CHANYA’S CORNER FOR MOM’S

My Crazy Life

Midwest farm life or beach life in Southern California? That’s easy, right? Then I remember that I have a 9, 10, and 15 year old to deal with and suddenly the appeal of acres and chores for attention-demanding kids changes my perspective. I have dreams of kids leaving in the morning (on foot) and not returning until late in the day, totally exhausted. Even better would be living as an Amish without a car to drive them around all the time. Boy oh boy, summer is hectic!

Just when I seemed to be getting a rhythm in my day-to-day schedule during the school year… I get slammed with the reality of summer!  As soon as school was out, suddenly my world got turned upside down.  Between swim lessons, Jr. Lifeguards and gymnastics, “Mom, I’m bored” (the 10 year old) and “Do you know how embarrassing it is that I have to do Jr. Lifeguards at the beach – everyone will see me” (the 15 year old) and “Can I have another play date” (the 9 year old),  I am stuck between telling them all ‘Too bad, you can find something to do’, and maybe it’s better to give them some structure to keep them out of trouble, out of the house, and out of my hair. ‘I should have known’ is what keeps going through my mind;  ‘Why didn’t I prepare a little better?’ , and ‘I really need to get this chaos under control’

And of course, the ever-present ‘Mom, I’m hungry’ (I’m thinking a decent famine would be good right about now).  Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic (me, dramatic?), but drama is my life.  With a teenager that of course knows everything, a ten year old that can’t sit still, and of course my nine year old sweet little daughter who has decided that she should fight back when her brothers pick on her well, you might as well call ours the “house of drama”.  I am sure many moms can relate.    

Being a Mom is full of questions and never really knowing the RIGHT ANSWER.  Sure, plenty of people can tell you what works for them but does it really and will it work for me?  I wish I had all the answers but then life would be so simple, but of course as humans, we would just be unhappy with that too. What’s a Mom to do?  Well as always, I revisit my anchor: my daily schedule.  Putting every little thing on a schedule can save the drama and even my life (believe it or not, I actually have an Excel spreadsheet breakdown for each day; if I could only remember to stick to it). My husband Dr. Paul, who thinks he’s the master of logic, organization and common sense (which drives me batty because he often is) tries to help but usually makes me feel worse because he can’t think like a caring Mom to save his life (more like a military commander or coach – not big on sympathy or empathy for the poor bored children; okay, maybe that’s my problem).

If only it were like days of old when the kids helped with the harvest, played by a pond, and ran through fields. I think it was Danny Thomas who said ‘If kids had to chop wood to keep the TV going, we’d have a lot less problems’.

Well, gotta go – for sure someone needs to be fed, driven, or yelled at.

‘Til next time, Chanya

THE THINGS PEOPLE THINK

By Chanya
 

Recently I was at my least favorite place to be – in the checkout line at Costco – when the cashier saw my T-shirt which read “Eat Raw Live Long” and she asked “Do you eat raw?”

One of the favorite things my husband and I like to do is to try out raw restaurants when we’re travelling.  I had purchased the t-shirt while visiting a well known raw restaurant in New York City called Pure Food and Wine, which by the way, was soooo good!  My husband and I are not what you would call “raw foodists” by any means (nor are we vegetarians, which raw foodists most definitely are), but we certainly enjoy all the fresh raw foods we can get.  What we’ve learned is that the more raw fresh food we can eat, the better our health will be.

What I found interesting as the cashier continued to talk was what she said people were  telling her about eating a raw food diet.  She mentioned that her friend had told her ‘Raw food diets are just a fad and you’ll get sick if you eat that way’.  I felt sad (and bothered) that people are so confused about food and health that they would think that eating a raw food diet would make you sick. I wanted to tell her this is how people had been eating since the beginning of time.  

Today, we are so far off the path of how God created us to eat that people like this cashier woman and her friend really don’t know what is healthy and what is not. Truthfully, not only does adding raw food to your diet give you more energy, help you lose weight, clear up your skin, but raw food also fights cancer and other diseases. The benefits of eating raw food go on and on. There is nothing to lose.

It’s always hard for me to try to explain to people that you can make good changes in your life without having to totally change everything. People want to think what they think. I know it’s hard to eat “perfectly” all the time and that our schedules and our kids simply don’t allow for it. I just wanted to say to this woman that there is so much to learn about how to be healthier through the way we eat.  What my husband and I do is make green smoothies almost every day, we eat a large vegetable salad with lunch and dinner, and then we add even more steamed vegetables at dinner in addition to our protein. We’ve even figured out how to sneak vegetables into our kids’ meals in an attempt to counter all the white flour and other junk they get outside our home.

So my suggestion is this – try adding just this one habit a day – add to at least one meal each day a large fresh vegetable salad, fruit, or even just cut up fresh raw veggies.  I know you’ll be amazed how after a few weeks your habit will become second nature.  Each month add more raw food to another meal, etc.  In just a year you could be consuming 70% of your meals raw. By the way, today there are many raw cookbooks filled with amazing recipes made with only raw food. The ones we use are:

The Raw Food Gourmet: Going Raw for Total Well-Being

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

Living in the Raw: Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle

Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow

‘Till next time, Chanya

THE PANTRY IN MY CAR

By Chanya

As a Mom with a 15, 10, and 9 year old, my life is a lot of driving. Yes,  that’s my life - driving kids around in my huge SUV. Oh, I forgot, and making food ALL THE TIME. Which brings me to this post. I know if you’re a Mom with school age kids this has probably happened to you.

One day I was driving my son Timmy and my daughter Hope to football and cheer practice when suddenly, with their eyes filled with tears, they broke out in their usual “I’m starving” chorus. The drama begins.  I said ‘You just had a snack’ (okay, maybe I snapped). Of course that last snack wasn’t enough, it’s never enough.

I have learned that to minimize the kids’ drama, and to keep me sane, I need to keep a pantry in my car.  As long as I have some healthy snacks in the car, the kids will be satisfied and I will survive another episode of “Mom, I’m hungry”.  I must tell you, having food in my car is a life saver and a peace keeper. Sometimes I just rush out of the house, forgetting to give them a snack, but I know my car has me covered, it’s my back up plan.

What I have also learned is these snacks don’t need to be the sugary or salty starches that kids are used to but that I can just make a bag of homemade trail mix with lots of their favorite raw nuts (no roasted, salted, oily kind) ,and some raisins or dried cherries for sweet and they will be happy and satisfied (at least for 15-20 minutes).  They can eat a few nuts and a tangerine and be fine (I’ve even resorted to keeping an entire case of “Cuties” on the floor of my car). As an added bonus, their coaches get children that actually stay focused on what they’re being told. 

But here’s the real secret: I need to keep mydrama to a minimum, so I always remember to have snacks for myself as well. I keep Lara Bars or some other healthy snack in the car just for me.  I’ve learned not to neglect myself.  I now know it’s nearly impossible for me to be a good, strong parent when I’m feeling fatigued from low blood sugar. As a Mom, it’s been a hard lesson – but the most important person is me! The only way I can care and think for the ones who need me is if I’m together. My husband and I always remind each other that in order for the kids to learn good habits, they learn by watching us.

‘Till next time, Chanya