The Mother magazine

13 years on.....

2012-02-07T14:14:00.000Z

On this day thirteen years ago, my family arrived in England. We left a balmy 38C in Australia and arrived to minus 12 here in the North. It's still cold! I'm still freezing...

Anniversaries are always a time for reflection, and our arrival here is no different.

I was in a coffee shop this morning with a friend reflecting about the huge difference there is in parenting children in a warm country where you can just step out the door, and parenting where it is cold. It was a huge culture shock for me to arrive here and to spend at least half an hour rugging the girls up each time we left the house. Thirteen years on and I still miss that ability to step out the door with ease.

Advertising space for small, ethical businesses

2012-02-05T10:21:00.001Z

The Mother magazine has always limited the amount of advertising space, and made the editorial content the priority. Our publication is led by our ethos, and not the demands of advertisers or shop owners.

We don't financially rely on advertising to sustain our business, and therefore are not susceptible when advertisers drop out during a recession.

If you have a small, ethical, green business or product which is kind and friendly to family, animals and the environment, then we welcome your advertisment and believe our passionate and dedicated readership would be a suitable audience for your needs.

North American advertizing contact Kathryn:
http://www.themothermagazine.org/advertizing/index.shtml

Rest of the world advertising contact Keeley:
http://www.themothermagazine.co.uk/advertising/

Adverts are available in: classified form, 1/8th page (black and white), 1/4 page (colour and b&w), 1/2 page (colour and b&w), full page (colour and b&w), inside or outside cover full page (colour only).

Baby Massage Instructors Course

2012-02-02T10:18:00.000Z

The following letter is from Mary Beattie. The Course is run by Sylvie Hétu (wife of TM columnist Richard House)

A few spaces have been released for I.A.I.M. Baby Massage Instructors course – the Essential Early Years Training of the future!

February 20^th-23^rd 2012

As you may know, the International Association of Infant Massage is the world leader in Infant Massage and works within 53 countries. They provide the highest quality of infant massage instructor training.

Neonatal departments, General Practice, Children’s Centres, Young people’s services and Health Visiting teams are a few of the organisations that have sent staff to be trained as a Baby Massage Instructor. They now offer this service within their premises.

Parents often find the way through your door by attending a baby massage course. By having a member of your team able to provide in-house baby massage you may attract more parents and babies who can then access your other services.

It provides a non-threatening space for parents to just ‘be’ with their babies. The ambiance and multitude of benefits make this the number one course to offer to parents: Services tell us repeatedly that once offered, the baby massage the course gets filled straight away; indeed they have waiting lists that get longer and longer!

Our baby massage course has been identified by reputable academic research as the optimum course to empower parents right at the start of their parenting journey. Having members of your staff trained as infant massage instructors, will increase attendance by parents, especially the hard to reach and vulnerable, marginalized parent. It draws in the ‘hard to reach parents” who also learn about baby cues and behavioural states and about answering their babies needs. They learn how to relieve colic, digestive and sleep challenges in a very accessible way.

Having ‘Baby Massage’ on offer is an extremely positive investment where everyone wins.

Baby massage promotes proper STIMULATION of all bodily systems and senses.

It brings RELAXATION, contributing to reduced cortisol levels, longer sleep, and longer quiet alert sate.

It helps parents to RELIEVE all sorts of baby common challenges such as colic, constipation, mucus and teething

And finally, but no the least, it helps INTERACTION between parent and baby, fostering secure attachment and positive bonding.

Parents also highly appreciate the social support they gain by meeting and discussing with other parents.

The course director will be the truly inspiring Sylvie Hétu, who brings 28 years of Infant massage and training experience, and sits on the I.A.I.M International Educational Advisory Committee. Sylvie was the first president of the IAIM and for 12 years brought the training from 5 to 35 countries worldwide. She Lectures internationally on child and infant development and education.

More details about us can be found at: www.babyandchildmassage.co.uk

The course is being held at the beautiful Steiner House in Central London and costs £595 including, a very comprehensive Instructor Manual, The IAIM founders book, a detailed compendium of hand-outs, a bottle of oil as well as one year membership with the International Association of Infant Massage UK Chapter. And hot lunches too

Once qualified, you will be able to teach parents how to massage their babies and our comprehensive curriculum is the one shared by all IAIM International Trainers.

In your four-day training, you will be introduced to:

• Babies cues

• Reflexes and behavioural states

• Infant massage IAIM strokes routines

• Benefits of massage

• Effects of massage on nervous system and endocrine systems

• Adaptations for special situations and babies with additional needs

• A specific colic routine, emotional aspects of babies and parents

• Crying

• Facilitating discussions with parents

• Facilitating an infant massage class

• Bonding and attachment

• The history of infant massage

This is an essential early years training course and we hope to meet you there!

If you have any other questions and please feel free to call me.

If you would like to join the February course I will send you an application form. You will need to have a demonstration baby doll for your practice. If you have one already then great. We do have specifically designed and weighted dolls that you can purchase from us and we will bring to the training for you.

I very much look forwards to hearing from you.

Very warm wishes!

Mary Beattie

Course Coordinator

07528 589 859

mary@babyandchildmassage.co.uk

Friends

2012-01-31T16:43:00.001Z

I’ve never been one to collect friends like recipes.

To me, a true friend is someone you can openly and honestly share your soul with, and to whom you can always be your true self.

I can say, hand on heart, that my closest friends have been made through The Mother magazine. I know I’m not alone in this experience, and that other parents have found new friends, and forged wonderful relationships through meeting other Mother readers.

It is for this reason that The Mother magazine family camp is such an important event for some families, and indeed becomes their annual family holiday.

Family Camp is for current subscribers of The Mother magazine

Limetree Farm, near Ripon, North Yorkshire

Saturday 21st July to Wednesday July 25th, 2012

For further information and a booking form, please visit:

http://www.themothermagazine.co.uk/tm_camp_2012/index.shtml

Please note, we can only hold your family’s space with a deposit, and that there is a limit to the number of families we can accept.

Although the camp is in July, we don’t recommend leaving it too long to book. Final places must be booked by the end of May unless all places are already filled.

Walk the Healing Labyrinth at this year’s camp

Facilitated by TM columnist, Sara Bran

This experiential event is for those mothers, fathers and children who would like to heal their birth experience.

Make new friends!

The Mother magazine’s family camp is a unique opportunity to meet other families who parent in a similar way, however you don’t need to be a parent to attend.

Limetree Farm is a beautiful location in North Yorkshire, and is home to ample wildlife. You and your family can enjoy five days on this secluded 40 acre Nature reserve, sleeping under the stars, sipping tea around the camp fire, walking in the woods, sharing in communal vegetarian meals (optional), and, if desired, taking part in workshops and activities.

Workshops & Activities

*Homeopathy of the heart

*Healing labyrinth (general & birth)

*Opening the heart through singing

*Honouring your Venus: astrology & love

*Men’s group

*Teenage circle

*Colours of the Heart art workshop

*Heart crafts for children

*Community damper making

*Forest school activities for children of all ages

*Alfie’s annual ventriloquist show

*Origami

*Friendship bracelets

*Felt crafts

*Bread making

*Nature walks

*Bird/badger viewing

Lead into gold: the alchemist's journey

2012-01-28T19:52:00.000Z

The youngest in our family is 14 years old today.

Eliza is five foot and 8 ¼ inches. I’m ‘just’ 5.7! She was 55cm long at birth, and weighed ten pounds, four ounces. She was always going to be a strapping girl.

Her early days on this Earth still break my heart, and it’s inevitable that a mother replays the birth story at least once a year!

My beautiful baby was born “blue”: not breathing. Unlike my first pregnancy, which culminated in an ecstatic, gentle and easy waterbirth by candlelight in our bedroom, to find ourselves in the sterile and heartless, not to mention adrenalin-inducing, resuscitation room was deeply distressing.
The differences between my first and second pregnancy were huge. My first midwife was very woman centred, and she believed in the power of a woman to birth easily and effortlessly. She also worked independently of other midwives, and would come to our home for antenatal visits. It was a very personal and intimate relationship.

My second midwife was part of, and answerable to, a collective of midwives who were governed by all sorts of policies. We sometimes met at the collective, and other times met in a hospital examination room (despite planning a homebirth!). Throughout my pregnancy I would see the ‘what to do if a baby needs resuscitating’ sign, and my heart would sink! The thought that a tiny baby would be subjected to that was horrifying to me, and alien to our experience of a gentle birth. Still, the images sank right into the depth of my being whether I liked it or not.

The first mistake I made in pregnancy was changing midwives, because we’d moved to a different part of town. If I’d known the homebirth ‘failure’ rate that the midwife for Eliza’s birth carried in her midwifery bag (and to every birth she attended), I’d never have taken her on. You can tell a lot about what a midwife truly believes about birth by looking at her midwifery history.

Hindsight! Shame it only comes into its own after an event!

My daughters liked gestation and hanging out in my womb after the elusive 40 week due date! Midwives who work in a collective get twitchy once 40 weeks comes and goes. An independent midwife, like the one we had for Bethany, trusts that the baby will come when she is ready. She doesn’t interfere.

What I’ve learnt since Eliza’s birth is that even if a midwife tells you it is ‘illegal’ to have a homebirth after a certain date, (which is simply NOT true), you can override any midwifery or hospital policies and sign a disclaimer. Live and learn. The main thing is not to be bullied by your birthcare professional.

Letting yourself to be induced is one of the worst mistakes birthing women make. Induction changes the course of labour ~ and never for the better!
My gentle labour at home that morning was vastly different after I was induced in hospital. It instantly became fast and furious. My baby wasn’t ready to be born at such speed, and now she was being expelled from the womb. I laboured in water, but it was a very different experience from first time around.

Eliza was born with shoulder dystocia (dislocated shoulder), as she got stuck during her ‘forced’ fast entry into the world. She was pulled from my birth canal, and her floppy blue body was taken to the resuscitation table. Emergency calls were put out through the hospital and within seconds the room was filled with panicked, fear-filled strangers. I kept calling out and asking if my baby was dead, but no-one would answer me.

Eliza was given a drug that should only be given to a baby if the mother has been drugged in labour. I had a drug-free birth. The drug made her lungs produce fresh, frothy blood.

