Natural Living in the US

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.” – Hodding Carter

All parents want their children to develop into well adjusted adults, respected as much for the integrity of their character as for their professional skills. This doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes years of patient guidance, consistent discipline and above all, an abundance of love that is tangible to the child even during the worst periods in their growing up – and believe me, there will be many of those, before you can sit back and say with relief, “My work is done”.

Many people equate an abundance of love with spoiling their child. I think that perhaps they have not understood what the term LOVE means, especially as it relates to a child. Let us start with what it is not:

1) Love is not over-indulging your child, giving in to every whim of his/hers because you feel guilty, tired, afraid you would lose your temper or scared that your kid may not love you.

2) Love is not harshly disciplining your children for every little broken rule in the mistaken belief that you are doing it for their good and if you don’t punish them often and hard, a life of turmoil and misery beckons.

3) Love is not protecting your kids from the natural heart aches that come with growing up – whether it is a friend’s betrayal, loss of a pet or loved one, not getting something deeply longed for.

4) Love is not using emotional blackmail at any time or for any reason in order to control them and get them to do what you want them to do.

Love that is most beneficial to children is one that focuses on them and accepts them for the unique individuals that they are. To be a truly loving parent, we need to learn to be a bit dispassionate about our kids. Even the most well meaning of parents tend to forget this. Unbiased love for your children helps you to focus on the child, rather than the fact that he/she belongs to you. You then learn to accept the possibilities and limitations of each of your children and to marvel at their individual potential. If there are no pre-conceived expectations, there is less pressure on the child and there are no feelings of disappointment in the parent. When children sense that they are not being measured against their siblings or friends, their confidence grows, there are less disciplinary issues and above all, they feel valued for themselves. Learning to love our kids this way is one of the hardest lessons in parenting; it being so natural to think in terms of “My Children” with the emphasis on “My” rather than on “Children”.

Good parenting is a skill honed through trial and error. Most parents are so concerned about being good parents that they tend to over compensate for their perceived inadequacies. They tend to overlook the fact that most kids prefer laughter, a home filled with warmth and understanding and parents whom they can trust and turn to in times of trouble rather than being inundated with designer clothes, shoes and toys. How often do we hear the complaint that kids now-a-days are too obsessed with material things. Perhaps it is time we, as parents, ask ourselves how much we have contributed to our children’s obsessions. A lot of people seem to have lost faith in their ability to be good parents, mistakenly thinking that they should always be infallible. What we must never lose sight of is that for the most part, we do get it right and that our love for our children will guide our parental instincts. Problems arise only when we do not learn from our mistakes. Children seem to have an infinite capacity to forgive their parents if they know or feel that their mothers and/or fathers are trying to do their very best for them.

Parents are only human – a fact that is often ignored by our kids and even more so, by ourselves. It is alright to get angry or depressed, irritated or to just want some time to yourself. What is not alright is to let these feelings affect your behaviour towards your children. How you handle your emotions is a good indicator of how your kids will manage theirs when they grow up. Rather than pretend that everything is fine, it would be better if you explained to your kids that you are upset about something and that you need sometime to work through the problem. Not only will the children be relieved that they are not the reason for your turmoil, they will probably try hard not to upset you further. Explaining the rationale for your actions to your children in terms they can understand teaches them empathy, alleviates their concerns that they are the cause of your distress and shows them how negative emotions should be handled.

Most parents have a hard time trying to decide whether or not they should shield their young children from the harsh facts of life. War, famine, death – these are constantly in the news. Closer to home it might be the prolonged illness or death of a close relative, friend, or even a pet, the break up of a close friendship, divorce, losing a job or home. There is no guarantee that life will always be smooth sailing and the sooner children are taught to face such situations with equanimity, the more resilient they will be when, as adults, they have their own misfortunes to face.

Parenting can be stressful, it is often under valued and unglamorous yet it can be and very often is uplifting and provides some of our most precious memories. If we remember to relax and enjoy our kids, love them for who they are, try to inculcate a strong personal value system from a very early age, revel in their accomplishments and be a constant source of support for them, we can be sure of doing a pretty good job. There is, of course, the added bonus of our own self improvement as we try to be more like the person we want our children to emulate.

