Beltway Bambinos

(re) discover Washington DC through the eyes of your children

Guest Post: Car Seat Safety Check Event + Stork Childbirth Education

This Guest Post is written by Flynn Millard O’Neill, founder of Stork Childbirth Education and a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner who has been practicing in the Washington D.C. area for nearly a decade. She is in private practice at Bloom OB/GYN seeing patients of all ages. Flynn’s goal in developing Stork Childbirth Education with her dear friend and partner, Lauren Gordon, was to provide accurate, high quality and collaborative prenatal education to all new parents. Stork Childbirth Education’s instructors and curriculum pull from our years of experience to ensure clients have access to the information prior to delivery and referrals for postpartum to ensure a comfortable recovery. Flynn is a provider for Maven Clinic, a telemedicine practice for women and participated in the Mary’s Center Perinatal Mental Health Champion grant, Train the Trainer, to increase the access to maternal mental health care providers in the D.C. metro area. In her spare time she teaches yoga and is a consultant for Glucose Mama, a gestational diabetes app currently in development. Flynn lives in Northwest D.C. with her son Charlie and husband Andrew.

What: Come join Stork Childbirth Education and Spring Valley Pediatrics this Spring to celebrate the third annual, Car Seat Safety Check. They have partnered with Safe Kids DC and Children’s National Medical Center for the past two years to have an amazing community event.

When: Sunday, April 15th, 2018 from 11:00am-2:00pm

Where: 4900 Massachussetts Ave NW (Upper parking lot off of 49th St NW)

Why: The goal is to have families join and get their car seats inspected. Whether you are expecting your first child (or have kids who are older), anyone can get a complimentary check from the knowledgeable staff.

Who: Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries. Sadly motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-19. Almost half of these deaths involved kids who were unrestrained in the car.  Thanks to Safe Kids Worldwide and improved car safety features, over 600,000 lives have been saved since 1960, when the first seat belts and airbags were developed. Back up cameras in your car can help reduce blind spots by 94%. Car seats when used properly and installed correctly reduce fatality by 71%.

Food trucks and local businesses will be present to entertain you. Arts and crafts by Little Graces Playgroup, Melissa Demple Photography, The Nanny Network and Hush Hush Little Baby are coming back again this year to join the fun.

To continue to keep your families safe, you should know Stork Childbirth Education, can do in home classes to fit your learning needs. Founded by Flynn O’Neill RN, NP and Lauren Gordon, WHNP, CNM, our mission is to educate local families and supply you with the knowledge to feel confident with your little ones.

Our class curriculum includes childbirth education, breastfeeding, baby care with CPR and American Heart Association Heartsaver or Basic Life Support Certifications (Spanish instruction is available). For your new nanny or au pair, or grandparents, who need a refresher, we can send our experienced staff of registered nurses or nurse practitioners to teach a small group in your home. We also have eight area offices we can teach your class at including Bloom OB/GYN, Shady Grove Fertility in DC, Arlington or Towson, Capital Women’s Care in Alexandria or Silver Spring.

We have been teaching since 2014 and wanted to deliver evidence based classes to our local parents. Our students feel more empowered and confident once having taken our classes. Find us on the  MINDBODY app to register for a class or at our website www.StorkChildbirthEd.com. We have proudly been featured in Washington Parent and Doximity. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Yelp.

Guest Post: Four Tips to Find the Right Au Pair for Your Family

Sarah Vogel is a Cultural Care local childcare consultant with Cultural Care Au Pair. In this role, she helps families decide if hosting an au pair the right childcare solution for them and provides year-round support to host families and au pairs in Bethesda and Chevy Chase. Sarah is also the co-founder of DC Baby, an organization that supports new and expecting parents through networking and educational programs. Her most challenging and rewarding role is being a mom of two little ones (ages 3.5 and 19 months).

“What should I do about childcare?”

