Articles by: Kimberly

Soccer Woes

August 22, 2008 – 11:46 am

Well I was trying to be a good EcoMom. I called a mother of one of Corbin’s friends. “Do you have any cleats that Henry has outgrown?” Now Megan is a pretty hip, together EcoMom herself so she quickly got it. “Yes! I think I have one from two years ago that would fit Corbin perfectly.” The plan was to do the exchange that afternoon right before the first practice with Coach Aaron. However, we had to go get new socks and shin guards first. Unfortunately, I did not hear the sound of Jaws approaching. Dun dun dun dun. Bite. “I want MY OWN soccer shoes!!!!” cries Corbin. Bite harder. “This is my first real soccer team and I really want my own shoes!” Sad eyes on top of sharp teeth.

Now just so you know, I don’t easily give in to whines. I am one of those moms who has been seen walking away from her kid in a grocery store aisle while said child lies writhing on the floor over a denial of some chemical-and-food-color-containing-superhero-on the cover-product. And I know that compared to children around the world who play soccer next to mine fields, or in bombed outskirts of former cities, my son’s issues are not even worth mentioning. (On this subject, I have to give a shout out to Heidi Kuhn, a dear friend and founder of Roots of Peace, who de-mines land fields around the world, giving children a safer place to play, planting organic vineyards and creating altogether miraculous transformations in countries such as Cambodia, Iraq, Angola and Afghanistan.) But I have wanted Corbin to play soccer for over three years. He is a passionate little athlete who has committed himself to surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and mountain biking, but team sports? Nothing. And I really want him, an only child, to have an experience of working together with a team. So when his buddy Nolan decided to play soccer, I knew this was our chance. And Corbin cautiously agreed. Sooo, when I saw the whole thing about to fall apart over a pair of shoes, I gave in and Corbin ended up with a brand new pair of soccer cleats. The perfectly good pair of previously used ones shall remain on the shelf, in wait for Henry’s little sister Charlotte. Who hopefully won’t be as much of a fashion diva as my son. Should your child be more cooperative in this regard than mine, I highly suggest swap shopping with friends or sites such as Craigslist or Zwaggle.

Posted in Babies & Kids, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot, Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Magic of Gayatri

August 3, 2008 – 12:41 am

There was an 80’s sitcom in which a somewhat nerdy woman would regularly recite mantras in an effort to gain some semblance of confidence and success in her crazy life. Though an absolute caricature, I nonetheless felt a sense of kinship with her as I’ve always seen myself as a bit of a geek and I am indeed fond of mantras. Perhaps it was growing up in a household in which the before-dinner-prayer consisted of holding hands around the table and chanting “Ohmmmmmmmm……..”, but I find myself reciting on a regular basis. “You’re the adult. Take a deep breath. You’re the adult. Take a deep breath. You’re the adult. Take a deep breath.” O.K. so maybe that’s not quite what my dear friend, Chandra-Shekar, had in mind making The Magic of Gayatri with guitarist Tomas Michaud, but I do believe in the power of chants and mantras.

For thousands of years, yogis, shamans, priests and indigenous peoples have used mantras - a precise sound and frequency pattern that conveys a directive into our sub-consciousness - toward the delivery of very specific results, as Chandra-Shekar explains (you can visit his blog at http://gayatrilover.wordpress.com/). So what does this chanting talk have to do with being an EcoMom? Quite a lot actually. The repetition of a mantra can change your mood (and/or your child’s), and going back to the EcoMom Alliance’s Sustain Your Home, Sustain Your Planet, Sustain Your Self mantra, anything that brings more peace into the world, helps shift toward a healthier way of being.

I often play chants of some form or another in the car with Corbin. Not only does it open the door for interesting conversation (”What language is this?” “Where do they live?” and so on and so forth), they can also bring calm and healing to otherwise angst producing traffic or “When are we going to be there?” drives. Shekar’s CD, based on the Gayatri Mantra which was written in Sanskrit about 2500 to 3500 years ago, and may have been chanted for many centuries before that. “It is said that this sacred prayer spirals through the entire universe from the heart of the chanter, appealing for peace and divine wisdom for all,” explains Shekar. A little divine wisdom never hurts anyone, and certainly can’t hurt the sustainability movement. At the least, it can make your day a lot more enjoyable.

