Category: Primary

My Medical Journey · Primary

Visiting the Dietitian: A Guide

Little Journeys Everywhere4 Comments

If you are like me, and by me of course I mean someone with the dubious pleasure of a body on the fritz, you may get to the point where you need to see a Dietitian. Now contrary to popular belief, a Dietitian and a Nutritionist are not the same thing. They are very similar but the former has far more regulation and protection under law. 

Well, that’s nice and all, but what is a Dietitian? 

They are a sort of doctor for your food habits. Especially when it comes to diet as it relates to disease and keeping you healthy during the course of that disease. A Dietitian is someone who meets with a person to help lay out a plan and give advice on how you can get the nutrition that you need to meet your specific needs. For example, I met with my Dietitian for the first time when I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, or partial stomach paralysis. She gave me advice on how I could get the nutrients and hydration that I needed at the time even though my body couldn’t tolerate solid food very well. 

Sounds pretty good, right? 

A Dietitian can be extremely beneficial for people with a whole host of medical conditions and needs. If you feel like one could benefit you, then here are the first two steps to getting on the books with one of your very own!

First step: Meet with your Primary Care Doctor, Gastroenterologist, or Allergist (did I miss any?) to determine whether a meeting with a Dietitian could be a good addition to your treatment plan. If so, then they will give you a referral.

Second step: Once you have a referral, talk to the Dietitian’s office/hospital/etc and make sure that they accept your insurance. Trust me. I’ve had this be an issue with other doctors before so it’s always better to be sure before your appointment than to get all the way there and end up having to pay out of pocket without notice. 

Once your referral is sent through, the Dietitian’s office should call to set up your appointment! So you’re on their books! Now what?

What do you need to do or have to prepare for your appointment?

Okay! This is, again, something I can speak on from experience and wax poetic about the time-saving efficiency and helpfulness of. The most helpful resource you can have to take to your appointment is a medical portfolio. This is something that I am planning on doing a post on very soon but, in the meantime, one of my all-time favorite Youtubers, the late Jaquie Beckwith at her channel ChronicallyJaquie, did a video on how to get answers when chronically ill. In her video, she highlights how to put together your own medical portfolio as well as some other really wonderful advice! Her video can be found here! 

Having my medical portfolio on hand during doctors visits, especially new doctors, has saved valuable time over and over again. Even when it comes to being able to have a list of my medications on hand or the contact information for other specialists. It is worth its weight in Starbucks gift cards when it comes to those who may be looking at filing for disability or applying for a mobility aid, etc. 

As well as your medical records that would be in your portfolio, take a list of current medications and the obligatory insurance card/photo ID combo that any typical trip to a new doctor requires. 

The next thing to keep in mind for your appointment is something that we all struggle with. It’s one of the difficult parts of being a chronic illness warrior.

Be open and be honest. In fact, be frank. I think we tend to try our best not to be an inconvenience or to seem like we’re inflating our conditions when, in truth, the smallest thing could be the piece of information that they need to help you to the fullest! Don’t assume that anything is irrelevant. 

The last thing you are going to need for your upcoming appointment is going to be a pen and paper! That’s right, my dears, you’re going to need to take notes like you’re back in high school Trig, okay? It will help you! There’s so much swirling around your brain all at once during appointments like those and being able to write down advice or directions you’re told and even questions you want to ask ahead of time can be so incredibly helpful. 

With that note, I’m going to leave you here with a final piece of advice: If you feel like your well-being is doing poorer because of how your medical conditions affect your ability to get the nutrition or hydration that you need, make that appointment! It could make a world of difference in your quality and quantity of life. 

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Library Books From Home: Overdrive and Why It’s So Nifty!
Adventures In Unschooling · Bliggety Blogs · Primary

Library Books From Home: Overdrive and Why It’s So Nifty!

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Have you ever wanted to check out a book from the library or a movie to get your offspring distracted so you can finally finish those three day old dishes? Is it that time of year when it’s colder than a mother-in-law’s disappointed stare? Or hotter outside than Jason Mamoa? Or is it just one of those days when you don’t want to get out of your PJs but have to know what happens with that serial killer in the next book in the series? 

Well wait no more! 