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A typical home or office always have products like air freshener, dishwashers, laundry detergents, many more to mention, not knowing that these products contains harmful chemicals. Recent studies showed that over 50 cleaning products contain hazardous chemicals, chemicals that is slowly doing a great harm for you and your family (even your pets and plants). Labels of these products always says that they should be used with cautions.
Cases of children that accidentally ingested these chemicals and being exposed are rapidly growing, U.S. Poison Control Center estimated that there are almost or over 1.5 million cases are reported to them, a disturbing report that may happen to all of us.
We can avoid this situation and take the toxic out in our home or office and natural cleaning products is the best solution for all of that.
Natural solution products offer a non-toxic, chemical free home. That is possible because we will just use organic materials that are eco friendly yet effective.
Here is some info on how to use natural cleaning products. Most of the items that we will use are found right there in your home.
1. You might be using ammonia for cutting out grease, but for your info these product contains chemicals that are dangerous to you health, for alternative just use a spray bottle filled with ½ water and ¼ white vinegar, vinegars is a good grease cutters and can leave your dishes sparkling like new.
2. Fragrance is a great factor of a clean home, but we usually rely on commercial air fresheners not knowing that these products consist of phthalates( petroleum-base hormone disruptors) you might not see this on their labels because manufacturers are hiding the fact that they are using these, for fresh scent just use citrus or natural herbs, these will naturally clean and freshen your air.
3. An effective alternative to harmful chlorines are borax.
4. Killing bacteria another way of living healthy, but do you know that triclosan from your favorite disinfectant boost the growth of some resistant bacteria, worst thing is this bacteria can turn into carcinogenic, to avoid it from happening use vinegars instead ( another fact is that not all bacteria are harmful).
5. You should be informed that some of natural, non-toxic and biodegradable products that does not have proper or actual certification from the Food and Drugs Authority sometimes keeps their ingredients secret, check first if it passed the standards and the ingredients itself.
6. Bugs are great problems for us, instead of using those sprays, using essential oils, tea tree, lemongrass and rosemary can take the bugs out in your home.
7. Using monoethanolamine(MEA) on principles causes irritations and cases like asthma, adding the fact that it’s a petroleum product, water is much more better, simply water.
8. Tea can be a natural cleanser, yes it can be! simply because its has acid contents. (but I still prefer drinking hot tea).
9. All you need for a change are natural cleaning products, to make a DIY version all you need in your cupboard are lemons, bicarbonate soda, white wine and some cheap oils and there you go.
10. Finally, and the most simple are the power of elbow grease with just cloth itself and a little hot water can get the job done, but be sure to exert some energy for those cleaning task.
We always thought that all bacteria are harmful and should be taken out on our homes, but with these kind of studies, it shows that using germ killers (commercial cleaners) are More harmful to us and our environment because of the toxins that they releases, for cleaning those spills and dust a good swipe of damp towel is all we need less effective against bacteria but a non-toxic way and much more safer, we should be aware and smart to maintain a healthy living.

Anything that is natural is good. If only people switch to using all-natural products, then the world will be less polluted, less dirty and less dangerous. The earth will be more conducive for living for us and for the next generation to come.
Cleaning products as in what we use at home are one of the many products that contribute to pollution. In fact, about 40 pounds of toxic materials are produced from these sources annually. Ingredients of these household cleaning products often pollute and contaminate soil, groundwater and even cause irreversible damage to plant and animal life forms.
Certain chemicals that are present as ingredients of these products are as follows:
•Phosphates in dishwashing agents and detergents cause algae to multiply exponentially which in turn kills fishes and produces certain toxins which are highly toxic to animals and humans who consume the water.
•Chlorine bleach which is also known as sodium hypocholorite is commonly used as an antimicrobial agent and is incorporated in detergents is very toxic to animals that live either on land or in water.
•Formaldehyde which is a component of furniture polishers and other cleaning products is a potential carcinogen to humans and a known cancer inducing agent in animals.
•Triclosan, which is used as an ingredient in hygiene such as toothpastes and antimicrobial products such as hand sanitizers, was known to be carcinogenic and thus can cause and induce cancer to humans. Furthermore, studies have shown that triclosan-containing products can cause allergic reactions due to long term use.
As an alternative, natural cleaning products can be used to substitute for these harmful ingredients. Natural cleaning products can be easily made in your own home with ingredients ranging from lemon oil to vinegars to alcohols.
The following are the common ingredients which can be used in making your own natural cleaning product:
•Lemon Juice is a very effective deodorizer, bleaching agent and disinfectant.
•Borax also known as sodium tetraborate can be effectively used as a detergent and as a disinfectant.
•Vinegar also deodorizes, removes grease and cleans surfaces. It can also be used to clean and polish metal surfaces.
•Baking Soda also known as sodium bicarbonate has an alkaline pH and therefore it neutralizes and buffers acid, it also deodorizes as well as clean metal surfaces. It can be used to clean toilet bowls, comfort room tiles and the like. It is therefore a multi-purpose cleaner.
Making use of these natural cleaning products not only lessens the burden of pollution but also it spares us from buying these commercial products. Natural cleaning products are not only safe for our environment but they are also safe for our health. Thus, these products do not pose any health risks to consumers and their families.
Certain natural cleaning products such as those featured in http://MyCleaningProducts.Com are very user-friendly in that they are very safe to use, does not contain any chemical that may damage the surface to be cleaned plus they are all easy to use!