It’s a question I’ve heard many times personally (as a mom of two) and professionally (as the co-founder of DC Baby). And it’s not always an easy one to answer. From scouring listservs for nanny recommendations to waiting for a coveted spot in a daycare center, finding the right childcare for your family is no simple task. Especially in the DC area, which boasts the highest childcare costs in the country. It’s enough to make even the calmest of parents lose their cool.

There’s one answer to this question that you may want to consider: host an au pair.

Au pairs are 18-26 year old young people from around the world who provide up to 45 hours a week of live-in childcare for American host families. This cultural exchange program is regulated by the U.S. State Department. All au pairs have childcare experience and undergo a multi-step screening and training process before joining their host families.

Hosting an au pair may be right for you if:

  • You need childcare with flexible hours and schedules (au pairs can work evenings, weekends, and days. Plus, their schedules can shift from week to week).
  • You’re looking for more affordable childcare options. Au pairs can work up to 45 hours a week for approximately $1,587 a month.
  • You want to expose your baby to a new language or help your older child become fluent in one that they are learning at school.
  • You have older kids and need help before and after school.
  • You’re open to hosting a young person in your home and learning about his or her country and culture.

Are you intrigued? You aren’t alone. Thousands of families decide to welcome an au pair each year. But how do they find the right person? Here are four tips that can help you through this process:

  • Start early. When people ask me how long it takes to match with an au pair, I tell them: “The more time you have, the better.” Why? Because finding the right au pair to join your family takes time. It’s not a decision you want to make with a looming deadline.Try to give yourself 8-12 weeks to fill out your host family application thoroughly, review different au pair applications, figure out what you do and don’t like, and have interviews with your top candidates.

If you would like an au pair from a particular country (France, for example), make sure you apply at a time when the most candidates from that country are available. In the case of France, many au pairs want to arrive in summer as their academic year ends in June.

  • Figure out your “must haves” and “dealbreakers.” As you can imagine, finding the right au pair can feel a lot like dating. That’s why I tell potential host families to think about their “must haves” and “dealbreakers” when considering potential au pairs.

Do you need someone who can drive? Or an au pair with experience caring for an infant? Is it ok if your au pair wants to spend lots of time with your family when she’s not working, or do you want someone more independent? Answering these questions before you start the matching process can save you time and avoid selecting an au pair who isn’t the right fit.

Also, think of the values you consider most important in both a childcare provider and a housemate, because your au pair will have both roles. Consider topics like cleanliness, sleep patterns, and diet. They will have an impact and it’s important to address that in advance.

  • Go with your gut. While au pair applications are thorough, your gut can be your best guide in the matching process.Does an au pair sound good on paper, but was aloof during your interview? Move on.Did you think you wanted an au pair from Germany, but find a candidate from Argentina more attractive? Reach out to her. Because you’ll be living with an au pair, it’s more important to consider how that person makes you feel and not just his or her qualifications or availability.

 

  • Ask the right questions. It’s important to interview a potential au pair a few times before finalizing a match not only to learn about their experience, but also to figure out if this is the right person to join your family. I recommend having the first interview be a “getting to know you” conversation to see if it’s a good personality fit. The second interview should focus on his or her childcare experience and related skills and interests. Last, but certainly not least, focus your last conversation on life with your family and how you will take on challenges that you may face living together.

Some questions you may want to ask include:

    • What do you like most about working with children? What do you like least?
    • What do you love most about children that are (insert your child’s age or children’s ages)?
    • Tell me about a time when… Here, you can ask about a challenge your au pair may face with your children (e.g. a baby won’t stop crying or a toddler has a meltdown).
    • What is the most important thing I should know about you as a person?

Finding the right childcare is such an important decision, and I’m here to help! Please contact me to discuss if hosting an au pair is the right fit for your family.

Guest Post: The Rad Mom Coaching Group

This Guest Post is written by Kacey Kaufman, a professional life coach, supporting women. Read more on how you can get involved with Kaufman.

