parent tribeissue four | Winter 2014

be creative be free be together

Bring in the new year in Peace!An audio interview with Genevieve Simperingham

from The Peaceful Parent Institute in New Zealand

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.” - Nelson Mandela

contents Page 8 Hello & Happy New Year from HattiPage 10 The Way of The peaceful Parent - Audio interviewPage 12 Diary of an Online MumpreneurPage 14 Tetachapo Crochet shares their storyPage 18 New Year, New kind of resolution Page 22 Four am feed poemPage 24 Love Parenting’s Sam shares her storyPage 28 Peace in Parenting through meditationPage 32 Harriet & Garfield’s Feel good foodPage 34 A Piece of Peace - creativity in motherhoodPage 36 little ones enjoying nature galleryPage 39 The Parent Tribe Directory half price offer

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Our Contributors

Clare CooperClare, 33, lives with her partner Neil, 43, and their three children Surya, 5, Shanti, 3 and Sol, 7 months, on the edge of The English Lake District. Both Clare and Neil are Yoga teachers, so yogic ideas are important to them, as is being in nature, living simply, good food, being with their children and materialising their creative ideas. Clare is a home-schooling mother who is with her children

full time and when family life allows, teaches a small pregnancy yoga class and writes on all aspects of yoga and natural parenting. She also likes to choose creative projects that her children can be involved in including a natural parent and child group she runs alongside Hatti Burt called Beautiful Beginnings. In this edition Clare talks about Peace in Parenting and how connecting with our own inner peace can greatly help us parent with love and patience, on page 28 >>

Jody Temple-WhiteJody, 43, is from Beaverton, Oregon, USA and lives with her husband John, 65, and children Riley, 16 and Allison, 11. Jody and her husband John both work from wherever they are located and spent the last year embarking on their dream of travelling the world together with their family. Jody runs an online consultancy and coaching business,

and John works in the investment and insurance business. Jody also writes about their trip on her website The Courage Vibe, which is about the family’s courage as they learnt the difference between being travellers and tourists. Jody shares what she has learnt, by writing how we can show courage in our family lives on a daily basis. This month, on page 18, Jody shares her ideas of a new kind of New Year’s resolution and having the courage to become all you can be >>

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Are you interested in contributing to parent tribe? We are looking for writers, poets, illustrators, photographers! Find out more here >>

Anna Dove

Anna Dove, 34, lives happliy with her husband Richard, 41, and their two little monsters Willow, 3, and Honey, 2, in the sleepy and very beautiful Ennerdale valley in Cumbria. Anna is a stay at home mum but also runs her very creative business Dotty Dove’s Designs from her home ‘crafty workshop’. She currently tries to fit in creative thinking and

making inbetween play groups, playing outside, making dens, playdoughing & boring household chores (which definitely come bottom of the pile!!)Anna likes to share her creativity with others and was recently involved in The Clothes Show and is running her first local crafting workshop this year. We are so happy to have Anna involved in Parent Tribe sharing crafty tutorials and writing about what she has been up to. Check out page 34 where Anna tells us about her ‘Piece of Peace’ >>

EK BradleyElizabeth Kelsey Bradley, lives with her husband Billy, and their daughter Kaya, in Phuket, Thailand. Elizabeth is a freelance writer and travel photojournalist, as well as Holistic Coach.Both Elizabeth and her husband make a living as online entrepreneurs around homeschooling their young daughter and are often found working late into the night whilst their

daugher is sleeping. Elizabeth is passionate about helping more parents work from home and have passion driven businesses. It’s great to have her writing for Parent Tribe sharing her experiences through her column ‘Diary of an online mumpreneur’, on page 12 >>

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I hope everyone enjoyed their family time over the festive period and took some well deserved time to relax and spend time with loved ones. With my broadband being down and also, more importantly, being almost 7 months pregnant this is exactly what I did. We, as a family, have had a couple of weeks of festive gatherings with various groups of family and friends as well as time just us 3 enjoying food, festive films, talking, playing, giving and receiving. It's been perfect, apart from the weather, which, has been unusually wet for Christmas time (although we are in the English Lake District which is very well known for being wet, wet, wet!). Although we have a lot of extended family and friends nearby it was important for me this year to spend some quality time as a family of 3 before the arrival of our second child due early March. I think we got the perfect balance of this and I now think we are all very ready to welcome this new person into our family very soon. So exciting!

