Both of our kids were sick this week, but between my son and my daughter, there is an interesting difference:
Whenever our daughter gets sick, if it gets into her chest, it becomes a real problem. She has had pneumonia three times. Whenever she starts to sniffle, I go on mommy high-alert. She is also a natually clean child. She would sit down with projects even at the age of one and draw and color contentedly. She has a tentative nature, and is less likely to run full steam through anything physically or socially.
Our son immerses himself in whatever he's doing, especially if it involves dirt. He's jumping in mud puddles, sitting down in mud, making mud creations while digging in his nose like there's gold dubloons up there; and his immune system is hardier. Things hit him more mildly.
Part of my homeschooling recess this week was to make sure our daughter got dirty. I sacrified my springform pan and some other kitchenware, and sent the kids out to make mud pies. I encouraged and poked and prodded our daughter to get her hands into the mud, while our son made mudballs that ended up outside (and inside :-/) my car.
I'm going to make sure she gets her hands dirty every day. La Princessa is mortified at first, but she enjoys it once she gets into it.
Three cheers for dirt!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Why I Am So Confident That my Daughter's Teeth Can Heal...
I believe very much that our diets make a difference in how our bodies feel and function.I have lived my life according to my belief to keep my body in good working order throughout my adult life, with various regimens of cleansing and tonifying to give myself tune-ups now and then.
The spring, summer, and fall of 2011 brought a perfect storm of personal disasters into my life. I frankly, am still amazed in 2013 every time I look in the mirror that large patches of my head hair haven't fallen out, or that I haven't gone gray overnight from stress. It was (horrible, horrible, horrible) squared!
I have been told by dentists that I am a tooth grinder. I must've been grinding overtime in my sleep, because while I was driving to work and eating carrots, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my right upper jaw. At first I was startled, because I'm not used to feeling any kind of tooth pain (I'm 39 and have never had dental caries). I took a swig of water, and immediately felt horrible, radiating pain. I figured I must've cracked a tooth, but it was so far in the back that I couldn't see it, and my life circumstances demanded that I keep going. I didn't have the time or the resources to get myself to a dentist. I called a number for a community care dentist, but the wait was more than a month away, and would require missing work.
The next few days were filled with throbbing headaches and jaw pain. Eating or drinking anything was painful, even if done on the other side of my jaw. Breathing air in through my mouth hurt. I loaded myself up with turmeric and black pepper, Yunnan Baiyao and tienchi tablets. I don't have my Masters of Science (yet-- I'll finish it someday), but I went to school for Acupuncture and herbs, so I usually have a stash of trauma herbs, and Yunnan Baiyao is really amazing stuff!
Thinking of my teeth as an extension of my bones, I considered myself healing a bone break. I avoided cold food and drink, and kept my circulation moving with herbs. After the throbbing of the first few days subsided, I loaded myself up with as much oily fish as I could afford. I ate cans of sardines (I like the King Oscar ones in olive oil). When I got a tip at work, I went around the corner for some miso soup and a spicy double tuna roll. I ate as much fatty fish and greens as possible.
Within a few weeks, I only felt an occasional twinge if I chewed something hard on that side in a less-than-careful way. By this time I was home with the kids, and had the time and resources to order some kefir grains, and make the drive out to get raw, grassfed milk from the Mennonite farms. I cultured the milk and drank it with my family. I made bone soup.
Within several months, my tooth was so healed that I had forgotten all about it.
I had forgotten about it so completely that when I took us all for our checkups and cleaning in December, 2012, I was surprised when the dentist had said that I had a cracked tooth. It was pretty funny actually, because by the time the dentist came around to look at my x-rays and talk to me about them, our son had put the stationery stamp from his goodie bag all over his face, and was hopping up and down. The dentist said something like, "You've cracked a tooth from tooth grinding. (turns to my son) You need to stop stressing mommy out."
He showed me the piece that was missing, and I agreed that it would be best to have it filled in order for food to not stick there in the missing piece area. As I'm a big chicken and scared of needles, he put some gel on it, but said we could wait on the Novacaine and try to fill it without. The filing of the broken tooth felt like an uncomfortable tickle, but not even in the ball park of how painful it was when I cracked the tooth in Fall 2011!
I can't rewind time and produce an exact copy of myself and conduct an experiment with control group to prove it on paper, but I know my tooth healed. I felt it and experienced it, and I'm certain that if I had had the time and resources to have my cracked tooth attended to at the time it had cracked, the dentist would have insisted on a much more serious intervention than just having a piece filled in (with no Novacaine to boot).
This experience was a real blessing in the end. It gave me the courage to stand alone against convention to do what is right in my heart for my kids' health and futures, and withdraw us from common food society.
I'm not operating under a delusion that missing pieces will reappear, or that she'll grow a new row of teeth like a shark... but I know that given time and proper nutrition, her teeth will remineralize into the dentin, and she will have a foundation of good habits that will serve her well for a healthy future.
