Wise Woman Health

Natural Parenting

The goal is supporting their immune systems to support them throughout their lives. As part of that, and because we had developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as a result of the pesticides, I knew we had to avoid school where typically pesticides are used within buildings, and outside. It is routine, even in urban and rural areas full of environmental activists. Beyond that, kids and teachers wear fragranced body products and come to school wearing clothes emitting fragrances, many of them cancer-causing and neurotoxic, sitting in shuttered and badly ventilated classrooms, so 'Homeschooling' was a must in our family. Soon we were full 'Unschoolers' with the world as our classroom.

It's been a great ride, one that continues today. If homeschooling has piqued your interest, I can help you understand the various ways people homeschool around the country, and help you strategize to find a way to make it happen if you don't feel you can make the leap quite yet. Even single parents homeschool and even people living below the poverty level homeschool. I can help you imagine the creative ways you can bring this into your family's life if the thought inspires you!

It's not that they necessarily want this, or even think of it in this way, but this is 'what's done.' Babies are taken away from their parents at birth, parents have to beg nurses to see their babies, moms and babies have trouble connecting and even nursing, and everyone has to work harder than they should to try to establish good attachments when we evolved to spend maximum time together as families, and in communities.

But all is not lost! If you don't have your own parents helping guide you toward a different way, have hope! I am happy to share holistic guidance as you raise your kids, and can help you strategize which are your priorities as you launch into parenthood, or are seeking a more holistic way than sometimes you see around you. If you are trying to figure out whether you even want to have children, we can explore your feelings about that, too. Or maybe one potential parent wants kids, and the other does not. We can explore all those feelings to help you and your partner understand what is right for you as a couple.

I am a mom and have three wonderful children and while we've been terribly challenged due to pesticide poisoning when we lived in Sonoma (wine grape pesticides… also oats and hay), throughout their lives I have focused on supportive healthcare and boosting our immune systems through nutrition and excellent healthcare help from a variety of practitioners.

In our modern Western Society, especially in the U.S., England, and Australia, parents have been convinced over the past century that, they should easily let go of their kids. Some start the separation process the moment they find out they're pregnant planning childcare and nursery schools

(I worked many years in that world, and as a preschool teacher), putting in applications for kindergartens, even talking about what steps they have to take to get their kids into the ideal college of their own dreams, sometimes setting up college accounts at banks, buying or renting bigger homes, generally planning every form of separation possible.

I can help you know what to consider if you are looking at pesticides issues and trying to understand possible pathways into the body when trying to figure out how to deal with dangers in and around the home with pesticides and other toxic chemicals. I can share information about products which are safe, or safer, for your family than many of the typical chemicals used around homes, and can offer you many conceptual ideas as we look at ways to make a healthier environment at home. I can help you to learn what your gardener may be using, and what's being used at your kids' schools, and some of the impacts. And because my older kids sadly were lead-poisoned when they were young, I developed a great deal of expertise in what to do to avoid lead dangers when you live in a situation where lead is present (which is so in a majority of housing in many areas, and there is no safe level of lead exposure, just as there is no safe level of pesticide exposure). And I can help in the arena of safe ways to help the body excrete heavy metals and other toxins.

I learned a lot about asbestos as well, and safe remediation of lead and asbestos. I can guide you in learning and prioritizing, strategizing on what measures you might take in which order if you are not wealthy enough simply to move out and pay a crew to do total remediation work over weeks, or if you are concerned that a landlord will refuse to have work done in a safe manner.

There is so very much you can do right now to address issues in stages, and I can help you face what sometimes can feel overwhelming. I've been there. I can be your partner in strategizing methodical changes that will safeguard your family along the way.

Another thing which made sense to me over the years was not to subject my already-compromised little ones to vaccinations which leave the body in perpetual states of inflammation. The focus on boosting our immune systems has been key in our lives. Whether you are avoiding Vaccines, or are concerned about effects of Vaccines on your kids or you, Homeopathy is supportive. It's a great choice to include Homeopathy in your family's life whatever choice you make. We can talk about fears vs. facts, and I can refer you to excellent resources that help clarify that, Vaccination is not immunization.

Did you know that 'Natural' and 'Sustainable" have no clear legal meanings? Do you know how those words are being used to confuse people? I'm wary when seeing these words on a label: Natural Flavor. I choose not to buy a product which does not list exactly what is in it. Another is Spices. I've watched the evolution (or devolution?) of the use of those words to hide ingredients, just as the word 'inert' is used in the world of pesticides to confuse people. Inerts simply are not the ingredient referred to as the 'active' ingredient. Their toxicity level in some cases is considered more dangerous than that of the 'active' ingredient.

If you're curious about what Organic actually means, I can help you look at Organics issues and if you feel you want to improve the food options in your family but do not have a bottomless well of money, I can help you understand ways people sometimes prioritize when taking into account your family's present overall diet. I can discuss what 'Raw' means, and why some people seek 'Raw' milk and other unpasteurized products, can speak with you about Veganism, Vegetarianism, Raw, Paleo, and Macrobiotic diets, Grassfed meats, wild vs. farmed fish, and I can help you make sense of confusion around eggs and fats, salts, and sweeteners.

More important than a particular diet or way of eating, I will support you as you explore what works best for your loved ones and you.

** See my 'Focused Consultations' page for more