Playful Parenting- Stop Power Struggles Fast!

Categories: Parenting, Sensible Stuff

(Article As Seen In Mauimama Magazine April 2012) Since Springtime is about growth, renewal and life, it’s the perfect time to renew and enliven your relationship with play. Play helps children in so many ways. Here’s how it it can be used as a parenting tool to stop power struggles. Real life power struggle scenario: [...]

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Cornmeal Crusted Salmon Potato Cakes

Categories: Recipes, Sensible Stuff

Tags: fish, fish cakes, potato fish cakes, recipe, salmon, salmon potato cakes

It is definitely the cutest, most versatile, easy dinners that I've conjured up while cleaning out the leftovers in my fridge! These two-inch crispy yum nuggets went over very well with my three and four year-old (and my husband who saw them and literally said, "Wow! Yum!") Within minutes their plates were clean! I'm loving this because in each two-bite morsel, they ate a well-rounded meal-- protein, vegetables and grains. And on top of that it was so easy to make!

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Small Batch Composting- The Simplest Way To A Flourishing Garden

Categories: Gardening, Sensible Stuff

I never knew I had a green thumb. I grew up with parents who kept us indoors and cautioned against getting dirty, which meant I never played in the dirt or even touched it. And then recently I decided to grow my own food. (Reasons: concern with GMO foods, limited choice of organic [...]

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Training Kids Into Good Behavior (Discipline without having to discipline!)

Categories: Parenting, Sensible Stuff

(Two Year Old In Training, Washing His Dishes) (Three Years Old Now, Washes Dishes Without Help) Article As Seen In The Mauimama Magazine (Scroll Down For New Info Below) It’s a given, your children are going to test your patience, push the boundaries. They are going to misbehave. Mine certainly do. The hardest for [...]

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Heart Wisdom- Listen To Your Heart! It’s Smarter Than Listening To Your Head

Categories: Happiness, Parenting, Sensible Stuff, Trusting Yourself

A mother’s intuition is an astonishing phenomenon. Against all statistics, against all odds, against knowledgeable, expert advice, a mother can know what is best for her child. Elizabeth Davis, author of Orgasmic Birth calls it the “mother-mind, a highly intuitive way of thinking”. I’ve learned to, above all, listen to it- what I call [...]

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The 12 Days Of Christmas-The Gift Of Appreciation

Categories: Love, Parenting, Relationships, Sensible Stuff

This Christmas, my family and I started a new tradition we call The 12 Days of Christmas. Each day for twelve days starting December 26, we give a gift to someone we appreciate to let them know that they make a difference in our lives. I believe appreciation is one of the best gifts [...]

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Want Happier, Calmer Kids? Get Rid Of The Clutter! A New Year’s Resolution

Categories: Happiness, health, Parenting, Sensible Stuff

Kitchen Area Clutter-”Before” I’ll admit it, I am a recovering hoarder. I inherited my pack-rat nature from both my parents who saw value in every piece of scrap they came across. I learned to be a “maybe we will need this someday” kind of person, a “be prepared for anything” kind of person, [...]

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Tiger Birthday Cake

Categories: Recipes, Sensible Stuff

When it comes to birthdays, I go all out, especially with the cake. I tend to push the limits of my creativity. So when my younger son said he wanted a “tiger cake”, I envisioned a cute little tiger sitting on top of the cake in a green forest. I was inspired by watching a [...]

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Hurrying Our Kids and Doing Too Much- My struggle to slow down

Categories: Happiness, Parenting, Sensible Stuff

I have a mom friend who was wondering why she feels like she is always hurrying her children, even when they are “supposed to be enjoying life“. She writes about it in her blog post called “Why is it so hard for me to let my kids enjoy life at their own pace”. http://jennifermargulis.net/blog/2011/08/why-is-it-so-hard-for-me-to-let-my-kids-enjoy-life-at-their-own-pace/ She [...]

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Dental Secrets About Kids Teeth

Categories: health, Parenting, Sensible Stuff

Now that our kids have had their fill of Halloween candy, I have some words of advice (on the down low) from a dentist that I “grilled” (informally interviewed) recently. But to start, I’ll tell you that I don’t really believe that young kids need to see a dentist if you are conscious to take [...]

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