I was taken to a trolley, and, without permission, injected to expel the placenta. I wasn’t allowed to stand with my baby, so Paul stood there with her ~ about two metres from me. He stood by her side as she was being resuscitated, dripping, in his wet underwear (he’d been in the birth pool with me) and singing to her. I begged him to sing, talk, touch her. Goodness knows what the staff made of us!

It was decided that Eliza should be transferred to another hospital, so we endured a journey across town in the middle of the night. She was taken by ambulance. On arrival, we were horrified to find a nurse taking a photo of our screaming baby (her tiny dislocated shoulder causing her immense pain). I ordered the nurse to stop. “I don’t want a photo to remind me of my distraught baby!” Clearly I was the first person to ever express this sentiment, as she just didn’t ‘get’ it.

Morphine was administered to my baby, and then three days of hell followed. The staff insisted that she receive IV antibiotics to counteract the lung infection she was likely to get from her waterbirth. They assumed she must have gulped water and that this was the cause of her being born blue. Ridiculous. I told them over and over that she wasn’t born in water, and that I’d only laboured in the pool. Even if she had been born in water, a baby’s reflex stops them from gulping water.

Eliza was attached to all sorts of beeping, noisy machines in a room full of bright lights. They had trouble getting a line into her tiny veins, and she was jabbed over and over again. They wanted to put a needle into her head! (I was out of the room at the time, but Paul made it very clear to them that they’d only be able to do that over my dead body). They discontinued the IV antibiotics at that point ~ but the damage done wouldn’t be noticeable until her first teeth emerged: black and already disintegrating! And then of course there’s the damage to her sense of being touched, and sensitivity to pain or discomfort of any description.

Paul and I kept a 24/7 vigil at Eliza’s bedside; talking, singing, touching. I still can’t bear to think of her little lips spending three days rooting around for my breast and not being ‘allowed’ to breastfeed (due to the mystery lung infection from the gulped water which never happened!). Staff wanted to put a dummy in her mouth. Agggh. Instead, I asked my mother to let Eliza suckle on her nipples (empty breasts) so she could keep her sucking reflex and not be confused by an artificial device.

The whole situation seemed so cruel. My breasts were huge and leaking milk. I expressed milk for when they’d “allow” her to be fed by tube. I wanted to rip the stupid Breastfeeding-Friendly Hospital posters from the walls, and never more so than when they suggested giving her some formula to ‘top her up’! The babies in that unit weren’t being breastfed. Look at my breasts, I said. I have enough milk here to feed every baby. Just let me feed my baby!

We doused Eliza’s feet in Rescue Remedy and didn’t leave her side. Our ‘angel’ cranial osteopath, Madhu Bhana, came and treated Eliza in her crib, much to the horror of the medical staff, but it made all the difference to her health and well-being. (If you live in Auckland, New Zealand, I can't recommend Madhu highly enough).

I asked staff where the other parents were, and was told they didn’t need to be there as ‘there was nothing they could do’. BULLSHIT! Regardless of the medical care an infant needs, the most important care is parental nurturing and attachment: touch, love, words, affection. I have since learnt that any medical condition can be attended to while the baby is in mother’s arms. They don’t need to be in a crib ~ this is purely for the convenience of the staff!

Each of the babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care could have fitted in the palm of an adult’s hand: all of them, except Eliza! At 10lb 4oz, she looked like a whale compared to the premature babies. Despite the grief and upset, it seemed pretty clear that she’d probably survive this challenging time. Our baby was robust.

For Paul and I, this was a time of great growth and a steep learning curve.
Alchemists turn lead into gold, and the only way to heal a traumatic birth is to do psycho-spiritual healing. You can’t do one without the other.

The spiritual growth takes you upwards, and the psychological growth invites you downwards! Down, down, down and deep into the dark night of the soul. You can’t avoid the pain of the descent. It’s essential. Combining them both is what brings healing: lead into gold.

We still see the consequences for Eliza of those first few days when she was denied her biological right to breastfeed and be held in arms. People who stupidly say ‘at least the doctors saved her’ are ignorant of the damage the medical profession can do, and the potentially lifelong impact of their decisions. They don’t see the effect of their actions and how they play out years later.

So, on this, her fourteenth birthday, what is the gold?

My learning about birth, and the impact of an interfered-with birth, not to mention the disempowerment even strong parents can feel when in an alien environment, has fired my passion to teach as many parents and would-be parents as possible about standing their ground; to teach that birth is a co-creation, not just between parent and child, but between them and the birth care professionals they employ. The gold is that we can either heal our experiences by having another birth, or by teaching others what we’ve learned through hindsight (and kindsight).

The gold from Eliza’s early days manifests in the form of The Mother magazine and the birth stories we share, and the educational pieces on birth psychology, as well as my book, The Birthkeepers.

My baby, whose life hung in the balance, is now on the verge of becoming a young lady. What joy she’s brought to my life with her kind heart, giving soul, and infectious smile. This week she’s had her best friend come to visit from down south. They and Bethany enjoyed a meal out together last night away from adults, and today Bethany and I baked a luscious lemon birthday cake.

An undrugged birthing mother always remembers her children’s birth stories. They form important chapters in her emotional makeup. Eliza’s birth was a time that felt heavy, and the medical disasters surrounding her first few days were like lead on our hearts; but Eliza was, and has always been, the gold in our life.

New Moon Wishes

2012-01-22T11:09:00.000Z

A fellow astrologer friend and I have decided to meet up on each New Moon this year to make our wishes.

On Monday morning (January 23^rd) at 7.39 am (

time), the Moon will be in Aquarius.

To make your wishes, do so within eight hours of the New Moon. It’s a powerful time to put your dreams, desires and goals out into the world.
The new Moon is a time that the body naturally cleanses and detoxifies, so use this opportunity to drink plenty of water. It’s an ideal time for breaking bad habits and starting new ones. Let go of old patterns, and make a fresh start. If you need to do an abundance ritual to increase the ‘flow’ in your life, this is an ideal time.

For those of you unfamiliar or new to astrology, I thought I’d share the meaning of each sign the new Moon is in throughout this year so you can join in the journey, if you wish. Of course, if you know your chart you can also look at the house that the sign sits and focus on that part of life, too.
Write down (by pen and paper, not computer) no more than ten wishes which relate to the themes of the sign the Moon is in (see below for information about Aquarius). Keep the wishes in a positive sense/affirmation.

You can place your list in a journal, under your pillow or gift it to the Earth by burying it in some soil or at the base of a tree.

Perhaps you can use the elemental energy a particular Moon is in to decide what to do with your wishes. For example, during air sign new Moons (Libra, Aquarius and Gemini), you might like to throw them in the wind.

Water signs (Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio), place the wishes into a body of water.

Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), plant them in the earth.

Fire signs, you might like to write them by candlelight, or create a small fire in the garden as you write them down.

Aquarius is the 11^th sign of the zodiac, and is co-ruled by the planets Uranus (modern astrology) and Saturn (Saturn in traditional astrology). The element it governs is air (intellect).

The Water bearer ~ Aquarius

Aquarius is attributed to: fellowship, humanity, groups and friendships. The image is of the Water bearer (bringing nourishment to the people).

Uranus, ruler of Aquarius

The energy of Aquarius is to connect with others ~ the zodiac’s networker! When functioning positively, it’s friendly and interested in other people’s welfare (though that is more on a group level than on an intimate and personal level). It’s rational, and wants things to be logical.

Physically, Aquarius rules the ankles, and lower part of the legs, as well as varicose veins, circulation, cramps and spasms.

To make wishes in this area, affirm that you want healing (or the right healers) for those areas of your body. Ask to attract the right information so you can receive total healing.

Emotionally, Aquarian energy can be quite detached (as it is an air sign, and rules the intellect). You can make wishes to break free of this detachment: Ask to be released from patterns of being inflexible, cold or expressing shocking or erratic behaviour. Allow yourself to be open to other people’s points of view.

Friends are the calling card of this sign. Use this new Moon energy to receive wishes in relation to networking, friendliness, groups, platonic relationships. Ask for your life to be filled with happy, new friendships, and that you’re open to receiving love and support from others. Ask to be comfortable in group settings.

Aquarius rules freedom. It likes to liberate. Use this new Moon to make wishes for your freedom. Ask to feel comfortable when greeting unexpected events (Aquarius’ keynote!), and to see the hidden opportunities in such situations. Aquarius governs surprises, excitement and the unexpected! Be open to these themes.

Innovation is a resounding tune for this sign: Ask to understand about your own eccentricities, brilliance and innovative abilities. Listen to your dreams for answers.

Humanity is ruled by the sign of Aquarius. Use this time to understand others, and to indentify with a broader worldview.

The future and revolution is ruled by this sign. Ask to be aware of long range goals, new trends, and modern technology. Ask for your wishes to be in your best interests.

This sign also covers topics like dreams, wishes, goals, tools of divination, such as astrology or the I ching, and seeking knowledge. Ask in your wishes to find more humour in your life, and to feel empowered in your search for knowledge. Ask to be in tune with your destiny. This is also an opportunity to not take everything personally. This is the sign of the ‘bigger picture’.

So, get your journal out, and start writing your Aquarian-themed wishes. If you know where Aquarius falls in your birth chart, include the themes of the house it sits in. Have fun, and be inspired.

Toddlers with poor speech ‘doomed to fail as adults’

2012-01-21T12:14:00.000Z

In The Times newspaper, on Monday, January 16^th, there was an article saying that a government advisor is calling for a national check on two year olds.

He believes they should be subjected to tests on their ability to talk.
He wants such tests to become as routine as health assessments so these children don’t become doomed to a life of failure.

Every child is different. Some develop their skills and abilities earlier rather than later. We risk labeling children who are perfectly ‘normal’ and healthy simply because they aren’t doing something at the same time as another child. This is dangerous territory.

Of my own two children, the first didn’t speak coherently till she was nearer 3 years of age. My second child, was speaking by one. At 11 months old, she said “Can I have an orange please, mummy?” Her first word was actually three words! “I love you.”

Now they’re in their teens, and neither child is a ‘failure’ nor doomed to a life of failure. Both children are excellent readers, and can communicate clearly. They learnt to speak and read (at seven) in their own time and way.

