Creative Living

Tonight I dipped into my new stash of library books and read Amanda Blake Soule's book The Creative Family. Soule writes a blog that I've been following, which is how I discovered her book. She is absolutely inspiring. Incredibly creative, mindful, reflective and insightful, inventive, and real. I read straight through the entire book furiously jotting down quotes, reflections, projects, resources, and came straight here to blog about it. Each section of the book opens with a motivating or inspiring quote. Here are a few that really spoke to me:

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

- Albert Einstein

"The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things."

- Plato

"Every child is an artist. The problems is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

- Pablo Picasso

Soule, herself, is author to some very inspiring words as well. Reading The Creative Family, I felt I was reading part art book, part parenting book, part "green living" book, and part meditation book. Here are some of her gems:

"A large part of nurturing a spirit of creativity comes from being mindful, slowing down, observings, and looking around you at the beauty and inspiration all around. We are blessed as parents to have the best teachers for this - our children." (p. 5)

"Think about letting your child be the guide, director, and teacher, while you try to be the student. Your role is to provide the environment and to watch and learn." (p. 13)

"Practice gratitude - when we feel grateful, we feel full - full of love, full of inspiration, full of ideas, and full of creative spirit." (p. 15)

"Living the creative life is made all the more fulfilling and rewarding when we are creating with, for, or because of others." (p. 191)

Beautiful, no? I am really looking forward to attempting some of her projects and ideas with J this winter. I think they will be excellent learning opportunities as well as creative experiences. And many of the finished products would make excellent gifts.

Motrin vs. Babywearing

Today, some of my fellow Twitter Moms alerted me to a new Motrin ad that targets babywearing mothers and the supposed pain they suffer. It's a pretty shocking ad, and very disappointing to see a company attempt to sell products by denouncing babywearing as a pain-inducing fad.

Mothers (and fathers and caregivers) across the globe have been wearing their babies for CENTURIES. And (Motrin, this is addressed to you) slings and carriers positioned correctly will evenly distribute baby's weight and put less strain on a mother's back than carrying a baby in her arms. All the literature out there on babywearing warns that if you feel pain or discomfort you have the sling positioned incorrectly.

When J was an infant, my husband and I both used sling carriers with him. In the sling, J seemed more of a participant in whatever we were doing than while riding in a stroller. The hands-free functionality of slinging was also a great benefit. Going for a walk or making a trip to the store, I had less to lug in and out; I had two free hands; and I was still snuggling my baby!

Luckily for me, my good friend Margaret was experienced with slings and babywearing, so she was able to help me choose comfortable slings and positions. Dr. Sears' books and web site were also very helpful resources to me while I got the hang of it. Here are a couple facts from Dr. Sears's web site about the importance and benefits of babywearing:

• Sling babies spend more time in the state of quiet alertness . This is the behavioral state in which an infant is most content and best able to interact with his environment.
• Sling babies are intimately involved in the caregiver's world. Baby sees what mother or father sees, hears what they hear, and in some ways feels what they feel.
• Carried babies are intimately involved in their parents' world because they participate in what mother and father are doing. A baby worn while a parent washes dishes, for example, hears, smells, sees, and experiences in depth the adult world. He is more exposed to and involved in what is going on around him.
• Carried babies become more aware of their parents' faces, walking rhythms, and scents. Baby becomes aware of, and learns from, all the subtle facial expressions, body language, voice inflections and tones, breathing patterns, and emotions of the caregiver.
• A parent will relate to the baby a lot more often, because baby is sitting right under her nose. Proximity increases interaction, and baby can constantly be learning how to be human.