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May 06, 2009

Healthy Food Fast

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Personalized Nutrition -- I love it!

 

So, we've all had those days where we're trying to get out the door and get our kids to the school bus and no one has time for -- or is ready for -- breakfast...

I discovered this cool company owned by a mom and her grown son who let you create your own personalized nutrition bars, power shake mixes, and small, snack sized mixed nuts.  Yup, I'm nuts about the idea because kids can design their own healthy snack AND it gets better because they can put their name on the label...

The Tom Bar or The Mimi Bar...

Check it out at www.YouBars.com.  

They have kindly offered SpiritualParenting.com readers 5% off any order when you enter in this code:  HealthyEating

And, for those of us watching our calories...the website calculates calories as you add ingredients to your bar...very cool.

Happy healthy eating!

May 03, 2009

Prayer for Tests

Research

Spring can be the most stressful of seasons for parents and children.  Sring season sports are in full gear, there are final research papers to write, exams to study for and hours of grueling standardized tests for our teenagers. 

To follow are some words of comfort for children and teenagers as they wrap up this school year and balance the pull of expectations and their innate love of learning:

TAKING TESTS:

My mind is focused and I am calm as I take this test.  I call upon the genius within me to recall information and complete this test easily and effortlessly.  I am centered in wisdom and I am guided to success.  So it is.

ENDING THE SCHOOL YEAR:

Everything is in divine order as I move towards the end of this school year.  I am guided with grace as I calmly get everything done and handed in on time.  This year ends with success and with ease.  I am prepared and propelled onward.  I give thanks.

April 30, 2009

Stand by Me

I was moved by this rendition of Stand by Me recorded by street musicians from around the globe. From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music," comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. Take a moment, take a breath and soak in this experience of a virtual recording studio...


April 14, 2009

Parent Reminder

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No matter how old our children are...
No matter how busy our lives...
We all need to be reminded of the sacred journey we are on as parents...

You've been reminded!

Blessings!

http://www.spiritualparenting.com/inspiration.swf


April 09, 2009

Natural Parenting

  Rock into ocean

I am often asked by parents how they can embrace a natural approach to raising their children.  "Natural parenting" has all sorts of connotations -- eating tofu, meditating, and chanting with babies or allowing children to raise themselves.  Actually, I see natural parenting as approaching our roles as mothers or fathers as an almost sacred opportunity to deepen our intuition and connection with both Spirit and these huge spirits housed in little bodies that we are living with.

I wrote this month's  Spiritual Parenting Newsletter about Natural Parenting.  Read it and share your definitions of natural parenting here.

 

February 15, 2009

You are a Creative Genius

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"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.  Begin it now."

--W.H.Murray

 

About once a week I receive a book manuscript, galley, or completed published book.  Usually there is a letter from the author accompanying the book asking for an endorsement or quote that might be used on the back flap or in the publicity materials.  No matter how often these books arrive on my doorstep, no matter if I endorse them or not, I am always moved that the writer had the boldness to follow his/her inner creative flow and put words to paper.

We are all Divine creative beings and it thrills me to remember that God expresses and expands through each of us RIGHT NOW.  We are only limited by what we will accept for ourselves.   We have power over out thoughts, and when we choose those thoughts that empower us it's as if we open the gateway to our natural creative flow and enter that stream of inspiration.  Our lives today are simply what they are beause of our past thoughts.  

As you move out into the week ahead, manage your thoughts and open your heart and mind to the authentic dreams waiting to unfurl themselves into your experience.  Your children are watching you and you show them how a creative genius lives his/her everyday life -- open, joyful, accepting, and respectful of the deep vein of creativity that IS God expressing in you.

Maybe I'll see your book, play, song, artwork, new business someday soon. 

 

January 22, 2009

Catching Up

IMG_0198 Greetings!

Many thanks to all of you who have sent emails asking about my daughter's trip back to Ghana. 
She visited her beloved class again, above.  Same kids, same photo...all grown in so many ways.  Her heart is in Ho and with the children there.  What a blessing it was for her to have had the experience graduating early from high school and spending time in Africa.Her website again is: www.ChildrenInspiringHope.com. 

Support your children's dreams...for they are truly the seeds of who they are to become.  Their inner longing to fulfill their purpose in this world shows up early on....and childhood is a great buffet to try these ideas out.  Then, as they grow older, it's such an honor and delight to see their experiences and dreams weave together as they begin to answer the questions "who am I and where do I fit in the world?"  

It is MY hope that you are fully launched into 2009, happy, healthy, and poised to dream even bigger than in 2008.  Remember, CHANGE YOUR THINKING...CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Sending love and light your way and I promise I'll post much more often!
Blessings,
Mimi

November 20, 2008

Africa Bound

My class 2

If you've been reading my blog for a while...you might remember that my daughter Whitney graduated from high school early and spent four months teaching in Ghana, West Africa.

