birthday by attempting to capture a sense of the daily routine at this busy stage. You can also find Vibrant Wanderings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.

Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares A Busy Day in the Life of her family. This post is a whirlwind look at life two children under the age of 3. You can also find Laura on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Momma Jorje shares Typical Visit to the Pediatric Cardiologist + Results. Read her post to see what it is like to take her infant son for regular visits to a cardiologist. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook.

A Little Bit of All of It shares Our Last Days as a Family of Three as she, her husband and 3 year old daughter wait for baby #2. She also wrote A Day in the Life of This Mom when her daughter was 2 and she watched a 5 month old. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.

Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares A Hot Day In The Life of Jennifer. This post appeared on a friend’s blog and is a humorous look at a typical summer day for Hybrid Rasta Mama and her sidekick Tiny. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.
Emily at Embrita Blogging shares an Ordinary Day with a pre-crawler from almost two years ago. You can find Emily on Facebook, Pinterest, and on Twitter.

Gretchen at That Mama Gretchen showcases A Day in the Life of her busy summer as she waddles around with a baby in her belly and a toddler in tow! You can also find That Mama Gretchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes shares A day at the Solstice Parade, a picture post about her trip to one of the local summer parades in Seattle. You can also find Shannon on Google +, Flickr, Pinterest.

Lauren at Hobo Mama shows what unschooling looks like in her house through Meetups and play dates. Far from staying indoors or isolated, you can find Lauren or Sam and their kids out at one or other fun and educational activity several times a week. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.
Kat of Loving {Almost} Every Moment wrote this post after having One Of Those Days. She was pregnant, exhausted and had a lot of errands to do with her two older kiddos in tow. In the end she was reminded of a thing or two...especially to always keep her chocolate stash well stocked!

Joella at Fine and Fair shares A Summer Sunday in Our Life. This day in the life photo project shows a busy Summer Sunday filled with gardening, friends, family, and shared parenting. You can also find Fine and Fair on Facebook and Twitter.
Erica at Childorganics shares And The "Play" Goes On. This post takes a peek of what a whole day of play looks like at their house. You can also find ChildOrganics on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

A day in the life of Dionna at Code Name: Mama and family in downtown Independence - from 6 month old EC'ing to the farmer's market to nursing at the Main Street Coffee House. By the way, join us for the August Carnival of Natural Parenting when our topic will be Farmer's Markets!

Amy at Anktangle shows
us (through photographs) a glimpse into a typical week in her world. You can also find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares The School Bus Comes Early. She speaks of how unschooling allows her family a flexibility in their lives to accommodate learning. You can also find Living Peacefully with Children on Facebook.

Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares "A Week With Jesse, in Pictures." This post is one in a collection of posts, where Christine shares the weeks happenings with her son Jesse with a picture for each day. You can also find African Babies Don't Cry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.

Lyndsay at OurFeministPlayschool shares "Day in Our Life..." This post looks at her family's day and their trip to a museum. You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.

NPN Blog Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:11:00 +0000

Welcome to the monthly NPN Blog Hop. Each month, one volunteer with the Natural Parents Network will host this hop, giving you a chance to discover new natural parenting blogs as well as to link up and share your favorite posts. You will find some great new blogs while exposing your blog to a potential boost in new readers as well. Topics will change monthly but stay in line with the natural parenting philosophy and lifestyle.

June’s theme is Summer Fun For Children!

How To Participate:

Share your favorite post that falls in line with our topic, Summer Fun For Chilren. Add your URL in the linky form below. The linky will be available until this coming Sunday (June 24th) at 11:59pm, so it doesn’t matter what day you choose to publish your post that week. Your post does not have to be new, just on topic.

We would love for you to grab the html for the Natural Parents Blog Hop button and either add it to your blog sidebar or as a picture in your actual blog post.

Visit some of the other blog posts that are linked up for the week, and be sure to leave them a comment letting them know that you are visiting from the Natural Parents Blog Hop. If time is not on your side, please at least click on the post immediately before yours on the linky list and leave a comment. The #1 link on the list can comment on a post on our current host's blog. The more support we can lend each other, the better!

Be sure to stop by the official NPN Blog Hop page on the Natural Parents Network site. You can find links to previous blog hops as well as find out when and where the next hop will be!

I Quietly Put My Hopes To Rest

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the June 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Embracing Your Birth Experience
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about at least one part of their birth experience that they can hold up and cherish.
***

Getting ready for the Cesarean

I had previously written about my birth experience with my special needs daughter, Bella. I recently went back and read the post and I was surprised to find it so clinical and dry. I explained the step by step procedures of what happened that day, but I left out a very important part of the whole process; my emotions. Let me assure you there were plenty, one on top of the other, all swirled together and shaken.

I had a wonderful drug-free, natural hospital birth with my first daughter. I was planning a birth at our local birth center for our second child, Bella. All was well until we had our one 20 week ultrasound. Our life changed forever that day. We were in shock when given the news that our baby girl was missing part of her cerebellum, and she had severe hydrocephalus. We later learned her full diagnosis would be Walker Warburg Syndrome. Needless to say, we were now thrown into the whirlwind of a high-risk pregnancy and birth. "Goodbye, birth center!" and "Hello,Cesarean!"

I really was in denial for quite some time. I held on to the slim hope that a vaginal birth would be possible. I would ask at each appointment about the possibility. It was clear as we approached our due date that I had to accept and make peace with a Cesarean birth. Bella was born with a head with the approximate size of a 3-6 month size baby. This was one of those situations where a Cesarean would save both of our lives. I had to accept it and move on.

I suppose because of all of the traumatic experiences we were going through due to Bella's circumstances I came to view the Cesarean as more of a blessing. I gave myself time to quietly put to rest my hopes and ideals of what we thought life would be like with our second child. This included tucking away my birthing center birth and embracing the idea that interventions were what was going to allow us to have Bella in our life.

By the time the day arrived for Bella to be born, I had mourned my normal, healthy birth and had moved to acceptance. We had dozens of doctors and students watching and standing by. It was not personal, intimate or beautiful. There was tension in the room that was broken by small quips of humor from our side and that of the hospital staff. It was intense, surreal and public. However, the end result was a beautiful, life changing little girl that would be in our life for such a short time yet have an enormous impact. THAT we were willing to embrace.

***
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon June 12 with all the carnival links.)

I Had A C-Section. So What! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama rewrites her birth story now that she has worked through the feelings of inadequacy and disappointment of not having the “perfect” birth.
The Perfect Birth — Kellie at Our Mindful Life reflects on how a birth can be far from what we imagined, but still perfect.
Own Your Birth: My Hope For All Expectant Moms — Andrea at Tales of Goodness shares how she owned her birth spiritually (while navigating it physically) in order to have a joyous experience.
Carnival of Natural Parenting: My Birth Experience — It wasn't what Lily at Witch Mom wanted, but it was everything she needed.
The Painless Natural Homebirth of BabyE — Shannon at GrowingSlower wants women considering natural birth to know painless births are possible.
Reflections on Jemma's Birth ... 20 Months Later — It took a second pregnancy for That Mama Gretchen to fully embrace her first birth experience.
Loving My Unnatural Birth Experience — Erika at Cinco de Mommy cherishes her very first birth experience, in all its unnatural glory!
Be Careful What you Wish for in Birth — Amber at Strocel.com had two births, and it was the one that went to plan that she struggled with embracing.
Redeeming an unexpected hospital transfer — Lauren at Hobo Mama looks back at her first, interrupted home-turned-hospital birth, and finds the beauty in what happened.
All of it — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen had to learn to embrace the whole experience of birth even though it meant being naked . . . with an audience.
Birthing Dreams & Realities — Momma Jorje never had a "dream birth," but she wouldn't change a thing about her births.
Memories of Birth: Calm Amidst the Storm — While neither of her children's births had been quite what she expected, Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife cherishes one moment in particular from each of her birth experiences.
Embracing Our Birth Stories — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares a sensitive post on her recent birth which both did and didn't go 'to plan', and writes about the journey of coming to terms with the good and the bad.
Two Beautiful Births — Sheila at A Gift Universe remembers how her mother brought out the beauty in each of her children's births, and tries to do the same with her sons' birth stories.
Embracing My Supernatural ChildBirth Experiences... — Jenny at I'm a full-time mummy shares her fond memories on both her supernatural childbirth experiences
Embracing the Hospital Birth Experience — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction believes that sometimes a medicated, induced hospital birth is the right choice for a natural parent.
Carnival: Embracing Your Birth Experience — Stephanie at The Other Baby Blog embraces the birth experience from a paleobiologist's point of view and takes a look at how humans defy their anatomy.
Reflections on My First Birth and Preparing for a Second — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares the strength she didn't realize she had until she gave birth to her son.
becoming a mama - embracing my birth experience — Meegs at A New Day remembers the birth of her daughter Gwenivere, and the empowered feeling it left her with.
What About Us? A Poem About Birth — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment shares a poem she wrote about healing from an unexpected and emotionally painful birth experience.
Be a Man: One Father's View of Birth — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares her husband's advice to other fathers and partners.
A Birth Monologue — Kat at MomeeeZen shares a monologue she wrote during the process of healing from her birth experiences.
Forgiveness: My Birth Journey — Leah at The Crunchy Farm Baby discusses what happens when her planned homebirth doesn't end up the way she wanted, and explains her journey of forgiving herself for losing that "perfect" birth.
Patching together a perfect birth — KrissyFair at Think Mama, Think learned that sometimes a perfect birth happens in pieces.
Celebrating and Sharing the Possibilities of Perfect Birth — Terri from Child of the Nature Isle joyfully shares details of her perfect births and wishes to inspire a more positive cultural expectation about birth.
Instinct - Embracing Your Birth Experience — Laura at Laura's Blog reflects on instinctual moments during and after the births of her two daughters.

