This hot weather streak has reminded me how quickly and easily we can get dehydrated. I have patients coming in with headaches and muscle spasms, my kids are cranky and complaining of headaches and dry mouth. All of these symptoms, as well as tiredness, dizziness, infrequent urination, dry skin and more, can be caused by dehydration. Severe dehydration can cause weakness, heart arrhythmias, fluid accumulation around the abdomen and lungs and other more serious problems.

Many studies show that the average adult needs between 1 and 3 liters of water a day to remain adequately hydrated. For athletes, this amount will be much larger since they burn off more water through exercise. This also pertains to people who have active jobs or who work outside such as farm workers and heavy laborers. They can require up to 16 liters a day depending on the conditions they are working in and the physical strain of their occupation. These individuals should drink 2 to 3 cups of water before starting an activity and then approximately 4 cups an hour during the activity.

It is important to remember that our children need to be hydrated thoroughly as well. They run and play harder than most of us work, and often won’t complain when they feel fatigued or get a mild headache. They are more interested in playing than paying attention to warning signs they might be getting from their bodies. Make sure you pack large water bottles for each member of the family on outdoor excursions and encourage the kids to drink at least every ½ an hour. If your child goes to camp during the summer, ask the counselors to make sure there is water available at all times and talk to your child about the importance of hydration. I picked my daughter up from camp the other day and another child said to me, “she has that water bottle everywhere she goes!” I took that opportunity to teach this other child how important it is to keep hydrated and said she should ask her parents for a fun water bottle, too. If we can instill these good habits in our children when they are young, they are much more likely to continue them as they age.

Water is the best choice for hydration, but I know not everyone wants to drink just water all the time (myself included). There are many sports drinks on the market these days that are marketed as being good for you, but are really packed full of sugar which can actually dehydrate you further. If you need other options, choose a drink that has zero or only a few carbs, or try adding a slice of lemon, orange or even cucumber to your water. These will give the water a nice fresh taste without any added sugar or calories.
________________________________________________________________ Dr. Heather Jerome is a chiropractor in Montpelier, Vermont.  She earned her undergraduate degree in humanities at the University of Vermont then completed her Doctorate in Chiropractic at New York Chiropractic College. She has been in practice in central Vermont for 8 years and lives with her husband Josh and their two young daughters, Sophia, 7 and Alyce, 3.

Breakfast can be fun too! And at our house, it was today.

I have these great little egg molds that make hard boiled eggs into fun shapes. Today's egg shape was a car, so I wanted to make a themed breakfast around the car. (Note, eggs are a great source of protein and hard boiled eggs are easy for breakfast on the go, or a packed school lunch. That being said I have no advice on how to cook hard boiled eggs! I have tired every method and every trick and I often still get hard boiled eggs that refuse to come out of their shells. I am sure this is because I buy great farm fresh eggs from my neighbor. Sad but true, odd eggs work better for hard boiled eggs.)

Using cookie cutters I cut out CAR from whole wheat blueberry pancakes that we had made and frozen a few days ago. Then I used smaller cookie cutters to make my son's pineapple into fun shapes. Finally a bit of maple yogurt with heart shaped strawberries. I told my son that I put a little bit of love into his yogurt, which was the first thing he told his Daddy about his fun breakfast. 

Wishing you a fun breakfast, lunch, AND dinner!
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Honi Bean Barrett is a local stay at home/work at home mom of two young children. Her background in teaching, love of photography, and general creativity has inspired her to share many things on our new blog! Honi grew up in Vermont and has spent time in many other states and even enjoyed a few months on the beach in Guam. Look for her crafts, fun meals and snacks, and silly stories.

