Sledding!

Though it has been an unusually warm winter so far this year (knock on wood so I don't jinx us with a whopper of a storm now!), as soon as there was even a smidge of snow, we headed to our favorite sledding hill early this past week. Everyone, young and old, gets into the act here as there are both steep and small hills. The cold of winter, sometimes bitter in past years, tends to keep people in their homes. But the snow brings many people out from isolation; they all come to sled at the best spot in town and visit with neighbors they haven't seen in a little while.

We have a huge open area, with many good sledding hills, near our town.

As soon as the kids clamber back up the hill...

...they ready themselves...and sled right back down, laughing.

Of course, no outing in the cold would be complete without

hot chocolate and whipped cream!

The best part about sledding, besides being FREE (Wa-hoo!), is all the great outdoor

physical activity (the kids sleep good that night), the visits with neighbors and friends, and all the smiles and laughter.

Book Review: Spontaneous Happiness, by Andrew Weil, M.D.

Dr. Andrew Weil presents information on the newest theory in health, integrative health care, in Spontaneous Happiness, published this past November 2011.  I became interested in reading this book when Dr. Weil’s article on his belief that people suffer from “nature deprivation”, taken from Spontaneous Happiness (Newsweek, October 30, 2011), prompted our family to take a hike in the trails near our home.  We found that we loved hiking!  (See our blog post, “Trail Hiking—Family Activity”, November 2011).  Dr. Weil’s recent book not only contains useful information for creating a healthy lifestyle to a wide audience, but also presents it in an accessible three-part format.  Highlights of the book include an eight-week program for personal integrative health and the Anti-Inflammatory Diet.  The book’s contents are also featured online at www.SpontaneousHappiness.com. 

Happiness, according to Weil in Part I of the book, is not “ceaseless bliss” but more like the Swedish term, lagom, which translated loosely “means something like ‘just right’ or ‘exactly enough’-- basically a balance point of “resilience, contentment, comfort, and serenity…your emotional safe harbor which you can leave but to which you should be able to return easily and naturally”.  I don’t mind telling you that, as a “keeper of the family”, this also struck me as part of a definition of home.  Part I continues on with Weil’s theory that an epidemic of depression abounds, that a new integrative approach is needed which addresses a person’s “physical, psychological, and spiritual needs” (which  reminds me as more of an extension of the “mind-body” connection, so often quoted, to a “mind-body-soul” connection…and the “health triangle” approach of personal-physical-social realms), and that integrative health can benefit from the practices of both eastern and western health theories.  As a reader looking to this book for further information on helping families, Part I of the book seems less intriguing than Parts II and III, but I do see the importance in Weil’s definition of happiness, and the background of health as well as the introduction of integrative health.

Part II and Part III include concrete suggestions for creating “happiness”…once again defined as “a balance point of resilience, contentment, comfort, and serenity”.  Part II focuses on three areas:  Body, Mind, and Secular Spirituality.  For the body, Weil suggests adopting an anti-inflammatory diet (outlined in the appendix), exercising more, getting adequate sleep in darkness and quiet at night, as well as adequate light exposure during the day.  For the mind, Weil focuses on “ruminating negative thought patterns” that he states are the “root of unhappiness”.  He makes several suggestions for a healthy mind including interventions of the positive psychology movement, mindfulness training, meditation, reducing attachment to those items which are often associated with addictions in people, and practicing visualization and daily “breath work”.  Weil is quick to define and explain the difference and the overlaps between spirituality and religion in the chapter on secular spirituality and its importance.  Its here that Weil suggests that people need to be more aware of their connection, not only to the natural world, but also to animals, art, beauty, and communities of people in order to bring more fulfillment into their lives. 

Part III, the final section of the book, consists of an eight-week step-by-step program to improve an individual’s happiness and two appendicies which include a general outline of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet and a list of further books to read as well as several online resources for readers on many of the Weil’s suggestions in the book.  As well, he gives two of his own web sites, www.drweil.com and www.SpontaneousHappiness.com , where readers can access even more information on integrative health. 

It is important to note that throughout the book, Dr. Weil is careful to suggest and explain that for individuals with depressive disorders, his suggestions should be used in conjunction with their current therapies. 