I was Foolish Then — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings describes how foolish lack of preparation for childbirth led to a feeling of powerlessness and fear, but that in the end she had her baby in her arms, and that's one thing she can celebrate.
Sometimes no plan is the best plan — Tat at Mum in search contemplates that maybe she doesn't need a birth plan for her upcoming birth.
Disturbing the peace — Kenna at Million Tiny Things thought she would be a calm, quiet baby-haver. Ha!
Accepting the Unexpected During Birth — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM imagined herself laboring on a birthing ball but she never imagined where she'd really be most comfortable when the time came...
Sacred This Time, Too — Kimber at The Single Crunch learned enough to know that the way she birthed wasn't they way she wanted to; but she also knew to enjoy it for what it was.
The Birth Partner: A Great Natural Labor Companion — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger thinks that the secret to her pleasant natural labors was having a great support system.
the Best Thing About My Labor Experience — Crunchy Con Mommy realizes that amidst all the things that seemed to go wrong with her labor, the love and support of her husband was the one thing she could always count on!
Your Birth Was My Favorite — Dulce de leche describes some of the highlights from each of her four births and explains why despite the differences, they are all her favorites.
Birth Story: Part One - Moon on a Stick! — Gentle Mama Moon tells the first part of her birth story to share some of the delight of labouring at home.
Embracing My Birth Experience by Sharing My Birth Story — Dionna at Code Name: Mama made peace with her first birth by sharing the story with her son.
Focusing on the Beauty of Birth — Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares the beautiful aspects of her birth center water birth.
A Joyful Induced Delivery — Amy Willa: Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work notes the meditations and perspective that helped her achieve an unmedicated birth despite being induced for medical reasons.
Finding Joy in an Imperfect Childbirth Experience — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells what she learned from her two very different childbirth experiences.
What's to like about a c-section? — Jessica at Crunchy-Chewy Mama is glad she her second child at home, but she also cherishes much about the c-section she had four years earlier.
What Story Will I Tell? — Rachael at The Variegated Life realizes that the way she tells the story of her second child's birth matters — and could be exhilarating.
I Quietly Put My Hopes to Rest E — Erica at ChildOrganics shares her emotional ups and downs with the highly intervened birth of her special needs daughter, Bella.
Tale of Six Births — Jessica at Instead of Institutions appreciates that unique challenges and joys of each of her births.
Labouring naturally: nature’s gift — Caroline at stoneageparent describes the most beautiful, spiritual aspect of the labour of her son, the first stages along a bumpy road to giving birth.
All The Woman I Am. — Lindsay at This Woman's Work shares a poem about letting go and surrendering during the thralls of labor.
A twin birth story: embracing the unexpected — Megan at The Boho Mama shares her twin birth experience and how she found the silver lining when faced with preterm labor, premature birth, and a two-week NICU stay.
Giving Birth With Eminem — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares how fiery rap music contributed to an empowered homebirth with her third baby.
Two Different Births — Cassie at There's a Pickle in My Life shares how she learned from her first birth experience and how to trust yourself and your body.
Embracing Our Potential: Birth as a Metaphor — Sheila from A Living Family guest posts at Natural Parents Network and expresses how birth has served as a metaphor to help her through other experiences in life.
Little Sister's Birth Story: Our VBAC Adventure — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama describes the recent birth story of her baby girl, her pride in an epidural-free VBAC, and how her story isn't exactly the birth experience she had planned for.
A Journey in Birth Confidence — Shannon at The Artful Mama shares her experiences with labor during both of her sons' births.

10 Things I Learned About 10 Days of Real Food

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:22:00 +0000

Bulk Section of my Local Food Co-op

Well the 10 Days of Real Food is over. I'm very glad to have had so much support in taking this food journey with our family. I thought I'd wrap up my final post about the challenge with a list of 10 things I learned through the process.
#1 Convenience- It is so much easier to buy a box of cheese crackers than it is to make them. This also applies to bread. Finding that balance between keeping your sanity and making wise food choices is important. If you have a busy life and want to feed your family real food, being organized and having a meal plan is be essential. I think I'll keep buying my bread from the Old Mill Bakery because I love it and they grind their own grains, and that's more than I can do at the moment. I will still make some of my own bread. I plan on starting my sourdough this week. I'd like to keep an index card of a few simple, real food meal ideas I can make quickly on hectic evenings.
#2 Money-Eating a diet rich in organic, healthy whole foods can cost more than a diet of less quality foods. If your family eats meat, then that is an additional expense. We eat a diet rich in eggs(our own), legumes and fresh veggies. These are budget friendly foods. We do purchase local raw milk and cheeses, these are a bit more pricey - but worth it in my book. Taking advantage of buying in bulk for rice, beans, and grains can really save you money. Making your own foods such as yogurt and breads can really save you money too. Buying into a CSA or shopping at your local farmers market are budget friendly ways to put a priority on fresh, local produce. The best way to save money and have fresh produce is to grow your own garden. I am making it a priority to learn how to can this year and learn more about food preservation.
#3 Keep it Simple-Apples, cucumbers, carrots and strawberries are very simple snacks that children LOVE. No need for a lot of prep work. Slice, dice and serve. My kids ate so much raw fruit and vegetables this week, it was wonderful. Why wasn't I doing this before?
#4 Kids eat what you feed them.- I keep repeating this to myself as I'm walking through the grocery store. If I don't buy boxed snacks, they won't eat them. Lisa had an excellent article on the subject called Kids Eat Processed Food Because Parents Give It to Them.
#5 Inspiration- I was feeling bored and tired with the food I was feeding my family. This 10 Day Challenge got me excited about food again. Using my Pinterest board along with a few healthy cookbooks as guides, I was filled with inspiration to get me out of my boring food rut. We ate creative, fantastically flavorful food all week. No one went lacking. I tend to get into a rut when I don't have access to all the fresh veggies, I guess it's the winter food blahs. I'm so pleased the farmer's markets are starting up again. They serve as weekly inspiration for me.
#6 Food can be fun.-This kind of goes along with #5. Being uninspired makes for boring food. When you are inspired about your ingredients you make great food. Adding fruit chunks to a bamboo skewer and calling it a kabob makes kids happy. Getting your children involved in preparing the food makes it fun for them. They are also more willing to try what you're cooking if they helped make it.
# 7 Connect to your community.- I get very excited to find a new real food provider in the area. I love the farmers market and knowing the names of the farmers. I love knowing Dave made my bread or Morel grew my lettuce. I feel better that my money is going directly to the farmers and their families. This means the money goes directly in my community. Knoxville has some amazing food providers such as Green Chin Farms ( they currently have milk shares open) , A Place of the Heart Farm, West Wind Farms, Wisner Farms, Mountain Meadow Farms, Cruze Farms and so many more.
#8 Eating out is the hard part.- The biggest struggle to eating real food according to the rules of the challenge was eating out. It's very hard to know what is in each sauce, dressing and bread. Knoxville has some fantastic food places that focus on local, healthy foods such as 31 Bistro, Harry's Delicatessen, and don't forget the Old Mill Bread Company for lunch. I plan to support these businesses more when eating out.
#9 Health benefits- Not consuming processed sugar for 10 days didn't turn my children into perfectly behaved angels and we weren't miraculously healed of all aches and pains. However, I do believe that the standard american diet filled with refined sugar, salt and artificial colors and flavorings does cause illness. Diabetes, cancer and a host of other diseases are in many cases directly related to diet. So I really hope to stick to my guns and eliminate the excuses when it comes to junk food. I want my kids to have a real food immune system. I learned sugar is everywhere, at least I'm aware now and I'm on the lookout.
#10 Definition of Real Food- Lisa set up some rules for the 10 Day Real Food Challenge mostly based from Michael Pollen's books. I think setting boundaries was essential for the challenge, however my personal definition of real food varies a bit. I won't be following the 5 ingredient rule, if I can read the ingredients and they are whole foods, it's alright by me. I'm sure we'll be eating sugar, though I'm hoping to get cooperation in following a rule of 5 grams or less on any packaged products we purchase. Have you come up with what defines real food in your home?
The challenge was a positive experience for my family. It brought to our attention a few weaknesses in our diet and helped us make some changes. It was a springboard for a lot of discussion on real food with my children, friends and family. I am really thankful for all of my friends who joined along with me. Thank you to all of the bloggers that joined me (Couponing in Critical Times, Simply Natural Mom,Coupon Katie, Frugallisa Finds, Blue Frog Creations,Living Peacefully with Children and The Artful Mama) your insights and honesty were inspiring.
Rebecca at Simply Natural Mom wrote a wrap up post for the 10 Day Challenge which includes some yummy recipes. Gabe from Couponing in Critical Times also wrote a post telling what she learned from the Challenge. I hope you'll check them out.
What are your favorite real food local resources? Please share!!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays and Simple Lives Thursday.

Holistic Care of your Toddlers Teeth

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:04:00 +0000

Welcome to the April 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids and Personal Care
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles relating to their children's personal care choices.