Einstein ~ one of the greatest minds this world has known ~ didn’t talk till he was three. Lucky he wasn’t subjected to some ‘advisor’ in the British government!

And now, to my favourite writer, Kahlil Gibran: “You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; and when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and pastime.

And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered. For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone. The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape. And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand. And there are those who have truth within them, but they tell it not in words. In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.”

If parents are genuinely concerned that their child has learning abilities, then by all means they can seek specialist help. I’m not suggesting otherwise. However, it’s all too easy for children to be deemed as having a problem when they’re not.

What we do need, culturally, is for parents to communicate with their children more, and not just dump them in front of televisions, computers or in daycare where they don’t get the nurturing they were born to expect. By the same token, we need to raise awareness of the damage that using a dummy/pacifier can cause, not only to language and jaw formation, but also because of the lack of oxygen which gets to the brain when these artificial devices are used.

A government 'test' is like putting a band-aid on a cultural tumour!

Clean

2012-01-17T10:57:00.000Z

The left-handed child through an astrologer's eyes

2012-01-15T11:01:00.000Z

In my early grades at school, I distinctly remember an elderly spinster teacher hitting left-handed children over the knuckles in her efforts to ‘make’ them right handed. As the mother of a left-handed daughter, I was shocked to discover the other day that the origin of left means sinister. There’s nothing sinister about my love child!

If you’re left-handed, the Roman way of writing from left to right was never going to be in your favour. Countless children around the world have been forced to forgo their natural instinct to write with their left. This barbaric practice was responsible for many people become stutterers or having other difficulties in communication. Left-handed people are born. It’s not a defect to be left handed!

As an astrologer, I look to the planet of Mercury when assessing someone’s communication and learning style. And certainly there would be a tendency for the right hemisphere of the brain (left handed) to show more clearly/be highlighted in a person’s birth chart under the areas to do with the planet Neptune: music, visual arts, imagination, acting, dancing.

The left side of the brain is expressed through the areas of maths, language and logic [right hand] (Mercury).

Left-handed people make up only about ten percent of the population, and did you know they’re three times more likely to become involved in drug or alcohol abuse (negative aspects of Neptune or the zodiac sign it rules: Pisces). Does that make them sinister? No!

Let's look more closely: Pisces shows two fish swimming in opposite directions. One is heading heaven bound, the other is heading the other way…it’s a constant dilemma which world to live in. This earthly place with all its pain, or the universal womb of the Divine? If you're experiencing Divine Homesickness (even if you can't name it as such), then you might well be drawn to other spirits (booze) to ease the pain and isolation.

It might be tempting to think that all left-handed people are from the art or acting world (Neptune), but it’s intriguing that almost all US presidents (except Carter) since 1974 have been left handed. (Neptune can also show scandal and mass disenchantment! Think about that as you look at each President's track record.)

What happens if Neptune and Mercury are closely linked in a person’s birth chart? These are the children who should be given ample room to explore Neptunian traits through, and with, their Mercury…whether that be creative writing, music, art, visual arts or even acting.

We have to question what happens to the ten percent of school children who live their right-brained lives in left-brained schools. Clearly children (hopefully) aren’t forced to be right handed as they once were, but many things are still geared up for right-handed people.

As the mother of a left-handed unschooling daughter, I can only say that it truly breaks my heart to think of the children who live in a world which doesn’t readily cater for them and their needs.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” ~ Elizabeth Kubler Ross

Vaccine Injury

2012-01-11T08:59:00.000Z

http://news.yahoo.com/61-million-dollar-settlement-child-injured-vaccine-negotiated-201214110.html

$61 Million Dollar Settlement for a Child Injured by a Vaccine Negotiated by Attorneys at Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA

PRWeb – Fri, Jul 1, 2011 The U.S Federal Vaccine Court awarded a $61 million settlement for a child who suffered a severe adverse reaction after an immunization. Vaccine attorneys at the law firm of Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A., believed that the case was clearly a result of a reaction to the DTaP immunization. Court documents show that only hours after the baby received a routine diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccination, she started to have seizures, abnormal breathing, irregular heartbeats, and at 6:05am the next morning, her heart stopped completely. It took 6 minutes of CPR to revive her. She has spent that last 6 years of her life suffering from cognitive delays, cerebral palsy, encephalopathy, and seizure disorder. The family's attorneys say the $61 million dollar award will pay for the child's around the clock medical care for the rest of her life.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 01, 2011
S.M.* was born a normal and healthy baby girl in August 2005, weighing 7 lbs. 12 ounces. Two months later, her short, healthy life changed tragically because of a rare severe vaccine reaction.
Case documents show that hours after baby S.M. received a routine diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccination, she started to have seizures, abnormal breathing, irregular heartbeats, and at 6:05am the next morning, her heart stopped completely. It took 6 minutes of CPR to revive her. She has spent that last 6 years of her life suffering from cognitive delays, cerebral palsy, encephalopathy, and seizure disorder.

Vaccine attorneys at the law firm of Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A., who represented S.M. and her family argued that the case (No. 08-463V) was clearly a result of a terrible reaction to the DTaP immunization. In fact, after reviewing the case submitted by Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA, the Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation of the Department of Health and Human Services agreed that S.M. was indeed entitled to compensation. "S.M. will need complete, around-the-clock medical care for the rest of her life,” says the family’s vaccine attorney, Anne Carrión Toale of Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA. "The $61 million dollar settlement amount to be paid out over S.M.’s lifetime is meant to pay for this care."

This vaccine case was medically complicated and the child’s future needs were extensive. “Without legal representation, it could have turned out very differently,” says Toale. “That is why we strongly recommend that anyone considering filing a vaccine case hire an attorney who is experienced in vaccine cases to represent them, especially since there is no cost to victims at all.” Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. has been representing vaccine injured patients for well over a decade and currently represents hundreds of patients experiencing adverse reactions to vaccines across the United States.

In 1986, Congress set up an elaborate system to compensate patients injured by adverse reactions to vaccination called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Since its establishment, the Program has paid out more than a billion dollars in vaccine claims and currently holds more than three billion dollars in trust for future claims. Whether a patient is to be compensated for a vaccine injury is determined by the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. Awards by the Court go directly to vaccine injury victims. Attorneys are paid separately for their time by the Court so that there are no legal costs to the victims, even if they do not win their claims. “Not only do very few patients know about the vaccine injury compensation program, very few doctors and lawyers know about it ,” says Altom Maglio, managing attorney of Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. “It's a huge help in putting our clients’ lives back together. Compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and some compensation for pain and suffering is huge when your life has been turned upside down. But there is a very short window to file your claim,” warns Maglio.
For more information on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or if you are a victim of a vaccine injury, contact the law offices of Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. at (888) 952-5242 or fill out our online vaccine injury case review form at http://www.mctplaw.com/vaccine-injury/.

*Attorneys for the victim are withholding her name because of medical privacy issues and because she is a minor.
###
Altom M. Maglio
Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A.
(888) 952-5242
Email Information

Veronika's note: It might sound like a lot of money, but does it 'truly' compensate for the 'loss' of this child's 'life'?

A retreat with like-minded friends, old and new

2012-01-10T08:33:00.000Z

This morning I awoke to the most incredible skyline ~ rich red hues above the hills: a sign of the change in weather. It was a truly spectacular announcement of the coming Sunrise which hasn’t quite arrived even as I write.

I stepped outside, and breathing in the fresh air of morning recalled that feeling I have at The Mother camp when I start the day in Nature: air so fresh you know you're in a magical place. For me, there’s a sense of calm, aliveness and gratitude for being so closely in touch with Mother Earth. It’s a time for unplugging one’s self from the chaos and speed of the modern world. A time of retreat with other like-minded families.

The favourite hang-out place at camp for boys, and even some girls.
The wood pile for our daily camp fire.

Beautiful faces smiling up from the creek.
Camp 2009, photos by Alex Green.

This year’s camp is just seven months away. We’re now taking bookings. Please note, there are a limited number of places available. For further information, please visit http://www.themothermagazine.co.uk/tm_camp_2012/index.shtml

and download a booking form.

Wi-fi, cordless phones and other stressors in daily life.....

2012-01-08T19:59:00.000Z

Don't give up on your marriage before reading this article! You can look forward to an indepth article from the Electric Forester in an upcoming issue of The Mother.

http://electricforester.blogspot.com/2008/08/trouble-strife-electromagnetic-diet.html

LOVE BABY FESTIVAL

2012-01-08T09:43:00.000Z

The 3rd Love baby Festival will take place on Sunday 29th of January at the Paintworks Studio on the

Bath Road

in Bristol. 10.30 - 4pm

This is a free-to-visit event, and the only baby show with a focus on natural birth and parenting. There will be free workshops throughout the day provided by Relaxed Birth & Parenting, a breastfeeding and chill out area, plenty of interesting stands and great food too.

This is a joint venture with Born and The Love Food team.

http://www.lovefoodfestival.com/lovebabystalls.html

The Mother’s Network

2012-01-04T19:01:00.000Z

Would you like to become a facilitator for The Mother’s Network?

The Mother magazine has been read around the world for the past ten years. As part of our 10th year anniversary, we’re creating TMN local groups worldwide.

As a facilitator, you will need to demonstrate a firm understanding of TM’s ethos. You don’t need to be a parent, but you do need to be aged 21 or over and a current subscriber. These positions are open to men and women.

Mothers Rock!

Each applicant will be required to do the following as part of their process:

Written reviews on TM-chosen books

Short articles demonstrating their understanding on particular parts of our ethos, for example, babywearing; reasons for breastfeeding beyond 2.5 years; child-led education; natural immunity

Five minute audio presentation (by CD or MP3)

Describe how they would facilitate certain situations

Phone interview with the editors of The Mother ~ Veronika and Paul Robinson

Provide two personal references

Sign a letter of commitment and integrity

Upon successful completion of their application, facilitators will receive:
a selection of back issues of The Mother magazine for their group library, as well as a copy of The Nurtured Family and The Mother’s Network Facilitators’ Handbook.

Email us for an application form. Genuine enquiries only, please.

The Fresh Page

2012-01-01T10:20:00.000Z

And here it is: the fresh page.

What will you write on this fresh, clean page? How will you hand-craft your life? What kindnesses will you show? When will you walk in this world knowing that you deserve to be here?