Posted in Health | Comments (0)

Audubon California

August 1, 2008 – 12:38 am

Despite my lack of good judgment in planning an outing right after my son Corbin’s gymnastics camp (read, he was tired and grumpy!) we ended up having a lovely afternoon with Audubon House Richardson Bay Board Member, Margaret Michael and her two sons as we explored the Center’s landscape. Watching our three boys play amid the seaside rocks, climbing on the elegant branches of the Eucalyptus trees, and pouncing through the tall meadow grasses, it was seeing children as they are meant to be: free to learn and explore at one, in nature.

A seemingly dead jellyfish led to a rich conversation about reverence for life - even if it doesn’t seem to have the same feelings as you. A young tiger shark swimming just offshore reminded us of how we are but one little part of the biosphere. Oh yes, and our different family backgrounds led to a rich discussion of cultural differences, freedom of speech and politics under varied governments. This part of the conversation led, by the way, by my oh-so-always-questioning Corbin. The Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary and educational outreach organization located near my home, yet I had not been there in years. A day filled with good reminders to explore the vast array of ecosystems and community based organizations that exist in so many of our great country’s neighborhoods.

Posted in Adventure, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Big Green Purse

July 31, 2008 – 12:59 am

Thanks to the vision and generosity of best selling environmental writer Diane MacEachern and her publisher, Amanda Tobier, (Penguin) many of our EcoMom Community Leaders will be receiving copies of Diane’s latest book, Big Green Purse. The recent press buzz surrounding Big Green Purse has been phenomenal and no surprise as Diane is no greenie in the green movement, and her years of experience give Big Green Purse a depth of wisdom lacking in many of the “how to go green” books piled high in bookstores of late. A former adviser to the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank,and the World Wildlife Fund, as well as the author of Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth, MacEachern’s Big Green Purse provides an empowering and enlightening perspective. Learn how your coffee choices, cosmetics choices and decisions in twenty-five key commodities can have the most impact. My favorite part? She takes her message to the streets via her One In A Million Campaign encouraging one million women to pledge to use their purse power to have a BILLION DOLLAR IMPACT on the environment. I would encourage you to join me and Diane in being One In A Million; guaranteed you’re already spending the money. Diane just makes it easy for you to do so in a more intentional and purpose driven manner.

Posted in Books, Events, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Bioneers Conference

July 24, 2008 – 10:25 pm

I know it is almost three months away, but don’t forget to purchase your Bioneers Conference tickets soon. The annual event, in San Rafael, CA, sells out early. Founded in 1990 by Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons (pictured above), the Bioneers Conference is a gathering of scientific and social innovators who have demonstrated visionary and practical models for restoring the Earth and communities.

A nonprofit organization that promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and our communities by looking to natural systems and biology as an inspiring model of how we can organize a more just, humane and authentically sustainable society, Bioneers members are inspiring a shift to live on Earth in a more balanced and holistic way. The Conference attracts a well balanced mix of big names and newcomers in the sustainability movement, shining a light on innovative individuals and organizations that offer pragmatic solutions that honor the living web of the natural world as the most fertile source of inspiration and models. If you’ve never been before, it is an experience not to be missed. An excellent opportunity for learning, networking, growth and inspiration.

The Bioneers message is similar to our EcoMom Alliance mantra, Sustain Your Home, Sustain Your Planet, Sustain Your Self, all anchored in indigenous wisdom of global interconnectedness. I’ll be speaking this year on the 17th, sharing a Children and Nature panel with Cheryl Charles, president of the Children and Nature Network, and Gary Paul Nabhan, author of The Geography of Childhood. Join Bioneers and get your tickets at www.bioneers.org. I hope to see you there.

Posted in Events, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Gettin’ Girly

July 1, 2008 – 2:00 am

I tried but I just can’t do it. Once again, I’m over the pretty toe nails. It’s not that I don’t appreciate finely pedicured tootsies on other women (I do!) but as a former ballet dancer, I think I’m just too used to worn and weathered looking feet when I peer down at my own. Still, Angelique the yogini extraordinaire I met a few weeks ago at Greenhouse Spa suggested that my masculine side was way more developed than my feminine side. At first I wanted to argue but really, it’s not too much of a surprise given the fact that I’m a single mom with a high testosterone son, in the midst of growing this little non-profit organization that is not so little anymore. Of course I’ve had to call upon the stronger, more stereotypically “masucline” sides.