It was quite something to visit her and meet the beautiful children she taught, above.  To see your 18 year old daughter with a baby strapped to her back the African way, teaching in a hut with a dirt floor and no books...but filled with light and love...well...it was a mothering moment beyond belief.

Whitney went onto college and is now a junior majoring in Religious Studies with a minor in African Diaspora.  But,the little village in Africa has never left her heart.  She joined forces with another woman she met while in Ghana, Amy Shulin, and together they formed a nonprofit called CHILDREN INSPIRING HOPE.  www.ChildrenInspiringHope.org  Check out the short video on the site.  Their goal is to match classrooms in America with classrooms in Ghana.  So far over 1,000 kids have been matched.

Whitney and Amy are leaving tomorrow to return to Ghana.  It will be our family's first Thanksgiving apart, but how joyful I am that Whit will be reunited with her beloved class.

Please hold Whitney and this project in your hearts.  I do believe that children inspire hope and when you see the beautiful spirits of these children in the short video you will understand why she is longing to return to them...and bring them connections with other children in the U.S. 

November 10, 2008

Clear Counters in the Empty Nest

SinkMICROWAVE BE GONE.....

I have appreciated hearing from so many newsletter subscribers and parents who have read one of my books in the past....asking me about life in a newly empty nest.  Many thanks for your emails.

My husband Tom and I shook things up here in the empty nest this weekend and did a counter purge.  Yup...we took stock of our life in the kitchen sans children and noted that we didn't really need that clunky microwave on the counter. Upon closer examination, we were a bit horrified to realize that we had purchased said microwave when our college freshman was 4 years old...No telling what toxic energy this machine was throwing off...

We decided to keep track of when or if we missed the microwave before purchasing a new one.  My Starbucks latte (lovingly delivered by my husband) was a bit lukewarm and I missed zapping it...but...came to enjoy the taste of an iced latte.  Today I warmed up last night's pasta and sauce on top of the stove and listened to soothing Steve Halpern music as I brought myself to the moment...rather than a quick zip zap in the microwave...It didn't take much longer and I moved into the meal in a more conscious way.

See our kitchen above...no microwave...more room for flow...

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll keep you posted...as we may crumble when the kids come home and microwave popcorn is only a vivid memory.

August 02, 2008

Lies

Are you raising a teenager?  If so...read on...

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Raising teens can knock us off balance.  If we're lucky, we've never been in a deceitful relationship before and teens can indeed -- in the name of independence -- be deceitful at times.  Naturally this makes us uneasy and defensive.

Lies, deception, and dishonesty are unattractive Spirit-squashing traits, to be sure. The very words sound sordid and dark, and way beyond anything that would touch our orderly lives. Yet, teens lie. And teens hear their parents lie. Often, kids are nurtured in an uneven emotional environment where lies, evasion, and double messages are the rule. We don't mean to be models of dishonesty, but habits are hard to break.

I did an informal study of my own, spending a lot of time talking with teenagers about lying. Here's the essence I gleaned of why many of our sons and daughters aren't telling the truth:

- Kids don't want to let their parents down. They feel an enormous pressure to live up to the high expectation their family has for them. Lying is often easier than disappointing Mom and Dad.

- Fear of punishment is a big incentive for kids to lie.

- Many kids have admitted that telling a small lie is a way to test the waters, to gain independence. It's an aspect of rebelling, of pushing boundaries.

- They use lying as a way to seek revenge against "the system." And, lying doesn't really matter, they think. What difference does it make, in the scheme of things, if I tell a lie?

- There is a fine line between exaggerating and lying, and many kids continue to ignore it.

- For some teens, lying is a way to finally get their parent's attention. The statement, "I hate school, my math teacher has it out for me," may peak a parent's interest.

- Often a teen will lie rather than risk losing the closeness of a friendship. There is a Hopi saying that helps us understand, however, that lying impacts our own spirits: "Lose your temper and you lose a friend; lie and you lose yourself."

We can do the courageous and difficult work of getting honest in our own lives. We need to be honest with our children, and especially with ourselves. Stop telling white lies to get yourself out of uncomfortable situations or sidestepping the truth in order to get what you want. "You didn't receive that paperwork? Gee, that's odd because I went it last week." Be truthful and your teen will see how you take responsibility. "I'm sorry - I should have sent the papers but I just haven't gotten to it. I will send them by overnight mail at my expense."

We lose our credibility with teens if we are less than honest. What they want is parents who are "real" and tell it like it is. When we do the tough work of getting honest with our kids, they will have more courage to do the same with us.

What have you done when your son or daughter has been less than honest?

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