FINAL REVIEW: As a person first attracted to this book by Dr. Andrew Weil’s researched belief that we, as a people (especially kids), suffer from “nature deprivation” and his concrete suggestions on connecting more with nature in his Newsweek article, I read this book as a mom looking for more suggestions for my family.  Though I didn’t need the extensive background on health theories or the treatment of depression at this reading, I did find several activities that I can do, teach, and adapt for my own family to improve their overall health in general.  However, his suggestion to quit coffee and caffeine drinks (for overly dependent people) “cold turkey”, though well-intentioned, won’t “fly” in my family!  I definitely don’t want to be any where near a person who is trying to cut a dependence on caffeine in that manner; I don’t think it will increase the family’s happiness quotient one bit (initially anyhow!).  Otherwise, I found the concrete suggestions and resources to be a highly positive factor of the book, and very easily to adapt and implement.  In fact, for the next two weeks, I’m Counting To Three…Okay, Four will be highlighting several of these suggestions, adapted for families, as our “Weekly Tips”.   As well, our family will try these tips ourselves and give a full “Family Review” at the end of three weeks.  Enjoy! 

Ice Skating!

Ice skating was our first family activity of the new year. It was a great way to get active during that "in-between season", when the weather is not cooperating outside for either bike riding, or sledding and ice skating outdoors. We even were able to visit with friends and other family members who showed up at the rink. With the music pumping in on the sound system, we skated along talking, visiting, trying new tricks--and trying to hold onto the side rails(!), not even realizing that we were getting in some exercise. There were even large industrial paint buckets that when, propped upside down, made great helpers for the young, new skaters. The kids could put both hands on those and then skate around, or sit down upon them for a little break. My kids used to use those when they were young. It's a great way to include as many age groups as possible in a family ice skating outing.

Bowling!

     For our family activity, we decided to go for a treat and go bowling!  All the kids love it when we can go to do this.  We actually did this a few days before I ended up getting sick, happily.  Luckily, the bowling alley was running a special and I had a coupon, so it made it just about free.  (At the end of this post, I'll link a site that allows kids to bowl free at many bowling alleys--check it out!).   My littlest one, loves that bowling can turn out just as well for big kids as for little ones,  (i.e., it's anyone's guess where that ball will go and how many pins it will knock down) so  he loved this activity.

                              My second son (CK) has got his own "spin move" which accompanies a
                              little dance that he does back to the seating area:

                            No trip to the bowling alley would be complete without the greasy bowling
                            alley fries!  Yuck!  The kids love them though, so we get one for them
                            all to share...how does the motto go...everything in moderation!  (Okay,
                            well, so they actually are kind of tasty...). 

Come on back!

Here's the link for anyone who's looking to take their kids bowling--for free!  Also, before going, check your local bowling alley for specials and coupons that they have running.  There's usually something they

can give you to cut the price:

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

Happy Bowling!

The Victorian Stroll

The Victorian Stroll was a perfect family activity for this week.  Not only was it free with free hot chocolate and other treats, but the weather was warmer than usual.  It was a great way to sneak in fresh air and exercise into our family time, although the treats may have canceled any real benefit!


Many people dressed in Victorian clothing and strolled down the street.  Some sang carols, others handed out candy canes, still others just soaked up the atmosphere.

The window displays in the shops were just as entertaining as the folk walking the street:

                            Local dancers from "The Nutcracker" danced in shop windows:

                                                           Carolers sing on the steps:

                                     Of course, there'd be no Christmas without Father Christmas:

We all enjoyed the scenery (and candy canes, hot chocolate, matza ball soup, etc.)! 

Trail Hike--Just What the Doctor Ordered!

This week, we were inspired by Andrew Weil's excerpt from his book, Spontaneous Happiness, which appeared in the October 30, 2011 issue of Newsweek, to get outside and take a hike in the woods.  Dr. Weil's theory is that our society shows signs of suffering from "nature-deficit disorder...coined by the author Richard Louv to explain a wide range of behavior problems in children who spend less time outdoors but now is invoked as the root cause of an even wider range of....ailments in people of all ages who are disconnected from nature."  The weather was gorgeous and we wanted to take advantage of record-breaking temperatures, no snow yet (knock on wood), and explore one of the sets of trails nearby. 

The kids loved stopping and looking at the still-green plants along the way.  They took many of these pictures.

My youngest son was especially interested in stumps with different colored fungi and moss on them. 