This year is going to be life-changing for our family with the new arrival and also some very exciting plans in the spring which I can’t reveal yet, but let’s just say myself and my hubby will be going for a very long-term dream of ours. Both these things are mega exciting but also massive things in our family life and my focus for the new year is to stay

Happy New Year and welcome to our 4th edition

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Happy New Year and welcome to our 4th edition

centred, calm and peaceful to be able to go forward and deal with all these changes in our life whilst enjoying every moment. This is why this edition of Parent Tribe is focused around bringing in the New Year in Peace. We have the wonderful and well-known Genevieve Simperingham from The Peaceful Parent Institute in New Zealand sharing her story on our first recorded interview, as well as another peaceful parenting guru Sam Vickery from Love Parenting sharing her story. We also have a fab article from Jody Temple White about being being all we can become this year rather than putting specific resolutions on ourselves and our families. Creative mama Anna from Dotty Dove’s Designs also shares with us how her creative outlet brings her peace within the hectic lifestyle of raising two young children, as well as other inspiring articles. I hope this edition eases you into the New Year and helps you and your family to be all you can become, creatively, emotionally and spiritually.

The first half of the year especially will be quite quiet on the Parent Tribe scene as I will be taking some time to give a proper, no interruptions welcome to the lovely little soul coming into our family. I will be sending a small spring edition out but hope to put it together my mid Feb, so if any of you out there would like to share your inspiring family story, write for the magazine or have other creative things to share inlcuding art,

photography or poetry then please get in touch soon. I also have plans in the year sometime to put together a short online course to help creative mamas to set up their own online business so watch this space!

Busy, creative yet fun times ahead! Wishing you and all your families peace and love for 2014.

Hatti Burt

Find out more about my story here >>

Part of genevieves interview to go here......

Genevieve Simperingham lives with her husband Dan, son, 16 & daughter, 11, in Whangarei, New Zealand. Genevieve & Dan both run the Peaceful Parent Institute together, a heart based parenting centre, which aims to help parents keep fully connected with their children. They do this through coaching, holistic councelling, workshops, talks, many helpful articles on their website and also through their Facebook page.

The way of the peaceful parent - and how she makes it work!

Three words to describe how you feel about your lifestyle?

blessed. enriched. satisfying.

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Listen to the full interview with Genevieve plus her top tips on Peaceful Parenting here >>

On early childhood...It’s always been really important to me that my children are only little for such a little amount of time... and I feel like I have been quite lucky to have that perpective from the beginning.

On working around family...I remember running my first weekend residential workshop when my son was 6 months old, but he was there with us, and luckily people were just really lovely about it...Even though I do end up doing a lot of computer work when the kids are around, we have a family rule, wherby we never turn the computer on in the morning time until they go to school.

On Home education...I did two years homeschooling my son, which was a very, very rich journey for me as a parent to take that responsibility for my kids education and I think it really set us up as a family to view education in a much broader way... I didn’t know how to pull that

off as once again I needed to keep earning, and wanted to go to play centre with my daughter and so to be able to achieve all of that I employed an au pair. A lovely lady came over from denmark and lived with us and I taught her all about peaceful parenting...

On following your passions...If you have very strong passions there is a lot of value in being able to pursue that....My children have always reflected to me that they are so proud of me for the work that I do. Yeh, they just spontaneously say “Mum you just make such a difference, your just teaching all these parents how to be kind to their children’...Do some soul searching to find the work that you can do that really feeds you. We give so much energy to our children and the family, if we are working at the same time, and that work is going to be soul destroying then it will just be too hard...If it then enriches you, it will also enrich your family as a whole and comes back to modelling following your heart to your children.

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Diary of an online mumpreneur

I normally hate New Year’s resolutions. They are typically things that are unattainable for me, such as losing weight ( what can I say, I like pasta ) or waking up at 5AM. It never works and it usually makes me feel bad for the rest of the year as I had failed to appropriately meet my target goal.

2013 however was a great year for our family. Despite ups and downs and an international move (then another), we made progress in every aspect of our lives. We became closer. Our business grew and more consulting opportunities arose. My once anxiety stricken self began to feel calm and confident. I enrolled in courses I had been eyeing for some time and felt uplifted.