The separation of humans and nature is an illusion. We humans have artificially distanced ourselves from nature to a certain extent. But we are just as much a part of nature as the trees, birds, and rivers.

1) Human children and nature’s other offspring all need food, light, air to breath, and an advantageous environment.

2) Love flows through the veins of human parents and through the mommy and daddy fish that protect their eggs in rushing rivers.

3) Not only human children cry, pout, or scream when they want that extra something they shouldn’t be eating too much of at the dinner table. Children of other species often do their best to aggravate their parents.

4) Both children and nature contain surprising elements such as a wonderful heritage provided by intricate genes. Human parents, animals, and even plants have a great deal in common from a genetic point of view.

5) We all have certain strategies or instincts with which we select our partners to bear our children.

6) We all have a home — whether it is a house, a hut, a cave, a meadow, a forest, or a nest — we are all parents and/or children and we are all part of nature.

7) Nature and parenting contain a flexibility to be blown by life’s storms, yet return to stand strong and steadfast. We bend, but do not break.
When loved and introduced to nature by parents, children’s “natural intelligence” increases and they remain closer to their natural roots.

9) Children’s closeness to parents and closeness to nature are both important and go hand-in-hand. Parents give children love and information. Equally important is the information and love children receive from their environment, which their parents indirectly provide them with by placing children in the lap of nature.

10) Parents and nature change form with time. But we all endure!

Healthy parenting and interaction with nature help drive our children’s natural senses. A natural stepping-stone to allow relationships across the entire ecosystem is thus formed. Children thereby remain part of their natural surroundings, instead of the missing piece of a puzzle.

For years, the media and endorsers have always claimed and has encouraged us to use natural cleaning products and natural household cleaners because it is safer for you and the environment. There are numerous chemical cleaners which consumers use daily when it comes to cleaning their homes, unfortunately these cleaning products are made of toxic substances like petrochemicals. It is much wiser to use natural cleaning products especially if you are one of those health conscious individuals.
For the past few years, numerous synthetic chemicals have been produced and was advertised for consumers to use. Unfortunately, what we really don’t know is that most of these synthetic chemicals are petroleum and coal which is specifically made to serve as chemical weapons for the the world’s chemical warfare issues.
Another issue that most consumers don’t know is that most of these chemicals does not go through safety testing for possible effect on humans and their health. The worst part is these substances become additives to our daily products such as the cleaning products that we use daily, water, food without our consent.
Unfortunately these toxic chemicals are included without us knowing of their effects and still they pose as preventive measures. Each year, there are new products where millions of new harsh chemicals are being introduced while vital information about its risks is kept by the industry for the public to purchase these products.
It’s really sad to know that only less than ten percent of these millions of new chemicals were tested for reproductive, mutagenic or chronic effects and less than five percent went through testing for acute health risks on humans. The thing is the long-term effect or influence on human health, especially the unborn or and little children has not been at all tested.
Most of these chemical cleaning products when used exposes you to toxins through skin contact and from the fumes you breathe in. These chemicals become airborne and releases air-born chemicals into your lungs when breathing, this happens every time you spray a petroleum-based toxic chemical cleaners.
However, if you use natural cleaning products you won’t have to worry about exposure to these toxins. Health risks is lessened if you use natural cleaning products. Also keep in mind that laundry detergents are also cleaning products and most manufacturers do not list down the complete ingredients that they use for their detergent products.
If you use those chemical based products, you and you’re family is exposed chemicals such as phosphorus, ammonia, enzymes, phenol and naphthalene together with numerous other chemicals, some we’re not even familiar with and these chemical products are most common is laundry detergents. These chemicals can cause body reactions such as sneezing, itching and allergy problems. More serious effects such as rashes and complicated health problems can be caused by these petrochemicals in detergents.
Bleach is another dangerous chemical, it is a very strong corrosive, can irritate and burn the eyes as well as the respiratory tract and skin. If a person accidentally ingested bleach, it can immediately cause vomiting, pulmonary edema or worst coma to that individual.

Parenting in the modern age can be a particularly daunting task. We are constantly being told that smacking a child is not appropriate and that punishment in general is not effective parenting. However, punishment and consequences are not necessarily the same and is definitely a positive way of disciplining your children. A proper form of discipline teaches the child to become a responsible adult with self-discipline and consideration for other people.

Consequences, when used correctly, encourage good behaviour and help to keep the lines of communication open between parent and child. However, it is not enough to use negative consequences solely in teaching children to behave appropriately as this only teaches them what not to do rather than teaching them more appropriate behaviours. It is also necessary to use positive consequences for good behaviour as well as being open and honest with your children as to what you expect of them.