Hello there, Rad Moms!  I am Kacey Kaufman, CPC, LCSW, ELI-MP, also known as, the Rad Mom Coach!  I am a certified life coach and a licensed clinical social worker who partners with women to reclaim joy in their lives and to find a peaceful and fulfilling life-balance in the role of mother.  My coaching style is much like my personality- uniquely empathic, high-energy and fun-loving with plenty of humor, a splash of edginess and a whole lotta heart.

I am here to share with you an opportunity to join a group of women just like yourself to get unstuck and begin to thrive again.

  • Does your life feel completely out of balance?
  • Have you lost touch with whom you are as an individual?
  • Do you feel stuck or unsatisfied with the way things have been going?
  • Having trouble with planning and staying organized?
  • Ready to take back control of your life and become more fulfilled?
  • Do you want to build relationships with other women who know exactly how you feel?

Answer yes to any of these questions? If so, then it’s time to take positive action to living a more fulfilled and joyful life, ladies.  Let’s do this.

The Rad Mom Coaching Group is a 6-week program for moms who answered yes to any of the questions above and who are READY to make a change.  And it’s all done from the privacy of your home.  You don’t even have to wear pants!

Regularly priced at $450, 6-8 of you will join the program for only $249.  That’s less than $42 per session.  Crazy cheap.

The program includes:

  • Six supportive, 1-hour phone group sessions with 6-8 other mothers who know exactly how you are feeling.
  • One, 30-min INDIVIDUAL coaching session to help you clarify how you want to live and what exactly you can do about it.
  • Weekly workbooks to help you dig into what makes you joyful and to help you set goals towards living a more fulfilled life.
  • A private Facebook group designed for mommas to support and interact with one another between and after sessions. This group will remain in place so that mommas can plan to stay in touch and continue your relationships after we finish up.
  • Accountability to help you actually follow through with the actions you want to take in your life.

Each session will have a general topic and the freedom to talk about anything on our mom’s minds.  Topics covered include:

  • How to reconnect with yourself and become clear on your vision for your life.
  • How to take charge and become the driver of your life instead of the passenger.
  • How to find a healthy balance and practice self-care (say what?!).
  • How to make your schedule work for you.
  • How to eliminate barriers that have been getting in your way.
  • And one session where the group decides what to work on!

If you are interested in joining the group, contact the Rad Mom Coach. Don’t let yourself slip to the bottom of the priority list again.  It’s time for some self-love, mamas so don’t procrastinate because the group should fill up quickly.

To learn more visit the Rad Mom Coach!

q+a with the founders of Baby Ventures and creators of the ABC’s of Washington, DC


There’s something magical and calming about spending time in a library or bookstore. We are fortunate enough to have some great bookstores in our area; Politics & Prose, Walls of Books, Upshur Street Books, Kramerbooks and East City Bookshop to name a few =)  I have a background in literacy and am always buying and checking out new books for my kids, encouraging them to read and have a love of reading. Same goes for seeking out new authors to become familiar with and follow. Books are my go-to gift idea for holidays and birthdays for little ones. Enter The ABC’s of Washington, DC. A great board book for little ones, newbies to DC, friends who may move away from DC or just to provide a picture walk through DC. The book provides a sightseeing tour of the nation’s capital letter by letter. I have gotten the chance to learn about Baby Ventures, a local duo (Lisa Hall and Golzar Kheiltash) who create diversity and adventure-inspired books and art based on their own real-life adventures in diverse locales across six continents. Their inaugural title, the ABCs of Washington, DC, has become a best seller at a number of indie bookstores and specialty shops in DC. They also strongly focus on early literacy, small business/shop local initiatives, and charitable giving. I am excited to share a q+a I conducted with Hall and Kheiltash and introduce you to their newest book. 

Q+A with Golzar Kheiltash + Lisa Hall of Baby Ventures

BB: Please introduce yourselves to Beltway Bambinos readers.