When Christmas came and passed, my 2014 goal organically came to mind: simplify. After reflecting on what I would really like to change in our home and in my life and business, I realized that I didn’t need to add to anything. We didn’t need more homeschooling supplies, clothes, toys etc. We needed to fully appreciate what we already had. Books were collecting dust on

the shelves and had never been read, and toys were ignored in Kaya’s drawers. My inbox was a disaster ( still is! ) and I still can’t find any files I am looking for, even when I have pinned them to Pinterest in hopes of retrieving them when they were needed. No idea where I pinned them....

Our home contains many boxes of memories from when my Father was alive and from my childhood, plus all the things our family has acquired over the years. I am ashamed of how much stuff we have and how untidy our house is. I don’t have any intention of becoming an extreme minimalist, but I now realize the benefit of living with less. I am a collector at heart, as well as an absent minded professor when it comes to misplacing things and having books strewn all over the place. There is no changing that! But I know for a fact we have many things in our lives that are no longer needed and perhaps some could be of benefit to others.

Why is it so hard for some of us to simplify our lives? Why have we accumulated so much stuff? It has a lot to do with our dependance

Simplify: Our Motto for 2014Written by EK Bradley

on consumption and our marketing heavy world. I firmly believe however that this year specifically will mark a turning point in the lives of many people. This will be a year of appreciation for the important moments and downsizing of that which has no more use. One can already see a huge increase in interest in tiny homes and alternative, smaller than usual forms of housing. Paper items are being eliminated as books are replaced with ebooks. Why buy a DVD when you can download it? Why buy a CD instead of an MP3?

I also predict this year that there will be a growing interest in what some call collaborative consumption. An example would be a powerdrill. Family X owns one

and never uses it, and family Y rents it from them instead of buying there own. It’s a win win situation, and it is on the rise; from Air B and B to carpooling, people are sharing more than ever. It saves money and space! It empowers communities and builds connections.

We have already begun sorting through our clothes, books, CDs, and God know how much other stuff for what we want to give away or toss. Several black bags are outside my door, waiting for us to take them somewhere to be donated. I feel great doing this! And so does my slightly cleaner house.

www.ekbradley.net / The Bradleys blog

Lifestyle and philosophy We love spending time all 4 together, not going out much, just enjoying the time we have. We have no or very little family in Scotland but the kids enjoy talking with grannies and grandpas on Skype, either in Canada or in France.

home business I am a working at home mummy, I do custom crochet hats, mostly, I sometimes do bigger pieces when the times are quieter. I run the Facebook page Tetachapo (which in French would mean someone that wears hats beautifully, that has a head for hats!).

making it work around familyZach is a very demanding little boy so most of the work is done during the evenings or week-ends when daddy is there to look after the kiddies. We are very lucky because Alexis is able to work 10 hours a day for 4 days since Clémentine was born, so we can enjoy 3 day week-ends.

Our inspirationI started crochet 4 years ago, a colleague taught me the base between 2 calls in a call center! Then I looked into Youtube tutorials and started making baby clothes when I learned we were having a baby ;) Then

French Canadian Cathy Dutrieux, 30, her French husband Alexis, 32 and their 2 little ones, Clémentine, 3 and cheeky monkey Zachariah, 10 months, live in Greenock, Center Scotland. Cathy runs her crochet business, Tetachapo, from home around her family life.

Our Story

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family and friends started to comment on the pictures I posted on Facebook proposing I’d sell them, especially the hats. Tetachapo was born. Started with only friends and family as likers, but had a big demand from end of August this year. I did a big Giveway for the 500 likes not long ago. I was very proud to count so many people that like what I do!

education optionsClémentine started nursery in August. We are a French speaking family at home so I was a bit worried she would have difficulties to make friends and express herself but it all went very well. She made friends very quickly, enjoys the activities and her english

has improved so much we are very proud parents. She even “reprimands” us when we sing Hey diddle diddle and don’t pronounce moon and spoon with the Scottish accent.

ADVICE TO OTHER PARENTS Believe in what you do and try to stay original. I’m only starting so I can’t give big pieces of advice but keep track of “ins and outs” to be able to fill the self-employed tax report in April !!!

What is your favourite family acitvity?A simple walk on the beach or in the woods is what we love most. We love babywearing Zach

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so we can go wherever we like without having to worry if a buggy can go or not go there !Zachariah hates car rides which is a shame as we loved going in the Highlands for long car rides, we’re patiently waiting for him to grow and hopefully enjoying it a bit more ;)

3 words to describe how you feel about your lifestyle?