PART I: The Mom and the Broom Closet

"The most important thing she'd learned over the years

was that there was no way to be a perfect mother

and a million ways to be a good one." - by Jill Churchill

When I was pregnant with my first child my dear friend gave me a homemade card with this quote. I wondered what it means to be a good mom. Can one really know what it is like to be a mom before being one?  I pretended to be one as a child. I watched my own Mom and my friends’ moms. I watched June Cleaver, Carol Brady and countless other moms portrayed on TV and film.  I imagined what it could be like to be a mom, but never could have imagined the pure joy and immense love I feel for my children, nor could I have imagined the sheer exhaustion.  

There are so many ways to be a mom. Sometimes I wonder how I could do things differently. Could I run the household more efficiently so that more gets done and there is more time to have fun? I want to enjoy as many moments as possible with my children as they delight in the world around them. I want time for myself, time with my husband and I want my house to be clean too.

So I have a battle with myself almost every day.  Do I get up and open that closet door and let the broom out? Or do I sit here and relax a little longer? I'll play with the children and maybe I'll greet that broom after they’re tucked into bed fast asleep.  Sometimes I fall asleep too and that broom gets lonely in the closet tucked in its spot near all the bins of clothes and other items that need to be sifted through and organized. I have a love-hate relationship with my broom!  It’s fallen out of the closet and hit me on the head. One day, trying to get something down from a light in the foyer, the end of it broke off and sent me to the ER with a scratched cornea.

Even when my broom is behaving, the floor at my house doesn't stay clean for very long. I am trying to accept this reality and let it go.  I've been here before I say every sweep of the way.  Every day I pick the same food off the floor. One of my favorite quotes long before I even became a mom is: 

"Cleaning up after children

is like shoveling the walk

before it has stopped snowing" 

-unknown

It’s so true. I didn't know how true until I lived it. Tonight my house is only partially picked up and I should really go around and put everything away as it will be nice to have a fresh start tomorrow but not tonight.  I am too tired to face the broom. Go away broom! I'd love to fly away on one to somewhere tropical and sit on a beach relaxing in the sun.

Moms have different life circumstances, perspectives and styles.  There are the moms who have plenty of play time with their children and also manage to keep their homes clean and well organized and would be ready for the President to visit on any given day.  There are the Super Moms in crisis or caring for sick loved ones who must often quickly face both many new and old roles and responsibilities all at once! There are the moms who are not fazed by accumulating clutter, toys left out, and stuff lying around here and there. Then there is me, an average mom somewhere in between who would like to have a clean and simple "home office" and also lots of time to play. I feel better when my house looks tidy but it doesn't always. I am very affected by my surroundings and want it clean but also want more time with my kids. I have posted this quote on the window over my kitchen sink.

"I hope my children look back on today

And see a mother who had time to play!

There will be years for cleaning and cooking

For children grow up when we're not looking!"

-unknown

The thoughts and emotions evoked when reading this may vary among mothers.  For me it is a valuable reminder of what is so precious and what matters most to me. While ideally I envision having those fun moments with my children in a near perfect and tidy home I'd rather have more moments really being with my children then not have them.

I envy the first group of moms who have figured out how to do both-have a spotless house and make time to play in it! How do they do that?  

Check out PART II: Learning How to Drive My Broomstick and read about my attempts to discover more about the stop and go of the clean-play balance. I am interested in hearing how do you drive your broomstick?

________________________________________________________________
Jenny Brown Sheehan lives in Montpelier with her family. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor who is currently not practicing. She is staying home full time to raise her two children.  

The stuff has piled up again. But it was just clean! When did this happen? I find it is a delicate balancing act - an act that requires balancing play-time and housekeeping along with some deep breathing and reframing of my aspirations. I haven't learned how to balance the broom on the tip of my finger (like my son would like to do), but I am learning how to strike a balance between spending time cleaning versus playing with my children.  I ask myself: “What is realistic to accomplish in a day?”