Your local libraries have all paired with two apps called Overdrive and Libby. Today, we’re going to focus on Overdrive and then on the Libby app in the next seemed. 

So, first of all, what is Overdrive? It sounds like some sort of Cloud or word processor, huh? Better! It is an online compilation of all of the digital library books available from participating libraries and so far I’ve yet to find a library not taking part. It boasts not just books either but videos, magazines, shows, audiobooks, and even read-along books for young kids just making the foray into becoming new readers! These are especially cool because many of them highlight each word as it is read so the kids learn to associate the word on paper (or screen) with the word they hear! 

You can connect more than one library to your Overdrive app as well so you can check out books from all of them right from the same place! Book checkouts are immediate and are downloaded to your Bookshelf so you can even read or listen offline, with the exception of read-aloud books that are typically played in browser. And when your book is due, there’s no worry about overdue fees because your books are automatically returned for you. No muss no fuss! 

I seriously cannot recommend Overdrive enough. We use it everyday at our home and have for quite some time now. I love using it for our homeschool! Each week, I can look up the books on our reading list or even different ones more geared for Little Maxwell’s young age without even having to leave my couch. A single day doesn’t go by that I’m not binging through audiobooks like ‘Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?‘ by Caitlin Doughty (see my book review for it!) or ‘The Dutch Way of Parenting’ by Jessica Joelle Alexander while I do dishes, laundry, or play a video game. Both books I highly recommend, by the way.

But how do you get Overdrive?

Well, my curious reader, it is available wherever apps are, of course! Your Google Play, Apple store and Amazon, of course but also on Android OS 4.0 and the Chrome webstore. It is also available for download on your Mac device, Windows 8 and 10 (by the way what happened to the 9, huh?), and for Windows desktop!  That is a lot of options! That’s one of the things I love about it the most, in fact. I have Overdrive now on multiple devices and cannot overstate its general nifty-ness. 

Let us know in the comments if you have Overdrive, your thoughts, or if you’re planning on giving it a try!

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Bliggety Blogs · Eco-Loving Living! · Primary

Look What I Found!! :D

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Yes! That’s right! Vegan chocolate chips!

I didn’t think I’d be able to find any! I’ve been jonesing for some good, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies.

I ran into these today completely by surprise at Kroger of all places. They are from the brand Simple Truth and are not only ‘Allergy Friendly’ but preservative and gluten free! Also not GMO. How could it get better?

I would be very interested to know if there was a vanilla option. I’m all about some white chocolate.

What vegan goodies are your favorites? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to give Little Journeys Everywhere a follow so you can be notified of new posts!

Nature Schooling/Homeschooling on a Dime!
Adventures In Unschooling · Primary

Nature Schooling/Homeschooling on a Dime!

Little Journeys Everywhere1 Comment
We found a Male Box Turtle!

‘Wait what?!’ You might be thinking to yourself, ‘Surely this must be alliteration or some sort of scam, right? This broad is totally trying to sell me something.’

Wrong! 

That’s crazy, right? With the mainstreaming of homeschooling and even forest or nature schools (see my two part post on Nature school!), resources abound out there like they never have before. Organizations like the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, or HSLDA, stands between families who home educate and those who would try shady, underhanded, and even illegal tactics to block access. Basically, it has never been easier, better, or cheaper to home educate your family!

Yes, I said family. After all, they don’t call us lifelong learners for nothing! 

This post is going to focus mostly on cost-efficiency. As those of you who read my Nature Schooling posts may remember, we use the Exploring Nature With Children year-long curriculum from raisinglittleshoots.com and let me tell you, I cannot sing its praises more. It covers reading, poetry, science, classic art/classical music, nature studies (obviously), arts and crafts, gardening, writing, you name it. The only thing I would say it generally lacks is math skills but that’s easy to supplement with real world application. Real world application meaning not keeping your child in a “kid bubble”. 

What’s a “kid bubble”? It’s something we all do, honestly. Even me! It is when we tell our kids that they’re too little to do something, too young to help, that they can do it when they’re older. And I’ll admit it. Sometimes, it’s just less frustrating and more expedient to just do it yourself, but that isn’t a them problem, that’s a you problem. A me problem, as well, if I’m telling the truth. I’m not always as patient as I could be but it’s so important to nurture that desire in them to meaningfully contribute as early as possible because otherwise? You’re going to have a hell of a time getting them to want to if you wait until they’re tempestuous teens.

