Spiritual Parenting with Mimi Doe

Valentine's Day Delicious

VALENTINE'S DAY GOODNESS

Yesterday I gave myself a challenge to spend 15 minutes and make healthy, raw, delicious truffles to give to those I love for Valentine's Day. It was a cold, gray, February day here in New England and I had lots of work to do and while I was feeling generous....I also had one MAD sweet tooth!  

Here's what I came up with.  I hope it will make your loved ones SWOON as it did mine.  Well, those who are home that is....or shall I saw...my husband, my mom, and my daughter's best friend Isabel who happened to stop by (smile).  Whitney, when I sent her the recipe noted:  "I love you Mom, but these sound disgusting.  I'll stick with real chocolate." 

Sigh....go figure!

Mimi's Valentine's Day Deliciousness -- Good for you too!!!

½ cup dates

½ cup raw almonds

2 tablespoons tahini

½ cup raw almond butter (I like crunchy)

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (more for rolling)

¼ cup cacao nibs (healthy divine little sugar free nuggets -- could use cacao powder instead)

1 tsp vanilla (or cinnamon would be good too)

1 tablespoon ground flax seed (if needed)

 

DIRECTIONS:

-Chop dates and almonds in food processor.

-Add tahini, almond butter and buzz again.

-Add cacao nibs, coconut, and vanilla (or cinnamon) and mix on low speed until smooth...but still making sure to have the nibs as little chunks.

-If it's too wet add 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed.

-Roll into tiny little truffle balls and then roll each ball in coconut. Put in fridge.

Then...just TRY to stay away.

Wrap these up in a special heart shaped box...and share with your family on 2/14.  Here are some other tips for showing your children that they are loved!  Valentine's Day isn't just for romantic love!

Sending my love and light your way!

 FAMILY LOVE: VALENTINE'S DAY AND BEYOND

1. Make a list of all the things you love about your child.  Type it on decorated paper, roll it up and tie it with festive ribbons.  Place it on his breakfast plate to find first thing Valentine’s morning.

 

2. Come up with a secret way to show love to someone you know doesn’t receive much.  How about heart shaped muffins in a pretty basket left on an elderly neighbor’s doorstep?

 

3. Ask your kids what’s beautiful to them then include more of it in your lives. 

 

4. Have a family Valentine’s Dinner -- lots of red, candles, lacy doilies, little white lights wrapped around the room, and heart felt conversation.

 

5. Don’t forget to care for your own well being -- more sleep, healthy foods, time alone, laughing with friends. It’s easier to be loving parents when we love ourselves.

 

6. Remember to treat your child with love and respect.  Never do something to her that you wouldn’t like done to you.

 

7. Come up with a secret sign that means “I love you.”  It comes in handy at the bus stop or in a crowded room.

 

8. In addition to the expected edible treats like the truffles above, give the gift of time to your child. A heart shape note could list ideas such as: *a hike together, *breakfast on Saturday morning - you choose where, *your favorite book -- read by me.

 

9. Take a close look at your daily activities.  Could you focus more on caring for each other than caring for things?

 

10. Remind your kids that real love doesn’t expect a pay back.

January Rituals

HAVE A PILE OF HOLIDAY CARDS YOU JUST CAN'T TOSS?

Years ago when my children were young, we saved our received Christmas cards in a big silver bowl. After the decorations were put away and the new toys were losing their luster we kept that bowl of beautiful family photos and shimmering holiday greetings front and center in our living room.  Then, as we launched into the dip mid January can bring, we turned to our cards.  We focused on them one by one, day by day, by putting a card in the center of our kitchen table at meal time and offering specific prayers and thoughts for that particular family. 

I wish I could tell you we were diligent about this ritual…but it did come and go.  Some years we would get through about five families and that would be it, and some years the loving evening ritual never made it and the cards would be stored away to review again the following holiday season.  But, our intention was to thoughtfully reflect on and send out positive thoughts to others each evening.  Having an actual photo helped us focus that intention -- so sending holiday cards with photos is worth it (smile).

His Holiness the Dalai lama said, "We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection."  Help practice compassion in the simple rituals of your family life.

What new ritual might you begin with your children to help them look beyond themselves and focus their love on others?  It takes practice, as you know, because we are so busy it feels like we can barely shower our own family with love.  But, giving your child the experience of loving and blessing others, without a tragedy at hand, is a beautiful way to allow them to FEEL the feelings that comes with that outward focus. 

So much of our lives with kids is pushing them to achieve to their very best – and this is important – but we also must make a conscious effort to allow them that graceful experience of simply sharing their loving thoughts and gracing others with intentional good will.