I can expect to achieve small things and nothing more at this time in my life.  Finding time to: play with my children; read stories together; do a load of laundry; or take 30 minutes to catch up on emails or phone calls. That is a productive day! Accepting that some days can be pajama days, while other days getting everyone dressed, fed and teeth-brushed is the most that will be accomplished.  I am learning to be okay with not having a picture perfect home and that for many with young children this is what can realistically be expected. One mom said to me once...”I would be worried if your house was perfect in appearance-I would wonder if you had been neglecting your children.” Of course it is possible to both have a clean house and be a terrific mom-I've seen it.  For me personally I have learned a lot about being easier on myself, recognizing we are all different and that a combination of a little cleaning and a lot of play is what is important for me.  I have learned that bite-size steps and focusing on reasonable and small goals works best. Rather than declaring that I will clean the entire laundry room I will focus on one drawer to start.  I think the junk drawer in the kitchen will be a good place to begin.  What satisfaction that will be to open and re-open that drawer and feel like I did it and can check that off the list.

For me the secret is not being so "Cleaver." It would take me a week to get ready for the President, as my house is far from perfect but it is good enough. It is clean and safe and it is filled with love and fun often measured by the pile of crumbs on the floor, the adorable sticky  finger prints on the windows and the living room pillows and chairs arranged to be a Zamboni, a fire truck, a train or whatever creation has emerged. Making small measurable goals feels good and that I am on top of my role as house keeper and mom which makes it easier to relax and enjoy the time I have with my children more.  To me that seems to be the answer. The way to drive your broomstick is up to you. There are no ideals, models or rules to follow. Simply determining what amount of cleaning and organizing etc. you personally need to accomplish to feel good and really be able to relax and enjoy playtime is the go that determines the number of sweeps to take before you stop and put that broom down. Of course the stop and go balance will vary among households. Then coming up with a plan to get your sweeping done is next.

Here’s my 2nd attempt at “sweeping” (still a work in progress). I found it was helpful for me to make a schedule similar to a meal plan like schedule: Monday night is 1 hour of organizing--a shelf or drawer -something small to tackle. It could be filling one box of items to give away; Tuesday will be reading night; Wednesday watch a movie; Thursday yoga/exercise class.  Spend 30 minutes each night or every other night picking up and sweeping and no more. In the busier times of my life I often feel more in control if I have a schedule to follow and by breaking things down into whatever manner you like it seems doable and not so overwhelming. My children now enjoy helping with some cleaning tasks which can be fun and helpful too.

I learned from Cady, a wellness coach at the Confluence, in a class I took called Eat, Play, Live about SMART goals – a guideline for identifying personal goals that are realistic to accomplish. This was a very helpful class for me where I learned more about how to balance taking care of myself and making sure to add back in what is most important to me in my life. You only get one life!  For more on SMART goals: http://www.ehow.com/how_2122474_set-smart-goals.html

How do you drive your broomstick? I would love to hear from other parents.  From frustrations to suggestions- all experiences on how you manage and balance your roles and responsibilities I believe can be helpful to all to read about. We can learn from each other. 

My friend recently sent me a quote that’s right there with the endless shoveling snow.

“Cleaning with kids in the house

is like brushing your teeth

while eating Oreos.”

–somecards.com

One day when my children are grown and I have too much time to organize I am going to stop and sit down and daydream about these days and think-those were special days...joyful days and hear the laughter of their young spirited voices. 
________________________________________________________________
Jenny Brown Sheehan lives in Montpelier with her family. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor who is currently not practicing. She is staying home full time to raise her two children.  

The last several months I have worked with several clients who have expressed assistance with keeping their children’s crafting areas neat. Often times the crafting area is located in the central living space like the living room or family room. This makes total sense since the whole point of having these rooms is to spend time as a family—each doing what interests them but more importantly having conversations and spending time learning about each other’s day at school or work. For me keeping this crafting area in a central location is key—it would be easy to put a crafting space in a spare bedroom and be able to shut the door to hide the crafting projects; but one of my very first organizing principles is to make the organizing solution fit with the routine of the family. If the organizational solution is not easy, efficient and quick the person will not stick to it and eventually disorganization will set in once again.

