Ways a Blissful Family Life Depends on Living Organic

Last updated: 24/01/2017 18:09 by TraceyC to TraceyC's Blog
Filed under: MummyBloggers
No happiness in this world is great enough as having your family healthy, gathered and happy. Before any of you skeptics go into a rant that family is a side-line joy to all the business-oriented decisions we’re making daily, I have to stop you right there – no business ever has hugged me to sleep like my husband has, no contract signed has had me laugh to tears like my kids have and no bonus has ever comforted me during hard days as my brother has. Still, if you’d rather chose shopping and extravagant partner dinners over family dinner, go for it – we should all cherish our priorities.

A word

After I’ve achieved all I’ve ever pinned down on my vision board (and yes – I am one of those people who accomplished everything by working hard, staying committed and believing in the love of the Universe), I’ve realized – I have it all. A great home, a wonderful husband, phenomenal kids and so much happiness in my life that I sometimes have to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. When I look back, I love the fact both myself and my husband have managed to always put the kids first despite the loads of work we’re always overwhelmed with, and when I look at them – I see these exceptional human beings I am incredibly proud of. Naturally, we’ve had the help of both our mothers (even though they don’t tolerate one another that much, they’ve worked it out – for the kids’ benefit), because otherwise, we’d probably go insane. How do parents with no help do it? I cheer to them!

Organic choices

One of the parenting decisions I’m particularly happy about is that I’ve taught my kids the importance of sustainable and organic lifestyle and why it matters. Sure, they used to give us side eye whenever I’d cook broccoli and chicken instead of just ordering pizza, but in time – they got used to it and grew to love it. How? We would often talk about the importance of good food and healthy lifestyle during meals and, in time, they got to love it; it didn’t take long before they adapted to organic and sustainable as their lifestyle, really.
Healthy foodWe have a huge backyard and a veggie garden we love to eat products from; it’s more of an attempt to garden than anything else – but it’s the thought that counts! We first started growing it as a family project – this gave both John and I an opportunity to teach kids organic through play and organized family activity, and help them learn how wonderful it feels to enjoy the taste of your own product.
Naturally, we have to go shopping often, and when we do – we buy food at the local market at our organic grocers. Not only do we invest in small family businesses by doing so, but we invest in our family’s health and wellbeing.
Oh and, we always take the kids and discuss veggies and fruits at the market.

Sustainable clothing

When my two daughters came to me and asked “mommy, are we poor?” and why we’re using jeans for kids from thrift stores instead of buying in the mall “like other kids from the class do”, I told them we’re shopping sustainable; at the time, it meant nothing to them, so I had to find an easier approach. So, I explained (and I paraphrase) that “we are shopping for clothes that came out of recycling and natural fibers, and clothes that weren’t made by underpaid, poor ladies and children in India”. My youngest cried and said she can’t understand why would anyone “make a young boy or girl work all day for 10 dollars” and asked if she could send her savings (a total of 25 dollars) to these kids. It broke my heart.
We’ve taught the kids the importance of donating clothes they no longer wear. We send the clothes to the local shelter and the Red Cross.

Reuse and recycling

A way to give something back to nature, minimize pollution and avoid waste is through recycling and reusing of products. Most of our furniture in the house is made through recycling; we’ve picked a few recycled and cheap modern rugs for kids’ rooms and we try to repair furniture before disposing of it. Separating used milk cartons from glass bottles, disposing the electronics and dead vegetables and using a separate paper bin goes without saying. The kids do it, too. Just the other day my son told on John – “daddy threw a can in my paper bin”. Ha-ha! Too cute!
To keep your family happy and healthy, work on it. Have a united front with your spouse, talk to your kids and educate them – they’ll thank you one day!
Déanta in Éirinn - Sheology
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