King Winter arrives!

And his timing couldn't have been better. See, I bought this yesterday at our Waldorf Christmas Fair, always a place to discover treasures.

You'll see he takes pride of place, along with the miniature marble bust of Nefertiti. I, along with many others, was Nefertiti in a previous incarnation. Not. But certainly, I spent time in ancient Egypt. And not so ancient Egypt, actually, because I bought her years ago in the Cairo museum.

But I digress. This is what we woke up to this morning:

Yes, the first snow of the winter season. Always so breathtakingly pretty, especially when it's accompanied by a sunny morning.

As I wrote not so long ago, providing our children with an enhanced sense of the seasons is a great gift that will strengthen their souls and keep them open to what's spiritual in the world, what's working through and around them. There have been years when I didn't manage this, but I've discovered that even the smallest and simplest gestures toward acknowledging spring, summer, autumn and winter brings pleasure to me. It's always that initial impetus that's the most difficult, isn't it?

A sense of wonder

Although we've had frosty mornings, November has been kind, weather-wise. And so, amazingly enough, these yellow pansies are still flowering in the bed at the edge of our deck.

Now, this isn't something I planted. The wind must have wafted the seeds our way, and the fairies thought we might appreciate the gift. Which indeed we did. It's like a small, unexpected miracle, especially as they've bloomed the whole summer and autumn long.

A small child naturally carries a sense of wonder. Our task as adults is not to overlay that. So much of modern life has to do with distraction. If you can, find a good moment to draw your child's attention to nature, the plants, animals, a beautiful sunset or morning sky. The only thing to avoid is to make this into a teaching time. Don't provide information. Simply give the child the space to look, admire and absorb.

Another quickie

Being busy with all my other writing projects, blogging hasn't had much air time. In my head, that is. However, I wanted to share with you an experience I had yesterday.

I went to the doctor for a physical. It's always warm in there, so I walked across the waiting room to hang up my coat. On the rail was an array of good, solid plastic hangers, and one wooden one. Only a second after I'd chosen the latter did I realize I did that instinctively.

Yes, the feel of wood in your hand is very different from the 'ungiving' plastic.

So remember this as regards your children's toys and don't let the plastic overwhelm what nature so generously bestows.

Sometimes, parents need a laugh.

Busy day for me today, but I wanted to share this 'pre-parenting' test.
Enjoy!

http://tinyurl.com/8kjc7ul

Book recco

We have Curly-Locks with us today, so my screen time is minimal. However, I just wanted to share what I just read to him, a wonderful book, suitable for a four-year old, that I can't recommend highly enough. It's almost a prose poem, so the language is wonderful, and the images fine too.

'Nicole's Boat' by Allen Morgan, Art by Jirina Marton.

Why root veggies are important

Tonight I'm planning to make a bortsch soup with the last of the beetroots from our garden. My recipe includes other root veggies such as parsnip, carrots and turnip. So this set me thinking, especially as I've been going over the chapter on the importance of eating organic in my book 'Magical Motherhood'.

It's a long letter to Cheryl. These days there's even more to say on the subject, but I realized there's one aspect I neglected to mention, which has to do with Anthroposophical theory. This is, the relationship of edible plants to the human being, from the viewpoint of our three-fold aspect.

I can still remember the first time I heard a doctor lecture on this. And see the drawing he made to demonstrate. Thusly:

And do you know what happened next? It was this:

Yes, an upside-down version of the previous drawing. You can take it as corresponding to a human being. Soooooo... what does this mean? Actually, that root vegetables are most helpful for the brain, leafy vegetables for the breathing and rhythmic system, and grains and fruits, for the metabolic/limb system.

It's important for young children to eat good root veggies. But you need them, if at all possible, to be grown on organically-composted soil. Root veggies, not being open to influence from air and light, take up more of the salts, minerals etc. from the soil than any other veg. And this means the bad along with the good.

For yourself, you can increase your awareness of what veggies you need. Recently, with the waning of summer, we've been eating less salads. I found myself longing for a big, green bowlful and then realized I wasn't breathing properly. So I took some deep breaths and went in search of lettuce.