Your four year old son wants to help make dinner but you don’t want him to get in the way of the giant pot of boiling 5-alarm death lava? Have him set the table instead! Then he can go gather the rest of the family to the table. 

Your little girl wants to help with the dishes? How about having her put the silverware up or dry off the cups? 

Laundry? Have them match socks, empty the lint filter, or put in the softener sheets! Teach them how to fold hand towels or put shirts on hangers! My three year old loves doing these so don’t think they’re too young! If they’re showing interest, they’re ready!

Let them bring in grocery bags. Collect dirty laundry from around the home. Dusting, checking the mail, picking up sticks in the yard before mowing. Do you notice something about all of these tasks? They aren’t meaningless platitudes. They are legitimate steps of your tasks that you would otherwise have to do yourself. They are things they can do that meaningfully contribute to the running of the household. Doing this not only makes life easier on you but teaches them essential life skills that they would have to pick up on their own as young adults. 

Now how does all of that have to do with supplementing math skills? 

Baking and cooking involves basic addition, subtraction, fractions. It involves ratios and serving amounts, conversions and temperatures. These are all essential math skills but also practical ones! Let them help you do the shopping budget and then track how much you’ve spent as you gather groceries! As they get a little older, let them help balance a checkbook or even keep their own for their piggy bank. Just remember to check their math! Examples of other things are endless.

But back to cost-efficient educating! All of those math examples are just one aspect of a well rounded education after all. 

RaisingLittleShoots’ blog posts weekly supplemental resources and activities to go with that week’s theme as well as a free downloadable calendar of the themes for the entire year. If it is an option for you, please buy their curriculum to not only get the full, rounded experience but to help support all of the amazing work they do! That being said, using those weekly themes and resources, it is not difficult at all to pull together your own schooling experience from that.

For example, this week’s theme is Christmas Plants, which I am super excited for! The extra resources for this week are already up on the blog, so using those you can also go to a local friendly garden center and check out their seasonal offerings! Look up more and check out books on the plants there: what they are, where they grow, etc. 

There are herbs that grow year-round so you can do a tasting activity or use some to do some baking and sneak in some math skills. If you grow your own herbs, you could even talk about how they should be properly harvested and allow them to gather their own. This makes for an amazing sensory experience as well.

Go outside and have a plant hunt to see how many wintery plants you can find then sketch them in a journal, paint, or even make a model or diorama. The composer Vivaldi has musical pieces for each season but you can easily compile a playlist to listen to while you work or play. Find classical art pieces that may center around or include element of the theme. Learn about the history of it! Also I can’t say it more than I already do but YouTube, YouTube, YouTube! There are so, so many wonderful videos on every subject you can think of from science videos for kids to drawing or musical tutorials and more book reads and reviews than you could shake a whole tree at. 

As for standard homeschooling, all of this still applies! There are loads of free curriculums online and so many free printables that have really amazing things you can use. All of these cover the financial aspects of home educating but what about the legalities? Subscribe and follow to find out when I cover it in my upcoming post ‘The Legal Side: Homeschooling and the Law’!

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Exploring Nature With Children: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/

Raising Little Shoots Blog: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/blog/

Free Calendar: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/exploring-nature-with-children-20192020-calendar/

HSLDA: https://hslda.org/content/

Spilling The Tea With The Tarot: High Priestess
Primary · WakingWitches & WanderingWunderkammer

Spilling The Tea With The Tarot: High Priestess

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High Priestess card from the Universal Goddess deck!

Feeling mysterious? Wanting to get in touch with your inner power and mystic knowledge? Brew up a cup of Dryad Tea’s black tea blend, Raven’s In The Library! It’s a personal favorite of mine that I bought from their vendor booth at GenCon Indianapolis. Their website (dryadtea.com) says this about this fascinating blend: “Inspired by a song of SJ Tucker this tea is a delightful blend of a creamy earl grey. More like a Lady Grey tea than anything, this blend is calm and mischievous all at once.”

