I’m a lucky woman. I get to do a lot of cool things. This morning, I got to take my kids to their great public school, an Expeditionary Learning school, where children start every day Monday through Thursday with a morning meeting and start every Friday with a community meeting. I love that they see…
Holistic Health
Taking steps toward wellness
It’s nice to end the day feeling better than you started. My plan was to get to the Stress-Less Expo, organized by Gainesville Holistic Health Center with the support of the Tony Robbins‘ team and Dahn Yoga, among others, to begin raising awareness and funds for the Whole-listic Children’s Foundation‘s project to create a holistic…
On blogging and living (simultaneously)
Everything changes, but what is important never does. That is the biggest lesson I’ve learned from parenting, and I think if I work hard enough, I can apply it to blogging as well. When I was a high school English teacher, back before I became a mom, I was constantly busy reading papers, or thinking…
Believing in work (and parenting): Femworking conference interview and reflections
What a delightful conversation I had last week with Kelley Sanabria, founder of Femworking, LLC and Nicole Dash, author of Tiny Steps Mommy blog and the co-chair with Kelley of the upcoming Blogger and Small Business Conference taking place in Arlington on October 26. They offered a discount for covering the conference for TheDCMoms.com, and…
Life purpose manifesto: Why I want to start a business
One step forward, two steps back. After yesterday’s post on my health journey and optimism for the future, I hit something of a wall last night that had me questioning myself and the purpose that had seemed so crystal clear just hours earlier. I tearfully emailed my energy work practitioner at 11:30 p.m. when, wide-eyed…
Reflections on the healing journey: summer into fall
“You’ve come a long way,” said the Total Body Modification practitioner as I listed my areas of improvement along with my concerns. When I started seeing her in the spring, I was struggling, as noted in “Morning with a High-Maintenance Mama.” I’d come out of a bad winter cold and a digestive crisis but was…
Breastfeeding and birth celebrated in book, film, conferences
Birthing and breastfeeding have been on my mind a lot lately for a woman whose days are normally filled with talk of baseball and potty time. My seven-year-old son weaned four years ago, and my daughter, who just turned three, lost her access to my breasts at 22 months when my health was just struggling…
Summer events for the green and healthy family
All the events that are fit for green and healthy families this summer into fall 2013. Share what I’ve missed and I’ll add it! Friday, July 5: Book Release and Signing Party for Beyond Bacon by Paleo Parents bloggers Stacy and Matt, Red Apron Butcher, 8298 Glass Alley, Fairfax, VA, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 17:…
Paleo Parents pen new book, Beyond Bacon
My daughter learned how pigs sound from our trip to Polyface Farms just after she turned two. Since then, every time she’s gleefully snorted, I smile knowing she gleaned that skill right from the source, frolicking right alongside the pasture-raised pigs at Joel Salatin’s farm in Swoope, Virginia. Maybe she’d first picked it up in…
June events for the green and healthy family
Here is a round-up of June 2012 events for your green and healthy family. Leave a comment for others I should add! I hope that in May you submitted your school’s information to the International School Grounds Alliance so they can document what is happening in schoolyards around the world. See http://greenschoolyards.org/ for more info!…
Parenting in the land of compromise
Welcome to the June 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting in Theory vs. in Reality 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 are sharing how their ideas and methods of parenting have changed. *** The surprises…
A snapshot of health: tired adrenals
In the past few weeks, I’ve had to cancel some appointments for my own healing because my children were sick and I didn’t have childcare. I got so down, I canceled even more that I could have made; I got overwhelmed and started to question how I was ever going to feel better. It felt…
May events for the green and healthy family
Looking for events for your natural-minded family? Here’s an evolving sampling of what’s on tap in May. Before the end of the month: Be sure to submit information about your school’s outdoor space to the International School Grounds Alliance. Register your school at http://greenschoolyards.org/. They’d like to know the name of your school and what…
April events for green and healthy families
April in the DC area is bursting at the seams with events to help you get connected to the earth and focus on your health Here’s a quick look at some of the great offerings for natural-minded families around DC this month. April 13: NoVA Outside Early Childhood Outside Conference: Lens on Outdoor Learning, 9:00-1:00,…
Morning with a high-maintenance mama
If “high-maintenance” means “requiring a lot of attention,” put my picture by the definition. With all the things I’m having to do these days just to make my body function (or to figure out what that even means in this shifting landscape of health), I feel like my children’s lives are passing me by, and…
Making the scary or different okay
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…
Yoga as birthday gift
I turned 40 on Monday. On my birthday eve — last Sunday — I had the most beautiful yoga class with a small group of friends. I walked in anxious and grumpy and walked out grateful and open-hearted. This weekend, I am off on a retreat through Beloved Yoga at the lovely Kent Manor Inn….
Reading is fundamental (and so is writing)
I did not go to my child’s school to read in my pajamas today. Does this make me a bad parent? I’m going to vote no. I did have his dad pick him up some new non-flame-retardant-sprayed pj’s at Hanna Andersson yesterday (for the “it’s organic and in the mall” price far above Costco rates)…
A retreat and a reboot
Parenting really does make you tired. That’s the conclusion I reached after being away from my family for 32 hours and returned full of pep. For someone who’s had one of the toughest emotional months in her adult life recently and some physical challenges, it’s saying a lot to feel so good about the weekend….
Chameleon season, in weather and in health
Something bizarre this way comes. And goes. Last week was the most bizarre week in the atmosphere outside my windows — and also the one in my body and heart. It went from a chilly Sunday to a rainy Monday (after the school system made a super snafu and called for a snow day) to…