I hope you have read the article before this and have though about doing some gardening with your children. If not, I hope you get inspired to do an activity that will let your children be outdoors exploring and enjoying nature. Children need vitamin D for healthy bone development, what a better way for them to get this essential nutrient than from sunlight while gardening?

Gardening for my family is being together, talking and hoping one of the plants will truly make it and surprise us with some fruit or vegetable. It’s not difficult to garden. It’s difficult to get great results when you have two children as your helpers.

A solution for you is to enlist the help of a fertilizer that will truly help and make your plants grow. I have used many of those commercially available ones at gardening and retail stores and have stopped after the first use. Have you ever read the labels? Do you want your kid smelling and most likely inhaling those fumes?

Great Big Plants is a company that produces a fertilizer that will meet your expectations. It’s an organic liquid fertilizer that has been packaged beautifully and works incredibly. The most important thing though, it’s the ease of mind that you will get when using it. My 11 year old can help my 3 year old pour the fertilizer into the watering can without us thinking they’ll get cancer or other illness because they’re smelling fumes that they should not have.

The greatest thing for everybody is that we DO get results. Indoor plants that were slowly but surely dying came back to life within days and had flowers and new sprouts as well. Plants outside have grown twice as much as before with great results. The product DOES work and it’s easy to use. No fumes to smell, no worries and no wasting your money buying other products that will generate no results.

For you organically conscious people, this product is certified organic by the state of Washington. Finally, an organic product that gives you great results.

Article Submitted By: Neo M.
]]> http://familylifestyledesign.com/gardening-with-kids-2-43.htm/feed http://familylifestyledesign.com/imf-music-festival-cleveland-42.htm http://familylifestyledesign.com/imf-music-festival-cleveland-42.htm#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:07:59 +0000 Freelance http://familylifestyledesign.com/imf-music-festival-cleveland-42.htm All over the world, there are in depth music institutes where kids can get advanced music opportunities, new experiences and interact with kids that are also serious about music.  The kids also get to meet adults that have chosen careers in music.

This year we decided to see what these music institutes are all about.  We attended the IMF Music Festival -  http://www.intmusfest.org.

It is important to remember that we are a dedicated Suzuki family, which means we take music seriously and our older daughter has been performing since she was 4 years old.  Suzuki is expensive though.  We pay for individual piano lessons and group music lessons.  We also pay for separate guitar and voice lessons.  So we kept putting off participating in the music festival as well because of the additional cost.

We will be listing the good and bad things we found with the music festival.  But the first question I want to answer is, will we do it again?  Yes.

Ultimately, there were the benefits that made it well worth the $400+ cost.

1. Our daughter got several chances to perform, including an honors program and playing with an orchestra.    These were priceless opportunities that gave her confidence and experience.
2. The talent show was anything goes, and our daughter played the guitar while our three year old danced.  It got a roar of applause and was a good experience for both.
3. Fencing – Yes, they had classes in other areas as well, and our daughter really enjoyed fencing.
4. Great support – Some of the faculty and teachers spoke very highly of Alexandra and gave her a lot of pointers and praise.  Some even said they would love to be her teacher if she ever moved to their area.
5. Variety – We saw flute, harp, Indian and Persian instruments and singing as well as the expected violin, viola, cello and piano.

Finally, it was the attitude shift.  After Alexandra saw other kids that were very talented as well, it motivated her to do more work and practice, because she wants to go back next year and be even better.

Was the International Music Festival good?  Yes.  Could it be better?  Yes.

Here are the things we were not crazy about.

1. Lots of things required additional expenses – We did not participate in anything that cost extra, and there were a lot of them.  This left us with long dead times where people were out doing things.  We ended up leaving early on the last day because we did not want to pay for 4 people to go on the Good Time Cruise or pay extra for the picnic.
2. Too much information – It was hard to figure out exactly what to do at times.  While there was a lot of published information, it was confusing at times and there was too much of it.  People that had come in years past clearly had a better idea of what was going on.
3. Cancellation of classes – because attendance was down, they canceled some of the classes, including the advanced piano class we signed up for.  We would have liked to substitute guitar, but that was canceled too.  The end result was less music instruction than we’d hoped for.
4. Long breaks for commuters – We live about 1 hour from the institute, so we drove every day.  However, we had a long break usually from 3:00 to 7:00 at night.  Not fun for us to waste so much time, especially with a three year old.  It seems better designed for those people staying close by in the hotel.

There were some other things from a marketing prospective I would change.  They seemed to ask for donations a lot, but did not give an envelope where people could donate later and drop it someplace.  I did not have cash or check with me, so I could not donate anything.  Also, they made it hard to pay for things with a credit card.  Supposedly, you could give Dr. Landers the credit card and he could process it, but no one seemed excited about that and I did not want to bother him, so we just did not pay for the extra trip we were considering going on.

Also, first time attendees did not seem to feel like they meshed well with the community.  I would have had people working specifically with the first year people to make sure they met more people and understood everything.  (They did a good job of answering questions, but more integration with the group would ensure more would return next year)

Lastly, I think there was a very noticeable amount of frustration on the part of the people running the event.  Attendance was down and the way it was mentioned several times along with the complaining we overheard several times made me concerned that they may not even survive next year.  I hope they do.  I also home they hire a business/event manager to help market and run the event.  The people that were there were great, but they are not event professionals and they did not seem to realize that they were performing even when standing in the hall and chatting.