The fresh page offers opportunity, grace, hope and expectation. Happy new year!

Rising from the ashes ~ A phoenix ceremony for New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T22:25:00.000Z

On the last day of The Mother magazine family camps, we hold a phoenix ceremony around the camp fire. We join together in a circle, and individually we write on a piece of paper what it is we’d like to release from our life. It might be a person, event, health condition, debt or situation. We feed it to the fire, and trust that it will be gone. Afterwards, we take a fresh piece of paper and write what we’d like to bring into our lives.

Release. Burn. Create.

I do this ceremony at least twice a year. Once at camp, and the other is New Year’s Eve. With my family, we release any negativity, grudge or discomfort.

For the element of creating, we either put the paper with wishes and dreams into Mother Earth to incubate, or tuck it inside our pillow case or a special place like an altar or journal.

Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of this ritual. It is indeed one of the most powerful ceremonies I know. Of course, it can be performed as a ritual on any day of the year. It’s wonderful to burn paper outside on an open fire, but it’s just as effective in a woodstove or with a candle and small fire-proof dish.

Out of the ashes, the phoenix rises.

Today the Moon is in Aries ~ a fire sign, known for action. It’s a great time, energetically, for planting the seeds of fruits. We can use this idea metaphysically, and remove all thoughts which take us in the wrong direction, and then plants ‘seeds’ which will blossom into rich fruits.

This year ~ 2012 ~ do something you think you can’t do.

I send you blessings for an abundant, productive, grace-filled and kind new year.

Sharing the love.....

2011-12-29T10:05:00.001Z

Today, my husband Paul and I celebrate our 15^th wedding anniversary, and this blog post is a sharing of the reasons we love each other. One for each year of marriage. We hope it inspires you to remember the reasons you love your partner.

I love Paul because he is:

Kind

Gentle

Empathetic

Humorous…I’ve never laughed so much in my life as I have with Paul

Conscious

Aware of others and thoughtful

Cares about the welfare of animals

A wonderful singer with a beautiful speaking voice…I fell in love with those dulcet tones immediately

Emotionally stable ~ my rock in waters both calm and stormy

Generous spirit and heart…

Our shared spirituality is the glue of our marriage, and is what brought us together in the first place. As Venus (the planet of love) in my astrological 12^th house of spirituality would have it, I met him (the love of my life) in my place of work ~ a church of metaphysics!

Shares his emotions freely

Trustworthy and honourable

As he once said, he’s tilted his whole life to support me and my dreams. The enormity of that doesn’t escape me and I’m very grateful

Dare I say it, he makes the best coffee! And if you’re going to drink coffee, it should be GOOD coffee.

Paul writes: About Veronika…what I love about are her, in no particular order:

Passion

Generosity

Appreciation of Nature and the natural

The way she looks (Editor’s note: You can’t put that!)

Commitment

Love and support for me

The way she’s not afraid to be herself

That she stands up for herself and what she believes

Her cooking

Is always wanting to learn

Insightfulness

Empathy

Compassion

Nurturing

That she always cries in rom-coms

Our wedding cake was decorated with Pohutukawa ~ New Zealand Christmas Tree. Bethany, our flower girl.

Our Wedding Invitation

Paul and Veronika

A Christmas Wedding

Sunday, December 29^th, 1996

at 9 o’clock am

And afterwards for a

Wedding Brunch

Pinesong of Green Bay

Cliff View Drive, Green Bay

, Auckland

“On this day I will marry my best friend;

The one I laugh with

Live for

And love….

Your presence will be an honour as we are joined in marriage.”

We thought it would be a great idea if instead of bringing us a present you brought a meal for brunch (preferably vegetarian) to share with our guests.

44

2011-12-28T10:06:00.000Z

This morning my daughters will bake me a banana and ginger cake to celebrate my 44^th solar return. I’d like to invite you to my celebration by sharing 44 things I’ve learnt in my life.

Be you, everyone else is already taken

We have the friends we deserve

No gift is more beautiful than a smile

Music nurtures the soul

Home is the most wonderful place on Earth

The greatest prison is in our head

Being born Christmas week isn’t a tragedy

It’s never too late to learn an instrument

Deep breathing can calm any crisis

Love is the sweetest perfume

You’re never too old to need/want your mother

Children are very forgiving. Learn from them.

Others can only love you as much as you love yourself

Share recipes ~ and nourish other people

Hand-written letters are precious

Buy (grow) flowers for yourself

Luxuriate in your favourite scents

Reach for the stars

Keep your feet firmly on the ground

After betrayal, remember this: life goes on, you will survive

Walk everyday for health and happiness

Live according to your own morals

Be original

Somewhere along the way, I must have generated great karma for tomorrow I celebrate 15 glorious years of marriage to my soul mate.

Tell your children you love them ~ every single day of their lives. No one can ever take that away from them.

People come and go. The ones you need, stay.

Don’t let anyone steal your song.

Nurture your soul.

Pray, in good times and in bad

The Sun is sacred

Gratitude is even more powerful than love

Be kind to yourself about previous mistakes

Live a life of no regrets

Call people up on their crap ~ you’re worth more than that.

Eat fabulous food every day

At a soul level, children choose their parents

Decorate your soul

Sleep well

Remember your dreams ~ they’re letters from God

Empathy is what connects humans

Every day is a miracle

Walk barefoot on the Earth

Life is very short ~ we don’t know how long we’re here for…so let’s celebrate every single day as if it were the last.

The hand-crafted life is created one day at a time.

A Christmas Eve Tradition

2011-12-24T11:34:00.001Z

The family room is alight with the soft glow of candles. Holly and ivy have been gathered from the garden, and now decorated the fireplace, piano, window seat and dining table. A gentle roar from the fire reminds me I’m in the heart of our home. From the kitchen comes the sound of my teenage daughters laughing, and Christmas carols on the radio.

My family and I celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve ~ in the tradition of my foremothers and fathers. I’m thankful that my English-born husband has embraced this tradition because I really can’t imagine Christmas feeling as magical in the cold light of day.

My emotions are even more heightened at this time of the year. Earlier, I found myself in tears. I was thinking of a dear friend whose father died the week before Christmas when she was just eleven years old….and how that has shaped every Christmas since. She’s not alone. There are countless families who have painful memories that surface at this time of the year. I can’t bear to think of their grief and pain. Contrast their experience with the gluttony and commercialism rampant across the Western world. In Britain, the average family spends £700 on Christmas. Not in this family, that’s for sure.

My first Christmas as a mother was when I was pregnant with Bethany. (She’s 16 in March ~ where did that time go?) Paul was working as a breakfast show announcer on a radio station in Auckland, New Zealand. He was gifted with a lot of hand-made baby booties by his listeners who shared in the joy of our pregnancy. Our Christmas tree was decorated with nothing but baby booties. At night, beneath the lights of the tree, Paul would massage my pregnant belly.

Our daughters have watched us create Christmas each year….bringing love and music to the table. The Christmas Eliza was 11 months old, we were living in Australia ~ practically penniless ~ and were intending to move to England. (Immigration laws, and bad immigration advice, meant Paul couldn’t work in Australia). We had no idea how we’d create the money to get there.

There was a competition on the local radio for someone to sing a Christmas carol. The prize was $1000 to spend in the local shopping centre. Paul won the show as Pavarotti singing Silent Night…and that shopping centre had a travel agent!

Now my girls are of an age where they’re very active in creating the Christmas celebration. Last year, I spent December bed-ridden with flu. When I surfaced on Christmas Eve (no taste buds in tact, sadly), they’d created the whole meal even though they were recovering from flu themselves and could hardly stand. Bless them!

We have various traditions with Christmas, one of which is that we create a different dessert each year. Why? Because none of us likes Christmas Pudding! Eliza has made a lemon and redcurrant cheesecake (adapted from the vegan blueberry cheesecake inside The Mystic Cookfire).

Bethany’s prepared a sunflower seed and cashew nut roast with sage and onion stuffing. Shortly we’ll all prepare our vegetables: garlic-roasted saddleback potatoes, Brussels sprouts and green beans, my mother’s red cabbage, nutmeg and apple, and maple-roasted parsnips and carrots.

For us, presents play a small part. They’re nice, but we could easily forgo them for Christmas is all around us and not under the tree.

A dear friend will come and share Christmas Eve with us. After our meal, Bethany will play violin and piano, and Eliza will play saxophone and piano….and no doubt my Pavarotti will surface! Then we’ll share gifts and eat some Stollen (German Christmas bread).

I’ve been on this Earth long enough to have experienced a lot of Christmases. My first Christmas memory was when I was five years old…sneaking a peak through the window one night only to discover that Santa wasn’t Santa…he was my dad. The rotter! I felt so let down and betrayed.

From an early age, I felt a deep connection to the Great Creator…and although I’m not religious, I would walk miles along a dusty road to attend a rural church. I’d make the trek on my own, all dressed up in a beautiful aquamarine taffeta dress my mother had sewn me.

My family of origin all live in Australia: parents, two sisters and five brothers. As a child, when my parents phoned my grandparents in Germany for Christmas it seemed so exciting ~ relatives on the other side of the Earth. These days it’s quite common to make overseas calls and chat via Facebook or email.

I feel choked up to think of my mother alone in Tasmania. I’d love to whisk her over here to be with us.

My mother always made our childhood Christmases so magical and memorable. My parents always cried when we children sang carols in German and English. We’d spend weeks rehearsing!

My Christmases past haven’t always been filled with family. The first time I came to England, about 19 years ago, I arrived in November to work as a media office for the animal welfare charity, Compassion in World Farming. I knew no-one, and spent Christmas alone. I went to the local pond at Petersfield, in Hampshire, and fed the ducks. That was a lonely and sad Christmas, but what got me through it was knowing that a few days later, on my birthday, I’d be flying into New York and would be met by my best friend. I spend the next wonderful week with her and her family at their home in Pennsylvania.

I recall another Christmas sunbathing with a friend on a beach in South Ausralia…in 40C. I fell asleep on the sand, and couldn’t move for the next week with the worst sunburn of my life.

During my single years, I was invited into the warm and loving homes of friends, and was able to share in their traditions. My favourite Christmases, though, have always been those of my childhood, and the ones I now share with the family I’ve created with Paul.