Here is my little guy at the dentist

My oldest child was hospitalized to have caps on her teeth when she was three. I was devastated. I thought we ate well, I thought we had good hygiene. I didn't understand. I started the search for answers, but I ended up with more questions. I went to dentist after dentist only to be more confused and extremely frustrated. One dentist would blame it on extended breastfeeding, another on bacteria spread from sharing utensils with our daughter, another one claimed weak teeth enamel. I came to the conclusion they didn't REALLY know.
We learned that some foods which I thought were healthy were just bad choices for kids teeth. This includes sticky foods like raisins and gummy fruit snacks. Starchy foods like potato chips were the worst for sticking to the teeth. We learned a valuable habit that we still use to this day to "swish and swallow" after eating anything. This quick swish of water( or whatever the child is drinking) will dislodge any sticky pieces of food from the child's teeth. This habit is great for the times when you're eating on the run and can't get to a toothbrush. Just when I thought we made all the changes for healthy teeth I noticed my youngest had a tiny brown spot on his tooth that sends me back on that emotional roller coaster. I found an incredibly knowledgeable and supportive group of parents and professionals in the Very Young Kids Teeth and Alternative Kids Teeth Yahoo groups. They are a safe place to ask questions and find some answers. One immediate change we made was to invest in an electric toothbrush. We decided to use the Oral B. We also started using Xylitol products 3-5 times a day. We used birch based Xylitol toothpaste and candies. Some Xylitol is made from corn and it's use is more controversial.
Ideally we brush our son's teeth after each meal and snack. We especially make sure his teeth are clean before he nurses. While I do not believe breastfeeding causes cavities, I read a study that made a lot of sense to me. It basically showed that teeth that were clean and exposed to breastmilk were made stronger by the milk exposure. However, teeth that already had sugars on them and then were exposed to breastmilk were more likely to decay.
We experimented with a lot of kinds of toothpastes. I found it very frustrating that so many of the products marketed for children are full of harmful ingredients. We tried Squiggle, Toothpowder, and calcium based Toothpastes to help rebuild teeth. I haven't found one that I feel completely comfortable using. We're trying Christopher's Herbal Tooth and Gum powder. My oldest will use it, but my youngest is not a big fan. I'm now experimenting with making my own toothpaste using Bentonite clay and xylitol.
Good nutrition is essential to a healthy toddler, including having healthy teeth. There is a lot more to it besides limiting your sugar intake. Teeth are made from minerals and can be built up from the inside out. Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist that documented the benefits of a diet rich in good healthy fats made for strong, healthy teeth. Many people have found that following his diet filled with raw, organic milk, butter, cheese and fermented cod liver oil has been able to prevent and even heal cavities. Vitamin D is another imporant aspect to having healthy teeth and remineralizing decay in children and adults.Building up the body with probiotics and good bacteria helps build the immune system and makes for a healthy, happy mouth. We've even been able to add probiotics designed to add good bacteria to the mouth. These good bugs fight off the bad, cavity producing bacteria. Dr. Ramiel Nigel wrote a book Cure Tooth Decay based on a lot of Dr. Weston's ideas. I find his newsletters and book very informative.
We've added homeopathy to our daily routine to strengthen our toddler's teeth. I love using homeopathy with my toddler, because he loves his 'wittle pills'. He thinks they taste good and are fun to take from the cap. We currently use #1 Calcium Flouride 6x, #2 Calcium Phosphate, #12 Silicea and cell salts. The goal is three times a day. We've also tried two herbal remedies to rub directly on the spot of decay. We alternate between Plantain extract and White Oak.
It's been about a year since we noticed the small brown spot on Lil' Z's teeth. I'm happy to say we went to the dentist the other week and we had the dentist check the spot. They reported that the brown spot was hard, and not a concern. This brought me a lot of relief in that the spot hasn't grown and there is no need for intervention at this point. Whew!
I share with you all of the things we do with our children in an effort to keep their teeth as healthy as possible. This is an area I do not claim to be an expert. I'm still learning. I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for healthy toddler teeth.

***
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon April 10 with all the carnival links.)

Rub-a-Dub Co-Bathing in Our Tub — Bath time is more than soap and water! That Mama Gretchen shares how co-bathing with her toddler has opened up a world of cleanliness, learning, and bonding.
This is How We Take a Bath — Shannon at GrowingSlower shares her special formulas for babywash and a happy bath time.
How to Gently Trim Your Toddler's Nails — Shannon at The Artful Mama discusses some of the gentle suggestions she has received to help Little Man overcome his anxiety of having his nails trimmed, as well as how she copes with her need for his nails to be trimmed.
Baby bath time and skin care — Ursula Ciller shares some simple and natural tips for bathing and skin care.
Want Your Child To Love Getting Clean? Have Them Make Their Own Soaps, Shampoos, and Lotions! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her secret to empowering her daughter to "get clean." Together, Jennifer and her daughter make their own body washes and lotions which makes clean up time fun!
Encouraging Self-care Through Awareness... and Fun — Amy at Presence Parenting shares some tips on how to transform self-care from a struggle into an opportunity -- for kids and adults.
Caring for kids' curls — Lauren at Hobo Mama tells you how to clean, condition, comb, and style ringlets and waves on little heads.
Playing in the Rain — Jorje of Momma Jorje loves how her family has come to make a family event of showering!
The Cleansing Power of the Football — Rachel at Lautaret Bohemiet talks about her son's favorite bath buddy.
Coconut Oil: Nature's "Baby Magic" — Megan at The Boho Mama has only one must-have baby care item in her cupboard: Coconut Oil!
For Sensitive Kids, Less Is More — Kadiera at Our Little Acorn finds less cleaning is better.
Bathtime: Just Another Chance to Play! — Lyndsay at Our Feminist {Play} School discusses the many reasons bath time is important - getting clean isn't one of them.
Hygiene? What hygiene? — Sheila at A Gift Universe confesses some of her most embarrassing hygiene secrets.
Confused About Chemicals? — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep describes how to find out where the toxic chemicals are in your house and tips on alternatives.
Clipping Those Talons — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings describes the ways her daughter's tolerance for personal care has changed over time, especially when it comes to nail clipping.
Sit Back, Relax and Unschool Hygiene — Instead of focusing on tactics of how to 'get' your child to focus on hygiene, Authentic Parenting explains how to help your child internalize hygienic standards.
Help! My Tot will not let me brush her teeth! — Mudpiemama shares five positive ways to help toddlers brush teeth and sabotage the tooth fairy’s secret conspiracy.
Self Care and the Spirited Child — Amy at Toddler In Tow shares how a balancing act between independence and connectedness helps her spirited child learn appropriate self-care.
Hairbrushing is a Safety Issue — Dulce de leche guest posting at Natural Parents Network explains that although tangles are not a safety issue, self-confidence and body boundaries are.
15 Ideas to Prepare Toddlers and Preschoolers for Dental Procedures — Dionna at Code Name: Mama is sharing ideas on how to thoughtfully prepare little ones for dental visits (particularly those that require anesthesia).

Holistic Care of your Toddler's Teeth — Erica at ChildOrganics tells a tale of her children's teeth issues and how she uses homeopathy and good nutrition to keep cavities at bay.
Bath Time Bliss : Fuss-Free Bath Time for Toddlers — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares how she has made bath time completely fuss free for both her and her toddler.
Homemade Natural Toothpaste — City Kids Homeschooling hosts a guest post on a homemade natural toothpaste recipe that kids will love!
Bathing Strike Strategies — Crunchy Con Mommy offers her best tips for keeping your little ones clean when they refuse to bathe.
Bodily Autonomy and Personal Hygeine — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children discusses the importance of supporting a child's bodily autonomy in the prevention of abuse.
A Tub Full of Kiddos! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment has kiddos who love the water, so bathtime is a favorite evening activity!
The Trials of Tidying My Toddler — Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares the difficulties she has with getting her on-the-go son to be still enough to get clean.
Wiped Clean — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares her recipe for homemade diaper wipe solution to clean those sweet little cloth diapered bottoms in her home!
Snug in a Towel: Embracing Personal Grooming — Personal care is time consuming,especially with more than one child; but the mama at Our Muddy Boots is learning to embrace this fleeting and needful time.
EC: All or Nothing? — Elimination Communication. Even the title sounds complicated and time consuming. It doesn't have to, if you adapt it to meet your family's needs, says Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.
Routine Battles — In a guest post at Anktangle, Jorje of Momma Jorje outlines a simple incentive to help inspire your little one to follow a routine.
Redefining Beauty For My Daughter — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger relays her struggle to define her own femininity and how her preschooler unexpectedly taught her a lesson in true beauty.
Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Three Girls In The Tub — Chrystal at Happy Mothering shares how she turns bath time into a few minutes of peace and quiet.
Montessori-Inspired Activities for Care of Self — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now has a roundup of Montessori-inspired activities for care of self and ideas for home environments that encourage independence.
10 Gentle Tips for Little Ones Who Hate the Bath — Kim at life-is-learning gives 10 tips to get your little one into the bath and maybe even enjoying it.
The Boy With The Long Hair — Liam at In The Now discusses his son's grooming choices.
Personal Care in a Montessori Home — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares a summary of the ways she has organized her family's home to make for easy, Montessori-inspired toddler personal care.
Styling Kids — Kellie at Our Mindful Life is letting her kids decide what to look like.
Clean Kids: Laundry and Bath Tips — Kimberly at Homeschooling in Nova Scotia shares tips on how to get your children helping with laundry plus recipes for laundry and liquid soap.
How to Clean Your Children Naturally: A Tutorial — Erika at Cinco de Mommy shows you how to clean your children.
Cleaniliness is next to... dirt — The lapse-prone eco-mom (Kenna at Million Tiny Things) sometimes forgets to bathe the kids. Except in the mud pit.

Peixinhas da Horta or Garden Fish (vegetarian) Days 8,9

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:34:00 +0000

This is a fabulous recipe passed to me from my Mother in law. She is a wonderful cook. She has a lot of simple and fantastic recipes that she shares with me. We all enjoy her food, it's very homey, healthy and comforting. So without any further ado here is Nana's Garden Fish recipe or in Portuguese she says: Peixinhas da Horta

First you'll need to gather:

1 cup of flour ( for the challenge I used white whole wheat)

1 cup whole milk

1 egg + 1 egg seperated

Shredded mixed veggies

Salt and Pepper

Coconut oil

Use whatever mix of vegetables you have handy. I used shredded carrots, zucchini, cauliflower and peas. I know Nana usually does green beans, but I didn't have any. You want the veggies to be shredded small enough so that they can cook quickly when frying in the mix. Mix flour, milk and 1 egg plus yolk of separated egg. Right before frying beat egg white and fold in gently. Mix in shredded veggies. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into skillet and fry in coconut oil. Cook slowly to get the veggies cooked through, flip when you see the edges cooked through and bubbling. Keep warm in your oven until all of the garden fish are ready. You want to be sure the batter is cooked through and not wet in the middle. We serve them with a yogurt dipping sauce. We usually mix yogurt with a little bit of dill, salt and pepper.

