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Crunchy-Chewy Mama

Living naturally, most of the time.

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children

Who makes a mother’s day successful?

May 13, 2020 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Am I the only one who doesn’t find the efforts of everyone else’s children on Mother’s Day heartwarming? Not gonna happen around these parts, I think. It’s not like I’ve never gotten any appreciation from my children. For the most part they’re good kids. But celebrations are not something we’ve ever done well. And now…

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Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: children, coparenting, mother's day, parenting

What we teach our children, and ourselves

September 9, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

When I was halfway through my first pregnancy, I found myself startled to realize that I would be giving birth to a white male. After all the time I had spent teaching about race, gender and class privilege, I wondered how I could ensure that my son wouldn’t grow up feeling entitled. Last spring, as…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, Featured Tagged With: activism, children, Dakota Access Pipeline, education, environmental justice, priorities, race, social justice, white privilege

No expiration date on learning or growing

November 7, 2015 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Today I led a meditation at a health & wellness fair at my children’s school! This happened because last year, after I attended the first National Kids Yoga Conference, I suggested to the principal that mindfulness activities at school be considered, in general and in particular using the wetlands learning lab we built three years ago….

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: acceptance, calm, challenge, children, meditation, meltdown, mindfulness, modeling, National Kids Yoga Conference, peace, practice, priorities, school, yoga, zumba

To BlogHer, or not to BlogHer

June 6, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I’d already lost count of which snow day it was when I bought a registration ticket for BlogHer ’14 in San Jose, California, the annual blogging conference’s 10th anniversary year. There had been so many days that the weather had forced me to scrap plans to work toward the launch of my new site or…

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Filed Under: Featured, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: adrenal health, alone time, belief, Blog Her '14, BlogHer, career, children, conference, confidence, cost, family, finances, health, priorities, profession, responsibilities, travel, writing, writing mother

Finding space for moving pieces

February 27, 2014 by Jessica 1 Comment

I appreciate that parenting is an amazing opportunity for personal growth, but I kind of feel like my psyche is about to explode. I can’t say that it’s my brain, because that would imply a boast about smartifying, which I’m decidedly not. And I can’t say that it’s my heart exactly, because it’s not the…

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Filed Under: Featured, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: alf, Brain, children, craniosacral therapy, dentistry, family, healing journey, health, holistic dentistry, journey, marriage, orthodontia, osteopathy, play, priorities, puzzles, relationships, time, time management, wellness, Weston A. Price, work, working mother

City mouse, country mouse, suburban mom

November 20, 2013 by Jessica 3 Comments

It’s been a lifelong desire of mine to live many different existences at one time. I wanted to be a jet-setting child actress and also live a life of quiet contemptation from my perch in the treehouse. I wanted to be a busy, driven academic and also a party girl. Today, I want to be…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: books, Brian McGrory, children, city, conflict, country, family, From Left to Write, homestead, marriage, priorities, reading, relationship, relationships, single life, travel, urban

April events for green and healthy families

April 11, 2013 by Jessica 1 Comment

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,…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health Tagged With: activities, Arcadia Farm, babies, birth, Campbell Wetlands Festival, children, DC Birth and Babies Fair, DC Metro NoVA, Discovery Woods, Earth Day, Earth Day DC, events, families, family, festival, gardening, green, Holistic Moms, Northern Virginia, NoVA Outside, Potomac Crescent Waldorf School, schools, spring, Take Back Your Health Conference

Not so serious

November 25, 2012 by Jessica Leave a Comment

My husband and I have both been seeing a holistic doctor who prescribes homeopathic remedies and other things to address emotional energy patterns and blockages. There is a brand of sprays (by SafeCare Rx) for which he tested to need “Serious,” and I tested to need “Grief.” I can’t speak for him, but I do…

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Filed Under: Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: children, cynicism, joy, laughter, NaBloPoMo, poetry, priorities, toddler

Day Two on the road

November 18, 2012 by Jessica Leave a Comment

So tonight it’s Monopoly I’m missing to write, but I’ll be brief with this, inspired by our visit to the Indianpolis Children’s Museum, and as I noticed as I wrote, the cadence of some children’s book I haven’t read in a long time. Maybe Freight Train? From two to twelve Orange ball Rock wall Kids…

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: children, cousins, family, Indianapolis Children's Museum, museum, NaBloPoMo, nostalgia, parenting, poetry