A dear friend has just popped by with some mistletoe. Our Christmas dining table is set with a dark green crushed velvet cloth, beautiful red beeswax candles from our friend Emma, and a delicious soya Solstice candle called The Great Mother from ‘our’ Keeley. Cutlery is tied with red satin ribbon, and the centre piece is of holly berries and ivy.

A living Christmas tree sits on the window seat decorated with handmade gifts from friends and subscribers near and far.

Thank you to everyone who has put a card/gift in the post to us. You’ve touched us deeply. We value and appreciate your kindness. Thank you.

However you celebrate Christmas, whatever your traditions…I hope you feel love, tenderness and a sense of family ~ whether that be a biological family or your soul family.

We know that some of you have had a very difficult year, and are still reeling. Please know that you’re in my family’s heart, and that we’re thinking of you. I know we can’t take your pain away, but we are witnesses to your journey.

From my family to yours, we hope you have a treasured festive season.

A Sacred Day

2011-12-21T10:39:00.001Z

Solstice blessings to you and your family. May this sacred day of the year bring you a sense of wonder, peace and awe.

I went to sleep last night to the sound of my husband’s soft breathing beside me, and raindrops against the window. All was still and peaceful in my world. I felt such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for living in a place of peace.

There were no beeping fire engines or taxis, no bright traffic lights, no screaming hooligans on the street. Just peace. And in those moments of quiet reflection, I realised that this dark part of the year has passed by ever so quickly.

I’d imagined going into the annual cave and having lots of quiet and time on my hands, but actually I’ve been really busy with little respite. I thought it ironic that I was coming into the Solstice feeling rushed and that I had a lot to do that wasn’t going to be completed before the Christmas holidays no matter how hard I pushed myself.

So I had to laugh to myself this morning when we woke up to no electricity! Hmmm, no broadband. No lights. No computers. No kettle for a cuppa or hot water bottle behind my back as I work.

I wouldn’t be starting the early, quiet part of the day with work, that’s for sure. There was nothing for it but to light my candles and do some yoga.

I had managed to create some stillness and take the time to really honour what this day means.

The candles will remain burning even though the electricity is now back on. And I’m going to take the day off work and truly explore the message of the Winter Solstice with my family.

I knew it was going to be a special day when I had a phone call from Australia first thing this morning. My dear friend, Cath, has gone into labour. She and her wonderful husband, Gaetan, have three beautiful daughters and I absolutely can’t wait to hear when their precious baby arrives Earthside.

My girls and I will be here….by candlelight….as the Angels of Birth bring Cath & Gaetan’s baby safely into this world.

Blessed be.

http://www.themothermagazine.org/

2011-12-20T13:44:00.001Z

So pleased to announce that the North American website for The Mother magazine is up!

http://www.themothermagazine.org/ You can buy your American/Canadian subscriptions here. Or maybe you have a friend in North America? Go on, buy them a sub or half-year sub for the new year!

Special thanks to Karen Arnott for all her hard work. If you're looking for a designer, I can't recommend her highly enough. www.arnottdesign.co.uk

And the winner is...

2011-12-20T09:47:00.000Z

We received so many beautiful photos when we asked you to send in your favourites so we could choose one to go on the cover of issue 50 (our celebration issue which marks ten years of publishing). It was a tough choice, but this one really grabbed my eye for the pure joy this lovely little girl, Ruby, is expressing. I hope you agree.

Ruby Bunting in the Lavender Fields.

Issue 50

2011-12-19T08:50:00.000Z

Good morning!

I thought you might like a sneak preview of what's inside issue 50 of The Mother. It's now at the printer, and will be posted out to you early in the new year. Love, Veronika

The damage caused by sleep ‘experts’

by Clare Cole

Breastfeeding and spirituality

by Sara Simon

My journey to motherhood

by Emily Oldfield

Macrobiotics by Sarah Best

Too young for school? by Starr Meneely

Vaccination and Consent: Why parents don’t get the final say

by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

Victorian and Edwardian Hippy Names by K.M Sheard

Announcing A New Cultural Movement to Arrest the Erosion of Early Childhood

by Dr. Richard House

Also in this issue

From the editor: A cauldron of community,

by Veronika Robinson

Mother’s mailbag

Diary of a semi-conscious mother, by Rachel Sills

There’s somebody at the low-voltage door, by Anton Saxton

Live life raw, by Chrissy Bix

In search of soul food, by Eliza Robinson

Chloe’s Craft corner: bookmarks and bubble art

Welcome Earthside

Mother’s bookshelf

The scents, fragrances and aromas of the festive season

2011-12-08T11:53:00.000Z

Oh my, how quickly a home can smell of the festive season: cinnamon and orange candles; ginger; rose incense; Lebkuchen; almond essence and pine needles.

These brownies don’t involve cooking, flour, eggs or sugar…they taste wonderful!

Chocolate and Almond Brownies

2 cups whole walnuts
2 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup raw unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon French almond essence
dark chocolate, grated (optional)

Process the walnuts until ground, then add the cocoa and salt. Add the dates. It’s best to add them one at a time.

Place the crumbly mixture into a baking tray and add the almonds. Press down with your hands until it is firmly in place. No need to bake! Just pop in the freezer or fridge for an hour or two. The colder they are the easier it is to cut into slices. You might like to grate some dark chocolate on top.

My daughters and I have had a wonderful time baking in the tradition of our German foremothers: stollen and Lebkuchen.

Stollen is a bread-like fruit cake traditionally made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with citrus zest added to the dough. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom are often added, as are raisins, rum, marzipan and almonds. We’ve changed the traditional recipe and used maple syrup instead of sugar. I also use spelt flour.

Stollen is great in that if you wrap it well it can last for a fortnight. Sadly, any stollen in this house is lucky to last two days!

Lebkuchen (or Pfefferkuchen) is a gingerbread-like biscuit from my childhood Christmases.

It was invented by the Medieval monks in Germany about the 13^th century.

Traditionally it is baked using honey and ground almonds, but my version uses maple syrup and I only add the almonds if I’ve got plenty in the house. These can be made by making balls from the dough and putting about a tablespoon per biscuit. Or, make the dough a bit thicker and roll it out and cut shapes from it.

They make lovely Christmas tree decorations. Unless, of course, you have cats who fancy climbing the tree for a feast! Trust me on this…cats and Lebkuchen decorations are not a good combo unless you like comedy.

Veronika’s Lebkuchen

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

4 teaspoons ground ginger

small tub of stem ginger finely cut (optional, but so worth it)

¼ cup blackstrap molasses (optional)

¼ cup soya or rice milk

½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

1 cup maple syrup (or honey if preferred)

1/3 cup light olive or sunflower oil

4 cups of all-purpose flour or spelt flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Whisk the maple syrup and oil, then add the milk and molasses (and stem ginger if using). Stir in the sifted dry ingredients. When a dough forms, place in the fridge for at least an hour. You can leave it for a day or two if you like. This will really allow the spices to infuse the other ingredients. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160C. Roll the dough out onto a floured board, and cut your Christmas shapes, or roll into balls about the size of a walnut shell.

Carefully place on a lined baking tray, and bake for eight minutes. When cooked, leave them on the tray for a few minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

What are your favourite scents, fragrances and aromas of Christmas?

My love affair with beeswax

2011-12-07T09:29:00.000Z

In our home, we don’t wait for ‘special occasions’ to burn candles. Every meal is a candlelit dinner; and candles are burned for joy, inspiration and light.

I only burn beeswax candles. They do cost more than others, but did you know that paraffin candles are detrimental to your health? Paraffin is a by-product of the petroleum industry. That is, the crap left over from refineries…the left overs of pavements, gas, and oils.

It’s bleached (which in itself is toxic!) and then carcinogenic chemicals are used to turn it into a solid product. More chemicals are added, for example artificial dyes and synthetic fragrances. When these fragrances burn, they release toxic fluoro-carbons (and other things) which damage the receptors in your nasal passages. Over time, these sensors lose their ability to detect scent, and you then need stronger smelling candles or even stronger air fresheners.

The soot left from paraffin candles coats your skin and lungs, as well as household furnishings. Many people, without realising why, suffer from difficulties with their lungs, sinuses, and have allergic reactions and headaches when they burn paraffin.

If you’ve ever felt the difference in the air after a thunderstorm then you might get an inkling of what happens in your rooms when you’ve burned beeswax. Like the thunder storm, it releases negative ions. These attach themselves to positively charged ions (such as air born contaminants), which then drags them to the ground (for vacuuming or sweeping away).

Beeswax candles help to clean the air in your home.

Beeswax candles burn for much longer than paraffin, so when you’re doing a cost comparison do bear this in mind. Over time, they’re far more economical. Make sure that if you’re buying beeswax, it contains 100% beeswax, and that the fibre which the wick is made from is also natural.

My favourite makers
of beeswax candles:
St. Eval Candle Company

Beeswax candles have a beautiful scent like honey. If you get scented candles, be sure the essential oils used are 100%.

Make sure your tealight candles are
made from beeswax, too.

An American Mother

2011-12-04T10:57:00.000Z

by Veronika Sophia Robinson

The woodstove is on, and the fattest, fluffiest snowflakes are falling outside my office window. This is the first snow of the season. I’ve just been putting the finishing touches and edits to issue 50 ~ our celebration issue which marks ten years of publishing and commitment to conscious parenting.

We’ve been sitting on some exciting news for a little while. Today I can announce:

...that from issue 50 (January 2012), The Mother magazine will also be published in America.

Since 2002, when the first issue of the magazine was published, we’ve been available worldwide and indeed we have subscribers around the world from South Africa to Japan, Alaska to Brazil, Jordan to New Zealand. However, having The Mother printed on American soil means that so many more families will have access to natural parenting topics but without the constraints of fluctuating currency exchanges and prohibitive postal costs.

The timing is especially interesting since Mothering magazine recently stopped publishing. This left many families bereft of a natural parenting publication.

Our US publisher is Kathryn Los, an amazing mother of six gorgeous children and a doula. She’s married to a fabulous man, Pan. You may have met Kathryn and family at our magazine camp in 2010, or in home education circles around Oxford. You might recognise her from a recent cover!