Lisa and I met in Washington, DC in 2005, and we’ve been friends and collaborators ever since. We’ve long been avid travelers, with a deep reverence for the diversity of people, cultures, and places that make up our global village. After a decade of friendship, adventure, and ultimately, motherhood, Lisa and I co-founded Baby Ventures in 2016.

Upon returning home from each of her trips abroad, Lisa – a lifelong artist – would paint the rich diversity of people and places she’d witnessed. Our real-life travels across six continents, combined with Lisa’s detailed imagery and bold use of color, forms the creative bedrock of Baby Ventures books.

Shortly after becoming a new mom, I started looking into board books for my daughter. I soon realized that many “baby books” still featured oversimplified topics and graphics. My husband and I didn’t want to wait until our daughter was old enough to read to expand her worldview – we wanted to show her our diverse and wonder-filled world from day one. I was lamenting to Lisa about this one night over cheese pizza, and it just hit us: to combine our respective skill sets and create our own series of children’s board books. Three years and much hard work later, Baby Ventures was founded in 2016. Our mission is simple: to create books that combine themes of diversity and adventure for little ones, brought to life with Lisa’s vibrant artwork.

BB: Are you DC natives?

I am originally from California, and Lisa is from Nebraska. We met each other in 2005 as colleagues at an advocacy nonprofit located in Eastern Market, in Southeast DC. Our initial professional ties soon turned into a lasting personal friendship, sparking many adventures together around Washington, DC and beyond.

When we launched Baby Ventures in 2016, we already had the ABCs of Washington, DC vividly in mind as our inaugural title. DC is where our own story started, and we wanted to honor that with our first book. Many of the book’s twenty six pages – including “E” for Eastern Market – are an ode to the adventures we’ve had in our nation’s capital.

BB: What is your favorite children’s classic book that you think each child should have in their collection?

That’s a tough question – there’s too many to choose from! As an avid reading family, some of our favorite titles would be Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak), You are My I Love You (Maryann Cusimano Love, Satomi Ichikawa), The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein), and the adorably educational Yes Yes No No (Leslie Patricelli).

BB: Do you recall having a favorite book as a child?

Yes – The Little Prince (though I didn’t appreciate its poignant ending until I reread it as an adult).

BB: What is your writing or illustrating Kryptonite?

Golzar: A cozy café, a big latte, a fresh notepad, and a great ink pen. And enough time between toddler activities to enjoy the vibe and let the creative juices flow!

Lisa: Meeting Golzar at the cozy café for creative brainstorming! We have a fantastic collaborative work process where we build on each other’s ideas and enthusiasm.

BB: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Lisa and I both come from advocacy and marketing backgrounds, so diligent and accurate research is a must for us. Having first-hand knowledge of our subject matter and subjecting our work to peer review are integral steps in our research process. Some may say children’s board books shouldn’t require much research, but we feel it’s quite the opposite: we’re trying to expand tots’ growing minds with our books and artwork, which means what we depict – whether it be a culture or a locale – has to be accurate, inclusive, and inspiring.

BB: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Glad you asked…we do! We’re big fans of portraying a local, genuine take on the subject matter or locale we’re depicting. So if you’re a native of DC, for example, you’ll find familiar details that other readers may miss. We also have our Adventure Girls who pop up somewhere in each book!

 BB: Your inaugural title is the ABCs of Washington, DC. Can we find earlier work by either of you?

Writing children’s board books is definitely all new for me! Lisa, on the other hand, is a life-long artist with a knack for children’s art, inspired by her many travels around the world. She served in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, worked in Australia, backpacked across Latin America, and volunteered at orphanages in India and Bolivia. She has been retailing her children’s artwork for the past decade and is now drawing from her experiences to create the Baby Ventures book series.

 BB: Where can readers find ABC’s of Washington, DC?