Day 8-What we ate ( I like how that rhymed.)

Breakfast- Mixed potato hash with West Wind Farms Italian sausage and eggs.

Lunch- Leftover Garden Fish. It heats up really well in a toaster oven to keep it crispy.

Dinner- We went out tonight to see a Cirque du Soleil, Quidam (FANTASTIC show!) with a group of friends, many of whom are also doing the 10 Day Challenge. We all went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's. We enjoyed the salad bar, baked potato and the Creole Fish. Lisa has a really helpful list on eating out during the challenge that was helpful for all of us ordering tonight. I did try to eat at a more locally owned option, but many were closed today.

Tomorrow we are going to an amusement park. I'll let you know how our real food journey goes with the junk food swirling around us.

Day 9
Breakfast- Egg and cheese sandwiches on Old Mill Honey Wheat rolls. The boys had West Wind Farms sausage on their sandwiches. We went to the amusement park all day, so we ate these on the car on the way.
Lunch- We packed a cooler and headed out to the van to eat our lunch. We ate an assortment of raw veggies and Ranch Style Dip* including yellow peppers, cauliflower, carrots and cucumbers. We also had a ton fruit including strawberries, blueberries, apples and watermelon. I also packed plenty of snacks in my backpack to eat throughout the park. We had lara bars, apples, Funky Monkey snacks and string cheese.
Dinner- We were out a lot later than I had originally planned. I was going to make whole wheat pasta for dinner, but we didn't make it home. We found a Thai Restaurant called Thai Basil in Sevierville. Before the whole family was unloaded we went in and asked some questions as to their dishes. They were helpful and said they just started serving brown rice. Yippie! They also said their was no sugar in there main curries. We ordered salmon for the kids and we ate fresh veggies with curry. It was so delicious!

Real Food for Children- Sunday Surf

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:23:00 +0000

There has been some fabulous food being made this week. It's been really enjoyable to read everyone's menus. Did you see Artful Mama posted her meal plan, and she was in labor? Now that is dedication to real food! She was filling up with healthy, protein rich food so she's ready for delivery. So what about real food for baby? I thought THIS article was really great. I know with my children I learned more with each child. Avocados were the first food for our kids. We don't need no rice cereal!!!
A few fantastic recipes were shared. Gabe posted a recipe for Rosemary Quail and Rebecca posted a recipe for homemade pizza. The pictures made me hungry. I think we'll be adding that to our list of foods to make. Pizza is always a crowd pleaser.
We're winding down to the end of our 10 Day Real Food Challenge. I am really enjoying the process and look forward to continuing to eat this way. I was feeling in a rut and completely unmotivated when it came to preparing food. This challenge has got me excited about food again. The farmers markets are starting soon and that will keep me inspired. Did you see we took a visit to Green Chin Farms and saw all of the babies that were just born?
Most of us notice a change in our health or that of our children's when we take positive steps in good nutrition. Margaret wrote out the reasons for her journey towards real food HERE. I have been feeling more energetic this week, I know I've been eating more than I usually do. I think that has been a big help.
Steering kids free of the junk food is hard. That is a struggle most of us face when trying to find balance between social eating and healthy food. My family already thinks we're 'weird' about so many things. I try not to make an issue about food all of the time, but I'm just not ok with my children eating garbage. How do you handle these situations? I found this post at The Nourishing Gourmet helpful about raising children in a culture of junk food. I'd love to hear what you do in these situations.
Last but not least there is a great giveaway for convertible training pants at the Natural Parents Network,Check it out! This has nothing to do with real food, but I thought it may interest you. Have you found some helpful links on the web this week, do share!

Children and Food Rituals-Days 6 & 7

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Habits, traditions, rituals and even memories are often associated with food. I've really been thinking about how much of what we eat is connected with what we do. We create rituals associated with food. Some good, some not so good.
I inadvertently developed a bad food habit with my kids. We have bible study in town one night a week. It's a late night and we get home after their normal bed time. On our way home it's become our habit to drive through Taco Bell. Lil' Z always orders two cheese roll ups and Big Z usually goes for a potato soft taco, and I always order the 7 layer burrito. We bring it home and watch a recorded episode of "Chopped".
Well I guess I didn't think about it too much before starting this 10 Day Challenge. I justified that we ate healthy most of the other time and this was a treat. But this week I had to be creative when bible study night came around. I drove a different way home so we didn't pass Taco Bell. I also made a big deal about making homemade ice cream, and pointed to that as our special treat when we came home. The kids didn't mention Taco Bell, though I was sweating it.
I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only parent that has set up some food rituals that I needed to skirt around this week. Simply Natural Mom wrote an article about her creativity in arranging dinner at 'mom's restaurant'. Kids love it when we make special food for them and give it some thought. One goal I have after finishing the 10 Day Real Food Challenge is that I hope from here on out to divert their attention from Taco Bell and make a healthier food habit.
It's eye opening to realize how much of our traditions and forms of entertainment are associated with food. I was working on this post, when I noticed Gabe wrote about her family tradition of rolling cabbage rolls for Easter. Food has a way of making memories. I love when we visit my husband's family in Portugal that an entire day can be spent leisurely eating one scrumptious dish after another. You only need to take small breaks to fill up your glass of port.
This week we had to distract the kids from the free cookie at the grocery store bakery and lead them to the free balloon instead. I also had to give up my habit of a piece of dark chocolate after dinner. We have a ritual each evening of having a cup of tea together as a family. We usually have it with a cookie or sweet treat of some kind. So we've made adjustments there as well. I don't think I realized how much sweets were a part of our routine. This is been a positive time for change in that area.
So here's what we've been eating lately:
Day 6
Breakfast-I made a giant omelet. Half of it was filled with cheese for the boys, and the girls had veggies including spinach, peppers and onions.
Lunch- We were on the run. I packed a lunch of raw veggies (cucumbers, yellow peppers, carrots) with hard boiled egg with a side of Ranch Style dip*. I made Moroccan Sweet Potato salad from the Simple Food cookbook.The kids also had string cheese.
Dinner-Vegetable fried rice with Miso soup. I started making it then I realized my soy sauce had sugar in it. Wha! I had spent so much time researching my soy sauce after switching from using Bragg's liquid aminos. I was disappointed it had sugar, boo! So I had to get creative and season my rice a little differently than normal, but it turned out pretty good. I used Thyme, Cayenne, lots of black pepper and miso stock. The kids had shrimp with their rice.
Snacks- Funky Monkey fruit snacks, Breakfast cookies*
Day 7
Breakfast- We had to be out the door early this morning. Cereal ( shredded wheat) with honey, eggs, and bananas.
Lunch- Leftover Kidney Bean soup. Sprouted Corn tortilla quesadillas.
Dinner-Green Lentil Curry Coconut soup* with 'Garden Fish'. It was so delicious! I'll share the Garden Fish recipe Monday. I also baked two loaves of Honey Whole Wheat bread* that we enjoyed with the soup.
Snacks- I made chocolate mousse ( cold cream from coconut milk whipped with vanilla, cocoa powder and a little maple syrup) as a special dessert tonight with our evening tea.
* recipes can be found on my pinterest board for the 10 Day Real Food Challenge.

Show Children Where Their Food is From -Days 4 & 5

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Over the past few years I have really enjoyed finding local sources for food. I've been thrilled with the quality of cheeses, baked goods and meats we've been able to find. While I'm a vegetarian, I do not mind feeding my family grassfed, organic meats. We want our kids to grow up feeling connected to their food, so when they are older they'll continue making wise food choices. By exposing them to small family farms and allowing them to have a role in growing their own food they'll be able to make that connection. Farmers markets are a fantastic way to get kids connected with their foods. I'm so excited that New Harvest Farmer's Market is opening next week. It's fantastic to see the farmers each week and buy directly from them. If you are local to the Knoxville area you may be interested in contacting Green Chin Farms they do deliver weekly to South Knoxville. Call Morel at 865-933-0855.
I've written before about "our" cow, Crema.We participate in a cow's milk and Goat cheese share at Green Chin Farms. She gave birth to a beautiful little calf on Monday. This morning one of the goats gave birth. So we were fortunate enough to go see the new babies on the farm. We were also able to see the new chicks and check out the organic vegetable garden. It was a great field trip. I think it's very important for children to understand the difference between small family local farms and large factory farming institutions. As they get older, this helps them understand the reason for the supporting fast food places and eating 'cheap' food.

So are you curious what we ate for days 4 and 5 of the Real Food Challenge?
Day 4
Breakfast-Dippy eggs and toast. We also had a few breakfast casserole muffins left that we finished eating.