So since I was at a spa, and a free pedicure was offered, I figured it would be a perfect way to bring in some more femininity. I even tried to keep it up at home with a fresh coat of the non-toxic Honeybee Gardens Polish. But after a weekend of camping I’ve now discovered that Sierra dust sticks to nail polish even if it has been dry for a week and is the peel off kind, and what was once a lightly glazed sheen is now a mud puddle of blackened specks and I just don’t think I can keep up! So it’s back to the natural toes for me - and I’ll have to start looking at some deeper ways to let my girly side out more. Somehow, I think that’s probably what Angelique meant anyway.

If you’ve got to mani-pedi, stay away from formulas containing formaldehyde, toluene and/or (DBP) phthalate, (all of which are on California’s Prop 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity) and opt for safer alternatives such as those from Honeybee Gardens, Nubar, and Peace Keeper Causemetics. And I’ll keep admiring your pretty toes from afar.

Posted in Beauty, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Summer Kick Off

June 23, 2008 – 11:21 pm

Marshmallows, paddle boats, river rafting and feeding Buttercup, the eight week old baby goat. Yes, that’s how Corbin and I were fortunate enough to kick off the summer on a four-day adventure up in the Mt. Shasta region of Northern California with my Dad. On the drive up, we stopped to check out the new Gaia Anderson Hotel, the second of what creator Mr.Wen Chang is intending to be a chain of green hotels. Though nothing too fancy, just off Interstate 5 in Redding, it was refreshing to find a saline pool, organic EO products, and a host of other environmentally friendly touches in a roadside stopover and gives me hope for a day when all such establishments have “gone green.”

It was also quite inspiring to watch Corbin on our friend Glen’s farm. He and our host’s daughter, Montana, spent the morning tending to the baby goats and then collected eggs from their chickens which we ate with freshly made chèvre just an hour later. When I think of sustainability, these are some of the visions I aspire to. Eating local (as in off your own farm!), off the grid, and in a gorgeous setting with mountain peaks all around and water flowing nearby. It was an adjustment to come home though I keep in mind that just as we hiked up Mt. Shasta one step at a time (well, actually just to the Sierra Club’s Horse Camp, elevation 7,950′ which was plenty for Corbin’s 6-year old legs), so too do we move toward a sustainable future one step at a time. We all just need to do it together

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Marshmallows and Mom Guilt?

June 11, 2008 – 12:17 am

This whole mom guilt thing just really gets me. I look at these amazing women doing amazing juggling acts as they strive to take care of home/child/husband/career/world/self etc. etc. and it’s super human. No wonder it hurts so bad when, on occasion we mess up. We’re exhausted. Last week, I missed the first and only event I have missed all year in Corbin’s class. No matter that I had attended every field trip and volunteered in his class at least once a week all year, the day after the-event-I-missed, the tears ran down his cheeks. The guilt filled my soul.

I know rationally that it is irrational, but it doesn’t matter. How can we, as women and mothers, realize that just being is enough? All the stuff we do, isn’t really who we are and it really doesn’t change who we are when the stuff goes awry. Does it? Tonight, Corbin and I were sharing a facial mask before shower time (long story but let’s just say it was a fun way to integrate me taking care of me and him exploring his sensory self). Who were those crazy, happy people we saw in the mirror covered in calendula and marshmallow? Why was I able to let go of the guilt tonight as I firmly said no to some 6-year-old negotiations while on other nights, I feel so overwhelmed and unsure? Was it the marshmallow? Which by the way is a real plant (Althaea officinalis), not just the puffy white chemically-magical thing that drops off the stick over campfires and somehow makes Christmas fudge.

Worth a try I’d say. I usually try to stick with locally made products but U.S. based Miessence rep Erin Ely sent me a few testers of this Australian Certified Organic line and I’ve definitely noticed my skin looking really healthy (even during a few low exercise, low sleep, high mom guilt periods). With ingredients “so pure you can eat them,” and complete ingredient lists on each product page and because the ingredients are actually things you have heard of and can pronounce I have to admit that local or not, I’m loving their products. I’m till not sure how to get rid of the mom guilt but it can’t hurt to get rid of the bags and lines eh?