They now live in Boulder, Colorado…and I can’t think of a more perfect location in the USA for the American Mother to be born. Nor can I imagine a more authentic, loving and committed family to be nurturing this US born ‘baby’.

For our current US subscribers, you’ll be able to renew via the USA sub links (in US dollars) shortly. The (American) Mother will be exactly the same as the UK published edition with the exception of some of the advertising. It will be available online by subscription or in shops throughout the USA. Further details will be available shortly.

Subscriptions are $34.00 (six issues/one year)

Single issue $5.99

www.themothermagazine.co.uk will still act as the subscription page for US$ dollar subscriptions, but you can look forward to a US website in a few weeks from now. www.themothermagazine.org

Do tell your friends. Why? Because Mothers Rock!

Mothers Rock!

The Mother magazine: nurturing one family at a time.

Beat the recession blues and have a good read!

2011-12-01T09:37:00.001Z

For £2.00 a month (*UK subs), you can get one of the best natural parenting magazines in the world. Why not spread the cost of your subscription over the course of a year? You don't need to be a victim of the recession. Create the life you want, and be supported in your natural parenting choices.

You can also gift a friend using the monthly payment option, too.

www.themothermagazine.co.uk

And stay tuned for our VERY exciting news. You'll read it here first.

So, for less than the price of this cappuccino you can subscribe
to our unique parenting magazine ~ suitable for all stages
of the parenting journey.

The most important tools in the parenting journey are intution and access to non-mainstream information and non-government propoganda. Being adequately informed about our children's biological needs isn't a luxury, it's a right.

Nurseries paid to promote jabs for children

2011-11-30T11:17:00.000Z

by Catherine Gaunt, Nursery World, 29 November 2011, 12:00am

Nurseries are to be paid to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated, in a new scheme designed to boost the vaccination rate of under-fives.

In what is believed to be the first initiative of its kind, NHS Brent in north-west London has invited all nurseries, pre-schools and children's centres to bid for grants of £1,000 to £2,000 to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated.

There is concern that the take-up of booster jabs among pre-school children in Brent is below the target set by the Department of Health of 95 per cent.

Between the ages of three years four months and five years, children should be immunised against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
MMR is usually given at 13 months and a booster is needed before children start school.
In September, the NHS revealed that despite an increase in the number of children being immunised against MMR, the rate of vaccination in England (89.1 per cent in 2010-11) still falls below the World Health Organisation's target of more than 95 per cent.

Susan Hearn, public health programmes manager at NHS Brent, said, 'The aim of the scheme is to help improve immunisation rates, which will protect more children from harmful diseases and keep them healthy.

'NHS Brent has invited all early years settings to submit bids for £1,000 to £2,000. Successful applications will engage with parents to establish which immunisations children are due, and refer children to their GPs for vaccinations.

'The scheme is straightforward and does not include a lot of paperwork. We have tried to make the scheme simple so that it is accessible to as many early years settings as possible.'
Bids could include organising events to promote immunisation, working with health visitors and GP practice nurses, or targeted work with particular groups that have low immunisation rates.

The NHS trust will provide successful applicants with promotional information leaflets, posters and T-shirts for children.

Nicole Kennedy, owner of Sunrise Pre-School in Brent, said she was not opposed to the scheme but had decided that her nursery would not take part, because she did not want to interfere with parental choice.

She said the last time there was a measles outbreak at her nursery was six years ago, when three children were hospitalised.

Ms Kennedy said that a number of parents on her books had not had their children vaccinated and she would describe them as well-educated. However, she said that when parents register with the nursery she reminds them they need to complete their child's vaccination schedule.

Ms Kennedy said, 'I know that parents who come to my nursery are well-educated and informed. I'm in a position of trust and I don't want to rock the boat. I also feel uncomfortable doing the job of another professional.'
Early years settings in Brent interested in taking part can contact Frida Earnshaw on (0208) 795 6173.

Should nurseries encourage vaccinations? Let us know what you think at news.nw@haymarket.com.

Veronika writes: If you find this situation as outrageous, irresponsible and upsetting as I do, please consider writing about it to ~

The Editor,
Nursery World,
174 Hammersmith Road,
London W6 7JP

letter.nw@haymarket.com
020 8267 8401http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1106490/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

A candle for Kim

2011-11-30T09:20:00.000Z

If you're taking the time to read this blog, could I ask you to do a small favour?

Would you please light a candle today for a very beautiful lady and her three children? You don't need to know Kim or her family or even what they're going through; just know that if you take some time to send love to them it will be greatly appreciated.

Please join with me. Close your eyes and allow your heart to fill with love. And then ask for that love to be wrapped around Kim and her family. Thank you.

You Were Made For This

2011-11-30T09:13:00.000Z

I hope this piece of inspirational writing from my favourite writer offers you support during these challenging times. love Veronika

You were made for this, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.

We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.

There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D

Author of the best seller Women Who Run with the Wolves

http://www.wanttoknow.info/youweremadeforthis

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.

Mercury, that ol’ trickster!

2011-11-29T10:23:00.000Z

Students of astrology soon learn about planet Mercury. It represents our learning style and the way we communicate. Mercury rules the sign of Gemini and we see it in action through talking, modes of communication, information technology and electrical equipment.

So when Mercury goes retrograde, it’s very easy to have a moment of panic. Have I backed up the computers? Will I accidentally say the wrong thing to a friend? Will the washing machine pack up? Will the internet stay connected? Why hasn’t so and so called me back?

Mercury retrograde is Nature’s sabbatical. It’s a time for us to slow down. I’ve learnt to use this time for revisioning, reviewing, reexamining. It’s a great time for editing ~ that is, going over things which have already been started. Not such a good time for beginning new things.

This current retrograde cycle began on November 24^th and finishes on December 13^th. It means that it has doubled the time it would normally be in the sign of Sagittarius.

A planet doesn’t ‘cause’ something to happen, but it does show us the energy around at the time.

Mercury also represents thieves and tricksters…not to mention liars. As with all planets and signs, there’s a negative and a positive.

Yesterday morning we got up early to go to town and do our weekly food shop. I love Mondays (normally) and being able to fill the fridge, and fruit and veg baskets. Sundays always feels a bit bleak, food wise.

I had a busy day planned so that’s why we headed off early. I picked up some soap and toothpaste at the health store and went to the counter to pay. When my card was declined, I smiled and said, “I’ll just pop over to the cash machine. I know there’s money in there.” Imagine my shock when the balance read: zero.

Zero? Not possible. The health store kindly gave me my items on credit, and I headed back to Paul and the girls completely confused. I recounted recent uses of the card to Paul, and checked in with what he’d used it for.

Without food for the week, we headed back home and I spent quite some time on the phone to the bank. Someone had been having a field day with my card all weekend. I’d not used it since Friday so someone must have followed me at a cash machine using one of those ‘card reader’ things…and then stole my ‘identity’ details to go shopping.

After recovering a bit from the shock that someone had spent all our money, and that I wasn’t going to be feeding my family anytime soon, I remembered Mercury was retrograde! You trickster, I thought.

In my chart, Mercury is currently navigating my first house of identity. Oddly enough, a friend who also has Sagittarius in the first house of identity, had her social networking password hacked.

Mercury can symbolise many things. I’m still using this time as a sabbatical. Editing and reviewing…and bringing consciousness to my daily life. It’s also made me MORE mindful about how I use my money and when, how, and where I use cash machines.

The energy of Sagittarius represents things such as belief systems, con men, expansion, aspiration, higher education and exaggeration. Above all, it’s about the search for meaning. It’s time to utilise this energy for higher purposes.

I hope this Mercury retrograde phase is being kind to you. If you’re planning to buy electronic items for Christmas, I recommend waiting until Mercury is direct again…from December 13^th.

And watch your back at cash machines!

Calling all photographers

2011-11-26T10:02:00.001Z

The Mother magazine is looking for a wonderful photo to grace the cover of issue 50: our tenth anniversary celebration issue. You don't need to be a professional photographer. In fact, we always prefer 'home grown' photos that show family life at its most natural. If your picture is chosen for the cover, we'll extend your subscription by one year.

Submissions need to be 300dpi when the size of an A4 page. Colour photos, please.

Email the office with your photo/s before December 5th. We're looking forward to receiving your submission.

Beautiful Beginnings

2011-11-26T09:43:00.000Z

It's always such a joy to me when families who read The Mother come together. In Cumbria, a group called Beautiful Beginnings was set up by Hatti and Clare. You can read the blog about their group here:

http://www.beautifulbeginnings.org.uk/blog/

And learn more about the ethos of their group here:
http://www.beautifulbeginnings.org.uk/

If you have a group (formal or informal) that came about because of meeting another TM subscriber, let us know and we'll happily share it here on the blog or in the mailbag.

Enjoy your weekend.
Veronika

Living Magically

2011-11-25T11:12:00.000Z

Today I would like to pay tribute to Gill Edwards, a mother from Cumbria and former subscriber of The Mother magazine. You, of course, might know her as the author of the following books: Living magically; Stepping into the magic; Pure Bliss; Wild Love; Life is a gift; Conscious medicine.

Gill Edwards passed away on November 19^th. Gill’s most well-known message was about living magically. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Yet how many of us get out of bed in the morning expecting a magical day? How many of us contribute madness, mayhem and mischief to the world? Today, take a moment to ask what you bring to the world…

May you have a magical day.

Gill, I know your journey continues to be magical. Farewell.

http://www.livingmagically.co.uk/index.htm

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts!

2011-11-24T16:32:00.000Z

As a little girl, my dad would sing the following ditty to me:

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts.

There they are, all standing in a row

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head…

It’s from a novelty song written in the 1940s about the coconut shys at funfares.

Before I was born, and my mother had just three children, they lived in Papua and New Guinea. The coconuts would drop onto the tin roof of their little house. She never got used to the sound, and never got used to jumping out of her skin!

My love affair with coconuts includes eating them, using them for cooking and baking, and conditioning my hair and face with the oil.

Coconut oil has so many health benefits. I highly recommend the book Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut by Bruce Fife. It’s a treasure trove of information.

Choose a good brand, like Biona, which is
raw and unbleached. It should smell and taste
like coconuts. Beware of brands which tasted burned.

