Life goes by so fast already who needs to speed things up by rushing through daily routines and tasks? If you are a parent then you know that it seems years go by like the blink of an eye and you are left to wonder where did time go? Like many, you may want to try and slow the pace of life and so you can truly enjoy the people and things that matter most to you. But how can you go about doing that? Here are some simple ideas for simple, joyful living.

Get up fifteen minutes earlier and go outside each morning. There is nothing more peaceful than the quiet of early morning. Go outside with your cup of coffee, tea, or green smoothie and sit in quiet reflection. Sit in a comfy chair or on a yoga mat. Think about your day and connect with nature as you listen to the wind, birds, insects, and the sounds of morning. Concentrate on your breathing and do some breathing exercises to help you feel energized and ready to tackle the day. Reserve that special time for yourself each morning and start the day off right.

Experience the joys of slow cooking. In this fast paced world it seems everyone touts the benefits of fast food but a new revolution has begin called the slow food movement. It is of course a more healthy way to eat but the real benefit is that you can get back to basics and cook the foods your mother and grandmother may have made and make meal times special in your house again. Create a meal plan each week and though you may spend more time cooking and a bit more money on quality ingredients, you and your family will relish the experience and time together.

Have a dinner party. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just make one or two special dishes and have guests mix their own drinks. Sit outside and talk with adults while the kids play. Perhaps you can trade dinner party nights with other families so that at east once a month you have something special and memorable to do.

Get a hobby! Start a sewing project or two, take up knitting or crochet, take your camera on a nature walk several times a week, start a scrapbook. Instead of spending time in front of the TV, which will never be very memorable, use some of your free time to create something meaningful. You can even get a head start on a homemade Christmas gift list. Your parents would love to have a scrapbook of the grandkids and your best friend might like a hand knit scarf.

Start a book club. Gather together with some female friends and choose a book to read over a few weeks time. Get together once a week to discuss the pre-assigned chapters and bring finger foods. This gives you an excuse to get together regularly and you get some reading time too. The laughs and great conversations will be treasured memories for years to come.

Start a babysitting co-op for date nights. Most married couples who have small children will tell you they don’t get out alone together much. Do something about that! Get together with 2-3 other couples and make a plan. Perhaps on every third weekend, two of the couples will go out while the remaining couple watches all the kids. Trade off so that each couple gets a regular date night.

With a little planning you can slow the pace of life and find time for the things that mean the most to you.

A conversation overheard between my two oldest kids today:

Boy: Why is the game not working?

Girl: I don’t know… mom says the software is crappy and it stopped working.

Boy: Maybe its a computer problem.

Girl: No its the software. I am going to go and find those people and give them a Texas Wedgie!

Boy: No, don’t do that. It might not be their fault. Maybe it is a temporary problem or our computer’s problem. Giving them a wedgie without knowing if it is their fault would be very rude.

Girl: (thinking) No I still want to give them a wedgie.

Boy: (exasperated) They will never fix our game if you do THAT!

Oh how kids are entertaining…

I have gotten tons of emails lately from people offering resources that will supposedly help my kids stay up to snuff academically while they navigate their summer vacation. I also know several parents that are consumed with using the summer months to “homeschool” so that their public school kids have a leg up when school starts again.

I can’t say that I don’t think about this sometimes but mostly I just realize that they are always learning. Maybe it is not the exact stuff they need to know for whatever grade they are entering but for kids in public school, summer is just about the only time that really allows for our children to direct their own learning experiences. And they do learn… all on their own.

A few weeks ago my kids asked me to renew their JumpStart subscription. Well, actually it was my son’s subscription and he used to play the JumpStart game when he was being homeschooled. When he went back to public school he lost interest and I cancelled it. But for the past few weeks my kids have been playing the JumpStart game version for their particular age groups and having a blast. They solve math problems, do spelling, and learn a variety of other things from these games. My 5 year old daughter especially learns a lot because she watches her older brother while he plays too. For parents that seek activities to help their kids stay sharp this is a good one but it is only for kids on the 4-10 year old age ranges. I do have a few complaints about the actual performance of their software but the activities are awesome. The games also really help them learn how to use a computer quite well.