BlessedFamilySimple

You can find out more about Cathy’s crochet business Tetchapo and view more of her fabulous creations on facebook >>

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Wow, it’s 2014. Our new calendar hangs on the refrigerator, clean, unmarked, and ready to record the upcoming details of our lives. Appointments, vacations, classes, games, meetings, play dates, and who knows what else? I guess we’ll find out.A new calendar tells me it’s time for new resolutions. For 30-plus years, I’ve made resolution after resolution. “This year I resolve to lose 10 pounds.” “This year I am starting my own business.” “This year I will put my pictures in a scrapbook for my kids.” “This year I will exercise more and eat less.” Each year, I begin invigorated, ready, actually believing in my coming success. Same with my husband and kids. By February or March, our calendar shows little or no sign that our resolutions are still alive. Then I go through feelings of failure, disappointment and discouragement. So I’m doing it differently this year. This year I’m making one resolution, a resolution of a different nature. This one resolution encompasses all the others. It allows for opportunities and limitless experiences. I’ve

New Year, New Kind of Resolution

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decided to depart from the resolutions that don’t work and adopt one that will. Yes, I have chosen to bravely put those old resolutions aside and go against the mainstream for a resolution that allows me, my family and those around me to feel successful, loved and invigorated throughout the entire year.My 2014 resolution is this:

“This year I resolve to leap wholeheartedly into all I may become and give room to those in my life to do the same; supporting myself and them in the perpetual pursuit of becoming.”Now this may not seem like a courageous resolution to you, but to me it is. The words “all I may become” leave so much room for exploration, experiences and considerations. It takes immense courage to invite Life to show me ”all I may become.”I am using my resolution as a filter for making choices in my life, for what goes

what they loved was easily overlooked. There was so much going on, they couldn’t focus on the thing they most loved. When we pulled back and gave the kids time to consider what activities really invigorated and excited them, they were able to identify how they wanted to spend their time.It takes courage to be picky and choose things that allow the becoming to happen. Sometimes the choice made turns out to be a dud, yet that is still part of the becoming process. The choice might not always be the easy path or the most socially accepted. It takes immense courage to try new things, to explore and to expand your comfort zone. My 2014 New Year’s resolution is a win-win. I can’t lose. It inspires and encourages me that I am becoming all that I am meant to become, and every experience I have helps me become that person.What you are today, and what your children are today, is not what you will all be one year, three years or five years from now. We are all in a state of becoming. “What I may become” indicates choice and mystery. I may become all kinds of things. Courage

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onto my calendar, and how I fill my days. I am stretching my comfort zone by making conscious choices and saying “YES” to opportunities. For example, if there’s a choice to be made, like going to the gym or catching up on my favorite TV shows, my resolution helps me sort. All I need to do is ask myself this question, “Which activity will help me become all I am to become?” When put in that way the choice becomes pretty clear. Going to the gym becomes easier because it will allows me to be in better shape, to remain healthy so that I can participate in activities of my choosing.In addition to becoming all I am to become, I want those around me to become all they are to become. I want to do everything in my power to support and encourage them to explore, expand and learn about themselves. I want to empower my children to find their passion, but this can be tricky because kids and families are notoriously overscheduled, running from activity to activity, all in the pursuit of finding that one thing that will make them happy. Our family knows this trap. What we learned is that when our kids were overbooked,

will lead me to them. Being courageous enough to make choices that will enable us to become all that we are meant to be takes a conscious effort. This year, I invite you to consider creating a new kind of resolution. Choose one that open doors and welcomes limitless opportunities and encounters. I invite you to join me in dropping the perceived failures we beat ourselves up with and pick up the courage to see ourselves as successful becomers. I invite you to explore the unexplored, stretch your comfort zones, and leap wholeheartedly into all you may become.Our calendars will reveal the results.

Written by Jody Temple-WhiteCheck out Jody’s blog TheCourageVibe.comor follow her on facebook & Twitter

Illustration by Laura Bevan at lambandfox.com

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Four a.m. feed

Beyond the windowApple boughs sigh, frame a moonCircled in ice. Frostwhitens a pond, but here allis warmth, a cocoon of peace.

By Pauline Kirk

First published in Musings on Mothering (Mother’s Milk Books, 2012)

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by Marija Smitsmarijasmits.wordpress.com

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Three words to describe how you feel about your lifestyle?

Love, Peace, Creativity.

lifestyle and philosophy Our lifestyle is very nature based, we love to be outside walking, playing on the beach or off on an adventure somewhere. Before our son was born Jed and I spent 14 months backpacking around Asia, Oceania and Africa, and we still get itchy feet frequently. We will be heading off on our first long trip as a family of three in January, to backpack around Costa Rica.

home business I work from home whilst caring for my son full time. I childmind a few days per week which has enabled me to earn money in a fulfilling job, whilst my son makes new friends, and this works really well for both of us. I am also an author and run a website (www.loveparenting.org) which focuses on Attachment and Continuum parenting. I prefer to write with a good old fashioned

pen and paper and can often be found sprawling on the bedroom floor scribbling down articles or a chapter of a book, or out in the garden on the decking, writing manically while my son waters the plants. I find that when I schedule time to write, all my creativity and ideas suddenly disappear, and much prefer to write spontaneously - sometimes at three a.m. when inspiration strikes! I try to avoid the computer as much as possible while I’m with my son, so I type up and edit all my writing in the evening once my husband gets in from work. In the style of parenting that we do, I believe in role modeling for my son the work we as adults do. He understands that I write and that my work is important, and I feel that he gets a lot out of observing me doing it.

Our inspirationI always had an urge to write, but never knew what to write about. After my son was

Sam Vickery, 28, Jed Vickery, 33 and Little Cat, 2, live in Hampshire, England. Sam childminds and is also an author and runs her website LoveParenting.org

Our Story

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born I spent a year just relearning everything I thought I knew about raising children. I read vicariously and realised that my passion was parenting. Not just parenting, but parenting as nature intended, with respect and acceptance for my sons needs. I started trying to find groups or websites that shared my own philosophies, and though I found some, none had exactly the same ideas as my own. I had so much I wanted to share, so I started Love Parenting. I found that once I put pen to paper, I just couldn’t stop. The more I wrote, the more inspired I felt and it wasn’t long before I wrote my first book, Trust Me, I’m A Toddler. I believe that time is what so many people lack, and it was this unpressurised time, the gift of maternity leave, that allowed me to explore what I really enjoyed, to try things and make mistakes, and to finally land on something I was truly passionate about.

education optionsWe believe in learning through real life experiences, and we want our son to have the same opportunities to find and follow his passions. We intend to continue as we are, in what we describe as Waldorf inspired unschooling. Nature, limited screen time, hands on learning, along with interesting and active role models are all an important part of our approach. We feel that the best place for him to be is with us, whether at home, or travelling the globe, and that he

will learn far more this way than inside the walls of a classroom.

ADVICE TO OTHER PARENTS The best piece of advice I have for other parents working from home is to make a daily to do list along with a long term to do list. Having one or two things that I absolutely must get done each day, and making the list achievable to complete in the time I have, enables me to stay focused on the present and work more quickly. I find that when my list is too long and I have no idea what to start with, I waste time procrastinating and end up doing very little. When I have a mini list, it is far easier to get things crossed off and feel that I have accomplished something, leaving me more time to spend with my family.

Favourite family activityWe love to get out in nature on a family hike. I feel my happiest in the woodlands, with my husband by my side and our son running through golden leaves, but really anywhere away from the city, with fresh air and birdsong is our family’s happy place!

Find out more about what Sam does at LoveParenting.org or find her on Facebook>>

www.themothermagazine.co.uk TM62 Jan/Feb 2014 1

THE MOTHER

Sustainable ParentingLunch-box Ideas

Natural-birth StoriesToxic Childhood

The Sacred FeminineWholefoods on a Budget

Adoptive Breastfeeding

Jan/Feb 2014Issue 62£4.50 UK

For dads, too!www.themothermagazine.co.uk

Ten ways to build your

immune system

The Mother is an international natural parenting magazine

Fertility awareness, conscious conception, peaceful pregnancy, sacred birth, full term breastfeeding, natural immunity and attachment parenting. Find out more at...

www.themothermagazine.co.uk

Peaceful Parenting is something many of us aspire to. There are many useful and insightful resources available helping us to relate more peacefully with our children, yet it is important to remember that peaceful parenting begins with peaceful parents. We cannot relate peacefully to our children if we ourselves are not in touch with our own state of inner peace.

Being ‘at peace’ means living in a way which is real and authentic and true to ourselves, then we are literally ‘at peace’ with ourselves. Peaceful parenting should not be about presenting an image of calm and peace whilst we shy away from our stormy feelings. Living and parenting peacefully means truly knowing ourselves and our children and relating in a way which means every person’s needs and feelings are recognised and validated. We are able to live and be peaceful when we are true to ourselves and our children, and are free from inner conflicts and suppressed emotion. Peace is a way of being, not something we do.

Peace in Parenting

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Clare is an inspirational yoga teacher specialising in pregnancy yoga where she encourages women to explore yoga to support themselves through pregnancy and in preparation for birth and motherhood. Clare is the mother of three homeschooled children and co-founder of Beautiful Beginnings Playgroup in Cumbria.

Read Clare’s Blog The Essence of Yoga >>

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Getting to Know Our Peace WithinWe do not need to ‘create’ peace. Peace is a natural state which exists within all of us, indeed it is the naturally intended state for a human being the majority of the time. However what we do need to create, especially in our busy lifestyles, are the conditions for us to be still and quiet enough to actually connect with and experience this state of inner peace.

It is by connecting with our inner state of peace that we can then bring such peace and calm out into our relationships, parenting and daily activities. By beginning our day connecting to our inner reservoir of peace and calm, we start the day on a good note. It is then much easier to reconnect with our inner peace throughout the day simply by remembering to do so, and bringing this energy into all of our interactions.

Connecting with our Inner PeaceWhilst a place of peace exists within all of us, it can be hidden or clouded by our activities, thoughts and feelings. By dedicating a little time each day to connect inwards, we can navigate through our mind and emotions to a place beyond where we can simply ‘be’. Be with our inner peace.

In essence this is what yoga is all about; stilling the mind and body, drawing our awareness inwards, then through concentration followed by meditation we connect with our true essence, which is, of course, a blissful experience of peace and oneness with all that is. No small order then, yet step by step this experience is accessible to each and every one of us, and as always, our breath is our guide.

One. Dedicate a time each day for connecting with your inner peace, I find early in the morning before any children are awake works best for me. You don’t even need to sit up or get out of bed if this will

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awaken milky co-sleepers!Two. Begin with your body, observe how your physical body feels from head to toe.Three. Next look at your mind. Observe your thoughts, worries and plans. Try not to get involved with thinking about things, just see what is going on there. Observe.Four. Take your attention on to your emotions by observing your heart. What are you feeling? Simply observe, try not to start analysing!Five. Now simply move your attention on to your breathing. Feel the cool air flow into your nostrils and feel your body expanding. Lying with your hands on your belly helps this. Simply watch the flow of your breath, follow the breath in and the breath out. Six. If you like you can quietly think the work PEACE with each breath. The practice is about experiencing an inner quietness though, so no need for a strong mental focus. Let go and simply BE. Seven. Stay with your inner experience as long as you are able. Then consciously take this energy of connection and well-being with you into your day. Re-connect within as and when you remember. Simply take

some long breaths and follow the flow of the breath.

It does work well to do this practice in the morning, as generally the mind, body and emotions are a little more still and a little less cluttered than later in the day. It is easier to find your peace before you get busy and involved in the thoughts and tasks of the day.

Take Your Peace With YouPeace doesn’t have to just mean stillness, silence and meditation. Once you have connected with yourself in this simple way, you are able to let your inner experience of peace flow into all of your activities. When we learn to tame our chattering mind and turbulent emotions, we can be focused and fully present in everything we do. It is this awareness, being in the present moment, fully here, fully now, that we are at our strongest and our most peaceful.

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If you are not sure what this state looks like, imagine the feeling when you are totally immersed in something you love; anything creative, walking in nature, dancing, floating in the ocean. The essence is the totality of your absorption.

You may be in the most beautiful quiet place on earth, but if your mind is worrying and your emotions are raging you are far from peaceful. Children are also great examples of peace in action. Watch them as they play, run, explore, dance, collect pebbles and pinecones. They are totally enthralled in what they are doing, mind, body and heart dancing as one, peace in action, loving what they do (It happens sometimes doesn’t it!).

Remember, peaceful parenting begins with peaceful parents. Rekindle your connection with your inner reserves of peace and love, and nourish them often. They won’t let you down.

Peace begins within. Within us all. Cultivate your own inner experience of peace on a regular basis, then let these waves of peace and power flow out into your life, your relationships and your parenting. This gentle parents, is how you are changing the world, one peaceful breath at a time.

PEACE TO ALL, LIGHT TO ALL, LOVE TO ALL

Mixed Bean & Quinoa Chilli2 tsp cooking oil1 onion, finely chopped1 red or green pepper, chopped1 courgette, chopped1 tin chopped tomatoes1 tin mixed beans, rinsed1 tbsp tomato puree2 tsp cumin1/2 tsp all spicepinch cayenne pepper2 garlic cloves, crushed1 large cup quinoa, rinsed100ml veg stockOptionala handful chopped sundried tomatoes

In our house I like to make nutritious and mainly vegan meals although, as time is limited with managing a home business around being with my son full time, I love one pot, ‘chuck it all in’ sort of meals. This chilli is one of my favourites as it just takes a few staple vegetables and tinned foods with a twist of quinoa to add the perfect protein kick too.

H a r r i e t & G a r f i e l d ’ s

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One. Heat oil in a pan over a medium heat and add onions until lightly browned. Two. Add pepper, courgette, garlic, cumin, all spice and cayenne pepper and cook for a further 2-3 mins. Three. Add the mixed beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and if using sundried tomatoes and cook over medium heat for about 10 mins.Four. Add your cup of quinoa and stock and cook for about 15 mins or until the quinoa starts to separate. Add more stock if neccesary.Five. Serve with your choice of pitta bread, oilves, cheese, salad and other dips. Enjoy!(We had the The Food Doctor multiseed and cereal pittas and Bute Island Strong Cheddar style vegan cheese).

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F e e l G o o d F o o d

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Many people ask me, almost daily, how did you get the idea for running your own business, and how do you find the time? So, here is my little story. I started crafting because one day I just stopped in my tracks, put down the washing basket, left the washing-up half done, sat the littlies down to have a story, and thought – “I am exhausted”. And I was physically, but it was at that moment that I realised that I was not necessarily mentally, and creatively exhausted.

I am a mum of two young lovely, energetic girls – and suddenly realised that for 3 years or so I had not actually done anything for just “little ‘ole me” and although I had made many a playdough snowman or handprinted

A Piece of Peacepainting with the girls, I had not had the chance to use the creative part of my brain for, what felt like, ages. So as I toddled on with my day – doing what I do – looking after my littlies, I happened to glance at the back of the bedroom door of the nursery and the gorgeous stripey hand made, felted heart that my lovely friend made for us one year (that has been happily hanging there since we moved in), caught my eye. And I thought “I am going to make something out of felt”. So, the following week when I was in town, I popped into Oxfam and the other charity shops and I bought a couple of bright coloured jumpers, in 100% wool...and rushed them home to shove in the washing machine to felt and dry them, ready to chop up and try to make into something vaguely nice.

So, I started small. First, I made a phone cover, then made a couple of cushions and thought that I would chop up an old tweed

Written by Anna Dove

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jacket that I had hanging up and not worn for eons, and make a little corsage to pop on to my new makes to spruce them up a bit - and so it began. I loved it. I really enjoyed making things out of nothing, and with very little money, and very limited time and I knew that if I wanted to carry on making things then it had to be very, very cheap. I had been given a decopatch kit for Christmas the year before by my brother, and had an old string of beads hanging on my bedside table. So, I gave them a whirl, decopatched them up and they turned out rather well. I loved the way I had had to think about sourcing raw materials cheaply and sustainably. So, I wore the beads out and about, got lots of compliments and friends started to ask me to make things for them. And, so it began - Dotty Dove’s Designs. A peaceful, fun, play on my name (Anna Dove) with a creative slant. My very own, piece of peace. When crafting, making, thinking, planning, problem solving, and selling my

new creations it simply adds an extra layer to my life. I got that little bit of me back again, and whilst the littlies are napping or flat out at the end of yet another fun filled day, I get a chance to develop that creative part of my brain, and although I still have a lot to learn about business and crafting, I feel at peace and excited all at the same time - that piece of peace that I have at the end of the day ensures I go to bed at peace, feeling happily content and exhausted.

For a peek at my work pop over to facebookor dottydovesdesigns.com or drop me an email. if you have an enquiry or a commission you would like me to undertake contact me on dottydovesdesigns@gmail.com

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