I know, I know, I already did one earl grey but come on! I’m just a sucker for some bergamot, I guess. 

Speaking of the mysterious and inner power, today we welcome the High Priestess to our tarot table!

Isn’t this depiction of the Egyptian goddess Isis just stunning? In the Kemetic religion/Egyptian mythology, Isis is the goddess of motherhood, magic, death and rebirth, and healing. She is known as the Goddess of 10,000 names, high priestess of the dog star, divine guardian, keeper of the Mysteries, and Queen of the Celestial Crescent. Basically she is one badass chick! Can you tell I’m a bit of a fan? 

But back to the High Priestess!

The visuals for the Rider-Waite High Priestess incorporate a far cooler color scheme than her male counterpart. Two pillars, one black and the other white, stand to either side of her, each bearing a letter B and J. She wears a crown very reminiscent of the cow horned crown of Isis with a blue robe over a white gown that always reminded me of the Virgin Mary. On her chest is a cross and in her hands is a script of the TORA. At her back, a curtain of pomegranates and at her feet, a crescent moon. 

She stands as the companion and polarization to the High Priest, the second to be encountered on the Fool’s journey of life. She is the holder of inner and hidden wisdom. Her crown and garb marks her as a ruler with ties to the divine, the TORA signifying her knowledge of the external and internal. 

There are symbols of the divine feminine all over the place. The crescent moon at her feet had long been tied to the sacred feminine through moon goddesses such as Diana, Artemis, and our lady of the day, Isis herself. The pomegranates are both a divine feminine symbol with their ties to the goddess Persephone but also a sign of fertility and plenty. 

As far as a reading goes, the High Priestess can be a call to look inward at what lies within yourself. She stands as a reminder of the neutrality of knowledge and also as a warning not to look at things as too black and white. Life is never so simple! Step back and look at your thoughts or actions and see if maybe you’ve been trying to view things in terms too much through the lense of good and bad. She tells us that hidden mysteries are available to us but they won’t just fall into our lap, we have to be actively seeking them out. 

Tl;dr- Empower yourself! Get off of your but and look for the answers you seek! Life is grey not black and white so always mind the golden rule and don’t be a dick.

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Nothing I Wouldn’t Do
Bliggety Blogs · Parenting · Primary

Nothing I Wouldn’t Do

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Last night, for the first time in quite a while, Little Maxwell had a full blown meltdown. I’m talking top of the lungs shrieking, unable to even understand English, back arching, writhing meltdown at 1:30 in the morning. Very suddenly and for no discernable reason. 

Now, she and I co-sleep but when Daddy Maxwell is home on his two nights off a week, she sleeps either in a palette on the floor at the end of the bed or in the living room. He was absolutely exhausted after our insanely busy day and the patience tide was out. The screaming and crying was just a bit much on him after being woken suddenly by it though I had still been awake. So when she wasn’t able to calm herself and couldn’t be soothed, I went to plan B.

I scooped her up in my arms while she flailed, screamed, and fought and carried her into the living room. I’ll admit, it was mildly aggravating at first. I’m no saint and I’m just as human as the next underslept stay at home mom. The shrieking was at a pitch that could shatter glass, grating and ceaseless. Her arms and legs flailed while her back bent like some sort of stunt double for the Exorcist movie and knocked me once or twice. 

When she gets this way, inconsolable and so overwhelmed, overtired, and overstimulated that she can no longer handle the world, the best way to handle it is twofold. 

Take her somewhere quiet, dim, and away from other people.

Get her arms and legs tucked or facing away from you and hold her arms down with the rest of her torso in a bear hug. Don’t squeeze the hell out of her. After all, you’re not trying to pin her for a ten count or suffocate the kid.

I held her like that until she calmed. Her arms stopped jerking and spine stopped bowing. Her cries trickled to silence. In fact, after a moment I realized that, just as she had woken up suddenly having already reached critical mass, she had fallen right back to sleep with her hands still covering her face. 

My aggravation and frustration faded quickly, something that sort of surprised me. Honestly though? Her meltdown was more than a little justified. In fact, I would go as far as to say that we should have anticipated it. 

The last four days had been a blur of errands, appointments, and pre-holiday obligatory nonsense. None of us had slept well all weekend. Two park visits, three shopping trips, five doctors appointments and a partridge in a freaking tree. It had been hellish even for a neurotypical adult.