First made available in June 2016, the ABCs of Washington, DC is now available at a number of DC’s independent bookshops and specialty stores, including Politics & Prose, Busboys and Poets, East City Bookshop, and Walls of Books. Lisa and I pride ourselves on being local authors working directly with one of a kind independent stores across DC communities. As part of our community outreach, we love to host interactive story times with our ABCs of Washington, DC at some of our wonderful retailers. A few upcoming events are:  Storybook Magic, Children’s National Hospital – Tuesday, April 24 at 11:00am, First Sunday Arts Festival – Sunday, May 6 (Annapolis) and Story time at Busboys and Poets, Takoma Park – Tuesday, May 15 at 9:30am. For those who are not local and wish to purchase our book, the ABCs of Washington, DC is also available on our Baby Ventures website, in local book stores, and can be found on Amazon.

BB: What’s up next?

We have big plans across the US and abroad for 2018! ABCs of Annapolis, Maryland’s Capital City, was released in February and is now available! Little ones will love practicing their ABCs while learning about Maryland’s charming capital city by the Chesapeake Bay. This 26-page board book provides a distinctly native take on Annapolis life and locales. From the annual Tug of War to Main Street and more, Annapolis is brought to life from the distinct perspective of a long-time resident and local enthusiast, Baby Ventures co-founder Lisa Hall. Our next two upcoming titles will explore global locales and languages and will be available next in Spring 2019. We also look forward to forging closer ties to our growing DC community, and of course, our littlest bookworms!

Comment and tag your favorite local bookstore for a chance to win a signed ABC’s of Washington, DC book or a Baby Ventures onesie!

Guest Post: Amazement at Artechouse

Elizabeth Reid is our Guest Post contributor who lives in Georgetown with her husband and three young girls. She was a customer of Beautycounter and loved the safe products so much she became a consultant. Elizabeth recently visited Artechouse for the first time with her family of 5. 

Artechouse has produced another great interactive art exhibit with the Kingdom of Colors installation. Kingdom of Colors is explained on the website as, “Immerse yourself into the world of dreamlike colorful liquids in motion showcased via our state-of-the-art 270 degree wall projections. Watch how this unique and innovative visual installation pushes the limits of engineering and creativity using the new possibilities afforded by advances in filmmaking and camera technology.” It is a great way to expose your Bambinos to abstract and modern art without forcing it at a museum where they need to stay silent and still at.

The website says recommended ages 6+, but that is not the case at all!  We took our daughters ages 6, 5 and 2 1/2 and we equally had a wonderful time. I think my youngest had the most fun! Just keep in mind it is not a ‘please touch’ museum. We spent about 45 minutes to an hour in the exhibit which included exploring four rooms. One large room with fun bean bag chairs to watch the colorful liquids in motion while the other three rooms are more interactive. My oldest enjoyed the music experience that accompanied part of the installation and my youngest enjoyed the smaller rooms where she could be more interactive; moving around and watching the images change with her movement. There are plenty of millennials taking selfies but there is plenty of space that the kids are not in their way. It’s conveniently located blocks from the Mall so you can coordinate another museum trip before or after visiting Artechouse. Artechouse is a wonderful place to start your holiday adventures in DC.

  • The Imaginary World of the Nutcracker is the upcoming installation at Artechouse, running from December 7, 2017 – January 7, 2018. Inspired by the original story and powered by the latest projection technology, “Imaginary World of The Nutcracker” will whisk you away to a magical kingdom where the Nutcracker and other characters come to life via projections and the Artechouse Augmented Reality app.
  • Tickets sell out QUICKLY so be sure and get them soon.  They even have 21+ evening tickets if you want to check out the exhibit or space first without Bambinos. Tickets are required for all attending, except are babies in body carriers.
  • Location: Artechouse is located at The Portals between Smithsonian and L’Enfant Plaza metro stations in Southwest, DC, at 1238 Maryland Ave. SW, just down the street from the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

Kid-friendly programs at National Museum of American History

Ariel Gory is the Education Specialist at the National Museum of American History and she has lots of exciting family programs for you to check out, in between visiting exhibits with your Bambinos. The museum also has two interactive learning spaces to visit; Wegmans Wonderplace and Spark!Lab.

