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Crunchy-Chewy Mama

Living naturally, most of the time.

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writing mama

Busy spring!

May 5, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

The first two weeks of May have been packed. The month started with a Clean Air Awareness event I helped to organize. It was successful and I hope will lead to more awareness about clean air habits, especially people turning off their cars while parked at school. That drives me crazy! The event went well…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, Holistic Health, The Arts Tagged With: book, fatigue, mental health, novel, priorities, publication, self-care, sharing, volunteering, wellness, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Join me at Listen to Your Mother DC!

February 28, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be part of this year’s Listen to Your Mother DC cast! If you haven’t ever attended a LTYM performance, make this your year! It is, in fact, the final year of the program as it’s been done around the country with original stories in each city. It’s going to instead become a…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, The Arts Tagged With: community, connection, Listen to Your Mother, motherhood, narrative, sharing, stories, telling stories, voice, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Writing To-Do List: Making it Public for #NaBloPoMo

November 1, 2015 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Since the start of November means the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), I feel the need to make my Writing – and my writing support – To-Do list public: for accountability and to show the whole picture. I have come to understand that I can’t just say I will write every…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: beauty, blogging, creativity, fiction, health, novel, priorities, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Family legacy ambivalence

April 14, 2015 by Jessica 11 Comments

Welcome to the April 2015 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family History 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 stories, lore, and wisdom about family history. Please read to the end to find a list of…

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Filed Under: Featured, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: balance, creativity, depression, family, happiness, health, imbalance, mental wellness, priorities, self-care, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Grounding in fall

November 21, 2014 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This fall I have noticed the leaves without trying so hard and have immersed myself in a lot of interesting activities that seemed to land in my lap. I have been so many great talks and events, and I’ve wanted to write thoughtful and helpful recaps of all of them for my website, Mindful Healthy…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: community, Freedom for Family Wellness summit, health, Holistic Moms Network, inspiration, mind-body connection, mindfulness, positive thinking, priorities, volunteerism, wellness, working mom, working mother, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Traffic choked the cherry tree

April 13, 2014 by Jessica 2 Comments

After my last post whined about the tough time I’ve been having, I really intended to write something more uplifting the following day when I was feeling better. My friend who has been teaching herself energy medicine did a phone consult with me that really turned things around Thursday night. The biggest issue she identified…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Holistic Health, Uncategorized Tagged With: adrenal health, blood sugar, cherry blossoms, DC, photography, priorities, sightseeing, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Special Needs Mommy

April 10, 2014 by Jessica 1 Comment

You know that kid who’s always a handful at a playdate? The one who needs an extra eye at a birthday party? The one who can’t handle surprises, or who needs lots of support through transitions? The one who can’t tolerate the smell at the farm field trip no matter how many times the teacher…

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Filed Under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: balance, chemical sensitivity, depression, food sensitivity, health, mental health, mental wellness, priorities, rhythm, routine, special diet, time, wellness, work, writing, writing mama, writing mother

The writing process: always in process

March 17, 2014 by Jessica 1 Comment

As a mother of two young children, my writing process is something that shifts greatly from day to day, week to week, month to month, depending on deadlines, health, and the number of spontaneous snow days that throw a wrinkle into work life and creativity. When Karen of TimeCrafted put out a call to other…

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Filed Under: Featured, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: fiction, novel, work, working mother, writing, writing mama, writing mother, writing process

Humor in Parenting (and Breastfeeding!) Blog Carnival

November 8, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

The hilarious anthology Have Milk, Will Travel: Adventures in Breastfeeding was published in August by Demeter Press (and reviewed glowingly by Literary Mama). The editor is heading up a Humor Blog Carnival this month. Details below! The book contains some 30 essays from mothers sharing the funniest breastfeeding stories you’ve ever heard. Even if the…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, Healthy Eating, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: breastfeeding, funnybreastfeeding, Have Milk Will Travel: Adventures in Breastfeeding, humor, humorcarnival, parenting, priorities, wit, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Day 3 of daily writing: a poem out of season

November 3, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

My goal for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) will be to write daily: I will aim to write a blog post and also, for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to do at least 15 minutes of writing on my novel every day before 6:45 a.m. I might not get the blog piece posted with a photo until…

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Filed Under: The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: NaBloPoMo, NaNoWriMo, poetry, writing, writing mama, writing mother

The desire to write: swallow and spit

November 2, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Some might say if you can’t reflect, then just live instead. I like the concept, but in practice, it drives me crazy. How people live and live and live and manage to be happy only posting about it on Facebook and not writing about it in long form — or to at least have time…

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Filed Under: Featured, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: childcare, illness, NaNoWriMo, NoBloPoMo, priorities, writing, writing mama, writing mother

On nostalgia and novels

October 1, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

It was a throwback week.  And a week of looking ahead. Nearly three months after we were supposed to get together for coffee but got thwarted by a health issue followed by travel and a book launch (not mine), my high school friend and thriller author Allison Leotta (nee Harnisch) and I finally had lunch,…

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Filed Under: The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: Allison Leotta, Cheryl Strayed, childcare, family, health, priorities, relationships, Speak of the Devil, time, Wild, writing mama, writing mother

Believing in work (and parenting): Femworking conference interview and reflections

September 30, 2013 by Jessica 4 Comments

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…

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Filed Under: Activism & Politics, D.C. Metro, Featured, Holistic Health, The Arts Tagged With: blog, blogging, business, Femworking, health, Holistic Health, small business, working mother, writing mama, writing mother

Reading is fundamental (and so is writing)

March 1, 2013 by Jessica 2 Comments

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)…

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: health, Healthy Eating, holisitic health, Holistic Moms, One More Page Books, parenting, priorities, reading, Richard Peabody, Rose Solari, school, writing, writing mama, writing mother

A retreat and a reboot

February 25, 2013 by Jessica Leave a Comment

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….

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Filed Under: D.C. Metro, Featured, Healthy Eating, Holistic Health, The Arts, Uncategorized Tagged With: Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, digestion, EMFs, fatigue, Fisherman's Inn, health, Healthy Eating, nutrition, priorities, Twelve Tribes of Hattie, WiFi, writing, writing mama, writing mother

Home is where too much of your head is

November 19, 2012 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This, a gorgeous fall day, was my last full day visiting family. A few weeks ago, a local mom I barely know let me stay in her apartment so that I could start work in earnest on my novel. Whenever I get out of my comfort zone, I always find that I breathe differently, appreciate…

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: clutter, home, NaBloPoMo, organization, perspective, poetry, priorities, writing, writing mama

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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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