Well, as you can see, having baby #3 has taken up any extra time I had to really sit down and write a current newsletter, but just before the end of the year hits, I wanted to touch base with everyone….and share. The end of the year reminds us about who we love, who we are thankful for and with the state of the economy, many people will finally stop buying everything in sight and instead of spending money, will start spending more time with family and friends. Really, in the end – who remembers the Christmas presents? I remember lunch with Grandma. I remember a laugh over a good pasta dinner with an old friend. I remember why I married my husband, because sometimes we do forget. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, our life of details seems to over power our memory of WHY. Now is your time to remember WHY you love your friends, your family, and even find something positive about those neighbors of yours. Good luck. 
– Dr. Jen
A COMPLAINT FREE WORLD
While I wanted to save this for January, I think we all could use some practice on this one before attempting it for a New Year’s resolution. A wonderful patient of mine never has anything bad to say (at least to me) and she really never complains. She simply states what her body feels like – as to inform me – but no complaining, no gossipping – nothing. It’s very refreshing. Try this. Can you make it an entire 24 hours? Try being part of a complaint free world.
CHRISTMAS IDEAS
MASSAGE: Giving the gift of health is always my favorite thing. I like when my mom gets me massage gift certificates, rather than something I need to dust – but that’s the minimalist in me. I like the time to take off all of my responsibility hats and get someone to take care of ME – even if it’s just for an hour every so often.
SUPPLEMENTS: Depending on how my friends choose to take care of themselves, I like to give gift certificates for supplements or just mail them a basket of supplements they most often use. It may not be as yummy as a Harry and David basket, but it’ll last a lot longer and won’t add any extra pounds at the holidays.
EXERCISE: How do you give the gift of exercise? You could write a check and in the memo section write: toward your gym membership. (Make sure they have a gym membership already or want one.) Gift certificates for yoga or pilates classes or personal training sessions. A treadmill. A new bike. The possibilities are endless.
NUTRITION: Organic produce is always a great choice. South Coast Farms is my favorite local place to buy gift certificates for people. I figure if my family or friends don’t use it, then the money goes to a family-owned farm, rather than a large corporation.
BOOKS: I love giving books….especially to kids. My kids are bookworms. Michael and Nicholas love to read books and Anna loves to eat them. LOL Michael will sit down and read Nicholas a book. I love those moments. I feel that there are too many televisions in our homes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-television, but I think the kids are watching too much and too many age-INappropriate things. It stiffles their imaginations….so I love books, which brings me to my next idea…
BUY ONLINE: Save yourself the time and money from driving all over and standing in line this holiday. I love shopping online, when I can. The gifts arrive on time and wrapped, which leaves me HOURS of extra time to play with my kids.
RECYCLED ITEMS: Ok, so I never really considered myself a crunchy granola-type person. (I’m sure some of you have.) I do recycle in the office and at my home, but I never considered buying used clothing, etc for my children. A friend introduced me to Children’s Orchard and many of their things have never been used or are lightly used. I have found near-new things for my kids for a fraction of the price if it had been new. I even gave a gift card to a little girl for her birthday, when her mom asked for used items if a gift was to be given.
BAD GIFTS: I’d like to say that there are no bad gifts, but there are bad gifts – or maybe gifts that are INappropriate for the recepient for that occasion. Here’s a little humor about bad gifts…DOG HOUSE
ANIMALS ARE SMARTER THAN HUMANS WHEN IT COMES TO FEEDING THEIR CHILDREN
Humans are the only species on the planet who actually go out of their way to feed their children crap. All other animals instinctly seek out the best nutrition they can find. Birds find grubs, worms and insects to feed their young, honeybees painstakingly collect pollen and create a nutrient-rich superfood that gives rise to a living queen bee, and even dogs, cats and cows try to find the most nutrient-rich foods to offer their offspring.
But humans? Most of them “reward” their children with junk food, sugary sodas, candy laced with petrochemical coloring additives and refined sugars that promote obesity and diabetes. Most parents don’t even make any real effort to follow nutritional discipline at home — they simply buy whatever their children saw advertised on television, caving in to the all-powerful “nag factor” that junk food companies fully exploit when marketing to children….. click here to read more.
