Awareness
-
Play :: 8 Fun Earth Day Activities
Tips to Celebrate Earth Day: Earth Day is on April 22nd this year. This day is a wonderful opportunity to share with our kids the beauty of nature, and the importance of preserving and respecting our environment. It’s so much fun to get our kids involved in the natural world, or even bring a bit of nature inside. Here are 8 fun Earth Day activities to enjoy with your kids. Grow some seedlings: This is really fun and something I do regularly with my children. At the moment my son has a little pot on his bedroom windowsill with baby carrots growing in it. He started by…
-
Family :: An Interview with My Grown-up Daughter
Instead of reading this mom’s memories and reflections on what it was like to raise my children, I thought you, dear readers, might be more interested in my grown up daughter’s perspective. So I worked up a few questions and sat down with my daughter Molly in what I told her was a “no holds barred” interview on growing up with me as her mom. To be honest, I knew she liked me so it wasn’t much of a risk, but I was surprised at her favorite memories (some seemingly insignificant moments), and what were the most important ways I helped her get through her tough middle school years.…
-
Love :: To Treat Ourselves with Gentle, Tender Love
I am in a program to get a masters degree in counseling psychology. The eventual result will be licensure as a marriage family therapist. It’s exciting, and painful work! I am blessed in that the school I attend is one that takes an in-depth perspective towards wellness. For example, this past weekend our psychopathology class, in which clinical mental illnesses are studied, looked at factors that focus on family dynamics and emotional, and physical health, as well as what might be called spiritual factors. It is for this reason that I chose to go back to school–to receive an education that is counter to the way that wellness is commonly practiced…
-
Gardening Styles :: The Japanese Garden
The cascade long ago ceased to roar, But we continue to hear The murmur of its name. The Simplicity and Beauty of The Japanese Garden: A diverse environment harkening to bygone years, the Japanese garden provides a tranquil landscape to garden wanderers. Pristine in keeping through extreme pruning techniques, it offers the avid gardener a challenge in form and design. A 1,000 year old evolutionary process, the garden features numerous styles from the strolling gardens of recreation to the dry stone Zen gardens used for religious purposes. In its earliest forms, the Japanese garden was featured as a sacred place and commonly marked by pebbles. During the 6th century and…
-
Parenting: Are You a Dream-Stealer?
“Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.” ~Marsha Norman Are you a dream-stealer? Do we as parents put limitations on our kids because of our insecurities, self-doubt and other related issues we had when we were growing up? Do we start to allow the negativity from ignorant thoughts of others to creep into our minds and put a fence around our abilities as parents? Surround Yourself with Positive Role Models: A very powerful leader and role-model said to me recently, if you want better things for yourself and to be a better person, surround yourself with others who you believe are better (at something)…
-
Kids :: Teaching Your Kids to be a Bird Sleuth
Springtime brings new life and chirping birds among other things. I just love to look out my window and see our resident hummingbirds stop by for a visit. My daughter and I went to the nursery last week specifically looking for plants to attract these adorable little birds and hope to have even more visitors stop by! Our family likes to go on nature walks and lately I have been able to get my six year old more interested in the birds we come across on our walks. This got me thinking about how to further her education about nature and birds and in my research I came across a great organization that…