The spring, summer, and fall of 2011 brought a perfect storm of personal disasters into my life. I frankly, am still amazed in 2013 every time I look in the mirror that large patches of my head hair haven't fallen out, or that I haven't gone gray overnight from stress. It was (horrible, horrible, horrible) squared!
I have been told by dentists that I am a tooth grinder. I must've been grinding overtime in my sleep, because while I was driving to work and eating carrots, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my right upper jaw. At first I was startled, because I'm not used to feeling any kind of tooth pain (I'm 39 and have never had dental caries). I took a swig of water, and immediately felt horrible, radiating pain. I figured I must've cracked a tooth, but it was so far in the back that I couldn't see it, and my life circumstances demanded that I keep going. I didn't have the time or the resources to get myself to a dentist. I called a number for a community care dentist, but the wait was more than a month away, and would require missing work.
The next few days were filled with throbbing headaches and jaw pain. Eating or drinking anything was painful, even if done on the other side of my jaw. Breathing air in through my mouth hurt. I loaded myself up with turmeric and black pepper, Yunnan Baiyao and tienchi tablets. I don't have my Masters of Science (yet-- I'll finish it someday), but I went to school for Acupuncture and herbs, so I usually have a stash of trauma herbs, and Yunnan Baiyao is really amazing stuff!
Thinking of my teeth as an extension of my bones, I considered myself healing a bone break. I avoided cold food and drink, and kept my circulation moving with herbs. After the throbbing of the first few days subsided, I loaded myself up with as much oily fish as I could afford. I ate cans of sardines (I like the King Oscar ones in olive oil). When I got a tip at work, I went around the corner for some miso soup and a spicy double tuna roll. I ate as much fatty fish and greens as possible.
Within a few weeks, I only felt an occasional twinge if I chewed something hard on that side in a less-than-careful way. By this time I was home with the kids, and had the time and resources to order some kefir grains, and make the drive out to get raw, grassfed milk from the Mennonite farms. I cultured the milk and drank it with my family. I made bone soup.
Within several months, my tooth was so healed that I had forgotten all about it.
I had forgotten about it so completely that when I took us all for our checkups and cleaning in December, 2012, I was surprised when the dentist had said that I had a cracked tooth. It was pretty funny actually, because by the time the dentist came around to look at my x-rays and talk to me about them, our son had put the stationery stamp from his goodie bag all over his face, and was hopping up and down. The dentist said something like, "You've cracked a tooth from tooth grinding. (turns to my son) You need to stop stressing mommy out."
He showed me the piece that was missing, and I agreed that it would be best to have it filled in order for food to not stick there in the missing piece area. As I'm a big chicken and scared of needles, he put some gel on it, but said we could wait on the Novacaine and try to fill it without. The filing of the broken tooth felt like an uncomfortable tickle, but not even in the ball park of how painful it was when I cracked the tooth in Fall 2011!
I can't rewind time and produce an exact copy of myself and conduct an experiment with control group to prove it on paper, but I know my tooth healed. I felt it and experienced it, and I'm certain that if I had had the time and resources to have my cracked tooth attended to at the time it had cracked, the dentist would have insisted on a much more serious intervention than just having a piece filled in (with no Novacaine to boot).
This experience was a real blessing in the end. It gave me the courage to stand alone against convention to do what is right in my heart for my kids' health and futures, and withdraw us from common food society.
I'm not operating under a delusion that missing pieces will reappear, or that she'll grow a new row of teeth like a shark... but I know that given time and proper nutrition, her teeth will remineralize into the dentin, and she will have a foundation of good habits that will serve her well for a healthy future.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Taking Care of Me, so I Can Take Care of Them...
I had a rough week this week. We did some good work on review/learning about the 7 continents (found some cute mnemonic aids in the form of songs to help remember them, which the kids would not embrace :-/)and how to locate them on the globe, practicing fluency in reading, learning numbers and letters, counting, making some awesome pictures, but I am learning that I need practice in going with the flow.
Thursday morning was like pulling teeth. The weather was yucky, the kids wouldn't focus, I was frazzled from having my own class Wednesday night from 7 to 10pm. So we made it a short day and I took a hot bath right before lunchtime and had a good cry to myself and some colorful daydreams about enrolling the little rascals in a charming boarding school in Switzerland.
Although part of my homeschool aspirations is to keep them engaged in projects and activities and moving and shaking, I may try out a website called www.time4learning.com as a back-up plan for when the kids are wearing me down.
It seems to me that when the barometric pressure drops, our kids are extra nutty and hard to focus. Anybody else notice this?? Does this happen to anybody else?
Anyhoo, I have ordered some herbs and supplements to help keep up my strength (SAMe and He Shou Wu), and stocked my freezer with lamb shanks and cow feet to make soup (the feet are full of gelatin, very nourishing). Lamb always makes me feel replenished. I also plan on making a big beet salad with ginger and carrot and apple, and eating beets every day this week. I aim to love beets this week, it's my mission!