My nearly 9 year old son also got to fulfill a HUGE dream of his. He got to ride down a quarter mile racetrack as a passenger in a 11 second car. He kept saying over and over that it was the single best moment of his life. ;) Here he is standing next to a race car that runs on Ethanol. He is very interested in alternative fuel racing.

This week my 5 year old has also started reading and that was all her idea. She wanted to read before she entered kindergarten. She read me four books this morning from the BOB collection (which we adore).

To keep my son reading I have been a bit sneaky. When he wants to go to the water park in the morning or go to the skate park nearby I grab a book and have him read it to me first. I tell him I have been eyeballing this book and I would just LOVE to hear it before we go… works every time. In the evenings I read Harry Potter to him.

Learning is also occuring via weekly trips to the zoo and at the local Science Center. We are lucky to live 9 miles away from COSI, voted by Parents magazine as the best science museum in the country. I bought season passes so we can go as much as we want and this summer they have an Ancient Egypt exhibit with artifacts, mummies, and a replica of the Rosetta Stone. We also saw an IMAX movie there are about mummies. My son and I LIVE for that stuff. We both adore Egypt, history, and archaeology.

So all in all I see no reason to worry that their brains are rotting away and they will enter school and have difficulties. Their brains are fully functional and leading them to places and activities that truly interest them.

I am so mean and green that I make my kids play in a ten gallon tub of water so as not to waste our precious resources. Muaahwaaa!

And of course I am just kidding… give the kids a big water slide and they will want to play in a plastic storage tub. Kids!

Below is some news from API… an organization that I really like.

Attachment Parenting International

Rita Brhel, Editor                                                      

Samantha Gray, Executive Director

editor@attachmentparenting.org                                samantha@attachmentparenting.org

The Makings of a Movement

Attachment Parenting International offers free issue of its magazine

NASHVILLE, TENN. (June 25, 2009) — Attachment Parenting International (API) is giving away free copies of its latest issue of The Attached Family, a magazine for families practicing Attachment Parenting.

Attachment Parenting is an approach to child-rearing that promotes strong emotional bonds between parents and their children through sensitivity and responsiveness to children’s emotional, as well as physical, needs – reducing the risk of mental illness, substance and alcohol abuse, juvenile delinquency, and other unhealthy behaviors that face today’s society.In celebration of the leading parenting organization’s 15th Anniversary this year, API has released a one-time-only publicly available issue of The Attached Family. This bonus edition gives readers the back-story on the makings of API and consequently the co-founders new book, Attached at the Heart. Inside, readers will find an interview with API’s co-founders Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker, a book review of Attached at the Heart along with exclusive excerpts from the book, a preview of API’s summer event in Nashville, Tennessee, with such parenting gurus as Dr. William Sears, the Father of Attachment Parenting, a look into API’s future, and more.

Anyone can download a free, printable PDF copy at www.attachmentparenting.org/attachedattheheart/journal_aath.pdf.  

“We are pleased to introduce The Attached Family to all families and offer existing subscribers a special thank you with this issue. Many dedicated hands over the years have brought API to this point of regularly providing valuable parenting support and resources,” said Samantha Gray, executive director of the nonprofit organization, “and it’s a story we are honored to share.”

Attachment Parenting is based in the practice of nurturing methods that create strong emotional bonds, also known as secure attachment, between children and their parent(s). This style of parenting encourages responsiveness to children’s emotional needs, enabling children to develop trust that their needs will be met. As a result, this strong attachment helps children develop the capacity for secure, empathetic, peaceful, and enduring relationships that follow them into adulthood.

Attachment Parenting International (API) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization founded in 1994 to network with parents, professionals and like-minded organizations around the world. API’s mission is to educate and support all parents in raising secure, joyful and empathic children in order to strengthen families and create a more compassionate world. In addition to providing assistance in forming Attachment Parenting support groups, API functions as a clearinghouse providing educational materials, research information, consultative, referral and speaker services to promote Attachment Parenting concepts.

API board and advisory board members include such noted parenting authors as Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, R.N., co-sleeping specialist Dr. James McKenna, Lu Hanessian of LetTheBabyDrive.com, Alice Miller, and Jan Hunt of the Natural Child Project, among others.

More information about Attachment Parenting International can be found at www.attachmentparenting.org.

###