Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

There's been a lot of discussion out in marketplace the last couple of years about ways to get kids to eat healthy foods. Since I'm really into taking care of myself through eating right, taking vitamins and natural supplements, using homeopathic remedies, eating organic and growing some of my own produce, and lifting weights, it's an important topic for me, too.

But it seems all the talk centers around how to "trick" kids into eating healthy - you know, something crazy like putting white bean puree in their homemade cookies. I have two things to say about this: (1) Gross!, and (2) Tell me why it's acceptable to let your kids THINK you're giving them lots of cookies to eat (even if you're slipping them ye olde vegetables)? Aren't you in actuality sending them the message that junk is OK? Remember, they DON'T KNOW your good intentions, or they never would touch that cookie in the first place. Not even if you said "pretty please."

I admit I have grated a few carrots and added to my crockpot spaghetti sauce to sneak an extra veggie serving in on my oblivious son. But I also plop down a bowl of spinach salad with his supper and tell him he has to eat it all because "green vegetables are good for your body."

I think it is healthier to teach your child that a cookie is OK sometimes - even the ones with lots of sugar (don't they all have it?). At the same time, I think it's wise to teach them to balance that with a healthy vegetable or two. What a better way to really learn how to eat balanced meals to create the best mix of fuel for your body.

Otherwise, don't you feel a little like you're cheating them in the nutrition education department? That maybe they will grow up wondering why cookies worked so well for them as children but are not working so well now?

Happy (and healthy) eating,
TCB

Caring for an Aging Pet

I wrote many months ago (my, how time flies!) about how we love our old dog. But there's another side to pets that live a really long time. Since today is not only Halloween, but the last day of National Pet Wellness Month, I thought I'd let you take a peek into what it's like to care for an aging, large (90-pound) pet. It's something to consider when you're choosing that cute little puppy. Will you be able to handle a senior pet that may have mobility issues later on?

Experts* estimate about 25% of our country's pet population is comprised of aging pets, and pets' care requirements change as they go through the natural life cycle.

Molly is more than 16 years old, so she's definitely well into the senior category. There are services that we must spend money on now that we never had to before, just because of her advanced age. And I'm not even talking about veterinarian bills.

I have to pay a mobile groomer, who is strong, has a special table and special equipment to come bathe and trim her now. Because of arthritic back legs (very common in many breeds of large, older dogs and a result of her double hip surgery when she was a puppy), she is not able to stand for very long like she used to when I gave her an outside hose bath.

And she often falls when she tries to get up.

And falls again for no apparent reason when she is trying to go to her food bowl.

Then she just has to wait until someone comes along and picks her up.

Another thing to keep in mind is that large dogs who become stiff and partially immobile need someone to help them squat when they go to the bathroom. Not fun, but it has to be done (Thanks, my son).

As they get older, they may have to sleep somewhere else (rather than in your bedroom) overnight, as they often become incontinent (but of course this can happen with smaller pets, too). Molly has a special nighttime bed in the garage.

Expecting troubles during the aging process would never deter me from adopting a large breed dog, but it's something for every family to consider before making the decision.

Happy belated 16th birthday, Molly!

Love,
TCB and the whole gang

* American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Take a Country Walk

While the mile-and-a-quarter road to my house is now paved and not the single lane dirt road it was when we first moved to the country, it is still a nice place to take a walk with my son.

I did just that this afternoon. I always learn all sorts of things.

I learn amazing events. As we shuffled along, he told me he saw three (!) bald eagles when he went fishing in the river behind our house last weekend.

I learned that HardiPlank makes an excellent fort impenetrable by airsoft "bullets."

(Ignore the photographer and her shadow. She is not too great.)

And that chickens lay their eggs one at a time. (I knew that, but I was glad he did, too.)

I'm not sure why half the things my son tells me on our walks work their way into the conversation, but because I find out about what he's thinking and doing, it's OK.

I find out about what his friend said and how nervous he may or may not feel about his upcoming swim meet. I find out about the weather forecast for the next five days (one of his obsessions). And sometimes he just says something surprising like, "I like being at home with you."

What can I tell you? My one piece of advice is to take a walk with your child when you can. You don't have to say a word. He'll do all the talking.

