When my daughter was 2 years old I decided to write her regular letters. 

My goal was to write her a letter every 6 months in which I described what she’s been doing, what she’s been saying and how much I love her.

I bought a beautifully lined book, and began.  When my son was 18 months I started his book too.

I haven’t managed to write as frequently as I would like - letters tend to be a year apart.  But when I take the time to sit down and reflect on my children and how amazing they are, it is wonderfully indulgent.

I plan to keep writing these letters reguarly until they are 18 or 21 and then handing them over as a collection of my reflections on their life.

I don’t see the books as an accurate history, but more as a collection of my musings about them.

It is my way of holding time still, and preventing small moments from being forgotten.

It is a memento I am creating for them, but it also makes me feel good.

By taking the time out of my busy life to write the letters, I realise how amazing my children really are, and how grateful I am that they are a part of my life.

How to write a memory book for your children:

1. Buy or find a notebook - either blank or lined.  Or you can write on whatever scrap of paper you can find and bundle the pages together.

2. Find a quiet moment (once the kids are in bed or before they get home from school) and write them a letter.  Talk about whatever you like.  The weather, what they’ve been up to, how you feel about them.  Try not to censor, just write.  And don’t worry about perfect grammar, just write.

3. Add photos or pictures if you like.

That’s it.  Easy!  All it takes is half an hour to an hour of your time.  But it’s value is worth so much more.  Enjoy!

On Saturday night I went to my 20 year high school reunion.  It was amazing.  A night of ‘oh my god I haven’t seen you for 20 years!’, hugs, kisses, and catch ups.

A night full of reminiscing, remembering and reuniting.

A time to reconnect with people with whom I spent some of the most intense, excrutiating and formative years of my life.

An opportunity to cram 20 years into a 2 minute conversation.  To bury old grudges. And discover commonalities that didn’t exist 20 years earlier.

I absolutely loved it - for many reasons.  But here are my top 3:

1. I went to school with some amazing people.  I didn’t necessarily know they were amazing whilst at school. But I do now.

2. At school I was insecure, self conscious and unconfident.  But then so were most of the rest of my class.  I didn’t realise that at the time either.

3. School is intense.  But it’s not the be all or end all.  It is only the beginning.

I had a great night at the reunion. But one of the night’s best moments was arriving home.  It was a balmy night and a soft breeze was floating through the open windows, my kids were having a ’sleep over’ in the spare room, tucked up together in the big bed, and my husband was snoozing in our bed with the two cats at his feet.

All was right in the world.

And I felt incredibly content with my lot.

Dance as though no one is watching you,
Love as though you have never been hurt before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Love as though heaven is on earth.

Souza

I have this on a fridge magnet at home and it seems to me that this is a good philosophy for parents to follow.

Our children need us to be able to spontaneously join in their imaginative play, to be able to sing and dance without embarrassment and to love them unconditionally.

At playgroup we always finish with a group song time and it is clear that singing is no longer part of the Australian culture - we have become observers or listeners to professionals, but we don’t feel comfortable singing in public.

Children love to hear their parents’ voices close to them, singing a lullaby or having fun singing a silly song.
They learn how to use their voices in different ways and increase their vocabulary.
Songs can tell a story, calm a child, move a child from one experience to another, make children want to get up and dance and encourage counting.

But best of all they can be fun and a shared family experience - so sing as though no one can hear you.

Judyth Roberts
Seaton Central

Have you noticed that children don’t like being hurried? They love to spend time ‘smelling the roses’, watching a snail cross the footpath or listening to the rain rushing through a downpipe. When you have a pre-schooler at home, try to slow down and enjoy their pleasure in the simple pleasures of life.

Why not try walking in the rain? Put on rubber boots, raincoats and hats and grab an umbrella and take a walk around the block. Listen to the water rushing down the gutters and dripping off the trees. Talk about where birds go to keep dry and watch out for snails and other water loving creatures. Notice how different the world looks when it is all wet. Let your child get wet and have a splash around in the puddles - they will enjoy the novelty and can soon dry off or have a hot bath when you get home.

If we want our children to value the natural environment we need to teach them about it through experiences they will remember. Try an all-weather walk and maybe even take a photo, then you can look at it when the dry heat of summer comes and remember the day it rained and you got wet!

