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Have you been sick off & on all spring? And now into summer time / disease time with the “crud”? That nasty harping respiratory thing. Here’s your solution, compliments of my sweet sister Molly whose company Brooklyn Herborium is just marvelous. Can one ever rave about one’s wonderful family enough? One cannot. After having a serious infection that landed me BACK in the maternity ward at the hospital we just birthed at, two weeks later, the entire family is now slewn (slayed?) with a cold. A nasty one. Looks like I’m going to be making some of this! Follow her instructions: Materials 6 quarts of water Elderberries Dried Ginger (or ginger powder) Directions Combine in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Take care not to over boil as it can damage plant material. Lower heat, uncover and simmer for about 3 hours. For a Daily Elixir: Reduce by 1/2 and strain For Medicinal Strength: Reduce by 1/4 and strain Remove from heat (We don’t want to cook the honey) and add Honey (4-8 oz depending upon how sweet you want it to be). Usage Take Elderberry Syrup in small doses between meals. When feeling the start of a cold, take a shot glass at a time as needed. Combines wonderfully with Lemon & Ginger Tea and Garlic Honey to bolster the immune system and avoid contracting the cold! Buy it from her here!
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SuperDad AA with our Godson and SweetPea back in February. So it must be that I’m on some kind of a roll! Another humbling opportunity to guest post, this time for Verily Magazine, a new magazine for the modern woman. Let’s just say everything on there is beautiful, real, and makes me want to abandon my wardrobe and poor culinary skillz and only follow their advice. On everything. Speaking of advice, I wrote an advice column on relationships for them: 5 signs your boyfriend will be a great dad. How do I know what the signs are and if they’re valid? Well, I did marry Mr. Perfect and he is Mr. Dad of the Millenium, but more importantly I dated a bit and I talk A LOT with my friends on this topic. Isn’t that the only thing girls talk about? Aside from world peace, chocolate, and Downton Abbey? My five signs are he listens, he is patient, he is sacrificial, he has a sense of humor, and he is a hard worker. My sister Molly says the fourth (humor) should be number 1, but really they’re all number 1. Five number 1 traits! Come over to Verily Magazine and plan to hunker down and stay for a while. It’s a glamorous glorious experience. Read it . . . here.
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Not my little boy–whine? Never. (oh, yeah, she does too but a 2 year old has nothing on a 4 year old.) Lies. Total lies. He’s almost 4 and has discovered whining a-new. It’s like the cloud burst open, the sun shone down, it’s baseball season, and whining is freshly on his palate. It’s killing me. The tone. The looks. The crocodile tears. The insistence of it. The solemn assurance that this one instance is the worst in his life. ABSOLUTE WORST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN to him. She touched his book? I can’t take it. Besides the fact that it’s a terrible unappealing habit for a little boy, I’m wearing our newborn BabyLoves in the carrier and chasing down the big kids. It’s (duh) exhausting. Thusly, I’m sharing with you my tried & true {in the last month, so take & leave with those handfuls of salt} methods of cutting down on the whining. 1) Ignore. When you can. Simply pretend you cannot understand the language of a whiner. I may actually hum to myself, bustling around the room, saying something like “gosh, I wish he wasn’t whining. I don’t understand him when he whines.” I might even lean over to his sister and say “can you understand him? I just can’t.” That really drive him insane. Maybe even insane enough to cut the tone down. 2) Immediate consequence without talk talk talking. Remember what my great & wise friend Jamie {Behave Your Best} said about not talking your…
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When I finally gave up any expectations, planned activities again, left the house wearing yoga pants, this little baby boy decided to come out, join us, release me from the bonds of pregnancy, birth, whatever you want to call it. Nearly 42 weeks, and yet his arrival wasn’t even the biggest surprise of all . . . that would be his size! Nine pounds, 15 ounces, almost a 15 inch head, and almost 22 inches long. Big. Beautiful. Baby. I’ve shared SuperBoy and SweetPea‘s birth biopics. Now that you’ve braced yourself for another rendition of unmediated labor, his story: ////// As I had given up on ever giving birth, late last week I decided it was time to resume life. I scheduled playdates, knit dates, went to see the Matisse exhibit at the MIA {amazing! too bad last weekend was the end of it! his work is stunning, of course, and the Baltimore Museum is lucky to have such a wide-ranging collection!}. I even went clothing shopping with my sister for a few summer outfits for her! I waddled around Grand Avenue, determined to just focus on our induction date at 42 weeks on the nose, and expect nothing else. Saturday was a normal day in the life of a largely pregnant woman. I cooked & tidied. My mom and I went furniture hunting and found a few great pieces! The kids went to the park with AA. I planned on going to the very early morning mass Sunday just…
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This is our 23rd guest post in the Birth & Parenting Series! The other 22 guest writers’ stories may be found here. Contact me (wholeparenting@gmail.com) anytime if you’d like to share your story of your child’s arrival, or a parenting perspective. This girlfriend shares her story of her harrowing birth experience of her sweet daughter. My heart races along as I read it and is filled with relief and joy at the ending. I hope you find the beauty in her story as well. I feel blessed to be able to share it! She blogs over at Mom of My Word–follow her and hear her journey. —- One year ago, the Lord gave us the gift of sweet Cadence. When I first began to write this story, I asked myself the crazy question, “Is it silly to ask God to bring suffering into our lives because it helps us see him more?” After experiencing the joys that rocked my world one year ago, I hope to be able to say, in the words of Dr. John Piper, “Bring it on.” Two weeks before Cadence was born, we sat in the sanctuary of Bethlehem Baptist Church to hear Jason Meyer, our new Pastor for Preaching & Vision, describe the surprising road that led him to what was initially an undesired role. As he challenged what God ordained to be his path to become our new pastor, God challenged him: “What if this is how you get more of me?” We remembered…
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A girlfriend from the natural birthing & parenting community around here shares her incredibly interesting perspective on how her little one is such a communicator. Love this revival of our Birth & Parenting Series. This is our 22nd guest post in the Birth & Parenting Series! The other 22 guest writers’ stories may be found here. Contact me (wholeparenting@gmail.com) anytime if you’d like to share your story of your child’s arrival, or a parenting perspective. Maybe it’s because he’s part Italian, probably because we talk a lot? Sam, our 15 month old boy is definitely a communicator. A typical day with Sam does not leave room for much guessing of what he needs. He will be clapping his hands, meaning… I want: … point (this); hands to mouth (water/food); hands up (pick me up); tap tap (help with this); hands together (more): tap tap between legs (sit/play with me) and so on. I could probably teach him a new sign everyday, but we are working on words now and mama doesn’t get enough sleep yet to be that inspired. Our families are both amazed and terrified as we have a tiny dominator ordering all of us around. Ofcourse he doesn’t always get his way, but who can ignore a simple request from a cute little baby boy, when it’s asked so nicely? Apart from the ‘useful’ hand gestures Sam has figured out how to communicate with strangers, woman mostly (did I mention he’s part Italian). There is the usual smiling to…
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