So to summarize, I would recommend these kinds of festivals if you are serious about music and want your kids to be inspired.  If you are running these kinds of events, make things easier, make sure people connect more and remind every instructor and volunteer that it is a five day performance.

Summer is the perfect time to do activities with your children that otherwise you never have time to do during the school year.

Gardening with your children is not only beneficial in building character, but is a physical activity that they might enjoy as well. It gives them a sense of creating something, a sense of achievement that wasn’t difficult to attain.

Have you seen their faces when they’re picking that ripe tomato from the plant? Have you seen them smile when they are the first one to spot that red pepper? Gardening with your children can be a very rewarding experience for both of you, and could forge memories that may last a lifetime.

What a better way for them to learn about plants, their care and the problem of world hunger than when they are side by side gardening with you? A time that will help them form a stronger relationship with nature,you and the world around them

Be crazy…plant a garden and some memories at the same time.

Article Submitted By: Neo M.
]]> http://familylifestyledesign.com/gardening-and-kids-41.htm/feed http://familylifestyledesign.com/getting-kids-to-eat-salads-40.htm http://familylifestyledesign.com/getting-kids-to-eat-salads-40.htm#comments Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:29:40 +0000 Freelance http://familylifestyledesign.com/getting-kids-to-eat-salads-40.htm Getting kids to eat salads can be very difficult.

Getting adults to eat salads can be difficult as well.

The funny thing about salads is that it really is a habit you have to form. Forcing down spinach or broccoli once in a while can be challenging. If you eat it every day, I guarantee that at some point you will start missing it if you skip a day.

Here are some tips to getting kids to eat salads regularly.

1) Start with a salad before other things are on the table.

2) Give kids SMALL salad portions and praise them for eating it.

3) Serve a salad every day. Eventually they will just expect it and it will become a non-issue.

4) Make the kids salad out of mostly things they already like. We do a small amount of spinach with carrots and cucumbers.

That is it. Don’t give up quickly and your kids will be eating salads in no time.

Here is the list as of June 2008:

We joined in Cleveland, but you should be able to join at any of these zoos.

The kids have a great time and the workout we get from walking around the zoos is great.  If you need some adventure on the cheap, a zoo membership is the way to go.

You may think you have to work in a travel company or be a big shot, but I assure you that anyone can develop this kind of lifestyle.

In my case, I spoke at a conference.  I know enough about the web that non-technical people find my advice very valuable and will pay me to speak.  Since my family helps me with these articles about Family Lifestyle Design, I can take them along as we experiment in ways to live a more adventurous life.

Here are some ideas you could do to get paid to travel.

1. Put on a workshop
2. Put together a tour group.
3. Scout for clients for where you work.
4. Write articles.
5. Speak
6. Courier
7. Seasonal Job

If you are earning some money from the web and can have flexibility, there are a lot of ways to work from exotic locations.

 He wrote a post about creating a free lifestyle and about his upcoming trips to Fiji, Canada and Hawaii.

While it does not seem like he is taking his wife and thirteen children, it is still worth a read.  This lifestyle is possible for families that take a year off as well.  And if you get everyone writing, you can all work a little less and have a little more fun.

 Visit Virtual Buzz Assistant for the details.

You can open a Virtual Buzz Assistant business and work at home (or from a hotel anywhere) and enjoy the kind of like you have always wanted.

Why am I helping other people do that?   - Good question.

I travel the country speaking and training people on creating buzz.  The #1 request I get is for help creating buzz, even though we tell people they can do it themselves.

We would take on a few clients like this each year, but could not do many without hindering our goals of travel and education.

By forming the Virtual Buzz Assistant Network, I am able to help people be better Virtual Marketers and I can send clients directly to them when I get the opportunity.  Truly a win/win.

 Yes.  We took our daughter 1 day after her 3rd birthday to dance classes.  She’d been wanting them for months.

The first 45 minutes was great.  Unfortunately, we signed her up for 1 hour classes.

The end result is she refused to go back into the class after the first time.

Here are some tips to help your 3 year old adjust to dance class.

1. The first time through, sign them up for a 1/2 hour course.
2. Find a place that lets you sit in.  They may not always stay in class, but they will be assured that you are there.
3. Make sure the teacher has experience with that age of kids.
4. Find out what the refund policy is in advance.  If they only go to one class and you need to pull them for six months, at least you minimize your loss.
5. Take them to see live dance before they take classes.

And lastly, relax.  If they do not like it at 3, try again at 3 1/2.  That is what we will do.

I made this list from combining things from Dr. Phil and other health reading I have done.  Your list may not be the same, but all of these things are good for everyone to have regularly.  Tweak this list for yourself, but be sure to print it out and try to get every food in your diet every day.

• Vegetables - Not corn or potato
• Fiber - Pinto Beans, Black Beans or Lentils
• Green Leaf - Spinach or Callard Greens
• Healthy Nut Mix - Including almonds and walnuts - not peanuts.
• Asprin
• Fish (Salmon at least 3 times a week)
• Water
• Low Fat Milk
• Coffee
• Cooked Tomato
• Low Fat Yougurt
• Sunflower Seeds
• Red Wine - 2 times per week or more.

This is my personal list, but it works very well for me.  With the kids, we take out coffee, red wine, asprin and fish (vegetarian) and add things like flax seed, soy sauce, berries and bananas.

They key is to identify what you want in your diet and post a healthy checklist that everyone mentally checks every day.  This works like a charm and is a great way to support each other.