June Mama Message

June is a time to celebrate fathers and grandfathers! It is a time for family and friends and adventures together…It is a time to enjoy all that summer has to offer, and to slow down and really spend precious time together. 
I am blessed to be able to spend this first week of June with five of my closest friends from childhood in gorgeous Sedona, Arizona. I am filled with gratitude for the positive energy of this amazing place, and for the support, humor, and warmth of these powerful women. Childhood truly matters…! I am reminded of this so clearly every time I get together with my childhood friends. The stories, the memories, the influence, the challenges, the learning curve… it is so obvious that all of this has been such a large part of the woman and mother that I have become. I am so grateful for the childhood that I had growing up in the East Bay Area in California, and for the friends that were a part of it all.
Childhood is a distinctly separate phase of our life, and is not just a mini- adulthood as so many advertisers would have us believe. We need to broaden the conversation of what childhood can be, not just for our individual children, but for the future of our humanity. Childhood has changed dramatically over the past fifty to one hundred years. When I was a child we were allowed to play outside unsupervised until dinnertime. We created games, built forts, dug in the dirt, rode bikes, and roamed the neighborhood. We read voraciously, played board games, talked for hours, and didn’t think much about what the adults were up to. My husband and I tried to create a childhood for our children that was full of family adventure and lots of time spent together. It grew increasingly difficult to protect that space as the demands and fast pace of society increased and encroached into our lives. It seems to be ever so much more difficult for families today…. 
I want to encourage you to look closely at the decisions that you make for the time you spend with your children, and to have the courage to say “no” to many of the distractions that are a part of our technological age. Children need their families, not gadgets… they need stories, not videos. They need time spent outdoors and adventures with their friends. It is difficult to resist the temptation to rush childhood, but it is so important for children to have time and space to grow healthfully. The first five to ten years of childhood are so important for healthy brain development, for creativity to flourish, and for imaginations to be strengthened. Resist the temptation to “plug in”, and invite your children to help with household projects, play games, cook, and clean together, make up stories and read books… but most of all, cherish each other’s company.
This month you can choose activities that maximize your precious time together! You can use a drop or two of melaleuca essential oil… Energetically, Melaleuca oil is said to promote healthy boundaries, and you can use it to strengthen your ability to create healthy boundaries for your family time. . Children need boundaries to come up against, and to feel the loving guidance that you offer as their parents. You can put the oil right on your solar plexus or pulse points, and feel the energy that enables you to make decisions that are the healthiest for you and your family. Give your children the gift of quality time…
Have a creative and wholesome month!