My friend Dave, recommended this book called “Big Life Journal”. Let me start by saying, it’s a wonderful book to get your tween or teen.
It’s basically a journal that helps kids develop confidence. Now I know what you are thinking, no book can do that. Yes, you are right, in order for our children to develop confidence we, the parents have to be confident. Children emulate what they see. That’s just the beginning of what we have to do in order for our children to be ok with themselves. This is where this journal comes to play.
I started to read “Big Life Journal” with my 12 year-old daughter. The first chapter begins with evaluating your child’s mindset. As I began to read, my daughter snickered and right away said, you must of written this book mommy! Umm no, but it’s definitely something I’ve been practicing with her for many years, her mindset. Here is the first paragraph of the chapter:
“It all starts here! Everything in life starts with your mindset. Your mindset is how you think about yourself and the world around you. It is the foundation of your success and happiness!”
Voila! There you have it folks, just knowing this much makes a world of difference in the lives of our children.
The chapter continues to focus on the difference between positive mindsets and negative mindsets. It talks about how a negative mindset can prevent a child from reaching their goals and happiness, while a positive mindset can help them reach their dreams. It then asks your child to evaluate themselves by taking a quiz. The results, well the most important result in my opinion is that is makes your child AWARE of what they think of themselves. If they find that they have a positive mindset, then great, but if they are in a negative mindset, it helps them to rewire it. It encourages them to discover themselves and develop the mindset of growth, resilience, gratitude, and positivity.
As I move along with my daughter, I will share other things that resonate with me. In the meantime, get the book for your child and spend some time reading it with them. You won’t regret it.
It’s the time of year where most of us are run down and sick. I’ve committed myself to sharing what I know about essential oil remedies. So here is what I give my family when any of us are under the weather. I use a blend of essential oils that we call “The bomb”.
It’s a combination of various essential oils that help boost the immune system. I use Doterra’s On Guard, Frankincense, Lemon, Oregano and Melaleuca essential oils. I’ve researched Doterra and I love their essential oils. You can use it two ways, either ingest it by putting two drops of each oil in a gel capsule, this is something I recommend for adults only. Make sure you eat something fatty when you ingest the oil. You can eat some eggs, yogurt, something fatty to dilute it. Take the gel capsule three or four times a day and within two days you will feel better.
For children and my husband who refuses to ingest the oils, I put 6 drops of each oil in a roller bottle and I add fractionated coconut oil to the rest of the bottle. I role it on feet, back of the neck, and down the spine.
For babies and toddlers, use 2 drops of each oil and fill the rest of the bottle with a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil, roll it on the bottoms of the feet, in the back of the neck and down the spine every couple of hours.
You can buy both the gel caps and roller bottles from amazon.
I would like to tell you about my friend David Mason and his amazing plight to bring smiles to the faces of innocent children. He has dedicated his life to helping children of War.
Unfortunately, right now, while our kids are safe and thriving, there are millions of children around the world suffering. This is happening right now, in our lifetime. Those of us who are parents can imagine the horrors that these innocent children have face. Think of what they feel and how they are able to survive.
I met David in 2003, when I was on a trip to Afghanistan, my parents homeland. I had not been there since before the war, so I was vey young. My family was in the US, when Afghanistan was invaded by Russia. My father was a diplomat in the United Nations and so, the trip in 2003, was my first time back “home”.
It was an emotional trip. Before our plane even descended, the landscape of the country took my breath away and took me back in time. Seeing the majestic mountains ignited a rush of bitter-sweet memories.
My cousin Wais introduced me to David, a Danish-Iranian, in his early 30’s who had left his comfortable life in Denmark to help the Afghan children. He was inspired after 9-11. He wanted to do something good, for the most innocent of us, for our children. According to David, my cousin kind of adopted him and his dream of what is now the Afghan Mobile Mini-Circus for Children (MMCC).
David, is the founder, MMCC, an educational non-profit that uses circus activities to educate and empower kids. The program also manages to bring smiles to the faces of Afghanistan’s children and promote peace in the war-torn country.
At MMCC’s flagship school in Kabul, Afghanistan, 120 children ages ten to 17, learn juggling, unicycling, acrobatics, theater, singing, puppetry and magic tricks. They then perform and conduct workshops across the country, spreading awareness about health, land mines, the importance of education, and other issues along the way.
Most of the circus activities are led by the kids themselves.
This wonderful human being continues to spread joy and awareness with the Afghan Mobile Mini-Circus for Children (MMCC) for all these years.
Now they are looking to raise money to transform the harsh winter of 900 underprivileged Afghan Children into a cheerful one. By donating, you will help ensure that the children will be safe and secure from the cold and bitterness of winter, while learning English, Computer, various Artistic, physical, Social and Life Skills while having fun.