If you’ve just read Sarah Best’s brilliant article in issue 49 of The Mother and taken a no-sugar vow, you might be wondering what you can ever eat again to satisfy a sweet tooth. Veronika to the rescue!

Try these delectable and quirky little delights. Quick, simple and lovely!

Blueberry and Coconut Sweeties

2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
½ cup rice milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil

½ cup maple syrup

3 cups desiccated coconut
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
70g dried blueberries

Preheat the oven to 150C.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray.

Mix the arrowroot and the milk in a small saucepan, whisk well, and heat. Add the coconut oil and maple syrup. Heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Add the vanilla extract. Put the desiccated coconut and blueberries in a bowl and add the sauce. Mix well.

Spoon out the mixture form into balls, then flatten down with your fingers.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the tips are slightly brown. These are wonderful at any time of the year, but just the thing, too, for festive treats.

Bethany's batch fresh from the oven. MMMMMMMM!

What shall we do with a bunch of carrots?

2011-11-24T09:43:00.002Z

Do you remember that old sea shanty, What shall we do with a drunken sailor? I couldn’t get the tune out of my head:

What shall we do with a bunch of carrots?

Early in the evening.

Roast them in the oven with orange all over

Early in the evening…

Orange Marinade
Serves 4
Zest of 2 organic unwaxed oranges
juice of 1 orange
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Spinkle Himalayan pink salt (Maldon sea salt is ok, too)

Whisk the orange marinade ingredients together. You can even do this early in the morning, if you like.

Soak some red rice before cooking.

Sweet White Miso Sauce

5 tablespoons sweet white miso
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon

Whisk sauce ingredients together.

Sweet white miso sauce

Preheat the oven to about 200C. Cut the carrots in quarters, lengthwise. (About two carrots per person). Place into a casserole or roasting dish and cover with the orange marinade and the seeds. Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve with red rice and salad. Put a spoon or two of the miso sauce on top of the carrots when serving. Enjoy.

Prepare a salad: avocado, coriander,
cucumber and batavia lettuce.

Very tasty!

What will YOU do with a bunch of carrots?

Muffin, anyone?

2011-11-22T15:58:00.001Z

If you heard the words: an hour of Pilates by candlelight; Fruits of the forest muffins; a long, leisurely afternoon walk in the Autumn sunshine; watching the marvellous Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain, you’d be forgiven for thinking this might be describing a Sunday family day. As an unschooling family, this could be any day of the week. For this unschooling family, it was today ~ Tuesday.

This morning Bethany baked a delicious batch of muffins. Fancy one? If you make them, do let me know what you think. They don’t contain sugar, eggs or dairy. Although she used spelt, I’m sure gluten-free flour would be fine, too.

It's so easy to recruit teenagers for baking tasty goodies!

(please note, cup measurements are metric)

½ cup orange juice (freshly squeezed, not pasteurised)1/3 cup coconut oil (warmed slightly so it melts)1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons tahini
Grated zest of an organic, un-waxed orange
2 cups whole grain spelt flour

1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt (Maldon sea salt is fine)
1 cup fruits of the forest (e.g. blackberries, mulberries, black grapes, blueberries, red currants)

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan oven). Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or use paper cups.

Whisk the orange juice, coconut oil, maple syrup, tahini, and orange zest into until well combined.

Mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Add the liquid and mix well. Add the berries but try not to crush them too much.

The muffin batter will be thick. Spoon some into each muffin cup until about three quarters full. You may need to use your fingers to even them out.

Bake for twenty minutes.

Enjoy! Oh, and put your feet up. No point eating on the run....

Happy birthday, Rachel

2011-11-22T08:20:00.000Z

Happy birthday to Rachel Sills ~ our wonderful columnist. I'm sure you'll join in with me to wish her a fantastic day. Her column, Diary of a semi-conscious mother, is a huge hit with many of our readers.

Family

2011-11-21T09:47:00.000Z

So many of us take things for granted: a washing machine to replace the back-breaking labour of hand washing; running water to save trekking a few miles to a well; telephones to bring us in instant contact with loved ones, whether they live far away or near; online shopping.

Today, let us give thanks for our families. It is too easy for them to join the ranks of washing machines, telephones, internet and running water. There is NO other family on the planet like yours. Think about what that truly means, and how its uniqueness serves this world.

Give thanks for their place in your life. You probably have days, like me, where it’s easy to get caught up in dynamics and lose sight of our role in the family, and that at any moment we can act with wisdom, kindness and love.

We don’t have to understand why other family members act the way they do, we just have to remember they‘re connected to us.

We are all expressions of the Universal heart beat. Family: the centre of life's meaning.

Ho ho bloody ho!

2011-11-21T09:42:00.000Z

At this time of year, my beloved disappears for several weeks and dons a very heavy, hot red suit with fake white fur…He heads up to the hills of the North Pole (aka the grotto in the local Center Parcs) and greets about 12 dozen children every day all seeking out the dreams of the festive greed they’ve been inculturated into from birth.

As Mrs Claus, my heart aches to hear some of the stories. Six year olds wanting Blackberry phones; even younger children wanting a Nintendo DS (and not being willing to share with a sibling); and so it goes with younger and younger children wanting more and more technology: A purple laptop. A play station. A second play station. It would be easy to simply put it down to a sign of the times…we live in a technological era ~ of course they’d want these things. But is that true? Is it really true?

If we search our hearts ~ honestly ~ we’d know that this isn’t what children really want. It’s what they’ve been conditioned to expect from parents, peer and media. A child raised in a home with other interests will seek alternative ideas for leisure and creativity.

I’m an ostrich with my head in the sand from November through to past the January sales. I tend to avoid shops at this time of year because I simply can’t bear what we’re doing to our children, our personal economies, and our beautiful planet. Christmas ~ a celebration of the creative “Christ” energy of the Universe that we all have access to (regardless of religious beliefs) ~ isn’t something I recognise when I look in the streets of town.

As I walk past the Christmas tree farm just up the road, it brings me such joy to see those Radiata pines growing stronger and taller with each passing year. They belong with their feet in the ground until such time as their life cycle is over and they can return to the Earth through wood ash. Why is it that so many people still carry on the ritual of cutting down a tree when they could easily buy a tree ~ just as beautiful ~ from a nursery? Why not buy a tree with roots that can be planted out later on?

The other day Bethany and I looked in on some land we once owned and were admiring our ‘old’ Christmas trees from the girls’ early childhood. They’re growing strongly.

At the heart of Christmas is life. And yet, look at the stories played out in homes across the land. Nothing could be further from that message. I’m sure the millions of decapitated turkeys would agree with me…if only they could. If only we’d listen.

Our culture teaches us that happiness is found in a present under the tree, and that the more it costs the happier we’ll be. And don’t think that just because it’s a ‘green’ present that costs a bomb that it isn’t consumerism. It is.

When all the wrapping paper is put way, in the cold light of day today’s children find that actually they’re no happier than they were the day before. Could it be that the gift we’re looking for isn’t under the tree? Could it be that the ‘love’ we’re ALL wanting isn’t able to be purchased? I believe so.

Lest you think I’m Ebenezer Scrooge, let me correct you. I LOVE Christmas! By that, I mean I love the Christmas in my home, and the way our family celebrate; the time I share with friends and family.

For me, Christmas as a time for rediscovering the light and love of the Universe ~ a love that can be radiated outwards. It's expressed through our songs and music; the love we feel for each other; gratitude for our food; the candlelight around the room as we celebrate on Christmas Eve; and the guests which come into our home. For me, it’s the holy season. It’s a time of ancient traditions which precede the story of the baby Jesus in the manger. The Winter solstice ceremonies and rituals are our traditions based on seeking light.

As I hear the stories of parents nodding affirmatively to Santa that little Johnny and Mary WILL be getting laptops, Blackberries and so on, I pray that at some point in their lives they’ll discover how truly magical Christmas really can be. It happens when we open our hearts not to consumerism, but to love. We always have a choice, and the Christmas season is another example of what we are teaching our children.

Seven Days

2011-11-21T09:28:00.000Z

Seven Days

The ordinary life brings me such pleasure. I don’t seek dramatic highs and lows to give me the ‘buzz’ of life. I feel it in every moment. I’m joining Jacqui again this week (http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/) for a photographic whizz through the past seven days. Joining in this blog event has really brought home how quickly the days and weeks go by. My pictures may not seem to be of anything significant, but they reflect my day to day life…and I value the privilege of being brought to life by the Breathmaker during this time of human evolution. So, these are the days of our lives…

Smoothie

As I was preparing my family’s spirulina smoothie with vitamin D and kelp, a piece came on the radio talking about a cheap and nutritious breakfast. I listened in expecting to hear of a miraculous superfood about to hit our shores….but alas, it wasn’t to be. Putting a slice of toast between two pieces of bread is deemed as nutritious! My eyes nearly fell out of my head. When the announcer asked the scientist if this included white bread, he replied “Of course. We put a whole range of vitamins and minerals in bread now so white bread is just as good.” I switched the radio off. Stupid humans.

Things that go 'bump' in the night. Night-time delivery of issue 49 of The Mother magazine....and the worker bees packing up the envelopes. The dining table becomes the work station. We're adaptable like that!

Spider plants

My spider plants have been busy making babies. Time to cut and place in water before planting up my baby spiders! They’re such wonderful houseplants. Easy to grow, and they suck up the radiation generated by computers and TVs.

Drama class ~ the girls heading off to youth theatre.

Jazz exam: Bethany's jazz piano exam was held in Hexham, Northumberland. I thought I'd take a photo of the Alston Moor on the way over, but we were greeted by thick cloud, instead.

Cello

A little quiet ‘Mama’ time to play.

Sax

Eliza practising her saxophone.

Cat helpers

November sunshine ~ thoroughly enchanting, and perfect for drying the washing outside. Joined by my cat helpers.

Stacking firewood

I can’t explain why, but I truly enjoy stacking firewood. This half-filled fire stack brings about as much pleasure to me as a full fridge.

Jacqui Ferguson ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fancy fifty pounds?

2011-11-18T10:39:00.000Z

Guess what I'm doing this morning?

I'm creating a crossword to go in issue 50 of The Mother magazine (due out January 2012).

