Want to hear me speak about
long-term breastfeeding along with
61 other presentations on natural family living from 68 other (amazing) speakers? And want to hear it all
for free?
I'm a presenter and happy affiliate of the
Nourished Living Summit, which brings together natural health, wellness, and parenting professionals who are dedicated to helping parents care for their family naturally. These experts know that this parenting gig is not easy and as such are equipping you with the information you need to either begin, continue, or expand your journey as a natural-minded parent.
The Nourished Living Summit is a FREE online event
that runs March 24 through April 29.
Awhile back, I wrote
a post bemoaning our limited choices for U.S. health insurance maternity coverage as a self-employed family.
Let the politicos argue about Obamacare — I'm just happy to report that Health Care Reform has solved those problems!
Back in 2010, here were our choices:
- Upgrade our health insurance before conception to a plan that includes maternity coverage, which ended up being one of the two most expensive plans offered by our insurer.
- Pay out of pocket for all our prenatal, birth, and postpartum expenses.
I thought this was all
horrifically sexist for so few insurance plans to cover maternity — sure, not all of us get pregnant and have babies, but
all of us have been babies. It wasn't just penalizing women of childbearing age — it was penalizing the most vulnerable members of our society, the soon-to-be and recently born. I'm so glad someone told the insurance companies they needed to stop being weasels.
With Alrik's pregnancy, we ended up going with upgrading just my insurance to the most expensive plan — so expensive, in fact, that
I ended up paying more per month to insure just myself with maternity coverage than we paid to insure the other three family members (once Alrik was born) combined on a non-maternity plan.
We continue to be delighted with the inspiration and wisdom our Carnival of Natural Parenting participants share, and we hope you'll join us for the next carnival in April 2014!(Check out
March,
February,
January 2014,
December 2013,
November,
October,
September,
August,
July,
June,
May,
April,
March,
January, and summaries of all our
2012 posts and
2011 posts if you missed any.)
Your co-hosts are
Dionna at Code Name: Mama and
Lauren at Hobo Mama.
Here are the submission details for April 2014:
Theme: Family Pastimes: We all have our free-time passions. Which ones do you share with your kids? How have you incorporated family life into your hobbies, or the other way around? Have you struggled to balance “me time” with parenting? Is there something you and your family would like to take up? Get on your hobbyhorse and tell us all about it!
Deadline:
Tuesday, April 1. Fill out the
webform (at the link or at the bottom) and email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: CarNatPar {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com
Carnival date: Tuesday, April 8. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on April 8 and email us the link if you haven't done so already. Once everyone's posts are published on April 8 by noon Eastern time, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants' links to generate lots of link love for your site! We'll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.
Please submit your details into our web form: This will help us as we compile the links list. Please enter your information on the form embedded at the end of this post, or click here to enter it on a separate page:
April 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting participant form
It's interesting to think about pre-parent me and who I was six and a half years ago compared with today. It's incredible the ways being a parent has changed me — not just in terms of stretch marks, a higher tolerance for being peed on, and the adopting of phrases my mom used to say that I swore I never would — but in ways that affect my deepest core and have brought me into my true self.
Pre-kids Sam and me could do pretty much anything, and so we did. We didn't have much money, but we still traveled a lot, went to plays and concerts and museums, started businesses, moved across the country just because, watched multi-day marathons of TV shows on DVD, practiced music and wrote songs, volunteered long hours, took continual adult-education classes, and enjoyed it all.
I don't regret who I was then, and I don't regret that my life has changed. I imagine some of it would have changed with age and circumstances in any case, but I can definitely see how before becoming a parent, I had pretty much my own inclinations to consult for what I wanted to do on any given day and in my broader life planning. I wasn't selfish or thoughtless — that's just how my life was.
We made some music with our latest
science & art box from affiliate Appleseed Lane! Here are some ideas of how
you could do similar projects at home.
By the way, it's Pi Day (3.14), so Appleseed Lane is offering all you science fans
30% off your first box with the code
PIDAY — enjoy through March 16! These experiment & craft projects are perfect for natural learning at home.
The projects awaiting us!
Checking out the supplies. We got the optional sibling add-on with our subscription so both kids can (peaceably) share, but Alrik was taking his nap, so we'll do his later.
Straw kazoo — a little tricky to learn, but intriguing, and a possibility for passing the time at a restaurant if you have little scissors around (like
on a keychain!). Take a drinking straw and flatten the first inch, then cut into a V. Blow through the top until it vibrates. You can cut off portions of the length to alter the sound.
Sam and I were impressed with this craft stick kazoo. I know there are a lot of kazoo variations out there, but this one was really fun, with varying sounds. You need two craft sticks — wrap a thick rubber band around one, and slide a one-inch straw piece underneath one end.
Welcome to the March 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Everyday Superheroes
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have talked about the remarkable people and characteristics that have touched their lives. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
When I meet non-homeschooling people who find out
we are, I get a lot of the same messages:
Wow, I couldn't do that! You must be really organized.
I get the same reactions when I tell people
we work from home:
You must have so much self-discipline!
Well … I dunno. I think it's due to people's lack of imagination for what it might actually be like to live some of these choices. I'm not some amazing superheroic mother or entrepreneur. I just … prefer doing things this way.
Same with home birthing and breastfeeding and
babywearing — I'm not a crunchy green superwoman. To be totally honest here, I chose those things because (a) I don't like leaving home and being around strangers, (b) it seemed a lot easier to use a body part attached to me than get out of bed to wash bottles and pump parts, and (c) my arms get tired if I have to carry my baby around all day (and I do).
So … yeah. Taken all together, I'd say I made a lot of my "heroic" choices because — wait for it — I'm lazy. Because they were convenient and made sense to me and were expedient.
We've got a
FLASH SALE —
today only! — of 10% off
Mindful Nurturing's Essential Parenting Collection or any of the topical bundles on
Pregnancy and Birth, Parenting the Early Years, Child Development, Mindful Guidance, and
Resources for Parents.
Use code MONDAY10 for
10% off your purchase
March 10 only!
The full collection is $44.97 today only, and each mini-bundle is $17.97,
only through midnight, so hurry!
For a full overview of ALL the 35 e-resources,
read my introductory post.
Right now, I'm going to do a
mini-review of several resources that have meant something to me. Keep in mind that this full collection is worth $750, which means each resource has an average value of $21. You don't have to crave many of the books to make the whole bundle or one of the topical bundles well worth your purchase!
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the
best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
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We're not letting the wintry rain get us down.
The family headed downtown to the museums and monorail.
Thanks to Google+ for this automagicked motion! (Connect with me if you're on G+!) |
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We stopped in a Japanese novelty store, where most everything's $1.50,
and the boys got these tubes. Why? Why, indeed. They love them. |
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| Mikko keeps using his for rainwater experiments. |
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| Fortunately, we've had plenty of rain to enjoy! |
Linkety-links!
This is one in a series of guest posts by other bloggers. Read to the end for a longer biographical note on today's guest blogger, Mercedes from Project Procrastinot. I am in awe of parents of twins — and particularly those who manage to breastfeed two hungry babies through toddlerhood. Mercedes gives us her tips and comparisons for breastfeeding twin newborns vs. twin toddlers, so if you're in the same boat, take heart: It gets easier. Or, at least: different.
Guest post by Mercedes of Project Procrastinot
When my twins were born, I couldn't know for certain if I would reach my goal of breastfeeding them for one year. Now that they are sixteen months, the idea of weaning them seems very strange. It just doesn't feel like our time is up, although nursing toddlers has its own challenges.
Here are the main differences between nursing twin newborns and nursing older twins, in my experience.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