Since I have received so many questions about ways to organize crafting areas within a home I thought it would be a good blog topic to discuss among all of us mommas and my hope is that we can have a conversation about what works best or solutions or suggestions you might have for others. In follow-up blog posts, I will talk about organizational ideas for other rooms in a home. [If there are specific, questions feel free to e-mail me or post here and I will address those going forward.]

Another organizing principle is that there is no perfect or “right” way to organize. Every organizational solution is based on the individual, their household and their needs (this is what makes my job so fun!!).

Disorganization happens for several reasons including

• Abundance of items,
  
  
• Lack of space,
  
  
• Lack of proper “home” or place to store the items.
  

With regard to crafting areas often, the problem is this—there is to much stuff and not enough space designated to each type of crafting item. Beads, feathers, colored pencils, paint brushes and paper all piled into one tub or bin. What is often more effective is if you have compartments for each of the art items allowing for ease of use and ease of cleaning up. Here is a suggestion for a crafting organization tool that I find helpful.

What I like about this item is that:


a. it is inexpensive,

b. it has small compartments for beads and other small art supplies,

c. there is room for larger items (like paper),

d. it is clear so you can see what you have and what you need more of,

e. it is easy to move around so you can take it out, craft on the table and then when done push it into a closet or the corner of the room. 

I have had requests for crafting organization that looks more like furniture, especially if the crafting supplies final home will be in a formal living room or dining area. There are special crafting closets like the one pictured below that can allow for both functionality of housing the crafting supplies and the look of a more formal piece of furniture. These are a bit more expensive—but are great storage and when your children grow out of crafting this can always be used for other household items.

What’s important to me when speaking with parents about organization of crafting areas is providing solutions that work for both the parent and the child. Art is important--creativity should be encouraged and celebrated not stifled with the feeling of chaos or disorganization. You can have both creativity and organization with a little pre-planning and some of the suggestions mentioned above.

Happy Crafting!
________________________________________________________________
Emilye Pelow Corbett owns and operates EPC & Associates an eco-organization business specializing in green home and business makeovers and professional organization/productivity services in Vermont. Emilye often speaks on “green” topics like Green Kids, Toxic Free Living and Recycling. Emilye, her husband, son Colton, dog and two cats live in Williamstown. Comments? Contact Emilye at [email protected]

My house looks like a toy store. It's overflowing - literally, the toys are taking over outside too! My husband has always said "This is embarrassing.... our house has more toys than a toy store."

We are lucky to have such generous family and friends. Our children have received beautiful gifts and wonderful hand me downs. We have "everything": toy kitchen, train table and set, barn and animals, trampoline, tent, bikes, and enough books to create a library. I appreciate everything that has been given to us, and I also like to get the kids new things now and again.

So what recently kept my 4 year old son occupied for days? A rubber band. I kid you not. We had a very soggy trip to Maine last week. We were there for record cold temps and enough rain to cause major flooding. We were stuck inside for most of the week. While my husband and I got a little bored our son found more and new ways to enjoy his rubber band. He found that he could launch it from the arm of a chair. He learned how to aim it. And eventually he was shooting balloons and other targets. We had brought toys with us, and because we were celebrating his birthday my son got new toys as well. But nothing beat the rubber band that he found and picked up to keep away from his sister. He was thrilled to later find an old paper towel tube that served as a bat to hit the balloon. 

I love the creativity that my son has. He is never bored. He is able to take what he has and make the most of it. Playing outside? Build a nest with as many natural things as you can. No tools for the sandbox? Make a parade of rocks. Plain paper? It can be torn into a million pieces of course.

My family thinks that I am crazy (and mean?) because on our birthday invitations we always write "No gifts please". The gifts we cherish the most is the love and support we have from our family and friends. If you just can't stand to not bring a gift.... check the hardware or office supply store for ideas. Or the recycle bin.
________________________________________________________________

After reading the title of my blog post, you probably thought that there was a typo. What do you mean teaching parents the importance of recycling? They are adults- they get it, right? In a perfect world maybe, but sadly for many this is a controversial topic.