Little Maxwell is none of those things. 

She’s a three year old little girl with a sensory processing disorder that makes the world an overstimulating place to be at times. It means that things that others take for granted and don’t even think about because they’re so ordinary can be upsetting and even painful for her. Lights are brighter, sounds are louder, textures more distracting. Her body doesn’t move in the same way other kids’ do. She doesn’t bend over and sitting “criss-cross apple sauce” was a practiced skill that she was very proud of once achieved. The point being that I couldn’t exactly be angry at her for something that she had little to no control over. In fact, being sick for two of those days because of a pharmacy snafu, I could empathize. 

So I held her and whispered love to her quietly, gently until she fell asleep.

Even then, I just held her there in my arms for some time, watching her sleep like I often did. It was something that I’d done every night when she was a baby and even as a rambunctious three year old, I still made sure to cover her up every night after she dozed off. I’d had this weird fixation on whether she was warm enough at night ever since she’d been born. Though admittedly every mother probably has their “thing” that they fixate on when it comes to their babies.

Watching her like this, it reminded me of how sweet she was. How crazy in love with her I was. Even during the moments that seemed so awful, so terrible while they held us in their sway, there was nothing in the world I loved more than this child in my arms. Sure, we all go through those days. The tantrums, the vomit, the “OMFG why in the seven hells are you still awake at midnight?! Go the Fuq to sleep!” nights. The pointing at obese women in the supermarket and loudly declaring that she was “fat” without the faintest idea of social propriety or appropriateness. We’ve all been there in the disputed blockades of parenthood but one thing stands true in the depths of the night as the sleep sweetly and soundly in our arms.

There isn’t a thing in the world we wouldn’t do, nothing we wouldn’t tear down, no dirty feet boo boo we wouldn’t kiss, and no meltdown we wouldn’t endure for our baby.

With Peace and Passion.

Ta!

Don’t Like Vegan Food? Better Bring Your Bug Spray!
Bliggety Blogs · My Medical Journey · Primary

Don’t Like Vegan Food? Better Bring Your Bug Spray!

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To identify visually the distinguishing characteristics of the lonestar tick.
A Lonestar Tick, aka Demon Hellspawn, Destroyer of Chocolate!

What is the connection between vegan food and bug spray, you may be wondering? One insidious little carbohydrate, that’s what.

Alpha-gal, or.  galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose is a carbohydrate found in mammalian meats and products. That covers beef, pork, venison, giraffe, buffalo. It also includes things like milk and gelatin too though so say goodbye to those post-Halloween candy bars you’ve been sneaking from your kid’s stash. The alpha-gal allergy is caused by a bite from one particular tick: The Lonestar Tick. It’s name comes from the spot on it’s back rather than Texas state.

Sorry Texans.

In fact, the Lonestar Tick’s stomping ground encompasses pretty much the entire South-Eastern United States.

The tick has the alpha-gal carbohydrate in it’s saliva so when it bites it’s unsuspecting victim, it causes said buffet to have an immune response like a wrecking ball. Any time you come into contact with something that even contains something mammalian, you’re in for a world of hurt. Or a world of not breathing. Seriously. In severe cases, exposure can cause anaphylactic shock. That’s what happened to me. 

The most difficult thing about diagnosing an alpha-gal allergy is that the allergic reaction is usually a delayed one. Unlike poor Timmy who swells up with hives anytime he even thinks about a peanut, reactions to alpha-gal can take anywhere from 2-6 hours to present. It makes it difficult for doctors to pin down what exactly it is that is causing the reaction to begin with.

The only way to avoid a reaction? By avoiding the triggers. 

So unless you want to say goodbye to cheeseburgers and chocolate forever, you’d better start liking turkey and wrap your arms around that dark chocolate.

Alpha-gal allergies have a chance of going away over time but we’re talking some time. Like six or seven years down the line. But the best way to avoid triggering an alpha-gal allergy is to avoid getting it at all! 

That’s right, we’re talking bug spray!

DEET that shit all over the place. 