At the National Museum of American History, we believe the museum is for people of all ages! With early learners we know it takes a special approach to education to ensure that they have meaningful, memorable experiences within our spaces. That’s where 2 ongoing events; Museum ABC’s and History Time come in.

Museum ABC’s and History Time are designed to introduce our youngest visitors (ages 0 to 6) to our museum collections in developmentally appropriate ways. Through stimulating close-looking techniques, engaging story times and hands-on opportunities for play and creation, we hope to facilitate learning moments for little ones. Both programs also aim to support early literacy learning through letter-learning and interactive reading. Our goal for our early learning programming is to spark a lifelong love for learning and museums within the hearts of young children and to inspire the adults in their lives to use our collection as a resource to support their child’s learning journey.

On the first and third Saturday of every month, from 11:00 am–12:00 pm (story will be read at 11:00am and 11:30am) little ones can learn about a new topic (like colors, transportation, music or numbers) through an interactive story time, arts and crafts, play, and hands-on exploration of real museum artifacts at History Time. Below, you will find the description of the History Time programs, from November through March for your reference. Meet on the First Floor, West Wing, Coulter Performance Plaza for this free program. 

November – Food

1st and 3rd Saturdays in November are all about food. Come enjoy delicious stories, participate in food games and crafts, and explore cookware from our collection!

December – Toys and Puppets

1st and 3rd Saturdays in December are all about toys and puppets. Come hear a playful story, create your own puppet and learn about toys in our collection.

January – Alphabet

1st and 3rd Saturdays in January are all about the alphabet. Come hear a letter filled story and engage in an alphabet craft and fun activities that encourage early alphabet learning.

February – Numbers

1st and 3rd Saturdays in February are all about numbers. Come hear counting stories, learn about numbers, colors, and shapes with toy clocks and create art with numbers!

March – Color

1st and 3rd Saturdays in March are all about color. Come hear a colorful story, make art and practice color identification through fun games and activities.

 

Wegmans Wonderplace is a learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians. Bambinos are welcome to exercise their imaginations, wiggle their bodies, and explore with their hands. Wonderplace is built around the enduring wonders of childhood, the things kids are naturally curious about—blocks, animals, sounds–and branches out to make connections to the museum’s diverse collections and exhibitions. Our youngest visitors will cook their way through a kid-sized Julia Child’s kitchen, find the owls hiding in the Smithsonian Castle, and captain a tugboat based on a model from our collections. Through playful activities and creative displays of treasured artifacts, young children will get to know the faces, places, and stories of our country in engaging and age-appropriate ways.

On weekdays, admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. There may be a brief wait to enter during busy times. On weekends and federal holidays, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00am- 10:30 am. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry is at 3:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays, open 10am-4pm other days.

While at the museum be sure and stop in to Spark!Lab,  where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment, and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with art, museum, and creativity.

Spark!Lab activities are designed around common themes that connect to Museum collections and exhibitions. These themes will change on a regular basis, ensuring that regular visitors have something new to explore.

Spark!Lab is open 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and is closed only on Tuesdays.

 

******Special Event******

On November 30th,2017 little ones are invited to join us at the museum for a special Sesame Street Celebration! We will be celebrating with a “Create Your Own Character” craft, a music making station, Sesame Street story times and a rare opportunity to see Sesame Street characters out of the Museum’s storage. Plus, families will be able to meet Julia, one of Sesame Street’s newest residents who lives with autism, during meet and greet sessions throughout the day. This event is free and open to everyone!

National Museum of American History
1st Floor, West Wing
Coulter Performance Plaza
12th St. and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001

New Mom? We’ve got a support group for you!

                                                                                                                                                           (Photo: Low Tox Life)

Greetings to all fellow new moms!