The first correct entry pulled out of the bag (by an independent, blind-folded person not connected to The Mother) will receive £50 cash! We hope you'll join us for this celebration which marks ten years of publishing.

Seven Days

2011-11-14T11:14:00.000Z

I'm joining Jacqui at http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/ for Seven Days. This is a photographic recollection of little moments in the week that make up my life. If you'd like to join Jacqui, or me, do pop a link to your blog in the comments box so we can share your journey.

MONDAY: There is a day of the week when everyone in this house breathes again. The fridge fills up withe fresh vegetables, the root veg basket gets topped up with sweet potatoes, beetroot, leeks,

onions and garlic.

The fruit bowl fills up, citrus tin topped up; a solitary walk just as the Sun sets;
an afternoon of weeding the vegetable gardens.

When my favourite magazine ~ The Mountain Astrologer ~ comes through the door, everything stops. Beautiful music on the player, cup of peppermint tea and the fire on. There was a full Moon in Taurus this week. Eliza is rather thrilled to make it on the front of the newspaper.

Checking through the proofs of issue 49 before confirming everything with the printers. Bethany spent the weekend with the Cumbria Youth Orchestra. No photo of them and their incredible music making, but I did stop and take a pic of Penrith in the early morning mist. You can just see some of the hills of the Lake District in the background.

Thriving during this mild Autumnal weather...long may it last.

Remembrance Sunday

2011-11-13T08:28:00.000Z

Today my flower of remembrance is arnica.

Did you know that more people have died from vaccines and medications than have ever died from wars?

Perhaps one day we'll learn from this and make other choices more suited to the health and well-being of humans. We certainly haven't learnt anything about wars ~ history keeps repeating itself.

Issue 49 of The Mother magazine

2011-11-11T21:27:00.000Z

Issue 49 wraps up nine years of publishing. We hope you enjoy this issue, coming through your door shortly. As ever, I’m thrilled with the contributions from our team of fabulous writers. Wishing you a wonder-filled weekend. ~ Veronika

Features

Toddler tantrums: the astro-psychological significance of the first Mars return

by Veronika Sophia Robinson

Homeopathy and sleep issues

by Sara Bran

The assumption of not breastfeeding

by Sara Simon

The social homeschooler

by Starr Meneely

Babies and computers: modern-day child abuse?

by Dr. Richard House

Vaccines and immune dysfunction

by Joanna Karpasea-Jones

The dangerous drug in your kitchen

by Sarah Best

Celebrating the Winter solstice

by Veronika Sophia Robinson

Also in this issue

From the editor: the old dunny, by Veronika Robinson

Mother’s mailbag

Live life raw, by Chrissy Bix

In search of soul food, by Eliza Robinson

Mother’s bookshelf

Pizza-oven building, by Anton Saxton

Welcome Earthside

Diary of a semi-conscious mother, by Rachel Sills

These Long Autumn Nights

2011-11-08T08:01:00.001Z

How are you adjusting to these long Autumn nights (northern hemisphere readers)?

Despite my reservations about 'surviving' another English Winter, I've embraced these long Autumn nights. Here is a glimpse into my world: Enjoying time in the garden during the early evening and watching the Moon rise over the hills.

Candlelight features throughout the year, but it does mean they're on for longer when it's dark!

I bought this candelabra for our bell tent, but ended up getting a different bell tent which doesn't accommodate it....so our lounge room is blessed with this gorgeous circle of light in the window sill.

The dining table features a bowl of some of my favourite leaves.

And a lovely casserole made by Eliza. Unfortunately there's no recipe....she improvised. I hate it when I do that and something turns out brilliantly.

I never need an excuse to read, but I am taking full advantage of being drawn inside by the fire and revisiting favourites from my bookshelves.

Stretch, strengthen....relax. Look after that sedentary body!

No matter where I've been, it's always nice to come 'home' again.

I am thoroughly enjoying going for solitary walks just as the Sun has gone down. There's enough light to still see but somehow the world has changed...no cars around, and everything is settling down for the night.

Seven Days

2011-11-07T09:41:00.000Z

I'm joining the wonderful Jacqui at http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/ for Seven Days. This is a photographic recollection of little moments in the week that make up my life. If you'd like to join Jacqui, or me, do pop a link to your blog in the comments box so we can share your journey.

Still munching my way through the garden. The blueberry bushes have the most spectacular red leaves ~ and the berries are divine. Who'd have thought you could be eating raspberries from your own garden in November? This variety is called Autumn Bliss ~ fabulous investment. My Eliza ~ a reflective moment on the pier at Keswick. And, er, my decaff soya cappucino at Costa. Gotta love that Italian coffee!

It's a good thing we live about 25 miles away from the nearest Costa.

Lots of Mama Pride on Saturday when Bethany won the Penrith Music Festival ;-).

She was chosen as overall winner for her outstanding contribution to the event. This trophy is for her composition, Midnight at the Masquerade Ball. The main trophy is being engraved this week. She also received certificates of distinction for her piano, violin and composition.

Eliza received a certificate of distinction for playing Candle in the Wind on the saxophone.

When we were driving home, we passed a wedding party and I mused that we probably wouldn't go to a wedding for a long time since all our friends are hitched....and then came home and opened the mail! SPOOKY.

The girls have auditions this week for their Youth Theatre class which is putting on productions in Carlisle and Penrith next year ~ needless to say there is LOTS of singing going on this week. Think Bugsy Malone, My Fair Lady....

The Penrith town clock ~ a symbol of family life. This is our 'meeting point' in town when we go our separate ways, whether to a favourite shop, the library, the health store or meeting a friend for a drink. "Meet you at the clock" is what we always say. This was taken while waiting at the clock for Bethany who'd been volunteering at the library where she helps young children to choose books.

A beautiful rising Moon after a day of thick fog.

And this morning ~ the first frost of the season. So very beautiful.

I'd love to hear about your seven days.

So blessed to live here...

2011-11-03T09:23:00.001Z

The electricity was off in our tiny village on Tuesday, so we decided to spend the day out in Keswick, a small town in the Lake District not far from here. I never take the beauty of where we live for granted. I feel blessed. One of the joys of being an unschooling family is the ability to be spontaneous.

What a beautiful place to eat lunch

Eliza decided to go off and explore on her own. Wherever could she be?
The perfect place for a writer ~ somewhere quiet.

Bethany

I much prefer being on the other side of the camera!

A lovely sight: my teenage girls hugging each other as we head back into the town.

As we head back into the main street, what is that beautiful
voice I can hear? Oh, that's my lovely husband busking!
That paid for lunch and our trip to Costa! Talk about singing
for your supper..

Eliza

Trick or Treat?

2011-10-31T07:31:00.000Z

Let's not forget what we're collectively doing to the babies
during Halloween. So, trick or treat? This illustration is from
my book, The Drinks Are On Me: everything your
mother never told you about breastfeeding.

Even if you felt you couldn’t breastfeed, for whatever reason, it’s never too late to educate yourself so you can help other women and babies to engage in a more wholesome choice. A mother’s choice isn’t just about her and her baby ~ it affects the whole planet.

If everyone stopped breastfeeding,

within a few generations humanity would die out.

Don’t believe me. Think about it before dismissing it.

Think about everything that is gained from breastfeeding ~ physically, psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, and immunity-wise ~ and then think about everything that is lost when we ‘feed’ a baby a factory-produced ‘dead’ product not fit for any creature on this planet. I mean, seriously, would you drink that stuff by choice? And would you rather your mother held you in her arms by her warm beating heart so you could drink that warm, living milk ~ or would you rather the inferior product fed to you from an inanimate object that anybody can give you?

These words are NOT designed to make women who’ve not breastfed feel guilty. They’re a wake-up call for all of us, including breastfeeding mothers who take their role for granted and sit in judgement of other women rather than supporting and educating them. Every breastfeeding mother should be an ambassador for all that is good, healthy, wholesome and positive for the babies of this world.

So, are you a trickster or a treater? Happy Halloween!

Old and New

2011-10-29T10:15:00.002+01:00

This week, as we ride the energy of a new Moon in Scorpio, I have been reflecting on the themes of old and new in my life.

Beautiful end of day sunlight on old pine trees;
On an early morning walk with Eliza, a new day;
Old village, new playground;
Morning sky seen through the leaves of a very old tree.

I had thrown two old Weleda deodorant bottles into the recycling,
but no sooner had they landed did I think "Vases!",
and out they came to grace the kitchen window sill
with some lovely yellow flowers from the garden.
Old window seat, with new offerings from this Autumn.
My friend Jane passes me her old wine bottles
(quite a collection now, Jane!) and I use them for vases, too.
Second hand book on celebrating the seasons, but it's 'new' to me.

Old photos of the girls from my 40th birthday, in a new heart frame.
Beautiful felt hearts in a chain to add to my 'heart' collection from the lovely Sarah-Jane.
Pumpkin seed heart.
This beautiful wooden heart (it feels AMAZING) from Heather,
as a thank you gift for this year's TM camp. :-)
Popcorn heart.

Yellow split peas...old time vegetable/legume...new recipes.
Ginger and lemon split pea soup made by Bethany
(even you would like it Sara Simon!),
and curried vegetable split pea dahl with sweet potato.

Bethany had packed up her old flute music books to send to
a friend who is starting lessons when a parcel came for me. A
friend had sent me a pack of her son's old cello books! What
a beautiful and unxpected surprise. I was delighted. Thank you, Sarah!

Old muffin tray, new gluten-free banana and ginger cupcakes.

I was gifted with the original painting of the cover of
TheMystic Cookfire by Sara Simon when we were at camp.
It was recently framed and I LOVE the frame.
It's new, but very, very old.
You see, the wood was from an old Cumbrian farm gate. Talk about recycling!
The photo doesn't do it justice. It feels amazing.
And another surpise in the post (boy do I love getting post!)...
Roslyne Sophia Breillat (whom some of you will know
from when she used to write articles in TM) sent me
an original illustration from her new book on holistic menopause.
I feel so honoured to be caretaker of this piece of art: It's called Heart Mother Crone.
You can find more about her book and work here:
www.wildheartwisdom.com

When we start looking at things in our life through the eyes of 'old and new' we

learn to see things very differently.

And to leave you with a beautiful quote by Rumi:

Raise your words, not voice.
It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.