5 Healthy Swaps You Can Make Today & A Little Montessori

All the little choices we make add up.  It’s been a long, cold, challenging winter here in Massachusetts, and I’ve noticed that when my schedule is crazy and my kids have cabin fever, I start taking short cuts that make things worse.  I’m tired, so I order greasy vegan pad-thai for take-out and then I feel even worse.

On tough days, it helps to make choices that will bring us out of the cycle of being tired and overwhelmed, not make it worse.

Here are 5 choices that will make things better – not worse:

1. Hit the salad bar at your grocery store for a convenient meal instead of ordering greasy take-out.  (Feed the kids peanut butter and jelly)

2. Relax with a steaming mug of tea instead of an alcoholic beverage

3. Read a book for half an hour and go to bed early instead of watching an hour long t.v. show

4. Prioritize going to bed with a clean house, instead of making a home-cooked meal.  Pick up burritos for dinner, salad bar, whatever your healthiest convenience meal is, and fold the laundry and get the toys sorted so you can wake up to a clean house.

5. Eat whole foods for your snacks instead of processed ones.  When we’re overwhelmed and busy, it’s easy to grab a sugary granola bar or some cereal for a snack.  You’ll have more energy if you reach for a piece of fruit or some nuts, instead.  Even dried fruits with their high sugar content are a good choice because they retain the fiber that helps regulate the sugar’s entry into your blood stream and keeps you from crashing.  You may not have time to cut up carrots and dish out hummus, but a handful of nuts and raisins is fast and a better choice than processed snack foods.

My own little changes – a Montessori Inspired Bookshelf:

I attended an amazing seminar given by the director of my son’s Montessori Preschool, and it’s inspired me to put more effort into preparing my children’s environment.  I resisted the urge to gut my entire living room and furnish it with items from the Montessori catalog.  (You’re welcome, Greg.)

Instead I’m trying to take our existing furniture and shift items around to make it more child-accessible.

Yesterday I worked on making the books in our house easier for Will and Andrew to access.

I moved a lot of books they’re too young for into my closet (Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz series) and used the extra shelf space to display 10 of their favorite books at a time where they can easily see them.  Upper shelves have their other books, so I can regularly switch out the titles for them.

Will was the most excited about the transformed bookshelves.  Instead of pulling out each book to look at the cover, he can now see ten good options at once.  That’s more than enough for a child to view at one time.

I did the same thing to his bookshelf in his room upstairs, displaying a small number of hand-selected books that will be perfect as bedtime stories.  His bedroom closet has a large selection of other good bedtime stories to rotate in and out.

I’m hoping this will reduce Andrew’s urge to pull all the books off the shelf so he can look at the covers and choose one, and also inspire them to pick up a book and look through it, because the covers of their favorite titles are so visible.

I have a lot of work to do on their toys… but this was a step in the right direction, and I did the project start to finish in one afternoon with a babysitter.

E’s Birthday: 

In other news – it’s my sister’s birthday!  She’s a certified Dance Movement Therapist and Counselor, who has dedicated her professional career to helping others.  She’s a great listener, energetic and fun person to hang out with, an enthusiastic and wonderful Aunt to my children, and I’m so lucky to have her in my life. 🙂