When you focus on the good behaviours and praise the children for these behaviours, the bad behaviours generally decrease and negative consequences are needed less often. Remember that consequences are only there to apply boundaries and reinforce rules when verbal reminders haven’t worked.

It is important to think carefully about the type of negative consequences used for bad behaviour as overuse or inconsistency can render them ineffective.

There are three types of consequences and these will each be explained in the following paragraphs. The three types are natural consequences, logical consequences, and loss of privileges. Each of these can be used as required, depending on the behaviours displayed by the child.

Natural consequences can teach your child lessons without your intervention. However, these can be either good or bad. An appropriate natural consequence may be where a child refuses to eat a meal. The child will then feel hungry and will learn quickly that refusing to eat is not appropriate and leads to personal discomfort.

In a bad sense however, the consequence of behaviour may lead to injury in which case it is important for the parent to intervene in order to protect the child. Also, natural consequences can actually reward bad behaviour. For instance, a bully is rewarded when the victim gives in to demands.

A logical consequence is one that is in relation to the behaviour displayed. An example of this would be where the child throws food or drink on the wall or floor in temper. When the behaviour has subsided, the child would then be expected to clean up the mess. This form of consequence gets the child to think about what they have done and the consequence of their actions. These consequences are fairer as they are relevant to the particular behaviour.

Loss of privilege may be used as a negative consequence for some behaviours such as swearing and aggressive behaviour and may range from losing the privilege of watching a television program to not being taken on an outing.

The use of time-out is appropriate when the child is being particularly difficult or where both parent and child are feeling angry and need a short break to calm down in order to address the situation more appropriately.

Although negative consequences are an important tool for parenting, it is important to be aware that encouragement for good behaviour will lead to less need for these consequences. To bring about this situation, children need to understand exactly what is expected of them. Obviously, if the child then ignores rules and subsequent reminders, then negative consequences need to be applied. However, these need to be consistent and must apply to all children in the family regardless of age and gender. Otherwise, the child will see it as favouritism toward other children and this may lead to a diminished sense of self worth.

Also, keep the consequence short in order to give the child a chance to try again. Don’t take the toy away for hours…take it away for fifteen minutes or so. The consequence does not have to be long or harsh for it to work.

It is also important to implement the consequence calmly and without getting personal. Refer to the bad behaviour not to the bad child. Remaining neutral and in control lets the child learn from the situation rather than worrying about how angry the parent is with them.

All children display negative behaviours at times. How you deal with these behaviours as a parent can make all the difference in maintaining that close bond with the children. Don’t confuse negative consequences with punishment and use the negative consequences in a constructive manner. Happy Parenting!!!

Jason Lester and I tour Kona Natural Foods and talk nutrition in prep for the Ultraman World Championships

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Outdoor cooking is one of the most attractive features of an open-air party. Using an outdoor kitchen can not only make cooking a great pleasure but can also add charm and beauty to your social gathering.
To setup an outdoor kitchen, you should have the required cooking equipment. You also need to put in every effort to make the kitchen convenient so that you can prepare the food efficiently.
Setting Up an Outdoor Kitchen
The outdoor kitchen should be arranged in a way that enables easy rearrangement of its various components. It should be designed to make cooking an easy, comfortable, and enjoyable task.
You should take into consideration the climatic conditions when planning your outdoor kitchen. Weather proof and durable material should be used in the contruction of an outdoor kitchen. You can’t predict the moods of nature; so your kitchen should be well-equipped to withstand any mood of nature. The cooking area should be well protected.
Generally, an outdoor kitchen requires grills, wood-fired ovens, seats, refrigerators, and smokers. Fortunately, most of the equipment in an outdoor kitchen makes use of modern technology, and this enables people to prepare a variety of delicious dishes in their outdoor kitchens.
Grills in Outdoor Kitchens
Purchase grills for your outdoor kitchen with great care. Fortunately, a wide variety of grills are available, and most of them are highly portable. If you purchase grills with wheels, you can easily move them about.
Another important aspect of a grill is its storage area. Some larger grills have shelves or units for utensils while others have additional burners, facilities to hold pans, and warmers.
Cover your grills well in order to protect them from natural elements such as rain, wind, and sun.
Wood-fired Ovens
Wood-burning pizza ovens, made of fire-resistant bricks and mortar, are popularly used in outdoor kitchens. Its cast-iron burners ensure optimal cooking experience. Pizza ovens are not only popular, but also easy to use. They are used to prepare tasty snacks for kids and also large quantities of food for several guests.
The joy you derive from your outdoor kitchen depends on how well your have equipped it. If your kitchen is not designed properly, cooking in it can be a bothersome chore; otherwise, it can be a wonderful, unique experience.
An outdoor kitchen is meant for pleasure, not pain. Its purpose is to reduce stress and save time. Therefore, it is important to plan, design, and equip it carefully.