Stress and Hormones

It's simple.  I'm overwhelmed.

I have a house to keep clean (and I'm not always successful in that endeavor), and a preschooler to keep up with.  As well as a baby to prepare for, and I'm always tired (mostly from not sleeping well at night).

One project only leads to another, and while we finally are getting the things we need for the baby, nothing is ready.  My husband keeps telling me we have two months, we have tons of time, and to relax.

But I can't relax.  I am so stressed because of this procrastination.  I feel like I'm dropping the ball because these things are not being taken care of. 

But I can't rearrange our bedroom to fit a pack n play.  I can't rearrange beds to put a crib up. And anyone who knows my mechanical skills.... I can't put crib together.  At least for the safety of the child, I shouldn't.

I also have severe apprehension about having our two children share a room.  It has nothing to do with one being a boy and the other a girl.  They're too young for that to make a difference.

My misgivings are because my daughter is overly helpful, and I'm afraid one night she's going to try to "help" and it's going to hurt the baby.  Either by what she tries to give him, or by trying to crawl into bed with him or get him out herself.

I keep trying not to worry, I know it's not healthy, but I'm finding myself consumed by it.  Everything that needs done that I'm not doing or can't do, all the things that can go wrong.  I don't want to start an argument with my husband, because he's all ready having to deal with my crazy hormones. Small things have gotten me snippy with him, and I have had to make a conscious effort to respond to things, not react. But all of these concerns  that keep running through my head, has me near panic and barely holding myself together to function from day to day.

I don't know how to control my stress right now, it feels more like it's controlling me.  I think I need to go soak in the tub, read, and try to decompress.

 

Caring for Our Planet

As I said I want to teach my daughter to value what the earth has to offer and to learn to take care of it.

I have been scourering pinterest and the general internet for ideas of activities to do with my daughter. 

It is important to know how to read, and write, and do math, and even to have an understanding of history and science, but Character can be taught as well and it is just as important as academics.

I want my daughter to know what it means to be compassionate.  I want her to know what it means to be gracious and to have a heart of servitude.

It is still so cold, and hike at the dam is not possible right now (not unless we gain about 20 to 30 degrees one of these day).  But we can do some things.

The "Mom on Time Out" webpage has some excellent ways to celebrate Earth day at their website.

 

 

Simple Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

 

 

Another good webpage for information on awesome Earth Day activities come from the Carrots are Orange webpage.

 

 

20 EarthDay Activities for Kids and Families

 



As Alayna and I tackle some of these suggestions I will post our progress, and if you try any with your family I would love to hear about it!

I Plan On Teaching My Children To Value The Earth They Live On

 

 

 

I have always loved Earth Day, because I have always loved to be outside.  Whether it be helping my grandparents in the garden when I was little, or riding my bike, or sitting my French Creek writing stories while listening to the running water, or walking along Woodcock dam listening to the water and the birds and watching the other animals that live along the nature path.

 

But we need to be honest, as stewards of this Earth, we suck as caretakers. Even with all the programs in place there are still 20,118 species (animals and plants) on the Endangered Species list. We are still depleting the natural resources our world provides. The Rainforest which once covered 14% of the Earth's surface now covers just 6% and we lose 1&1/2 acres of rainforest every second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis 2:15

 

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and take care of it"

 

A skit by comedian Brad Stine, takes a funny look at Adam (the first man as per the Bible) who was given the task of naming all the animals...

 

 

But their responsibilities went beyond that, they were expected to take care of what God had made. Though their disobedience caused all of mankind to fall into a sinful state and to be excluded from the Garden of Eden, it is still on us to care for the world God created.

As I teach my daughter (and children to come) to follow and obey God, i feel it is just as important to teach them to be kind to the Earth as it is to teach them to be kind to other people.

There are many ways to do this.  My personal favorites are through books and example (by how i live and treat the Earth).

Books are an amazing tool.  Two of my favorites (and my daughter's) are "The Lorax" and "The Great Kapok Tree".

The Lorax

In the Lorax, the Onceler is so consumed with greed that he doesn't realize that the trees he uses to make his money are disappearing at an alarming rate.  Despite the best efforts of the Lorax, a magical creature who "speaks for the trees", to make the Onceler change his ways, soon the trees are gone, the onceler is out of business, and the land is barren of trees and creatures, and full of pollution.

Then a young man comes to hear the story of the Lorax, and the onceler has an epiphany about the last thing the Lorax said to him.

 





 

 

 

The Great Kapok Tree

 

In the Great Kapok Tree a man goes into the rainforest to cut down an old Kapok Tree.  The heat of the jungle gets to him and he falls asleep in the shade of the tree.  While he is asleep the animals come and tell him why the tree is needed. What it has for them, and what it has for him and other humans.  In the end the man can not cut down the great tree. He leaves his ax behind and walks out of the rainforest.

 

Four tree porcupines wung down from branch to branch and whispered to the man: "Senhor, do you know what we animals and humans need in order to live? Oxygen. And,Senhor, do you know whatres produce? Oxygen! If you cut down the forests you will destroy that which gives us all life"

~The Great Kapok Tree~

But then how do I as a parent pull these essential truths out of the books and make it something that my children can live.

First of all, I can teach them about nature.  Teach them to work the soil to produce our own food.  Teach them to apprciate nature, through nature walks and trips to the zoo.

Second, Teach them the three R's of conservation; Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Teach them that the little things we can do is a start.  We can't save the world ourselves, but we can do our part to help out.

This month i'm going to be looking for activies to help teach my children about nature, and conservation.  I'm going to be looking for ways for our family to "go green" and use natural, non-nature harming chemicals to clean our home and other ways to reduce our families carbon footprint.

For some it seems extreme.  To others it seems pointless, but I feel it is important not just for my generation, or my children's generation, but for generations to come.