You should be wearing long sleeves and pants into any forested area or area where ticks are prevalent. On the cuffs of sleeves and pants, around the waistline, and the neck you need to be OFF-ing it up. Though I do recommend using the spray with the spritz rather than the aerosolized can. Give our environment a bit of a break and all that. It needs to be the ‘Deep Woods’ variety to really have the most benefit. Even with those conditions met, it is still recommended that you change clothes as soon as you go back indoors and check your body for little devil bugs asap.

Should you find one of the aforementioned hellspawn parasites attached to you, remove it gently from your skin with tweezers, making sure to remove the head. Once that’s done, you’ll want to put the tick in some tape, ziploc bag, or other such imprisonment. Doctors will have a much easier time testing the tick itself rather than you for the possibility of other diseases that may have been spread like Lyme. 

Look for my post on Lyme disease to follow soon! Until then, stay sprayed and burn all the parasites with fire! 😀

With Peace (except for ticks) and Passion.

Ta! ❤

The Elf-On-A-Shelf Tradition: An Unpopular Opinion
Parenting · Primary

The Elf-On-A-Shelf Tradition: An Unpopular Opinion

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Or else…!

Happy December, friends! Tis officially the season for spiked eggnog with breakfast, elastic waistbands, Christmas tree cakes, and the tense hair-triggered anger that comes with an overload of holiday stress and seasonal depression.

Let’s not forget that age-old classic tradition, the Elf-On-A-Shelf.

Okay, so today I’m sharing my thoughts on this secret agent of Santa. I’ve shared these opinions before and they are never well received, or at least I get some really strange looks and one accusation of being “unAmerican”, whatever that means. 

I am suggesting here today that the idea of the Elf-On-A-Shelf is actually detrimental to the long term positive behavior of our tiny overlords. 

What the hell, right?

There is actually quite a lot of scientific data to back up this claim though, and it all has to do with what motivates our little bundles of booger-picking joy. So what is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? 

Intrinsic means that whatever motivates them, whether it be kindness, a sense of responsibility, or just not wanting to be a little bog-trog, comes from within themselves. 

Conversely, extrinsic motivations, things like bribes (“If you stop screaming, I’ll buy you the toy, okay?”) and threats (“If you don’t stop that mess right this moment, I am going to spank you into next week!”) and emotional manipulation (“You are making mommy so so sad right now. You are breaking my heart!”), come from outside. 

I encourage you to read more deeply into the psychological aspects of this in children in Rae Pica’s book ‘What If Everybody Understood Child Development? Straight Talk About Bettering Education and Children’s Lives’. The Parenting Junkie blog and Youtube also have great videos on the topic so go check them out! Especially know what is developmentally appropriate for your child at their age! What may look like your kid being a rude jerk to you may actually be them working through crucial developmental stages and teaching them different ways to assert themselves may be more appropriate and helpful in the long term than punishment.

Now let me put something out there before we go any further. While it is a post for another day, I am not against meting out discipline when it is appropriate. However, I am a big proponent of knowing the why behind what my child is doing. For example, Little Maxwell turns into a cranky monster at bedtime because at the time we are winding down for the night, she gets hungry and has this bizarre second wind that sends her bouncing off the walls into the next county. 

Hungry+tired+hyperactivity at the end of the day= one crabby mommy and an even crabbier child.

The solution I found was to give her a nighttime snack just before bed to fill her belly, cut off screens at least an hour before we started getting ready for bed, and to have some snuggly, mommy-daughter connection time just before bed. Of course nothing is perfect and she is, after all, a three year old, but it helps. Oftentimes what we are quick to label as misbehavior is actually an unfulfilled need being expressed in the only way they are able. When they neither have the emotional intelligence or vocabulary to tell us what their needs are, those unexpressed physical and emotional needs bubble over in some pretty spectacular ways. Just like her epic middle of the night meltdown (see my post Nothing I Wouldn’t Do going live in a few days)!

That’s great and all, but what does all of that have to do with the Elf-On-The-Shelf?

Right. Got off on a bit of a tangent, huh? Okay, so the whole concept of the Elf-On-The-Shelf taps into those extrinsic motivations I mentioned. The elf’s entire bit is, “Hey! You had better behave because I’m always watching you, peeping-tom style to make sure you’re behaving with my weird dead eyes!”