Posted in Beauty, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Destiny

June 6, 2008 – 2:39 pm

“My destiny is me,” said Emile, the Bulgarian, in his heavy accent, as we drove home in natural gas powered car from the airport. I was struck by his innocent, yet somehow quite evolved, sense of self. I was recently asked, “What do you think is the most important gift a parent can give a child?” Aside of course from the obvious roles of “good parenting”, which of course vary greatly from parent to parent but are presumably rooted in some form of nurturing and love, I found two things came to mind. 1. To give a child the gift of seeing his or her parent’s eyes light up every time he/she walks into the room, and 2. To give him or her a feeling of self-efficacy.

The Bulgarian, with is passion and faith in bringing his dreams to fruition made me realize I don’t often hear my American peers and colleagues so openly sharing their dreams. For fear of failure? Perhaps even embarrassment or some sense of shame? Is this part of why the vapid gossip magazines do so well, filled with the shallow dreams-come-true of many not famous for much more than being famous? Or why we so often look to blame others rather than change one’s self? It may seem a stretch, but if our collective consciousness has become one of victim and fear is that not perhaps part of why we find ourselves in the global conditions of today?

Perhaps it is because I am reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose but given the environmental, social and economic ills we face during this time in history, it seems a perfect time, for each of us to take responsibility for our actions and reconnect to the greater whole rather than stay stuck in a place of guilt, fear, shame. To step up passionately to our dreams and take responsibility for wherever we are. You see people who are there. Who are on their way. Their eyes glow. They enjoy the present. They are good at what they do and they know it but there is an absence of arrogance. Having just met Erica Ehm, a Canadian celeb and founder of Yummy Mummy, I think of her, with her sense of power and vulnerability so beautifully balanced. As Tolle writes, “Wherever there is inspiration, which translates as “in spirit,” and enthusiasm, which means “in God,” there is a creative empowerment that goes far beyond what any mere person is capable of.

Shortly, I’ll be off to pick up Corbin from school and we are going to spend the afternoon together, dreaming, playing, flowing, being. And I hope in creating enough of these moments for him, he will be better prepared to find his purpose and feel good in doing so.

Posted in 10 Things You Can Do, Uncategorized, Wellness | Comments (0)

Feelin’ Chipper

June 2, 2008 – 11:28 pm

It’s official. Corbin and I are in love with a suburban squirrel named Chipper. Created by Stephanie Rach, founder of IAGmedia, Chipper is the star of Into the Great Outdoors which tells the story of this perky little creature as he explores the wonders of the environment around him. Through mishap and adventure, Chipper teaches kids to respect nature and even more importantly, to love and play in nature. The Chipper chronicles include DVD, CD, and workbook. With such catchy little ditties you’ll find yourself and your kids singing along to. “. . . because I’m going on a trip, with my family. We’ll drive each other crazy, my Dad is going to snore. But when the trip is over, we’ll all want some more.” Reminds me of the time we took my godfather Vic camping in Monterey. Let’s just say he slept great. The rest of us, well, not so great.

With recent studies indicating more and more children choosing video games over time outdoors, Rach’s vision “to get kids back into nature so they will intuitively want to take care of it” is one shared by many, including Richard Louv, renowned author of Last Child In the Woods. Key to creating a sustainable future is reducing what Louv terms “nature deficit disorder” in our children and Chipper offers a light hearted reminder to get you and your family outside.

As for Corbin, well his backpack is now packed with Chipper’s Checklist and yesterday after school, he was doing an art project singing his new self-chosen mantra (and the closing of the CD), “I’m dreaming this blue planet green . . .” When I commented on how nice he sounded, he warmed my heart to the nth degree by responding, “And because you and all the mommy’s are being EcoMoms, the chipmunks and kids will have oceans and forests and stuff when we grow up.” It couldn’t have been more perfectly scripted and I, of course, got tears in my eyes - and wished someone else had been around to witness the quick passing moment. ‘Twas one of those sweet, sweet times when you realize your kid really does love and appreciate you. And then you’re back to the other reality. Anyway, check out Let’s Go Chipper and enter code EcoMom to receive a special treat (and a percentage of sales goes to support EcoMom Alliance outreach education).

Posted in 10 Things You Can Do, Adventure, Babies & Kids, Books | Comments (0)