I grew up in a family that took recycling very seriously. Now, before I toot my own horn, while yes, the environment was important to my parents the main reason for recycling was because it then created less trash which in return reduced the bill for trash removal thus creating more cushion for the family budget. My Mom grew up on a farm and in my opinion; farmers (and this is a generalization, but I would say the majority of farmers that I have ever spoken to) are the most sustainable people around. Recycling and reusing was just part of daily life on the farm for my Mom. Farmers don’t reuse and recycle because it’s cool to be “green”; they do it out of necessity and because it is part of their values. They recognize that without a healthy environment there is no farming.

With that said, I am not bashing those who do not recycle; I am simply trying to make a point here-- recycling is critical and we can all do our part.

Now that I am a Mom, it amazes me to hear and see what the children are learning in school about recycling. [Thank you to all those amazing teachers who never get enough credit for the remarkable work they do to educate our youth.]

Recently, my friend’s four year old came up to me at a family gathering and asked me where the recycling bin was, she had a plastic water bottle that she needed to dispose of and only saw a trash can and knew that plastic water bottles should be put in a recycling bin. WOW I thought to myself this young girl will grow up recycling. Recycling is part of her normal routine—she understands that when she is done with an activity like drinking, eating, writing, etc. she figures out what type of product she is using, asks herself can I recycle this and then finds the appropriate function of disposal.

As parents, leaders, teachers, aunts, uncles, friends we are influential people in children’s lives and it is up to use to provide them with a well-rounded amount of knowledge and make them aware of the importance of treating the environment with respect.

Now, not all people consider the environment (I know several of them) and while for me protecting and respecting the environment seems like an obvious decision for many it does not. Now, we all have the right to make our own decisions and I respect others opinion and choices, as I appreciate respect when I make my own decisions. But I thought it would be helpful to give a few quick ways to implement recycling in your own home or office space.

Educate. Figure out who your trash disposal service is in your home or in your office building and call them to ask about recycling options. Just as an example Casella has, a whole sheet on what is recyclable and what is considered trash—they follow a zero-sort model which means all the recyclable items like paper, plastic, wood, etc go in the same bin and they sort through it at the Casella facility.

If you dispose of your trash at the town drop-off site then you might need to ask them how they prefer to take recyclables. Most of them will also follow the zero- sort model but it never hurts to ask first.

Here is a link to the Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District http://www.cvswmd.org/ they have a ton of helpful information and are always willing to assist you in answering any questions you may have on recycling or proper waste disposal.

Identify a recycling bin The easiest way to set up a recycling system in your home or office is to purchase or re-use a bin that you place next to your garbage can—it is not only a reminder that when you go to throw something away that you should ask yourself if it recyclable but it also doesn’t add any extra steps to your routine. By placing the bin next to your trash, you make it convenient and easy to start recycling.

If you’re like me and you have minimal space in your kitchen to store an extra bin you can start a recycling bin in your garage or basement. It does require an extra step, but once you make it part of a routine it turns out to be easy and repeatable. If you have kids, it can be a chore they can complete and involves them in the process.

Remember—clean out your glass jars, plastic jars and cans. I find the easiest way to do this is after cleaning the dishes for the evening I then move on to the recyclable items. I am already cleaning so it is not actually adding another chore to my list but I am still accomplishing what I need to by washing out the items before putting them in my bin.


It’s that simple! Two steps and you can create a recycling system in your home. How have you implemented recycling in your home? Share some ideas and advice on what works and what doesn’t. 
________________________________________________________________  Emilye Pelow Corbett owns and operates EPC & Associates an eco-organization business specializing in green home and business makeovers and professional organization/productivity services in Vermont. Emilye often speaks on “green” topics like Green Kids, Toxic Free Living and Recycling. Emilye, her husband, son Colton, dog and two cats live in Williamstown. Comments? Contact Emilye at [email protected]