My name is Dr. Ellyn Turer. I am a licensed clinical psychologist who is starting a new mom support group in Dupont Circle on Wednesday’s at 12:30pm beginning in November. I’m excited to provide a fun, non-judgmental, mutually supportive group of women all rooting for each other!

Some topics we will cover include (but are not limited to):

  • Mindfulness/Meditation
  • Learning how to effectively communicate w/ your spouse
  • Sleep Hygiene
  • Anxiety/Depression
  • The baby blues
  • Breastfeeding
  • Stress management
  • How food affects your mood
  • Exercise after having a baby
  • How to cope with going back to work
  • Baby product essentials

Please feel free to email me  with any questions as well as to register. Space is filling up quick, so definitely reserve your spot today! I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Cost: $65.00 per session*

*Unfortunately, I do not accept any insurance. However, most of my patients get back b/w 50-80% of what they pay per session after they submit a claim to their insurance company. I would call your insurance company & ask if you have out-of-network benefits. If you do, I would ask approximately how much money you could anticipate getting back? I would also ask if you have a deductible that you would need to meet before you got money back?

                                                                                                                                                   (Photo: 30 Second Mom)

The Mind Body Minute with Dr. Ellyn L. Turer:   A Three-Year-Old’s Wisdom

Several years ago, I gave a talk to parents of obese children on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Approximately 25 minutes into the talk a sweet 3-year-old girl with medium-brown hair in pigtails quietly walked into the room and took a seat next to her mother. Moments prior to her entrance, I had presented the following question to the parents: “What kinds of things do you do to relax when you feel stressed?” The audience avoided eye contact with me, looked around the room and pretended that they needed to check their iPhones at that exact moment all in effort to avoid answering my question.

I decided to ask the question again…silence.

As I continued to survey the room, my eyes slowly met with those of the 3-year-old girl. I looked at this little girl in pigtails and asked for her name…“Lyla,” she answered shyly. I proceeded to ask Lyla if she ever feels stressed? She looked directly at me with bright brown eyes and answered my question with ease… “Definitely!” she proclaimed. It took me a moment to grasp my head around the fact that someone so young could even begin to understand what it meant to feel stressed.

I then asked Lyla the same question that I asked the parent’s moments prior to Lyla’s seemingly inconspicuous entrance…“What kind of things do you like to do when you feel stressed?” I asked. Without hesitation, Lyla quickly, with a matter-of-fact tone answered, “I just put on my pink dress.” So simple. Just to clarify, I asked, “So all you need to do when you feel stress is put on your pink dress and all of your stress melts away?” She answered softly, yet with genuine confidence, “Yeah, I just put on my pink dress.”

This innocent exchange got me thinking…where is my pink dress? Perhaps, finding a reliable way to relax is easier than we think. Maybe we are trying too hard to relax. When Lyla talked about her pink dress, she breathed diaphragmatically without intention. It appeared that even thinking about this dress served to naturally induce a relaxation response for this little girl.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that you (regardless of gender) go out and buy a pink dress. What I do suggest is to take about 10 minutes to sit down and think about an item or activity that you find relaxing. Think about your senses: whether it’s wrapping yourself up in a warm fuzzy blanket, spritzing on your favorite perfume or cologne so you can smell it throughout the day, listening to a song that you find soothing, slowly sipping hot or iced tea, petting your dog or cat, holding a memento (i.e., a favorite photo, a sentimental object), notice how both your mind and body feel as you engage in any of the above-noted activities.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, the more our society increases it’s desired, unrealistically fast pace, the more important it becomes for you to take a moment and breathe. The items and activities mentioned above oftentimes serve as “triggers.” Implementing a simple, yet meaningful object or activity into your daily routine may serve to naturally induce a relaxation response with little to no effort.

As always don’t forget to breathe!

Dr. Ellyn L. Turer is a licensed psychologist in the District of Columbia. Her areas of interest include Stress Management, Mind/Body Wellness, Sleep Hygiene, Mourning & Loss, and Mindfulness/Meditation. Dr. Turer also specializes in adjustment to physical illness, injury and disability, and she has a particular interest in working with individuals and their loved ones coping with the emotional and mental ramifications of physical illness and injury.