Love,
TCB

Weekday Thought: "Fishin'"

I know...you're smack dab in the midst of a work week. And even if you're a stay-at-home mom - well, I for one know YOU ARE SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF A WORK WEEK.

So here's a thought for sunny days (which we happen to have right now in South Carolina):

Sunday fishin'.

And here's another thought from my photo archives, and one I'm a little more partial to:

Chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream cones. (Bet I made you want one).

Hey, it's still "Indian Summer."

Have a happy day.
Love,
TCB

The Mother I Wanted to Be

I said I was never getting married.

Oops.

Then I said I was going to have a career and no children.

Double oops.

Then when I changed directions, I decided it was only going to be a little turn. I owned a company, and my new little one would come to work with me (with a nanny) every day until he was old enough to go to preschool. And then he would go to school and after-school care, and I would continue traveling and wooing clients for my PR agency.

So we tried the office thing and frankly, it was a little crazy for both of us. Then I handed him off dutifully for the next few months of his life to a nanny while I continued to run a business. I would show my new son what a powerful, independent woman could do, earning a living for her family and taking care of home life, too. That's the kind of mother I wanted to be.

But something happened to the career woman.

 I won't say she died.I'll just say she learned a little about what's important.

First, she sold her company.

Then she opened an office at home and scaled back her clients to only include those who did not make her travel anywhere away from her nice, country house. Then she told the nanny good-bye forever. And she wiped a little one's tail while juggling the phone on her shoulder and talking to the president of a company. Or a reporter. (Ssshhhh....don't tell anyone).

And although her days were the longest in history, she loved them.

So today, I am no longer the mother I wanted to be.

I am the mother I am.

I homeschool my son. I still work out of my home office, mostly writing for clients and magazine editors and doing a few PR jobs. I cook (and like it) and clean (and like it OK except for the toilets). I travel to swim practice and Cub Scouts and horseback lessons.

And I stay home Friday nights and watch "Harry and the Hendersons."

(He loved it).

And so do I (all of it).

Sure glad I didn't turn out like the mother I wanted to be.

Love,
TCB
**And happy anniversary, Mr. Country Belle.

Homeschooling an Only Child, Part 2

Three days ago, I talked about the socialization issue (or lack of an issue) in homeschooling an only child. There are other issues that lonely-only homeschool students might face that others do not.

For us, not having several students in the class can easily lead to boredom. If I'm not extra careful, we can fall into the rut of approaching history or math or reading the same old way. When that begins to happen, my son seems to just home in on getting subjects done as quickly as possible. And while this has always been an issue because he's a boy and all boys want to do is go outside and shoot a bow and arrow or build a fort, it becomes more of an issue if we start to slip into a school rut.

So, I've set up a daily schedule that mixes up the order of our classes each day so my son never remembers exactly what's coming. That helps to jar us out of any rut we may try to fall into. I also am trying to make sure we conduct every possible science experiment, work geography/mapping into history studies, and work in "breaks" in subjects. For example, my son is working through Saxon Math 5/4, but we will be taking a "holiday vacation" at the end of this year and move to Life of Fred: Fractions for however long it takes us to complete the book. He is looking forward to that.

We add in interaction with other students in three outside classes each week, and it is nice to see his face light up when he sees his homeschooling friends. Everything considered, my son loves homeschooling and declares he's done with public school. I am open to whatever life brings us and want to be flexible for whatever is best for him each year.

Hope you and your children are having a good school year, too.

Love,
TCB

Homeschooling an Only Child

Before I started homeschooling my son, I crazily erroneously thought it could be a lonely experience for my only child. Who is social. And who also lives in the country. Not surrounded by other boys.

I quickly learned that not only was he not lonely, but I had to turn down many opportunities of field trips and get-togethers and "recreation days" with our strong local homeschool network so we could actually get some book work done at home.

There are parties...

And parties...

And play dates at home...

And homeschool field days...

The "socialization" anxiety of homeschooling is simply an old school fallacy. There are so many of us homeschooling today, and we do such a great job of supporting one another that our kids are the better for it.

Love,
TCB