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Happy Fourth of July! Happy celebration of the independence of our country! Try explaining that to a three-year-old. — England used to be in charge, but America thought they were mean, so then America had a revolution and became independent. But why were they mean? They made America do things they didn’t want to do. So did America have time out? Time out for not listening? Um. No. Well. Kinda. Adults do weird things. — We’ll be spending the holiday with our dearest family friends, the mother of who was recently diagnosed with cancer. It’s treatable and she’s so upbeat, worried more about the rest of us than herself, of course. Please pray for her & everyone around her as she goes through treatment. We’ll also spend the holiday celebrating the birth of my brother & sister-in-law’s son!!!!! AA and I are going to become the proud Godparents in just about a month. The little boy was born July 3, and is perfectly healthy and big! My brother’s deployed so this time has been a hardship on his little family, and the greater family in general. So excited little baby boy is here, finally, earthside, and everything went well. Celebrate your freedoms this holiday. And tune in again next week for a review of my acupuncture treatments (ah-mazing), a new sponsor—sneak peak on the sidebar, and a post on food. Or maybe on surviving a three year old. Or maybe on having more children–not pregnant yet! Freedom to have your…
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If you’re wondering how low-income moms can have doulas, childbirth education, breastfeeding support, yoga, and acupuncture, look no further. Everyday Miracles provides this and more to their moms, truly facilitating miracles everyday. Breastfeeding rate of 97% for over 8.5 months? Babywearing and carrying? Empowered births? I was blown away by talking with Debby and Mary. Please share with others about their important work and contribute slings, strollers, pack & plays, cloth diapers, maternity clothing, baby clothing, and good old fashioned monetary donations to keep these moms supported and loved. Find them on the web and facebook. And come to their 10 year birthday party on July 11th! —- Tell me about how you, Debby, met you, Mary, and how Everyday Miracles began. We were working at Unity Hospital, both doing doula work as newly trained doulas. We saw there was such a need beyond the hospital, beyond the county lines, beyond the insurance. We sat at a bagel shop one day and said How hard would it be to start your own nonprofit? Good thing we didn’t know! Because we didn’t know, we had such lofty ideals and people helped us along the way. We took it one step at a time, and it’s just been exploding ever since. When did you first find the space? How did you build it up? We got our nonprofit status in June of 2003. We’ve been in existence 10 years now. We worked out of our homes for the first seven. We knew it…
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My ah-mazing sister, best friend, and organic artisan runs Brooklyn Herborium with her partner, Emma. Their product lines include holistic skincare & home cleansing. We all use ’em everyday. Me. The kids. The man. My parents. My siblings. Anyone who washes their hands in our sink. Anyone who’s lucky enough to get a little gift slipped to them by Molly. She & Emma double-handedly run this company whilst juggling their own babes. And they are working on opening their space in Brooklyn so you can get treatments, products, and loveliness all in one spot. They hand-make it all, through traditional processes with all-organic and natural products. The effect? Something beautiful, safe, and soothing to any skin type. Brooklyn Herborium is a new blog sponsor—-> looking to the bar on the right, peeps. And I received a Momma Moon Collection from my sissie to review for the blog. Even though I’m not an expecting mama (yet), I’m still a mama whose skin is woefully neglected and who’s still nursing. I need all the skincare help I can get. Find them on the web, blogging, facebook, pinterest, & twitter. ——– Here’s the rundown: See the Momma Moon Collection on her site. It includes Reap Your Wild Oats, Massage in a Bottle, and Full Moon Facial Oil. The collection provides a sweet discount for the trifecta collection in lieu of individual purchases. 1) Reap Your Wild Oats. The description on her site is as follows: Reap your Wild Oats is our organic, gluten-free grain-based facial…
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It is mindblowningering that three years ago today I met our son. My birth story is here, for all you birthy-world friends who love my blah blahing about unmediated labor. But the real story has been the last three years of raising him and watching him become him. That story is really the backbone of Whole Parenting Family, a project I began after culminating all this knowledge, and so, like any new mom who’s a writer, I started a blog. To share my new knowledge! To edumacate! To change the world! Really, it’s about my son, my daughter, my husband, our garden, our dinners, our cries, our laughs. And about yours too. I love hearing and sharing and connecting. Thank you for caring about my family, and know we care about you too. SuperBoy is sensitive, bright, tantrum-prone, particular, hot-tempered, and a snuggler. He’s not easy going. He’s not particularly difficult. He’s your typical three year old who wants to be an altar boy and baseball player when he grows up, but also atypical in so many ways. He’s taught us who he is through our trials and errors. And we love him for it all the mostest. A ten day trip home for my sister, her husband, and daughter ends today–much sorrow on all fronts on that score. The cousins had a delighted and delightful time playing, sharing, shrieking, flower picking, mashing food around, and generally loving each other. So glad you were with us, V! These photos are…
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The downside for my kids of me being a lawyer: (Well, let’s make that plural. Downsides.) 1) I cross-examine thoroughly. Oh, really? You say you went potty? When did you go? Did you flush? Did you take off your undies? Was the light on in the bathroom? Did you turn it on? Did you turn it off? Yes. Yes to which part. All of it. Really? You just told me you didn’t go and you didn’t flush. . . . 2) My mind is finely tuned to root out discrepancies and inconsistencies. Go AWAY, MAMA!!! You just asked me to help you. No! NO! NO!! Come baaaaaaaack. Come baaaaaaack. You’re being inconsistent. I’m not being inconsient. You need to pick a side and stick with it. I don’t want to be sticky. . . . 3) I state the rule and its applications. The rule is you have to share. That means you have to share with your sister, me, your cousin, and your friends. What about Dada? He doesn’t count because you like to share with him. 4) I use parallel citations as persuasive authority. Can’t you say BEEP like Mrs. Anderson so I can have a turn? No. Your sister isn’t done with her turn. Mrs. Anderson gives nice turns. Mrs. Anderson actually told me to give long turns to children who are being nice to their brothers, and short turns to brothers who are mean to their sisters. Oh. 5) I correct unwanted behavior with forward thinking…
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The three amigos–my niece is in town and the three kid are having so much fun they don’t know what to do! I don’t know about you (yes, yes I do because you’re reading this right now when you should be working dutifully, chasing children, doing laundry, or making important business phone calls), but I waste time with the internet. It’s like my computer & IPhone are time suckers. Or drainpipes. Or funnels. And my time runs down them whilst I assure myself I’m productively touching base with all my little spots in the electronic universe. A few new resolutions have helped me, at home mom, greatly over the past few weeks, and I hope they can help you too. (What would probably help you best is just shutting.me.off.right.now.) Those of you at work, well, that used to be me, but now I have no advice for you other than to get your work done as fast as you can so you can veg on your screen in the off-hours. It always made my work day less productive, feel longer, and I’d be more sluggish to have all the extra stimuli of the outside world. 1) Have a goal in mind for being on your computer/screen/smart phone. I make a quick list of what I’m going to accomplish in the X amount of time I have before I have to go on to another task. This is a sub category of my running weekly & daily lists of things to…
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