Lunch-I roasted a large pan of vegetables including beets, fennel, brussel sprouts, onions, carrots and cauliflower. I drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper. We ate the roasted veggies with the rest of the tomato caper salad.
Dinner- I made Eggplant Involtini * with a side dish of sauteed spinach with lemon. It was beyond delicious. I've always enjoyed Eggplant Parmigiana when it's fried crispy. I wasn't sure if I'd like the eggplant in it's more natural state. It was a rich and creamy dish. It was just me and the kids for dinner and we really enjoyed it. Even my three year old ate up two of the eggplant roll-ups.I will make this recipe again. I'm already looking forward to eating the two small rolls leftover.
Snacks-Lemon Ice cream,smoothie popsicles, dehydrated fruit.
Day 5
Breakfast- Whole Grain Pancakes. My mom shared with me a great recipe that includes whole wheat flour, rolled oats, flax seed and yogurt. I can post the recipe if anyone is interested. We topped the pancakes with bananas and maple syrup.
Lunch- Remember when I made rice and beans earlier in the week. I cooked a large batch of kidney beans, so I used the remainder of the beans to make Kidney Bean Soup. We enjoyed the soup with some whole grain rye crackers that I was able to find at Big Lots. The soup is a recipe from my husband's mother. I hope to post it soon. This is also what my husband took to work for his lunch.
Dinner-We had some leftovers built up so I decided to clean out the fridge. I dove into the Eggplant Involtini. The kids enjoyed some Broccoli Gribbiche, roasted veggies and eggs.
Snacks- Smoothie Popsicles, Maple Pecan Breakfast cookies* (yum!),raw veggies and Ranch Style dip*
We're half way through the challenge. I really hope we can continue to eat like this. I'm feeling good and the kids are enjoying it. My husband jokingly said today, "I"m craving some high fructose corn syrup!" My daughter was quick to reply, "That's silly, 'cause we don't eat that anyway."

What are we eating? Days 1-3

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Our Dinner Last Night

Here we are already finished with the third day of our ten day real food challenge. I must say I'm feeling very motivated with all of the positive feedback I'm receiving from everyone. So far the challenge is really helping me realize that our family was too dependent on organic junk food for snacks. Yes, those little packets of gummy fruits and fun shaped crackers were convenient, but at what cost? This challenge has really opened my eyes to the amounts of sugar my children were eating.
I went to my local food co-op Three Rivers Market to start my grocery shopping for the week. I picked up lots of bulk nuts and other goodies. Early Sunday we headed to Kroger to do the remainder of our grocery shopping. We have a new-ish Kroger on Broadway here in Knoxville that has a fantastic organic and produce department. We spent about $100 at the co-op and about $120 for food at Kroger. I'm curious how this challenge will influence my budget this month. I'll keep you updated.
Day 1
Breakfast- Creamed Kale and Eggs*. I loved it, my husband ate it but he is not crazy about greens, the kids ate it but didn't clean their plates. I did overcook the eggs, so the yolk was not as runny like it should have been. I think I"ll try it again and try to cook it properly this time.
Lunch- Creamed Vegetable Soup* with wasa crackers. Everyone LOVED this. I made an extra large batch of soup hoping we could have some for leftovers or lunch the next day. I'm happy to report that by the end of the night the entire pot of soup was gone.
Dinner- We made crab legs with butter for the kids. This was their treat from the grocery store trip today. A much better choice than the 'free' cookie the bakery offers, though it was a little harder on the wallet. My husband and I ate more soup and my husband made me a grilled cheese on Honey Whole Wheat bread from the Old mill with Saurkraut, cheddar cheese and apples. It was so delicious!
Snacks- The kids ate tons of watermelon (another grocery store treat, apple slices, baby tomatoes and carrot sticks with Ranch style dip*. I also made dark chocolate whole wheat brownies* that evening. The kids each tried one and had a cup of tea before bed.
Day 2
Breakfast- I am still feeling highly motivated and inspired so I made my own version of Breakfast Casserole Bites. Some with grassfed hamburger and blue cheese for the meat eaters. For the vegetarians in the house I made cheddar cheese, pepper, onion and spinach casserole bites. Everyone loved it, kids gobbled it up. I used our own eggs and the Old Mill bakery Honey Whole Wheat ends to use in the bites. We had a few left over, that will come in handy for snacks or a breakfast on the run.
Lunch- I was running errands after breakfast and we were getting hungry. Fortunately I packed some dehydrated fruit and Lara bars for the kids until we got back to make lunch. We went to my parents house to spend the afternoon. Mom and Dad are doing the challenge too so that made lunch easier. We made Caprese grilled cheese sandwiches* with 'french fries'. For my husband's lunch he took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We were able to find a nice strawberry jelly with no sugar. He had a lunch meeting with the Vice President of the company. It made for interesting conversation as to the reason why he wasn't eating the catered lunch they brought in. He said at least he made an impression. ;-)
Dinner- I had soaked some kidney beans the night before. So I was able to come home and make some brown rice and beans for dinner. We ate it with sprouted corn tortillas. The kids loved this meal. My 3 year old gobbled his down, it shocked me how much he ate. This is a staple meal around here, so I already knew everyone would enjoy it. I made a large batch of beans so I can use them later in the week for another meal.
Snacks- My mom made power balls* that the everyone loved. They helped me out with my chocolate cravings too. We finished the evening with a whole wheat brownie and cup of tea.
Day 3
Breakfast- I soaked steel cut oats. I'm embarrassed to say I was multi-tasking and left the kitchen and my oats burned. I was still able to salvage enough for breakfast, phew! I topped the oats with maple syrup, cinnamon, whole yogurt and apples.
Lunch- My favorite lunch so far, it was so fantastic!I found it in the Super Natural Every Day cookbook. Broccoli Gribbiche is a fantastic dish made of roasted potatoes and broccoli. You made a dressing over it made of olive oil, red wine vinegar, capers, mustard and herbs. Then you dice a few hard boiled eggs and mix it all together. YUM! I think this is a dish that would be great to take on the run or to pack in a lunch. I served it with polenta 'fries' and red sauce. The kids also had the last piece of their crab legs and butter. I have lots of leftovers from this meal, we'll see what is left at the end of the day. My husband took left over rice and beans for his lunch today.
Dinner- It was just me and the kids for dinner so I went very simple. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare dinner either, but it still turned out fantastic. I made tomato and caper salad with roasted chickpeas and leftover Broccoli Gribbiche.
Snacks- Mozzerella string cheese snacks and smoothies. The left overs from the banana, berry and milk smoothies were put into popsicle holders to be snacks for later. I made lemon ice cream with sour cream, yogurt, milk, lemon juice and honey. That was our special treat for our long day.
I am very thrilled with the response from the community on taking on the Real Food Challenge. If you follow me on facebook you'll be able to see all of the posts from local bloggers and those participating in the challenge.They are sharing some of their struggles, menus and what they are learning through the process. One of our local Farmer's Markets is opening next week. That will be just the push I'll need to keep going down this real foods path.
All recipes marked with an * can be found on my Pinterest board set up for the 10 day challenge.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday's hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Real Food 101, Whole Food Wednesdays, and Simple Lives Thursday.

Starting the Real Food Challenge & a Real Food Sunday Surf

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:04:00 +0000

I'm joining Authentic Parenting and Hobo Mama for Sunday Surf. Share your best reading of the week, and link up your post at either blog!

For more great reading, visit Hobo Mama or Authentic Parenting for the latest Sunday Surf and linky.

Happy Surfing!

It takes some work to make changes in your lifestyle. While I don't think these changes will be huge I had some cookies I had to hide before starting the 10 day Real Food Challenge. I have been watching labels and learning a lot about foods I regularly purchase. Mostly I'm surprised how sugar is sneaking itself into everything from my beets to my tomato sauce. I'm looking forward to making changes in our diet and kicking that sugar out the door.
I've been working on a grocery list of items to have on hand during the challenge. I don't want anyone to go hungry or to complain about the lack of snacks, etc. I'm hoping to make the switch with my family without much fuss. Today was our first day and we started with a delicious breakfast of Creamed Kale and Eggs (you can find this and other recipes on my Pinterest Real Food Challenge board). We've stocked up on some Lara bars and Funky Monkey fruit snacks when we need snacks on the run.
I've also went through my cookbooks and I think The Art of Simple Food as well as Nourishing Traditions cookbooks will be great inspiration this week. I picked up my holds from the library, I'm excited to browse through them and find some new recipes to make. I picked up Deliciously Organic, Almost Meatless and Super Natural Every Day.
Talking with the kids is an important step in making this challenge be a success. My three year old understands terms like 'this is yucky' and 'it has bad stuff in it'. However, my soon to be 10 year old can understand the importance of real food on a different level. She raises her own chickens and she has helped me make our own cheese, yogurt and breads. Of course she'll still gobble down a bright red lollipop with no hesitation. It takes baby steps I guess. Here is an excellent article about the main reason kids eat processed food is because parents give it to them. That makes sense, doesn't it?
I'm excited to see my friends and family talking about real food. We're sharing ideas and brainstorming where we could catch a healthy meal about town. I hope you'll help spread the word. I'll be posting all of the bloggers that are participating. You can follow me on Facebook for more daily updates including what we're eating on a daily basis.

Here is a list of bloggers that have already posted about joining the 10 Day Real Food Challenge: http://www.frugalissafinds.com/2012/03/10-days-of-real-food-challenge.html(Knoxville)

http://www.couponingincriticaltimes.blogspot.com/2012/04/knoxville-10-days-of-real-food.html (Knoxville)

Also many of my fellow bloggers from the Natural Parents Network will be participating, here’s a partial list:

http://livingpeacefullywithchildren.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/10-days-of-real-food/

http://theartfulmama.com/2012/03/preparing-for-the-10-day-real-food-challenge/

If you have a recipe, website or cookbook that you would like to share, please let me know in the comments.