Judyth Roberts
Seaton Central

Most people would agree that organically grown food is better for you and the environment. Research shows us there are more nutrients, higher antioxidant levels, no chemical residues or artificial additives in organic food. It certainly tastes better than conventional produce and the odd insect you find indicates it is chemical free and hasn’t been in storage for many months.

As a vocal advocate of organic food the reason I hear most against eating organically is the cost. There is no doubt it is more expensive than conventionally farmed food, sometimes it can be double or triple the cost* which can be daunting for the average family.

Here are some tips to help make organic food affordable.

Consider your eating and spending habits around food
Look at the fortnightly/weekly budget and note how much is spent on packaged convenience foods, snacks, meat and alcohol. Ask yourself; could expenditure be reduced in any of these areas and reinvested into organic food? In the summer we can easily spend $15 at a quick snack stop for icecreams for our family of five. However when cherry season is here I have no qualms at buying a kilo of organic cherries for around the same price and forfeiting the snacks, the red juiced (loaded with antioxidants!) dripping grins speak more than words.

Consider the health of your family
View organic food as a preventative measure. Rather than spending money on pharmaceuticals or trips to the doctor see spending it on organic food as an investment into your health. I contribute my children’s healthy immune systems largely to organic food, with a visit to the doctor a rare event in our family. We occasionally take vitamin supplements but I prefer to ‘eat the vitamins’ within some great tasting food as well as getting the additional benefits of other nutrients at the same time. Don’t wait until you are sick or health issues arise, see preventative eating as a priority now.

Consider that broccoli is not just broccoli
Don’t be fooled by appearances of fruit and vegetables. A recent Choice magazine survey I read found that supermarket strawberries had up to 27 different chemical residues and not all of them washed off. When buying fruit and vegetables consider how long they have been in storage, what waxes or coating they have and with what and where they’ve been grown. Don’t be fooled by appearance and the cheap buy. Cheap bags of fruit and vegetables are often old, chemically grown and lacking in nutrients and vitamins.

Start small
There is no need to change shopping habits overnight, first try with buying a few organic items a week. A good place to start is buying organically those fruit that have known high amounts of chemical residues such as apples, tomatoes, pears, stone fruit and strawberries.

Consider Lifestyle
A change in not just our shopping habits but also our overall lifestyle may be required. Consider the way you live and how often lunch or dinner is quick snacks, fast food, or restaurant meals. Take a look at spending on family entertainment; are there cheaper options to be contemplated? There is no need to be purist or extreme, my family love to eat out and see a movie; these however are occasional treats not regular entertainment. Buying organically may mean more cooked meals at home, less takeaways and require a little more planning. These changes may be a little challenging at first but reduced stress levels and increased overall well being will be the long term benefits.

Look for seasonal Australian grown produce
If organic food is still a little out of reach try to look for Australian grown produce. A lot of fruit and vegetables in our supermarkets have come from overseas; in particular China. Although pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables are monitored in Australia, other countries do not have the same regulations regarding pesticide and chemical use thus there is no guarantee. Check the label for country of origin; if it doesn’t state Australia or have any label, chances are it has come from another country. Try and buy produce that is seasonal relative to where you live. This is often the cheaper option as well as superior tasting. For example; buying a peach in June in southern Australia tells me it has either been in long storage or comes from far away and will probably taste bland and flavourless.

Grow your own
Growing some vegetables in your garden organically is a good way of reaping the benefits of both the food and the gardening activity. It is a cheap option at around $2-3 for a packet of organic seed although it requires time and patience!

Consider your children
There is a wave of new parents starting their babies off on organic food. This is a great introduction to solids and support to their developing immune systems. I was saddened to learn that this dropped off dramatically once children hit the age of 2. It is worth considering that after the age of 2 there is still much crucial development and growth to happen. Studies focused on children and pesticide exposure have put them at much greater risk than adults. This is because they eat more food relative to body mass and being smaller than adults, doses of chemicals have a greater effect. I see fitting organic food into our budget as an investment into my children’s future health. Consider continuing with the great food provided for your baby into the years to come.

Check out organic and biodynamic food on the web for more information
Suggested links
www.cleanfood.com.au
www.organicfooddirectory.com.au
www.ofa.org.au

* See www.organicfooddirectory.com.au for reasons for the high costs of organic food.

Rachel Furbank
Sustainable living eco mum