Happy January and may your month be full to the brim with unexpected waves of loving joy – both joy you’ve sent and joy you’ve taken in.

Blessings and light from my heart to yours,

Mimi Doe

 

 

Vegan Cookie Bliss

 

THESE ARE SORT OF LIKE MINE, BUT PICTURE MINE BURSTING WTIH CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

There is a touch of fall in the air...just a touch. But there is that back to school feeling as my youngest daughter is coming home today from a summer spent working in New York. She then packs up and heads back to college for her senior year.

I had to bake some yummy peanut butter cookies to warm the house with that comforting scent for her arrival! Cookies just out of the oven and they are beyond heavenly.

I've been experimenting this summer with gluten free, vegan-like cooking. I experimented with the CLEAN diet for a month and felt terrific. But, of course, a little wine and Starbucks lattes have crept back in...

In the name of healthy, yummy, special, sweet treats...I'm sharing my experimental and totally delicious recipe with you:

SPECIAL YUMMY FULL OF LOVE VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER DELIGHTS

1 Cup spelt flour

1 Cup gluten free flour (I like Bob's Red Mill)

1 teaspoon baking soda (alum free)

1 Tablespoon flax seeds

1 teaspoon sea salt (or not)

1 Cup organic, natural peanut butter (I like chunky)

1 Cup maple syrup

1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 Cup organic dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all dry ingredients (except chips). Mix all other ingredients. Add flour to the wet ingredients and let sit for a bit then add chocolate chips.

I have one of those silicone sheets to put over the cookie sheet. Then using a large spoon drop clumps and flatten with a fork.

Cook for about 10 minutes. Cool and enjoy with a cup of peppermint tea!!! Beyond good.

 

Big Sur Bliss

 

Greetings and HAPPY SUMMER!

Summer and the living should be easy...or easier!  I set out to practice what I preach and get away for 4 days with NO LAPTOP.  Imagine that.....

My husband Tom and I have always wanted to experience the magic of Big Sur, California and we did just that a few weeks ago!  Here we are (above) standing on the little patio of our Big Sur retreat.  It was beyond magical!  We watched a cloud parade dance by around 3:00 everyday, the only sound to accompany the visual display was the barking of a sea lion or two.  We were 1,200 feet above the ocean and never saw a plane or boat...nothing to distrub the view God created and has somehow been preserved all these years.

So many of you have emailed me recently wanting to know about our two daughters, Whitney and Elizabeth, as you say you've come to know them over the years from my books and newsletter.  I thank you for asking and they are doing well.  Liz is working in NYC this summer and begins her senior year in college in the fall and Whitney graduated from college a year ago and is working in wonderful Nashville, TN. 

Warmest summer blessings from my heart to yours.  And, take the plunge...and experience something from YOUR dream list with someone you love.  I had to pinch myself when I was walking beneath the redwood trees or gazing out at the dramatic Big Sur coast.  Sweet reward indeed.

Love and light,

Mimi

 

Garland Waller: Producer, Mother, Hero!

 
Garland Waller

Many years ago when I was a young and eager graduate student at Harvard School of Education, I was blessed to work as an intern for an incredible producer, Garland Waller.  Garland became not only one of my most treasured friends, but an ongoing inspiration as a woman who steadfastly works to bring truth to power.  She has been an advocate for children since we met back in 1984 and worked together on a television project for children called THIS SECRET SHOULD BE TOLD.  This was one of the first programs for children about sexual abuse.  Garland led the charge. 

Garland has been working on another film project I wanted to share with you as she is again exposing an ugly secret about how children are not protected.

Q: Garland, why did you create Small Justice and No Way Out But One?

 A: In 2001, I completed the independent documentary Small Justice: Little Justice in America’s Family Courts when one of my childhood friends, a paralegal, told me about many of her cases where men who beat their wives and sexually abused their children were getting custody. I couldn’t bear not to do anything. Sadly, not much has changed in the family court system. That is why I am producing a new documentary, No Way Out But One on the first woman to be granted asylum on grounds of domestic violence. The Netherlands gave Holly Collins and her children protection when the US family courts would not.

Q: How many women and children are in a situation similar to this?

A: The Leadership Council, a very respect research organization, estimates that “58,000 children a year are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents following divorce in the United States. This is over twice the yearly rate of new cases of childhood cancer.” 

Q: This is simply unbelievable!  What can we do?  How can we protect children?