Please take some time to log onto their site and give what you can.
46% of the funds for Cheerful Afghan Winter for 900 underprivileged is raised, Thanks and keep Donating and Sharing please: www.globalgiving.org/projects/Cheerful-Af
For the past couple of years I have leaned to use essential oils as a way to keep the people I love stay healthy. At first, many family members, including my husband, were skeptical, but eventually they came around. They saw the benefits of using essential oils first hand.
I was recently asked to share what I know about how to use essential oils, so from now on, I will be sharing what I know one essential oil at time every week. I’m not an expert, just a mom who has spent many hours researching the benefits of essential oils. I would love to help you learn from what I know.
More people, especially parents are turning to more natural & holistic approaches when it come to healthcare. By using natural remedies to heal ourselves we can be free of the worries of unwanted side effects.
My use of essential oils began over a decade ago when I got into meditation, to help my anxiety. The person guiding the class applied Lavender essential oil on our temples to help us relax. Lavender has a wonderful smell and it really helped relax me. I used it every night before bed for a long time, I still do but now I tend to alternate oils, not just Lavender. I loved it so much I started to seriously look into essential oils more.
Also, I grew up with an amazing, magical mother who always used natural remedies for us. She would have us gargle with salt water for a sore throat, massage sweet almond oil once a week into our scalp and hair to keep it healthy. She taught my sister and I how to use yogurt as a face mask, put cold cucumbers on our eyes to bring down any puffiness, toothpaste for our burns and a million other holistic remedies. She would even make ridiculous faces and claim she was exercising her facial muscles so she would not need a face lift. She was brilliant and beautiful with such class, strength and impeccable manners. She had a heart of gold and a smile for whomever crossed her path. She and I started writing a book together that included all her beauty and health remedies, but then my dad got sick and then he passed away and then she left this earth and left us.
Today is the first anniversary of her death, she has always been the wind beneath my wings, and she continues to be even in death. I know she would want me to be strong for my family. I’m doing just what my mother would want me to do, helping others like she always did. Thank you mom, I love you so much and will miss you all of my life. She was the first to want to learn and then use my essential oils. I hope to pay it forward and help you help yourself.
So the first thing you need to know is that you should always use pure essential oils, that way you avoid any pesticides. Do your research, I prefer to use Doterra, but there are some other companies that use pure essential oils as well. There are a few ways to use the oils, you can inhale them, diffuse them, use them topically and there are a few that you can actually ingest. It’s a lot to learn but if you take your time and do your research you will use them without even thinking.
When I use essential oils topically, I aways dilute it with some sort of carrier oil, such as fractionated coconut oil, a heat pressed refined oil. Using essential oils straight or neat is usually too abrasive and can sometimes harm you, even burn your skin.
This week’s essential oil is Peppermint oil. It’s one of the most versatile essential oils out there. It can help with muscle aches, seasonal allergies, low energy and digestive problems. Its also used to boost energy and improve both skin and hair health.
The next time you have a headache, instead of taking a Tylenol or an aspirin, use a teaspoon of a carrier oil with two or three drops of peppermint oil. Apply it to the back of your neck, to your temples and your forehead. I usually make a roller , most of it is filled with fractionated coconut oil, with a few drops of peppermint oil and I roll it to my temples and back of my neck. Be careful not to get any in your eyes. Wash your hands after handling any essential oils.
For fevers, you can rub it down the spine on the hairline and the neck. To help boost energy, rub peppermint with some lemon essential oil on the back of your neck, you can also put a drop or two in your water.
To help relieve seasonal allergies symptoms, diffuse peppermint and eucalyptus oil at home, or apply 2–3 drops of peppermint oil topically to your temples, chest and back of neck.
To boost your energy levels and improve concentration with peppermint oil, take 1–2 drops internally with a glass of water, or apply topically to your temples and back of neck.
You can put a drop on your toothpaste to freshen your breath and kill bacteria. Add 2–3 drops of peppermint to your shampoo and conditioner. It’s actually used in many high-quality hair care products because it can naturally thicken and nourish damaged hair. It helps stimulate the scalp.
There are so many other ailments that peppermint essential oil aids, here is a list of a few,
Relieves itchiness
Relieves sunburn
Reduces nausea
Repels bugs
promotes healthy skin
Let me know if you want to know about a particular oil and it’s benefits. Next week I’ll tell you all the benefits of Lemon essential oil.
Words bring out the best or the worst in us. You can uplift people or tear them down with words. You can empower or disempower both yourself and those you share words with. And that is why it is so important to pay close attention to our words.
Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day.-unkown
We are all human and lose control of ourselves from time to time but for the little humans we are raising, it’s imperative that they hear words that encourage, uplift and even heal. So the next time you have something to say, speak with intention. It all goes back to being mindful.