I have always been blessed with wonderful friends, and one of my buddies generously offered to have the kids over on Fri, so I could get a bunch of errands done. It was like a shopping vacation, I grinned like an idiot the whole time. This was like gold, because my husband is gone for 5 or 6 days at a stretch, and I have zero time to myself to walk across the room or the road as fast as I please without precious little people hanging on me. I love them dearly, but I need a few minutes to myself now and then!
The lowpoints of the week were my son taking off all his clothes and throwing his shoes and my daughter's head, and him peeing in the freshly cleaned litterbox (which was a lot funnier for me after I had walked him through cleaning up the litterbox he had peed in, so he could see what a joy that is).
The highpoint of the week was my daughter electing to sleep in her bed in her bedroom so I could have some space, after my son hit me in the face with his head when we were sleeping... she's growing up to be compassionate, aw!
Thursday morning was like pulling teeth. The weather was yucky, the kids wouldn't focus, I was frazzled from having my own class Wednesday night from 7 to 10pm. So we made it a short day and I took a hot bath right before lunchtime and had a good cry to myself and some colorful daydreams about enrolling the little rascals in a charming boarding school in Switzerland.
Although part of my homeschool aspirations is to keep them engaged in projects and activities and moving and shaking, I may try out a website called www.time4learning.com as a back-up plan for when the kids are wearing me down.
It seems to me that when the barometric pressure drops, our kids are extra nutty and hard to focus. Anybody else notice this?? Does this happen to anybody else?
Anyhoo, I have ordered some herbs and supplements to help keep up my strength (SAMe and He Shou Wu), and stocked my freezer with lamb shanks and cow feet to make soup (the feet are full of gelatin, very nourishing). Lamb always makes me feel replenished. I also plan on making a big beet salad with ginger and carrot and apple, and eating beets every day this week. I aim to love beets this week, it's my mission!
I have always been blessed with wonderful friends, and one of my buddies generously offered to have the kids over on Fri, so I could get a bunch of errands done. It was like a shopping vacation, I grinned like an idiot the whole time. This was like gold, because my husband is gone for 5 or 6 days at a stretch, and I have zero time to myself to walk across the room or the road as fast as I please without precious little people hanging on me. I love them dearly, but I need a few minutes to myself now and then!
The lowpoints of the week were my son taking off all his clothes and throwing his shoes and my daughter's head, and him peeing in the freshly cleaned litterbox (which was a lot funnier for me after I had walked him through cleaning up the litterbox he had peed in, so he could see what a joy that is).
The highpoint of the week was my daughter electing to sleep in her bed in her bedroom so I could have some space, after my son hit me in the face with his head when we were sleeping... she's growing up to be compassionate, aw!
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Beginning of Our First Aquaponics Adventure...
Today has been a very low key day. My husband is home, and since he is an OTR trucker, it is a relief to have the flexibility to let the kids relax with him on a Monday.
Since Daddy is a good fixer/ builder, I enlisted his help in getting us started with our aquaponics experiment!
Aquaponics is an arrangement where the ammonia from the fish in a tank feed the plants, and the plants relieve the ammonia load in the water for the fish. I had read about an aquaponics farm in Michigan or Wisconsin, that was providing organic veggies and trout and tilapia to restaurants in the area. I thought it was a brilliant idea for sustainable farming, and I'd like that kind of sustainable living to be part of our household, and our kids education.
At first I was bummed out, because we don't have the disposable income to buy a greenhouse kit, or pond set-up stuff, or any of the stuff I had envisioned us setting up in our yard.
Then I walked by my fish tank and thought, hmmm... we could start small and build on it! Why not start with what we already have, which is an aquarium with three goldfish and one kooi fish.
I had saved some screen from when my husband repaired the screen in one of our doors, ordered some heirloom lettuce seeds, and bought aquarium gravel and a plastic bin to affix into the top of the aquarium, and support the weight of the gravel.
Handy hubs drilled holes into the plastic bin, which we lined with screen and filled with aquarium gravel, and we planted the lettuce seeds on top.
Cross fingers! If this works, it'll be really neat :o)
Since Daddy is a good fixer/ builder, I enlisted his help in getting us started with our aquaponics experiment!
Aquaponics is an arrangement where the ammonia from the fish in a tank feed the plants, and the plants relieve the ammonia load in the water for the fish. I had read about an aquaponics farm in Michigan or Wisconsin, that was providing organic veggies and trout and tilapia to restaurants in the area. I thought it was a brilliant idea for sustainable farming, and I'd like that kind of sustainable living to be part of our household, and our kids education.
At first I was bummed out, because we don't have the disposable income to buy a greenhouse kit, or pond set-up stuff, or any of the stuff I had envisioned us setting up in our yard.
Then I walked by my fish tank and thought, hmmm... we could start small and build on it! Why not start with what we already have, which is an aquarium with three goldfish and one kooi fish.
Handy hubs drilled holes into the plastic bin, which we lined with screen and filled with aquarium gravel, and we planted the lettuce seeds on top.
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