Everyone, I would like to introduce you to 20 year old Katie, in her junior year of college. Katie lived in an apartment complex with a gym. While she often carried pepper spray on her walk to the gym at night to avoid being mugged, Katie committed to going at least three times a week. Katie also went to college on a giant HILL so helloooo excellent calf muscles. With all the free time she had, Katie made pretty healthy meals and drank copious amounts of water. I peaked at age 20. And while I'm pretty ok with that, I still want to be conscious of the choices I make for my health and make sure I do all I can to live a long time with the one body that God has given me! We've always tried to make decently healthy choices in my family. While I don't go to the gym anymore, I walk almost everyday. My husband has a home gym in the garage where he works out several times a week. We eat a variety of food, use green cleaning products, and drink our water. But recently I've started to feel more convicted about putting in the work for my health. A couple months ago I was out to dinner with my sister, who is a workout fiend. She's at the gym almost every day and walks her dog most evenings. She warned me that while my weight is fine, I need to find time to build more muscle, because we reach our peak bone density at 30. While I've enjoyed joking that my bones are going to peak by the time I'm 30, it's also reminded me that I really do need to reintroduce more strength training, which I used to do in college. I've also started to put more thought into the products in our household. Many years ago we switched to Norwex for almost all of our cleaning. I've added in Thieves cleaning oil because maaaan I love that clean smell! We're working hard to use products that are less scented, less dyed, and better for us. Here are some of the changes I am making to be mindful of my health. Taking a multivitamin. I have found amazing reviews about this one in every corner of the internet. I'm taking the morning and night versions. Amazon, blogs, different product review websites all sing their praises so it's definitely worth investing in! Morning vitamin (doesn't taste the best, so I gulp it) Nighttime vitamin (yummy coconut) Switching to greener beauty products. I am using the Norwex Lysere hair care line. I am also trying out a few beauty products that I found on Credo Beauty. My makeup sits on my face all day. If I want to avoid cleaning products with harmful chemicals, it makes the same that I would do the same with my beauty products. For my makeup I'm starting with foundation and concealer, since those are the products that cover the largest area of my face. We've also started using the Norwex toothpaste. Having a better breakfast. Breakfast for me is basically nonexistent, or something along the lines of an apple or poptart. To combat an empty stomach and slow start to my day, I've started drinking a smoothie every morning. I include 2-3 fruits, usually some spinach, coconut milk, unsweetened yogurt, and a scoop of collagen powder and hemp hearts. Ya'll, if you want your smoothing nice and thick, use alllll the frozen fruit. It makes my smoothies thicker and colder and so much more delicious. PS: Check out these links for benefits of including hemp seeds in your diet: 6 Health Benefits Are Hemp Seeds Good For You? 9 Benefits of Hemp Seeds Completing more weight and resistance training. My husband is always asking for me to workout with him, but his decor tastes in the garage have left me resistant to go in there. (We're talking velvet paintings of tigers and a giant poster of him from his high school track days). We agreed to some redecorations along with workouts together. Win-win! Switching to other reusable products I gave up makeup wipes a while ago. I used them out of convenience but man, they were overly fragrant and SO wasteful! Fragrance is one of the biggest issues in products being full of unhealthy chemicals. However, I was still using cotton pads to take off my eye makeup. I've finally switched to cotton pads made out of cotton fabric. As I use them, I store them in a little laundry bag, and wash them when it's close to full. Switching deodorant I won't lie, I put this off for a loooong time because I LOVE my Dove! However, I've switched to Native and it smells good and has done the job so far! The biggest difference has been that my armpits actually sweat now. After using an antiperspirant for so long it's a strange feeling, but also a sign that my body is doing what it should. Making healthy changes isn't easy. The ones listed above have been over a period of months, and been an investment of time and money. I've read reviews and tested items out. I've asked for some items as gifts and slowly replaced beauty care items as I run out of what I was using. Each small change is another step toward a healthier future, and for that I am thankful.