10 Days of Real Food Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:56:00 +0000

I love Michael Pollan's books and documentaries such as Food, Inc and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead were right up my alley. I don't think that it should be so difficult to eat real food. It is a priority in our life to find the best food for our family including local milk, cheeses and veggies. It makes me especially sad to see children bombarded with artificial colors, flavors and truckloads of sugar. This standard american diet (SAD) is wreaking havoc on the health of our families.
Recently I was introduced to a website called 100 Days of Real Food. The website originally chronicled Lisa Leake and her family's adventures of eating 100 Days of Real Food. She was a mom that didn't read food labels, never bought organic and used processed food on a daily basis. After getting a wake up call, she changed their diet and now helps families everywhere to make these positive changes for their family. I just learned that she grew up here in the Knoxville area and she is very excited to have us take part in her 10 day challenge.
I personally love challenging myself on the road to self improvement. I read about the10 Day Challenge on Lisa's website and thought my family can do that. I feel we basically eat a healthy diet, probably about 80 percent of the time. We eat whole grains, get our milk locally, support our farmers markets, eat lots of fruits and veggies. However, I know there is room for improvement in our diet.
I personally don't feel that sugar is evil in moderation. I do feel eliminating sugar from our diet will be the hardest part of the challenge. I do bake often with maple syrup and honey, but I do have a habit of having a piece of dark chocolate everyday. While I don't necessarily think that is bad, I do think I need to cut down on my family's sugar intake. I think my children will be the ones that will benefit the most from the challenge. It's amazing that no matter where we go people are offering artificially colored lollipops to my children.
So would you like to join us on our 10 Days of Real Food Challenge? The Rules are pretty simple. You eat whole foods, whole grains, whole milk, nothing skim or low fat. So you load up on your fruits, veggies and enjoy your local meats and seafood in moderation. I think the hardest aspect is no refined sugar, only maple syrup and honey as natural sweeteners. Some packaged food is allowed if it doesn't have more than 5 ingredients and they follow all the whole food rules. Please visit here to see all the rules in more detail and to have any questions answered.
I really think my area, Knoxville, has some great local food resources. I've already discovered a great bakery that grinds their own grains and has a fantastic whole grain bread with under 5 ingredients. I will be exploring all that Knoxville has to offer for real food resources including farms, grocery stores and restaurants. I"m looking forward to finding more in my community. Many other bloggers will be joining me, I'll be linking up with them throughout the 10 days.
I have created a board on Pinterest with some delicious food ideas to use on this 10 Day challenge. I'll be posting daily our food choices successes and struggles on Facebook. I hope you'll join us one way or another. Please share your favorite real food resources, recipes and ideas.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday and Real FoodWednesday. These are fantastic sources for Real Food inspiration!

Tube Feeding with a Blenderized Diet of Whole Foods

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Welcome to the March 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting With Special Needs

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how we parent despite and because of challenges thrown our way. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

It won't surprise most of you to know that breastmilk is the best first food for most babies. It is the perfect balance of fats, nutrients and immune builders for our newborn infants. Breastmilk is even more important for NICU babies and infants with special needs. However the stress of dealing with the NICU and special needs can put a lot of stress on a mama. Adding to that stress the idea of using a breastpump every 2 hours, it can be overwhelming and exhausting, yet so vital.
When our middle daughter, Bella, was born we knew she was going to have some issues, but we didn't know to what extent. After nearly two months in the NICU and hours of speech therapy it became painfully obvious that she wasn't going to be able to breastfeed.We had to deal with this fact and move on. Bella underwent surgery to have a g-tube. This is a simple tube that is inserted through an incision the abdomen. To feed Bella we attached a tube with a syringe filled with breastmilk to the little button in her tummy. I was diligent in using my breastpump and was able to feed her exclusively on breastmilk for the first year of her life.

Around that one year mark, we decided to look into supplemental foods to add to Bella's diet. The doctors recommended Pediasure. I did a little more research and found that you could use whole foods in blended forms for g-tubes. Natural organic whole foods for my special needs daughter made more sense to me.
I found a supportive group of parents on the Yahoo Group Blenderized Diet that were able to provide so much information. I contacted a holistic nutritionist and set up a meeting to discuss Bella's dietary needs. Though she would not be covered by our insurance, she was well worth the money paid out of pocket. I did have a dietician through our GI doctor, but they would only provide information in regards to calorie intake with formula. They did not support the idea of using whole foods in a blenderized form for g-tube patients. I was open in discussing this with my GI doctor but was surprised to learn he was not very informed on the topic and would just refer me to the dietician in the office. Some doctors feel that a whole foods blenderized diet can raise the risk for bacteria and infection, they are also concerned about food getting stuck in the tube. I felt these were small risks when compared with the benefits of a whole food diet.
I started slowly with a base of breastmilk. I kept a food journal and kept a regular schedule of what medications and supplements went with each feeding. I started by introducing 2 TBS of banana with 60cc's of breastmilk, we then added foods like avocado, sweet potatoes. Our nutritionist recommended foods like beets, wheatgrass, apricots, quinoa, and goats milk. We used careful calculations figuring we needed 50 calories per pound with a goal of 650 calories per day. So each day started with me with my Vitamix calculating, measuring and storing her food for the day. The Vitamix was an essential part of being successful with a blenderized diet. The food really must be broken down into a liquid form, not just any blender would do. When adding nuts, seeds and using fruits such as blackberries it was very important that there be no pieces that would clog the g-tube. To build Bella's immune system we added supplements such as fish oil, colostrum, probiotics, and elderberry syrup. We always followed with water.
Since we were providing a nutrient rich blenderized diet using organic products were essential.
Later Bella was given a Zevex infinity pump for her feedings. This pump regulated the flow of the food. She had severe reflux and she needed to be fed very slowly. A large amount of her feedings were given overnight. This pump was great. It made feeding Bella much more convenient and less time consuming. It worked well with the blenderized diet. I just needed to make sure it wasn't too think and check on the consistency. The Zevex pump would be sure to beep and let me know if wasn't pushing the food along properly.
I don't believe a blenderized diet will work for every tube fed infant. It worked well for our family. Our daughter was gaining weight and growing well on the blenderized diet. It was not as convenient as pouring a bottle of formula into her tube would have been. So we constantly had coolers and ice packs with us. However having a child with any special need is never convenient. It's more about making the best choices for your circumstances. Money is also an issue to consider. If you have to pay for your child's G-tube formula it can be very expensive. However if your insurance pays for the formula, then choosing to feed organic, whole foods to your child is definitely more expensive.
I felt feeding Bella whole foods was really beneficial to her health. The life expectancy for a child with her disability of Walker Warburg Syndrome is under one year of age. Bella lived for 16 months. Support is essential to be successful at feeding your special needs g-tube child a blenderized diet. Start with your doctors to get their viewpoint, then ask you dietician. If they lead nowhere, keep researching and find a dietician that will work with you and your family needs.

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon March 13 with all the carnival links.)

Parenting A Child With Neutropenia — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama discusses the challenge of parenting a young child who cannot produce enough neutrophils to fight off bacterial infections.
How I Love My High Need Baby — Shannon at GrowingSlower was shocked to find she is parenting a high-needs baby, but she's surviving thanks to attachment parenting.
We're a Lot Like You — kaidera at Our Little Acorn talks about how her family is similar to others, even with all their special needs
The Emotional Components of Bonding with Preemies — Having a premature baby can bring on many unexpected emotions for parents, but working through those emotions can bring about a wonderful bonding experience. Adrienne at Natural Parents Network shares.
Raising a babe with IUGR: from birth through the toddler years — Rachel at Lautaret Bohemiet shares the story of how her son’s post-birth IUGR diagnosis affected his first days of life and gave her an unexpected tutorial in advocating for their rights as a family.
When a grandparent has a disability — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes shares how she has approached explaining her mother's disability to her young child.
Taking The Time To Really See Our Children — Sam at Love Parenting writes about her experiences working with children with various disabilities and how it has affected her parenting style.
Natural Parenting In An Unnatural Environment — Julie at What I Would Tell You gives us a glimpse into how she improvised to be a natural parent against all odds.
Getting Through the NICU — Laura at Authentic Parenting gives a few pointers on how to deal with your newborn's stay in the NICU.
Living With Sensory Processing Disorder — Christy at Adventures in Mommyhood talks about the challenges that can come from living with a child who has SPD.
Our rules for NICU - March Carnival — Hannabert's Mom shares her family's rules for family and friends of a NICU baby.
Muddy Boots: Speaking Up for Special Friends — MudpieMama shares about the day her little boy stepped up and spoke up for his best "special" friend.
Letter from Mineral's Service Dog — Erika at Cinco de Mommy imagines the letter that accompanies her special needs son's Service Dog.
Blessings in Unexpected Places — That Mama Gretchen welcomes an inspiring guest post from a dear friend who shares about the blessings that come from a child with Down syndrome.
Tube Feeding with a Blenderized Diet of Whole Foods — Erica at ChildOrganics shares her experiences with using real food when feeding her daughter who was unable to feed herself and needed a feeding tube.
Abbey and Evan — Amyables at Toddler In Tow writes about watching her preschooler play with her friend who is autistic and deaf, and wonders how she can explain his special needs better.
How to Minimise the Chance of a {Genetically Prone} Child Being Diagnosed with ADHD — Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry shares her tips on keeping a child who is genetically prone to ADHD from suffering the effects.
Tough Decisions: Parenting With Special Needs — Brenna at Almost All The Truth shares what has been keeping her up at night worrying, while spending her days discovering just what her options are for her precocious child.
Life with my son — For Dr. Sarah at Good Enough Mum, life with an autistic child is just another variation on the parenting experience.
Dear Special Needs Mama — Sylvia at MaMammalia writes a letter of encouragement to herself and other mamas of special needs children.
His Voice — Laura at WaldenMommy relives the day her son said his first sentence.