Flashback

November 16, 2012 by Jessica Leave a Comment

After a few days of coughing and sniffles, and a lot more of them last night, my son declared today that he didn’t want to go to school. We couldn’t blame him. Since I’m taking him and his sister on a plane tomorrow where they will spend 3.5 fun-filled days (and possibly late nights) with…

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: children, family, growing up, NaBloPoMo, nostalgia, poetry, priorities

On the road, again and again

August 2, 2012 by Jessica 1 Comment

For the last month, it’s been neglect the blog or neglect the children. Or both. Today I am at BlogHer ’12, so it’s the kids who are getting none of mama’s love. They are, however, getting thoroughly entertained and spoiled by their cousins and aunt and uncle. Really, I think my son may learn to…

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: BlogHer, BlogHer '12, children, family, health, home, house, priorities, renovation, travel

Money could buy me … a clone?

October 11, 2011 by Jessica 17 Comments

Welcome to the October Carnival of Natural Parenting: Money Matters 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 have shared how finances affect their parenting choices. Please read to the end to find a list of links to…

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Filed Under: Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: attachment parenting, childcare, children, health, mental wellness, parenting, priorities

The dental-health connection

September 28, 2011 by Jessica 2 Comments

I’d always been intrigued by the lectures I saw Dr. Felix Liao giving about the connection between dental health and whole body health, but his Whole Health Dental Center just seemed too far away.  Then I noticed someone posting on the Northern Virgina Families for Natural Living list that his office had moved inside the…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: bite, children, dental health, Felix Liao, health, Holistic Health, jaw, Take Back Your Health Conference, TMJ, Whole Health Dental Center

Interview with nutritionist Dr. Keith Ayoob

July 13, 2011 by Jessica 1 Comment

I was invited to participate in an interview recently with Dr. Keith Ayoob, a nutritionist who appears regularly on “Good Morning America,” CNN, and ABC news and who writes for SchoolMenu.com. One of my favorite articles of his is called “D Pressed;” it highlights the importance of Vitamin D to mental health.  Anyone familiar with…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: breakfast, cereal, children, Dr. Keith Ayoob, fat, food, grains, health, nutrition, obesity, organic, protein, Vitamin D, vitamins, whole grains

Just take those sugary characters off the shelf

April 30, 2011 by Jessica 2 Comments

Long before I’d even come close to letting my son watch a Clifford video, his eyes lit up at the big red dog on the Cascadian Farms cereal box. Come to think of it, that was probably even before I ever let him eat any cereal. (Any cereal always been gluten-free and character-free, and I’ve…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: characters, children, FDA, Federal Trade Commission, food, Fun Food Friday, junk food, marketing, processed food, real food, sugar, USDA, whole food

Study says kids don’t want sweet cereals

December 20, 2010 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I just learned from Nancy Piho’s My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus blog about the results of a new study on children and cereal. In a study published in Pediatrics, Yale researchers found that children will eat low-sugar options if they are offered. The gist is “If you serve it, they will eat it,” suggesting that offering…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: cereal, children, extrusion, food, nutrition, real food, Sally Fallon, sugar, sweet, Weston A. Price Foundation, Yale research study

Whose kid will be the next Adam Lambert in 20 years? (Or Susan Boyle in 40?)

May 16, 2009 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on May 16, 2009 Whose kid will be the next Adam Lambert in 20 years? (Or Susan Boyle in 40?) My husband and I “aww”-ed in unison when watching a preschooler at Adam Lambert‘s old community theater ask the American Idol finalist how he got so good at…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: Adam Lambert, celebrity, children, fame, music, Susan Boyle

Diversity and Language: Not Just Words

November 21, 2008 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on November 21, 2008 Diversity and Language: Not Just Words “How do we say manos in French?” my two-and-a-half-year-old son asked, his open hands twisting on his wrists high in the air. “Wait, he’s learning two other languages?” my friend asked, head cocked to the side. French…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: bilingualism, children, diversity, French, language, Spanish, teaching

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Welcome to Crunchy-Chewy Mama, where the wilderness meets the sidewalk. Around here, I do my best to live as healthfully as possible. But compromises abound.

I also publish the resource blog Mindful Healthy Life of Metro DC. To learn about my writing and appearances and for details about the writing, editing and consulting services I offer, visit JessicaClaireHaney.com.

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