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I love to read. I love the feeling of staying up ridiculously late to finish your book. I love getting the email that a book I had on hold is ready. I love providing our daughter with books about almost everything. When I got pregnant, I thought I'd read. I bought What to Expect When You're Expecting and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way and How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen & Listen So Your Kids Will Talk. I'd get through a few pages of each and lose interest (no surprise, nonfiction isn't really my thing). I learned best through short articles and Google searches and doctor visits and the very best due date group on Facebook. I gave up on reading any sort of book for parents. Then I somehow came across this gem. The Montessori Toddler: A Parent's Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being by Simone Davies. I couldn't stop. I devoured the ideas Simone presented. I made notes and read sections to Austen. I loaned it to my sweet friend who watches Addy 3 days a week. I read it again. I started listening to Simone's podcast. When I was a child I attended a local Montessori preschool and although I have no memories of it, my mother always had rave reviews about the curriculum. The more I learned about Montessori, the more I wanted to implement practices in our home. We are by no means a fully Montessori household, and I absolutely loved the phrase a mom friend in my bomb.com due date group shared, when she said they were 'Montesorta.' Perfectly fitting! Join any Montessori group, and you'll see the phrase over and over: 'follow the child.' Ultimately, it comes down to observing your child and seeing how you can help them extend their learning where they are, where their curiosity and development is striking. Knowing this, we have some key principles and practices in place at our home as we support Addy's development. 1. A prepared environment Our home is for our entire family. I continue to make changes to make the house accessible for Addy. I provide items for her on her own level and kid-sized tools whenever possible. Here are some of her favorites- her own kitchen in our kitchen, her learning tower that flips to be a little table, and her work table in the living room. 2. Thoughtful materials Please don't think a toy has to be expensive, all wood, color neutral to help shape a child's learning in Montessori fashion. The playrooms you'll see featured on Pinterest are beautiful, but definitely staged and representative of only a tiny percent of actual playrooms. I can't afford the $60 Grim's stacking cup set, but the $4 plastic stacking cup set has been a hit since Addy was just months old. Not many toys can say that! I am picky about books and choose literature that represents the diversity of the world, introduces Addy to new concepts, and provides affirming messages. We decide what items are worth spending more on and invent wisely. Addy loves animal figures and we practice matching them to 2-D representation on flash cards. Austen prefers the Schleich animals because they are a much nicer quality, full of little details for each animal. 3. Outdoor time I don't like getting dirty. I don't like bugs. I don't like being rained on or sledding in the snow. For the joy of my child, I'll do it all. I'll smile and take pictures and find the fun in it, daggone it! We get outside everyday unless there's just absolutely no way. We employ rain gear and snow boots and sun hats. Addy takes walks, works in the tiny garden, scribbles with chalk, helps with chores, and just explores. 4. Responsibility I have truly been in awe at the things Addy can do, when she's given the chance to learn. When we involve her in work and really let her do it *herself* she absorbs it and carries that knowledge into the future. Read this article from NPR- it's great information!! Here are the two main takeaways: -To raise helpful children, they need to be involved in the work of the family -Asking children to complete 3 subtasks an hour (small steps of the bigger job) involves them and helps them learn without overwhelming Best of all? Younger kids needed more requests while older children needed fewer, because "they learned how to be helpful and cooperate." 5. Respect Addy is her own person and deserves to be respected as such. This is not just a Montessori principle but a good parenting principle. We try to respect her choices as much as we can, such as providing bodily autonomy (don't want a hug? no hugs!) and providing opportunities to make her own choices (such as choosing which shoes to wear). We show respect by gently setting boundaries and enforcing them, with words and without physical punishment. We also teach respect for the environment around us, our belongings, and other people. There will never be one perfect way to parent your child. Montessori isn't the be all end all, and it isn't perfect either. However, implementing some of these principles can have amazing effects on your child's independence, confidence, and relationships with others!
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December 2021
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