Have I mentioned that they’re also a bit creepy? I mean, some freaky doll watching everything you do day in and day out? It’s just…Just no. 

Bringing it down to basics, it’s this: If a child only behaves because they are going to get something out of it or avoid an unpleasant punishment (i.e. the threat of not getting gifts at Christmas), then they aren’t developing that intrinsic motivation. They aren’t behaving because it’s the right thing to do, the good thing to do. As soon as the external motivator goes away, then they won’t really have much incentive to behave, now will they? As for rewards, eventually you have to keep increasing the reward since getting the same one won’t keep them in line after a while. At some point, you have to ask yourself whether what you’re interested in is quick and dirty compliance or a long-term behavioral adjustment based on right and wrong.

I don’t push old ladies down on the subway because I’ll get arrested. I don’t do it because I don’t want to be an asshole. Because my intrinsic values tell me that is wrong. Our children don’t need threats or bribes to be good people. All they need is for us to lead them with a good example and to be given the opportunity. 

Sometimes we may have to explain social niceties or societal norms to them like not asking why someone is fat loudly in a quiet store or, “Hey if we’re going to play at your friend’s house, you kinda need to put some clothes on”. They are, after all, coming into the world as a blank slate. 

As a whole, our children are not inherently monsters, though sometimes it might feel that way. They don’t need a stalker to keep them in line.

So as for the Santa’s little conspirator, this year it will be the Elf-Not-On-Our-Shelf!

(Or you could just hide the thing each day and not use it as a bribe. Happy middle ground!)

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Spilling The Tea With Tarot: The Magician
Primary · WakingWitches & WanderingWunderkammer

Spilling The Tea With Tarot: The Magician

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment
The Golden Tarot Magician

Spilling the Tea with the Tarot: The Magician

Hello all of my malfeasance-manufacturers, daily diviners, and curiosity conjurers! Today here at Little Journeys, we are drinking deeply of the Magician as well as a fine cup of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s Indian White tea! The description on Zhena’s Amazon (linked below) for this product is ‘it’s long, spear like ivory-green tips with russet hue brews a complex cup offering fresh grassy notes with an undertow of malty spice’. It is a stunning blend with a lovely aroma that is just perfect for those moments of peace and tranquility. Definitely check it out!

Now let’s get our wand waving game on and take a peek at the Magician! 

The Magician is the card numbered as ‘one’ in the tarot (even though we know it is not the penultimate card in the deck). It is another colorful card with bright yellows and reds. Our titular magus is surrounded but fertile, lush flowers denoting the manifestation and inspiration that this card brings to the table. He is crowed by a symbol for infinity and, in the Rider-Waite, is wearing a belt of an ouroboros or a serpent eating it’s own tail. This card typically features a symbol of each of the tarot’s suits: the pentacles, the swords, the wands, and the cups, or your deck theme equivalents. Why is this? After all, our dear Magician is the only card in the tarot that features this. The only one out of an entire seventy-two card deck. So what’s with that?

Well the Magician is a card that encompasses not only the emotional aspects of our life but the mental and physical. The spiritual and material. The four elements denoted by the four suits. The Magician brings to a reading a meaning of self-actualization, inner power, creative inspiration and manifestation, as well as resourcefulness. 

Where does the Magician stand in the story of the Fool and his journey? 

He stands as an opposing but equal balance to the power of the High Priestess, the card that follows in the Major Arcana. He and his feminine counterpart are the first experiences the Fool encounters with the Magician as the masculine force of your inner mojo. He is the light that shows the outward manifestations of our journey. Things such as achieving your goals of going somewhere or doing something. 

He’s an active dude with his fingers in a lot of different pies and if he comes up in a reading, he’s telling you to just do it. Don’t let your dreams just be dreams, ya frikkin’ dreamer, you! The Magician is a good sign that whatever you are asking, the time is now and the answer is a resounding yes! In the Everyday Witch Tarot, the Magician is headlines with these words: 

“The Magic Is Inside Of You.”

And it is! Like the Magician, you have everything you need to get it done. You just have to take that leap of faith in yourself and go for it! #GettinItDoneWithTheMagician, am I right?

With Peace and Passion.

Ta!