The concept of “holistic parenting” should be a fairly easy goal if you, yourself are a health conscious, holistic minded person. Well – take it from me, a mother of 5 boys aged 12-18 & a 6 yr old girl…… much easier said then done.

Like all that is meaningful & important in life, this too takes dedication & effort. BUT – I can say that the moments, albeit small sometimes, you realize some bits have sunk in. And then they mean that much more.

Graduation morning for my eldest son, naturally feeling very nostalgic, I began asking my self the all important questions: did I teach him enough about life? set the right priorities? teach him kindness & morality? etc. , you know the questions deep down we may not want the answers to.

So there I was sitting in the bleachers, my eyes filled with tears & my heart filled with emotion, I close my eyes & remember my little hemp wearing, organically fed, Green Peace nurturing boy who now is an 18 yr old sitting there with 2 Gatorades at his feet, red & blue.

My first thought was “I’m going to kill him, I have told him his whole life to stay away from dye in food”, luckily my heart swarming with pride it got the better of me and I let it go for the day.

Move forward to dinner that night. My son orders a water & my daughter chimes in, lovingly of course “good thing you got water, mommy was so mad you had colored Gatorade”. My son barks back, lovingly of course “yea yea I know the dyes will kill me and has petroleum in them & zero health benefits, but mom I did put them in the recycling bin after”.

So point is – even if it seems like a losing battle & an exhausting endeavor, spewing a plethora of endless clichés we rattle out for years…. they do hear it, it is in there somewhere.

If we teach them & show them, even in little bits that living a healthy, holistic & environmentally conscious lifestyle is important they will somehow pay it forward.

Little steps, little moments is how so many BIG amazing changes happen & if we stop, listen, learn & teach, we together can make a very important, very big difference.

Namaste