Guest Post: Red Yarn at Wolf Trap + CD Giveaway!

Written by children’s music blogger Carolyn Ross. View her monthly live music and arts calendar for families across the Washington, D.C. metro area at Family Music n’ Arts.

Portland’s acclaimed family folksinger and puppeteer, Red Yarn, celebrates the release of the Parent’s Choice Award-winning album Born in the Deep Woods with a tour of the east coast, with a stop at Wolf Trap!

Coming to Wolf Trap’s Children’s Theatre-in-The-Woods, Tuesday, June 27, Andy Furgeson performs as Red Yarn, spinning tales and turning traditional rhythms into a more sophisticated, banjo-strumming, harmonica-hopping, contemporary nostalgia. Kids and families will enjoy the front-porch-swinging bluegrass and folk-rock rhythms, as they unwind for a while with Red Yarn, and meet his puppet family of “critters,” hailing from what he calls the Deep Woods.

Recently, Red Yarn answered a few questions from Family Music n’ Arts about the origins of his music, and why he finds it important to share with families.

What led you to The Deep Woods project, an almost anthropologic study of folk music about animals?

About eight years ago I decided to build on my interest in folk or revival music, collecting old records and teaching myself folksongs from old songbooks. I was particularly fascinated by the animal songs. They were ostensibly children’s songs, but were also dark and a little weird. I was just getting into puppetry and performing for children, so I started building puppets of the songs’ animal characters. Soon, the Deep Woods and my Red Yarn persona were born.

How have the places you have lived influence your music?

Growing up in Austin, Texas, I was exposed to a lot of old country, blues, and bluegrass music, as well as great rock’n’roll and a vibrant live music scene. I played in a punk band all through high school, so got used to high-energy performance at a young age. In College in California I played in a rowdy bluegrass band, the moved to Portland. I was drawn here because of the music – artists like Elliott Smith and the Decemberists and a thriving indie circuit. Plus, the natural world here has been a huge influence on the woodland critter world I’ve created.

You have two children.  Tell me about them and the influence they have on your music.  What have you found is an important message to share with your kids and other families?

I started performing for kids well before I had kids, but now that I have two of my own, I feel like I’m much better at making music that parents and kids can enjoy together. Lots of my songs start “in the nursery,” singing old folk tunes or original rhymes for my little ones. My newest album, Born in the Deep Woods, is all about birth and rebirth, full of stories and feelings from my own experience as a parent. I hope I give my kids, and all the kids who hear my music, a deeper sense of American music history and what it can tell us about American history. I also hope to inspire in them a freedom to explore, create, and express themselves.

Is puppetry still a big part of your shows?  Do you make the puppets? 

Yes! Puppetry is and will likely always be an important part of my show. I always travel with a suitcase full of “Critters” who do little routines in between songs. I’ve about half of my repertory cast of 20 critters, and commissioned talented friends to help with the other half.

What is a typical Saturday morning for your family?

Well, Saturdays are often a full workday for me, with two or three shows around town. But I always take at least one weekend day off to be with the family, so on that day we’re up early with the kids and out on a morning adventure. Lots of walks, exploring Portland’s awesome parks, neighborhoods, and woods. If we’re stuck inside, we’re often listening to records, singing songs, or building imaginary worlds with our kiddos.

Enter to win Red Yarn’s newest CD, Born in the Deep Woods by commenting on our Facebook page. Winner will be announced June 19!

See full summer schedule at Wolf Trap Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods.
After every show – free games and activities! Check out select shows for even more opportunities to learn and explore:
Ranger BadgeJunior Ranger Days: Enjoy outdoor activities with a National Park Ranger and earn your Junior Ranger Badge!
Workshop StarWorkshops: Register for a free, exclusive post-performance experience with the artist.

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