A: Well, one thing is to make sure the parents who love them understand what can happen in family court. People operate with the idea that family courts are family friendly – and they are not. So if you are in a situation where you are either thinking about divorce or getting one, make sure to pick an attorney who understands how loving mothers can lose custody of their kids. It happens every day and because the mainstream media hasn’t covered the issue, most people don’t know about it. So knowledge is power. And that is why we have a page on the No Way Out But One web site that gives people fast, immediate information and helpful research.

Q: This sounds so sad. Is there any hope?

A: I am actually more hopeful than I have been for a long time. Word is getting out. Men and women are organizing to protect children. No Way Out But One is getting support from around the world on Kickstarter so that we can complete the project. I really believe we will get what we need to make this project that can help so many women and their children.

Thank you Garland for sharing your light with the world.  Thank you for empowering women and children!  You are my hero!!

 

 

New Life

 

 
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice, it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

--William Jennings Bryan

Today, open your heart...take a deep breath...and make the choice to life the life of your dreams NOW.  It is possible and it is NOW.

 

"All that we do is touched with ocean yet we remain on the shore of what we know."

--Richard Wilbur

Today is a day of rebirth, miracles and joyful understanding of life eternal!  Walk into the open, unlimited ocean of possibility knowing you are walking with Spirit as you!

Happy Easter!

Magical Day

 

Magical Power of TODAY!

Today is a special day...  In the realm of human gestation, whatever you create today will be "birthed" on 11.11.11!  Just 9 months from now!

DREAM BIG BABY....and hold to your vision...

I'll check in with you on 11.11.11 and celebrate your joy as you are living that dream began from a seedling of an idea today.

Blessings and light from my heart to yours.  Happy Valentine's Day weekend...give yourself the loving gift of 10 minutes to articulate your dream...Magic!

I HEART you!

Mimi

A Mother-Daughter Journey

 
JULIE'S BLOG

I was touched to receive an email from Julie Rotz, a new mom who has set the fine intention of embracing her mothering as a spiritual quest and using my book 10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting as her guide.

She says:

 My first step on my spiritual journey is reading the book, 10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting. I am only half way through the book, but can tell it has done so much for me already. It has made me question my belief, not only as a spiritual being, but also as a parent. The purpose of the book is to help guide you in raising spiritual children, yet it has made me look inside myself to see how I am spiritual in my every day life. I can only raise a spiritual child if I, too, am believing and leading in the path. I have to learn, believe and practice what I preach.

YES...our children are our teachers...this I know for sure as I've journed with my two daughters now 19 and 23.  As parents we can open our hearts to the mindfulness of daily interaction with our children and when we realize that all that really matters is LOVE we can reorder our lives...simply and easily...day by day!

Blessings and light from my heart to yours!

 

Obstacle or Opportunity...

 
I love the notion that every obstacle is an opportunity in disguise.  And yet, when in the throes of the seeming "obstacle," it's hard to get my monkey mind from swinging from negative thought to negative thought.

Deepak Chopra in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success noted:

"One-pointed intention is that quality of attention that is unbending in its fixity of purpose...it means holding your attention to the intended outcome with such unbending purpose that you absolutely refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the focused quality of your attention."

I love the reminder this quote gives me...to adhere to an unbending quality of thought -- divine thought -- and trust that my life is a divine idea simply unfolding each moment into the highest good. 

If you are in the midst of an obstacle, large or small, try to shift your thoughts and know that nothing can disrupt the unfolding of who you are and what you are here to do.  It's a practice, a habit of reverence of sorts.  Embrace this habit and watch how you are able to reinterpret bumps in the road and call them fertile opportunities for growth.

Blessings and light from my heart to yours!

 

Welcome 2011

 

Here we are...on the brink of a new year...a new you...Right now...in this moment...we can all begin again!

I have 3 beautiful, large, white framed bulletin boards that take up a wall in my office.  These are my image/vision boards to help remind and ground me.  My daughter Whitney designed one for me a year or so ago...beautifully displaying various images I had collected for years.  A big quote on the middle board reads:  LIVE HAPPILY EVER NOW...

What we do now, right now, unfolds into how we experience tomorrow and the day after that!  Let the words: LIVE HAPPILY EVER NOW....infuse you as you decide...now...right now...how you want to feel.

As we move into 2011 think about what you value most in life.  Often, pausing to remember or identify what is most valuable to us helps us readjust.  Deepening our relationships and loving fully might just be expected...by us...but when we articulate that as what we value most in life then our decisions are informed and our lives can become a bit more simple.

To love fully...to be loved fully and to live honestly and with integrety!  It might be that simple!

To a simply amazing, abundant and love filled 2011...from my heart to yours!

CELEBRATE!