What is 'wrong' with you' The challenge of raising a spirited child — Tara at MUMmedia discusses the challenges of raising a child who is 'more' intense, stubborn, and strong willed than your average child.
Tips for Parenting a Child With Special Medical Needs — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares her shortlist of tips she's learned in parenting a newborn with special medical needs in a guest post at Becoming Crunchy.
Parenting the Perfectionist Child — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children discusses that as parents of gifted children, we are in the unique position to help them develop the positive aspects of their perfectionism.
Montessori-Inspired Special Needs Support — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now gives a list of websites and blogs with Montessori-inspired special-needs information and activities.
Accommodating Others' Food Allergies — Ever wonder how to handle another family's food allergies or whether you should just skip the play date altogether? At Code Name: Mama, Dionna's friend Kellie (whose family has a host of allergies) shares how grateful she is when friends welcome them, as well as a list of easy snacks you can consider.
Only make promises you can keep — Growing up the child of a parent with a chronic illness left a lasting impact on Laura of A Pug in the Kitchen and what she is willing to promise for the future.
A Mom and Her Son — Jen at Our Muddy Boots was fortunate to work with a wonderful family for several summers, seeing the mother of this autistic son be his advocate, but not in the ways she thought.
Guest Post from Maya at Musings of A Marfan Mom — Zoie at TouchstoneZ is honored to share a guest post from Maya, who writes about effective tools she has found as a parent of two very special boys.
You Don't Have to Be a Rock — Rachael at The Variegated Life finds steadiness in allowing herself to cry.
When Special Needs Looks "Normal" — Amy at Anktangle writes about her experience with mothering a son who has Sensory Processing Disorder. She offers some tips (for strangers, friends, and loved ones) on how to best support a family dealing with this particular neurological challenge.
Special Needs: Limitation or Liberation? — Melissa of White Noise describes the beauty in children with special needs.
How I Learned It'll Be Okay — Ashley at Domestic Chaos reflects on what she learned while nannying for a boy with verbal delays.
Attachment Parenting and Depression — Shannon at The Artful Mama discusses how attachment parenting has helped her get a clearer image of herself as a parent and of her depression.
On invisible special needs & compassion — Lauren at Hobo Mama points out that even if we can't see a special need, it doesn't mean it's not there.
Thoughts on Parenting Twins — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings shares her approach to parenting twins.
ABCs of Breastfeeding in the NICU — Jona at Breastfeeding Twins offers tips for establishing breastfeeding in the alphabet soup of the NICU.
Life With Michael - A Mother's Experience of Life With Aspergers Disorder — At Diary of a First Child, Luschka's sister-in-law Nicky shares her experience as mother to a child on the Autism Spectrum. It is filled with a mother's love and devotion to her child as an individual, not a label.
Raised by a Special Needs Mom — Momma Jorje shares what it was like growing up as the daughter of a mother with a handicap.
Becoming a Special Needs Mom — Ellen at These Broken Vases shares about becoming the mother of a child with Down syndrome
She Said It Was "Vital" — Alicia of Lactation Narration (and My Baby Sweets) discusses the conflict she felt when trying to decide whether therapy was necessary for her daughter.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:15:00 +0000

Welcome to the first edition of the Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival, hosted by Authentic Parenting and Mudpiemama!
In the month of January, we start afresh, a new year, new ideas. Hence, our participants have looked into the topic of “Birth and New Beginnings”. Take a look at the end of this post to find a list of links to the entries of the other participants.
***

Looking back

How do you move forward after facing the loss of a child? This is a question I've wrestled with over the last few years. Whether it's loss through a miscarriage or infant loss it can paralyze your life. It's an experience that makes you stronger than you ever thought you could be- or wanted to be.

January is a tough month for me. This month Bella would have turned 6.This is also the month my youngest turns 3. It's a month filled with mixed feelings, emotional ups and downs.
Our family still experiences grief though she has been gone for over 4 years. We miss our Bella a great deal. We are able to talk about her with joy in our hearts. We talk about our memories of her and we can laugh as we remember. This is a welcome change.
Deciding to have another child after a loss can be very difficult. We had decided not to have any more children after Bella due to our chances of 1 in 4 of any of our future children having Walker Warburg Syndrome. We felt strongly we didn't want to go through all of the pain again. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans...
Surprises happen. One year after Bella's death (almost to the very day), we found out we were expecting another child, our hearts filled with joy, dread and lots of lots of questions. We had feelings of grief and hope all swirling around inside. Big Z was elated at the idea of being a big sister again. We had a very anxious pregnancy until our 20 week ultrasound when we were given the wonderful news of our baby boy being healthy and strong. This pregnancy and birth was a time of reflection, hopefulness and healing.
People have made thoughtless comments in regards to a new baby taking away our grief. It doesn't work that way, he doesn't replace Bella. We still mourn our Bella and grieve for her, a part of my heart will remain empty and broken until I'm with her again. However, having another baby has been the most lovely distraction from my grief you can ever imagine.

Looking forward

We move forward with our new life as a family without Bella. Having another child after our loss has given me deeper appreciation of my children and our life together. We make room for sadness and for joy.

 Visit Authentic Parenting and MudpieMama to find out how you can participate in the next Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

Becoming Intentional with My Time Valerie at Momma in Progress shares the beginning of her year-long journey toward more intentional living.
Alirik’s Birth Story: Sweet Surprise Lauren at Hobo Mama tells the sweet surprise unassisted home water birth story of her second child.
My Rebirth: An Honest Look Darcel at The Mahogany Way talks a little about some of the fear and insecurity she's felt over the years since starting her parenting journey and her blog.
Trusting My Body: Ailia’s Birth Story After a very challenging birth with her son, Dionna at Code Name: Mama was nervous about having another natural birth. But practicing relaxation techniques and birth affirmations proved to be just what she needed to have her perfect, peaceful, unassisted homebirth.
My Homeschool Philosophy Paige a Baby Dust Diaries shares her new year's resulution about homeschooling.
Yet Another Resolutions Post... Zen mummy's resolutions for a better 2012
Renewing Green Passions in the New Year Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction talks about renewing a passion for green living in the new year
Birthing and New Beginnings... And Better Mothering Sheila at A Living Family shares her first ever New Year's resolutions to be a more mindful, compassionate and respectful mother to her two-year old daughter after the recent birth of her son.
An Open Letter to MTV Regarding 16 and Pregnant Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama delivers a pointed message to MTV about how they misrepresent birth and parenthood on 16 and Pregnant.
Setting Intentions Megan at The Other Baby Blog shares another way to ring in the New Year.
Spencer's Birth Story Momma Jorje shares her family's story of birthing her son with Down syndrome.
Looking Forward, Looking Back Erica @ ChildOrganics shares how she is able to look back at the loss of their daughter and yet move forward with her family at the same time.
Unique unto Itself. Melissa of Vibrant Wanderings has chosen a word for her second child's birth: awareness.
The Unassisted Birth of The LIttle Buddha. Laura at Authentic Parenting shares the birth story of her new baby
Birthing and Resolutions: Keeping Good Things in Motion. MudpieMama shares her VBAC story and why she skipped making resolutions in the traditional way.
The Birth of a New Era by Mandy from Living Peacefully With Children

Oil Cleansing Method

noreply@blogger.com (Erica @ ChildOrganics) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Welcome to the January 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Experiments in Natural Family Living

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have reported on weeklong trials to make their lives a little greener and gentler. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

It seems only a few short years ago I was working in the mall behind the counter at an upscale make-up counter. I must admit I really enjoyed working there. It was like playing dress up everyday. I had fun playing with colors, doing make-overs and obsessing about skin care.
Now I look back at those years and the chemicals I was using on a daily basis and I shudder. I loved all the suds and bubbles to wash away all of my oil and dirt. My skin did look good, it was squeaky clean, but what damage did I do? Eek!
Over the years I have refined my daily skin care routine to be more eco-friendly by using organic, non-toxic products from reputable companies.I learned to do without the suds and bubbles. For the most part this has worked well, except for the fact that many of these products are quite expensive. Many of their ingredients are relatively simple to put together yourself. Could I do it?
When I was younger my skin was prone to breakouts, so I cleaned and exfoliated my skin pretty vigorously.I always had oily skin. I used all of the oil-free products. I had high hopes because as my oldest daughter starts to creep closer to those teenage years I thought it be fabulous if she could use a truly safe and natural way to keep her skin healthy. Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have learned a natural way to keep my skin healthy as a teenager?
I read about the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) on the Crunchy Betty website. I learned something. Like dissolves like. So oil is perfect to use to wash away oil. Hmm...
Now three children and many years later, my skin is on the dry side. It's like working with a whole new monster. I wondered if the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) would work for me. It sounded simple, but could it be too simple? Would all of the oil make my skin feel greasy and clog my pores? Would it meet the needs of my now dry skin?
There was only one way to find out. I was at the very end of my facial cleanser and moisturizer. So I figured there was no time like the present to try out the Oil Cleansing Method.
So here's what I did:

I started with organic extra virgin olive oil. I chose this oil simply because it was what I had in the house. Olive oil is full of anti-oxidants and vitamins, it's good for your body whether taken internally or externally. I filled my empty glass bottle from my previous cleanser 2/3 full with the organic olive oil.
I filled the last third of the bottle with castor oil.Choose a cold-pressed, hexane free oil. Castor oil is very nourishing for the skin and can help heal breakouts. It penetrates deep into the skin and works like many anti-aging products.
.I massaged about a tablespoon of the oil into my face in small circular movements. You can warm it up with your hands before applying to your face . Take your time using slight pressure to work the oil into your skin. This will remove make-up, dirt and oil. This part feels good, enjoy it, take your time.
Warm water is what you'll need next. Use a nice large cloth soaked in warm/hot water. Wring it out and place over your face. Ahh...this is my favorite part. I feel like I'm at the spa. The steam will open your pores. Let the cloth cool on your face. Gently wipe your skin clean from the oil, make-up and dirt. Repeat two or three times.
I then used a small amount of Coconut Oil or shea butter as a moisturizer. Depending on your skin, you may not feel the need to use additional moisturizer.
In the morning, just use warm water to steam clean your pores and moisturize if needed. No need for the oil to cleanse.