My daughter, with her eye for abstract shapes, preferred the patterns of the leaves:

Andrew Weil states, "I believe we are gathering scientific evidence for the benefits of living close to nature, not simply for enjoying its beauty or getting spiritual sustenance, but for keeping our brains and nervous systems in good working order."  Interesting stuff, but all I know is we started out complaining and ended our hike telling jokes, laughing, and challenging one another to runs up and down the hills. 

Connecting with nature--just what the doctor ordered!

"It is Good to Have an End to Journey Towards; But It Is The Journey That Matters In The End." --Ursula K. LeGuin FAMILY ACTIVITY DAY

            Sometimes, it is chance happenings, those unplanned events, that turn out to be the most memorable parts of life.  Squished in between the cleaning chores, kids’ sports games, friend gatherings, birthday parties, and several pre-Thanksgiving errands of the weekend, we scheduled a time to put everything aside and celebrate our family with a family activity.  As it turns out, our family activity turned out to be something completely unplanned. 

            J.J., my youngest son, was involved in a food-gathering activity for the local food bank.  This was an activity important to him and to the other boy scouts in his pack.  The food bank, especially since Hurricanes Irene and Lee, has had its inventory severely strained.  His pack leader was taking all the help she could get; there was more of a need than much of our boy scouts could fill.  In fact, the reality of the situation is that many of the people being asked for food donations quite possibly were people who needed the food.  Although J.J. started out full of gusto, walking with his sister and I distributing food bags for neighbors to fill, he started to look quite droopy.  Later, when we took a break, I felt his forehead and realized he had a fever.  My husband, sons, and daughter, then quietly decided that they would go out, pick up the food from neighbors for my youngest son’s pack and help transport it to the local food bank. 

            Was there grumbling?  Well, I’d be lying if I said that my kids happily stopped all their activities and joyfully jumped out the door to help their younger brother’s pack meet its quota and help the food bank.  For my older sons, this wasn’t an activity they had planned and my daughter had already been gathering food for a good while already.  But they did it.  They put their shoes on and went out with my husband, trudging from neighbor to neighbor for the food donations. 

At home, with my youngest son on the couch, I got a call from my husband.  “The kids are running from door-to-door getting food.  They are making it a contest.  They decided to start knocking on doors and ask for donations!”  He was laughing. 

My son took the phone from him and said, “Mom, you can’t believe it!”  He started to tell me about the neighbors he was seeing along the way and all the food they were giving, though many were strained for food themselves.  My husband called again later to tell me about the local food bank drop-off and seeing the school football players there helping to unload their gathered donations.  Several of them knew my oldest son and were talking and laughing with him as they unloaded the van together. 

The food-gathering continued through the afternoon, through our cleaning time, through our scheduled family activity time.  I had to explain this to the kids when they got home.  “I’m really sorry, guys,” I said.  “We ran out of time to do our family activity this weekend.” 

“Mom, it’s okay,” said my daughter.  “It really needed to be done.” 

“Yeah, that wasn’t so bad,” said my son.  “Actually, it was kind of fun.”  The kids agreed. 

The next day, we sat down to do our family meeting.  It came time to tell a family achievement, something that we were proud about with our family.  The past few times, the two older boys had passed on speaking.  This time, they wanted to talk.  “I just want to say something,” said one of my older sons.  “I’m proud of us as a family that we pulled together to get the food and donate it to the other people.”

“And we didn’t argue,” said my other son. 

“Me, too,” said my daughter.  “I’m proud of us that we did it together.”

My husband and I looked at one another.  We didn’t know what to say.  Were they really saying this?  Did they actually enjoy themselves? 

“It was a great family activity,” said my son.  The others nodded in agreement. 

What?  Was he saying what I thought he was saying?  Or, as my own father would say, “Would wonders ever cease?”  I’m not quite sure what that means, but it seemed appropriate. 

“Well, we’re proud of you all, too,” said my husband.  I opened my mouth to add my own praise.

“Now, I want to be the timekeeper,” interrupted my daughter.

“No, I do!  You were the timekeeper last week!” said my youngest son.

“YOU have been the timekeeper for two times in a row!,” yelled my daughter. 

“I’m going to be the timekeeper!” yelled my second son. 

            My husband and I looked at one another and smiled before intervening in the argument.  Well, it was nice while it lasted…they came together to help out their brother, helped many others, had fun and enjoyed one another’s company…how did that happen?!