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Garden :: Planting Flowers in June
An excuse for many would-be gardeners this time of year is that they just missed out and will have to wait till next spring to get their seeds planted and gardens tended. Well stop making poor excuses! June, and even July, can still be optimum times to plant the right kinds of flowers to make your gardens burst with color right into the dog days of summer, and it gives you a great chance to prep for next spring as well. Rely on Annuals If you’re late to the dance then bring annuals along as your date. These flowers that grow, bloom, and die in one season are perfect for…
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Inspirational Mom :: WordGirl Creator Dorothea Gillim
I love how life can be so serendipitous (a word you would find on WordGirl). While walking to breakfast at the PBS annual meeting that I attended this month as part of their PBS Kids Ambassador Program, I happened to be walking next to a woman who was also going to breakfast. We started talking and turns out she is the Executive Producer of Curious George but she explained that her “baby” is WordGirl. I literally stopped in my tracks as we are big fans of WordGirl! I told her how my sister-in-law dressed up my niece as Captain Huggyface and her older daughter as WordGirl one year for Halloween. It was…
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Three Things to Teach Your Kids About Being Mindful
Three things to teach your kids about being mindful “Mindfulness” is about being in touch with the present moment — paying attention to what is happening now – your thoughts, your feelings and your way of being. Practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for creating a sense of well-being, for managing stress, and for creating overall good health. Therefore, it is an important skill to teach our kids. There are three things to teach your kids about being mindful: First teach them to look for the “grungies”. Grungies are “negative feelings” such as fear, anxiety, frustration, and worry which often come from thoughts about the past…
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Recipe :: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers: As a kid, one of our family’s stand-by dinners was stuffed bell peppers. My mom learned how to make them from my dad who learned from his ma so this is a true family recipe passed down not by written recipe but by lessons in the kitchen. The peppers were green and stuffed with a ground beef, onion, white rice and chili powder concoction. While the stuffing itself was tasty, especially because of the grated cheddar on top, the bell pepper for me was merely a throw away container. In typical picky eater fashion, I wouldn’t touch it. The meal wasn’t complete if there wasn’t…
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Community :: Honoring Memorial Day
Many of us will be celebrating Memorial Day with our friends and family and enjoying some down time. I plan to relax, pick up a bit (if I am so inspired) and enjoy this time with my family. But I also plan to talk to my daughter in an age-appropriate manner about the true meaning of Memorial Day and why we celebrate the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. We are fortunate that the men in our immediate family who fought in previous wars (WWII Veterans, Vietnam War Veterans) came back home, but it is so very important to honor all those who did…
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Wellness :: Kids and Healthy Food Choices
Being a parent can a frustrating struggle, especially when you are engaged in a battle to get your rambunctious toddler, child, or preteen to eat healthier foods. We’ve all been there at one time or another. At the end of our rope and still the little tyke screws up his nose at the nutritious peas that you have provided him. Then comes the demand for curly fries cooked in the deep fryer. Fear not—if you begin young enough—there are methods to instill a healthy eating mindset. Below I will provide some methods that can be used to guide your children toward healthier foods—as well as a few methods that…
