Eighty degrees in March, and nothing is at rest. The flowers are up, stretching their arms after nary a winter’s nap. The magnolia has exploded into blossom way before its time, dropping its once-precious petals onto the ground where they turn slipper and slimy like a million mini banana peels. After she sat down on…
Mediocre would be good enough
No one has to convince me not to try to be perfect. Okay, I do have perfectionist tendencies in some areas, but when I read about mothers having epiphanies that they don’t need to keep the house spotless, I feel like I am living on some other planet. One with lots of spots. My floors…
Scattered tea
It makes me sick not to write. There are so many interviews pieces I want to finish, ideas I want to share, moments I want to record. Even healthy food putrifies if it stays in you too long. To not write is intellectual constipation. It hurts. And it stinks. But I feel like I have…
Let them eat lunch, from home
Eating close to the source is something I’ve been working toward for several years, ever since I started trying to get my health on track in the face of major digestive issues, infertility, and Graves’ disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism). I was almost embarrassed to request Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life…
The pull of escape, the pull of retreat
This time of year is always good for smacking me around. Even on a sunny day like today, when the quince and camellia are blooming and you swear it can’t be January it’s so warm, winter is in my bones. And my mom’s too. Right around this time in 1995, while I was doing my…
Now is the time for now
The instant I read the words, I regretted picking up my BlackBerry that one last time before going to bed. A well-meaning relative of mine had read my recent post about my health and my leaky gut problem and told me: “This is not the time to volunteer for things.” She intended to point out…
Mother’s Self-Renewal workshop begins
When a two-hour workshop that requires almost an hour of driving leaves you feeling recharged like you had a nap, I’d say it lives up to its “self-renewal” title! Today was the first meeting of a “Monthly Mother’s Self-Renewal Group” based on Renee Trudeau’s book, The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. We centered, we talked, we…
I have a daughter. That means a GIRL
Baby girl has been a little under the weather, so we’ve been spending more time together — less babysitter, no outings. There were lots of things I intended to accomplish in the past two days, but many of them had to just go out the window. Or, rather, she sat on my desk in front…
My gut, she leaks
I wouldn’t have even bothered to do the test if I didn’t think I had digestive problems. I know I do. But some of the information I got from my labs this week was information I didn’t even know could be found. It’s been 11 months since I went on the GAPS diet, which has…
Support wetlands in schools!
Campbell Elementary School in south Arlington is hoping to remedy a swampy (and sometimes icy) problem in its playground and turn the area into a wetlands learning lab. The school is a county-wide program that utilizes a hands-on curriculum called Expeditionary Learning. The wetlands learning lab will give students lots of opportunities to observe wildlife…
A day of SAHMing
Yesterday there was no childcare or playdate. Just a lot of rain. I truly felt like a stay-at-home mom, like back in the day before I took on freelance work or started up a chapter of Holistic Moms. Some of yesterday was full of giggles. Some had me wanting to rip out my hair. I…
Staying healthy this winter (with a giveaway!)
For me, food is medicine. If health is a priority, take out foods that don’t work for your body — because of allergies, because they rev you up (like caffeine or sugar), because they draw you down (like alcohol) or because they add to inflammation (like sugar and a lot of the Standard American Diet)…
Life in a new light
Fall’s draperies have fallen and are mulching on the ground. The woods behind our house are quieter, the tall trees naked of leaves even as deer nibble the green undergrowth. I am astounded by the light. It pours in now, like sleepy eyes that have just awakened. It comes at funny times and at new…
Keeping up with the news (when your baby won’t sleep)
Homebirth, school lunch, small farmers, Wise Traditions conference, Blogalicious, that bee sting I got the other day … there is so much to write about. But when you spend close to two hours trying to get a baby to nap for 30 minutes, well, it’s tough to get it all in. My apologies for all…
Finding beauty in autumn
Today my son stayed home from school because he looked like hell after our weekend trip to Dallas for the Weston A. Price Foundation Wise Traditions conference. He was beat. Shortly before we got home last night at about 8:00, he had a series of sneezing fits. I knew the prognosis for a child-free Monday…
On eating, blogging, and parenting
Being one of some 1500 traditional food enthusiasts here at the Weston A. Price Foundation Wise Traditions conference is humbling and exhilarating. So many people have regained health or healed their children through real food. The stories at the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS diet) lecture alone were amazing. It’s easy in mainstream circles to…
Wise Traditions 2011: Day Two
One in a series of reports from the Weston A. Price Foundation’s 2011 Wise Traditions conference in Dallas. Busy Crunchy-Chewy mama is processing and writing as fast as she can! See the first day post and Washington Times Communities article. Healthy notes from Day Two: I took a walk in the brisk morning on the…
Dreaming of Down’s: From Left to Write Book Club Day
A few months before my daughter was born, in my sleep, a vision came into my head of a child with a crowded mouth of ill-fitting teeth. Then I heard the words, “She has Down’s.” My eyes popped open. It was the middle of the night, and my 4-year-old son lay sleeping next to me,…
Kids in the kitchen (better late than never!)
I did not get a post written in time to participate in the November Blog Carnival of Natural Parenting in part because I feel like I no longer do such a great job at getting “kids in the kitchen,” this month’s theme. We were great at it when my son was two and three, and…
Mindful holiday prep
Hop on over to TheDCMoms.com to see my Green post today on making thoughtful plans as you head into holiday hosting. Let’s see if I can take my own advice this time.