I wish I knew about the oil cleansing method much earlier. It is so simple, works wonders and I feel like I'm having a mini spa treatment each day. My skin didn't feel greasy and it didn't clog my pores.
In the very beginning it is possible to have a few breakouts while dirt blockages are being pushed from your pores. But then your skin quickly clears and you will have a lovely healthy glow to it. It started as an experiment, but now it's my daily routine, and I'm keeping it!.
The Oil Cleansing Method can easily be adapted to the needs of your skin. If your skin tends to be oily increase your ratio of castor oil, the drier your skin is then increase the olive oil. You can also experiment with different oils such as sunflower, jojoba and avocado oil to replace the olive oil. The castor oil is the essential part to success with this method.
I think this is a fabulous way to teach young girls ( and boys too!) to care for their skin. I've introduced this method to my daughter. She likes it because we do it together and she likes this spa time with mom. No need for artificial fragrances and toxic sudsing agents to poison their delicate skin. They can have fun with the process and make it their own. Essential oils can easily be added to this OCM for a lovely scent. Lavender or rose oil would smell lovely, don't you think?
No chemicals, all natural and organic skin care made from ingredients that you already have at home. What's even better than that is the result of healthy, glowing skin. I'm hooked!
Have you tried the Oil Cleansing Method? Tell me what you think!

Don't forget to ENTER our giveaway for a keepsake infant pearl bracelet, ends Saturday!

Photo by suzyq212

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

Make your own moisturizer! — Megan at boho mama whips up a winter skin-friendly moisturizer.
Cold Water Only — Brittany at The Pistachio Project talks about how you do not need hot water to wash laundry.
Family Cloth... Really?? — After lots of forethought and consideration, Momma Jorje finally decides to take the plunge with family cloth.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle : 5-5-5 Things A Day — Luschka from Diary of a First Child writes about decluttering her home in an attempt to create a gentler living space. She takes on a new project where she sets a goal of reducing, reusing and recycling every day.
Pros and cons of family cloth — Lauren at Hobo Mama would love to continue replacing paper products with family cloth … if she could only get over how damp she feels.
Craftily Parenting — Kellie at Our Mindful Life finds that crafting makes her a better parent.
Changes — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen couldn't choose just one area to experiment with, so she wrote a long post about all the fun changes initiated in her life!
Life without Internet: Not all it's Cracked up to Be — Adrienne at Mommying My Way tries to go a week without the Internet, only to realize a healthy dose of Internet usage really helps keep this stay-at-home mom connected.
My Progression to Raw Milk — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares her natural parenting progression all the way to trying raw milk.
mama's new little friend. — Sarah at Bitty Bird tries a menstrual cup to "green her period," and is pleasantly surprised when she falls in love with the product!
Before you throw it out, try homemade laundry soap! — Jennifer at Practical OH Mommy shows visual proof that homemade laundry soap is cheaper, easier, and works better than the store-bought chemicals!
Oil, Oil, No Toil, No Trouble — K from Very Simple Secret talks about her foray into the oil-cleansing method.
I Need a Hobby — Amanda at Let's Take the Metro couldn't decide which experiment to run, so she did them all.
7 days of macrobiotics for a balanced family — The Stones make a [successful] attempt to release the "holiday junking" with 7 days of macrobiotic meals to balance their bodies and souls. Elisabeth at Manic Mrs. Stone includes an explanation of macrobiotics.
Chemical Free Beauty Challenge — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction turned to natural alternatives for her daily beauty and cleaning routine, with great results.
Greening my Armpits!? My Green Resolution — Shannon at The Artful Mama talks about how she decided to give up her traditional antiperspirant and make the switch over to crystal deodorants and definitely isn't looking back!
Going Raw (for a while) — Jenny at Chronicles of a Nursing Mom shares her family's experience with raw food.
Do we get to eat gluten today? — Sheila at A Gift Universe has been trying to figure out if her son does better with or without gluten in his diet … but it's really hard to tell for sure.
Hippies Can Smell and Look Fabulous Too! — Arpita of Up, Down And Natural details her experience of going shampoo-free and overhauling her cosmetics to find the balance between feeling beautifully fabulous and honoring her inner hippie.
Our cupboards are full...but there's nothing to eat — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud takes on the challenge of chomping through the contents of her storecupboard rather than going shopping — but there's something that she just can't bring herself to do …
Elimination Experiment 3.0 — MudpieMama recounts the messy adventures of her baby daughter trying to be diaper free.
Family Cloth Trial — Amyables at Toddler in Tow talks about making and using family cloth wipes in the bathroom for the first time.
Taking a Hiatus — Amy at Peace 4 Parents shares how her experience of much less internet interaction affected her family and how it will change her approach in the future.
Trying Out the Menstrual Cup — Lindsey at an unschooling adventure ditches the tampons and gives menstrual cups a try.
Managing Food Waste in Our Home — Tired of the holiday waste, Robbie at Going Green Mama takes a weeklong focus on reducing food waste in her home, and learns some lessons that can take her through the new year.
Going Offline, Cloth Tissues, and Simplicity — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama muses over her time away from blogging and social networking. In addition, she shares her newfound love of cloth tissues and simplicity.

The Oil Cleansing Method — Erica at ChildOrganics explores an easy, organic and natural way to tackle skin care.
Experiments in Natural Family Living - Natural Toys! — Lani at Boobie Time enjoys the silence of natural toys and being more present with her son.
Discovering a New City and Organic Foods — Amy at A Secure Base describes her family's switch to and search for organic foods for one week.
My Experiment in Homemade Bread — Crunchy Con Mommy tried — and loved — baking her own homemade bread.
Menu Planning: Stop the Excuses — Gaby at Tmuffin stopped the excuses and started planning her weekly meals, drastically cutting her grocery budget and stress level and improving the quality of foods she fed her family.
My First Menstrual Cup — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children was pleasantly surprised with her first experience using a menstrual cup.
My Natural Beauty Regime — Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry shares the results of banishing cleanser and soaps from her bathroom, as well as a couple of natural homemade recipes that have worked well on her skin.
Unplugging and Creating a Rhythm: Our Experiment in Natural Family Living — Dionna at Code Name: Mama focused less on gadgets and spent more time with her family to create a healthy rhythm for the new year.
Experiments in Natural Family Living: 5 First Steps Toward Preparing for a Natural Birth — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama discusses how she tackled the pressing matter of how to begin preparing for a natural birth.
All you need is...vinegar! — Kristen at My Semi-Crunchy Life learns that one household product can replace all the cleaners in her cabinet.
Nope Nada Ixnay Negative Pass Decline — Zoie at TouchstoneZ finds out what shakes loose if she says, "YES!!" to anything anyone asks of her over the space of 10 days.
Reducing our exposure to toxins found in plastics — Syenna at Gently Parenting Twins throws out the melamine and BPA plastics which have been hanging around the kitchen for too long.
Duh! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment shares how she began the process of helping her 2-year-old son stop physically acting out.
Experiments in Natural Parenting: Starting, Stopping, and Gaining Perspective — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings explains how pregnancy brain interfered with her attempts to complete an experiment, but how she gained some interesting perspective as she started and stopped several.
From Experiment to Lifestyle — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares her experience avoiding processed foods for a month, and deciding to make it a permanent lifestyle change.
From Disposable Paper to Reusable Cloth – AGAIN! — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle stops flushing trees down the toilet and switches to the softest ever butt-wiping material: cloth.
Extra! Extra! Water Heater Turned Down, Mom Doesn't Notice! — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis finds an energy-saving experiment that's so easy she didn't even realize it was happening.
Worm Tea — CatholicMommy isn't sure how successful her worm bin will be, but she's having fun anyway.
Miles to Go ... — Rachael at The Variegated Life learns that when it comes to sleep debt, she's in real deep.
My Month With Water Kefir — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries experiments with a new fermented probiotic drink homemade in her own kitchen.
OMG Mom is Home... All Day Everyday: A Week-Long Experiment in Connecting — What a difference a week makes! Ana at Pandamoly is afforded a week off from work and takes the chance to reconnect and reattach with her 16-month-old son through an experiment in simply being there.
Creating Healthy Family Recipes — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares her experiment with healthy, gluten-free recipes and a chocolate muffin recipe that was created during the experiment.
Adventures in Alternative Haircare: No 'Poo — This guest post at Natural Parents Network from Amy at Anktangle chronicles a months-long journey into the world of no 'poo.
My Experiment in Natural Family Living: Natural Family Planning — Birth control options are seriously limited for those of us trying to live a little closer to the earth, so Mama Psalmist experiments with natural family planning.

Little Girls Pearls Giveaway-$55. value

noreply@blogger.com (IRK) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:12:00 +0000

The elegant pearl bracelet is a precious keepsake that features beautiful sterling silver accents.

* Genuine cultured freshwater pearls - approx. 4.5mm - 5.5mm

* Sterling silver daisy accents between pink pearls

* A fancy sterling silver accent after each third pearl

* Sturdy & flexible - strung on steel covered in soft white nylon

* Sturdy sterling silver lobster clasp

* Growth chain to be sure it will fit her as she grows

* Accent charms are available for personalizing her bracelet
What a wonderful way to commemorate the new baby's arrival than with a precious pearl baby bracelet. Little Girls' Pearls treasured keepsake baby jewelry is adorned with a sterling silver growth chain allowing the jewelry to grow with your little girl. Each baby jewelry piece is created sturdy so it will be around for generations to come. When your little girl has outgrown her precious baby jewelry, you can tuck it away for her wedding day. The baby jewelry can become baby-to-bride jewelry by simply asking her bridal florist to attach it inside her bridal bouquet using a new blue ribbon (something old, something new, something blue).

Thank you for your support of ChildOrganics. Let's celebrate with a giveaway.
This giveaway is for a beautiful bracelet for your darling from Little Girls Pearls valued at $55. USD. This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. The giveaway will close on Saturday, January14th. This is my first giveaway using Rafflecopter. I hope it makes it easier for everyone, please let me know what you think of it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway