10 Myths about Stay-At-Home Moms and Dads

May 06, 2014 by Michele Cherie in American Culture, Home Management, Reflections on Parenting

I'm guilty of believing a few of these stay-at-home parent myths--at least, until I became a stay-at-home mama myself. Have you caught yourself believing any of these statements?

1. Their house is always clean. Sure, stay-at-home parents may have more time to clean, but their homes are in active use much of the day, meaning that no rooms stay clean for long.

2. They have lots of time to accomplish what they want. Modern parenting frequently involves reshuffling personal priorities below the needs of children, according to Jennifer Senior in her book All Fun and No Joy: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood (released in January 2014). Parenting certainly requires flexible priorities in light of family schedules and childhood illnesses.

Weathering the Tides of Family Life: Seasons Of Separation & Single Parenting

March 25, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Home Management, Reflections on Parenting, Contentment

I've heard this twice lately: to children, there is no such concept as quality time; instead, all they discern is time spent together or apart. Our family has been vacationing in central Oregon the past few days, and it's been renewing--not so much for the change of scenery, though the high desert beauty is arresting, but for the time spent en famille.

Living Without Dairy Products: A Healthier Diet

February 24, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Home Management, Cultural Reflections

I've always loved dairy products--I grew up eating cold cereal with cow's milk for breakfast and after-school snack, and if you had asked me in my preteen years to describe my ideal diet, my answer would have included a lot of Kraft macaroni and cheese. (I was an American child of the 80s, when processed foods were proliferating). But in my early twenties I started noticing that certain yogurts gave me gas, and after I got food poisoning in Hungary, I started experiencing brief but recurrent stomach pain. It took a miserable (but free) nasogastroscopie in France for me to understand that my stomach was fine, but it could no longer digest the dairy products I was putting into it.

Nonetheless, it wasn't until I read Alisa Marie Fleming's nutritional guide and cookbook, Go Dairy Free, that I realized that replacing dairy products with plant-based foods was probably one of the best nutritional actions I could take--and it was much easier than I had realized.

Living Without Advertising: How to Escape the Messages

February 07, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Home Management, Contentment

"I think maybe the key to eating healthy is not eating any food that has a TV commercial." --Chris Rock (parody Twitter account)

It's hard to imagine modern life without the constant exposure to advertising. How many phone books appear on our doorstep each year? How much of our daily mail consists of catalogs, credit offers, and coupons? We're used to the constant chatter, but it's more than a pesky annoyance. Advertising undermines our joy by suggesting that who we are and what we have is not enough. The more we're exposed to commercials, the more we're left with a nagging sense of dissatisfaction. If we have to be convinced that we need a product, we really don't.

Here are three simple steps to stop the flow of advertising into your home:

Making Crêpes on La Chandeleur or Valentine's Day

February 03, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Cultural Reflections, Teaching French, Home Management

In America, yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and Groundhog Day; In France, Belgium, and Switzerland, yesterday was La Chandeleur and people there ate crêpes for dinner and dessert. (In Mexico, they ate tamales.) La Chandeleur is a holiday that celebrates light and the dedication of the infant Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2 in the Bible) and it takes place forty days after Christmas--February 2nd. Crêpes' round shape and golden color are a reminder that spring sunshine is near.

If you've never made a crêpe, I'll show you how. We enjoy crêpes for breakfast at least once every two weeks! And they would be a lovely way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Living Intentionally in an Indulgent Culture: Notes From A Blue Bike

January 30, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Cultural Reflections, Home Management, Learning Resources, Reflections on Parenting

Have you ever returned from a trip with a desire to live differently? International travel in particular is a catalyst for life change. It provides a view of life rearranged, of priorities and resources altogether different from those at home.

I was blessed to be able to study and travel abroad frequently in my twenties. In Sri Lanka, I observed women sewing shirts priced higher than their annual salary. In Jordan, a family prepared me a meal so savory and generous that my stomach will never be so full again. In France, I grew accustomed to a life in balance, where Sundays for most families consisted of a noontime meal, a nap, leisure time outdoors, and a quality movie on national television.

Living Without Manufactured Beauty Products & Toiletries: How?

January 24, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Home Management

I am not a professional model nor a hippie, but I manage to go makeup-free and stick to a bare-bones personal care routine without becoming a eyesore. I stopped wearing makeup shortly after my daughter was born--I didn't want her eating my lipstick (as my little sister had), but mostly I wanted her to grow up believing that her natural beauty could shine just as well without makeup. And minus makeup, I soon discovered that I no longer needed facial cleanser or moisturizer. (I do feel that it's a kindness to others to be easy on the eyes, so I still use tinted lip balm and mascara more often than not.)

With that simplified personal care routine, I've had time enough to learn how to make make the few personal care products I still use:

Hug A Farmer, Share Their Bounty: Join a CSA This Year

January 22, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Reflections on Parenting, Home Management

Whether you'd like to be a more frugal foodie or if you'd simply prefer fewer trips to the grocery store, there's a solution that you'll love: find a local farm to support, and in return you can take home a weekly share of the harvest. My family joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program four years ago, and now we associate summer with delightful weekly visits to our farm. (It feels a bit like having a zoo membership, due to the animals we get to observe and feed!)

I'm so grateful that my children will grow up with memories of a family farm and an awareness of where their vegetables are grown (besides those from our small backyard garden). And how long would it have taken otherwise for my four-year old daughter to have discovered that she loves artichokes?