Feed Play Love--Recap

Wow.......The Feed Play Love virtual conference was inspiring!  I am so grateful to Kiva Leatherman of the Wise Woman Network and Donna Ashton of the Waldorf Connection for putting this incredible conference together.  I am still in shock that the entire event was FREE!!  It was jam packed with three weeks of amazing speakers who have truly changed the way I think about parenting.  I so enjoyed the quiet evenings of folding laundry, sipping wine and listening to all they had to say.  I learned so much and S has also really enjoyed all that I have shared with him thus far.  I cannot say enough good things about it.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Kiva and Donna!!

For those who missed it, you can buy the entire conference on MP3's by visiting their website or you can read my recap and do your own research on these wonderful speakers :)  I did not buy the MP3's but I took lots of notes, signed up for emails on many of their blogs and websites and even bought a few of their books :)

So here is my recap of my favorite speakers at the conference.   They were all great but these 5 have truly inspired me to be a better mother, wife and person.  They were just incredible!  You might be surprised to see that I did not include my hero, Kim John Payne on this list.  Though I did enjoy listening to him and found him very humerous, his topic of reducing media in the home is not the reason I worship the man.  He is still my hero and not to worry, the shrine I have created for him is still intact ;)  So here are my top 5 :)

Week 1--Feed 

Impacting Behavior through Nutrition – a Natural Approach to Wellness--Dr. Michael Gaeta    
        Dr. Gaeta focuses his work on natual health and accupuncture.  This session was all about simplifying our children's diet and he talked about the importance of whole foods, removing processed foods, simplifying choices, cutting back on sugars and consuming raw dairy products.  You can go to his website and if you click on the radio microphone on the top right corner, you can find all the archives of his past radio shows.  There are so many topics and lots of them about eating whole foods (he even has a few shows with my hero, Kim John Payne!).  
          
Week 2--PLAY

Boys Alive!: Bring Out Their Best---Janet Allison 

       This session opened my eyes and has helped me to better understand and relate to both my son and husband.  I bought Janet Allison's book and can't wait for it to arrive.  She spoke about how men (especially boys) take much longer to process information than women and how important it is to simplify our language and give them adequate processing time.  She had so many tips and suggestions of ways to deal with our young boys to help them be successful, strong and caring men.  

 

 Week 3--Love

 

Supporting Our Child's Natural Gifts--Daria Boisssanas

     Daria Boissanas is a healer and she spoke about the 7 principals of Awakening (all are listed on her website).  The thing that most struck me about this session was what she said about everyone having a gift to share with the world.  Our gift may be a skill, talent or something much more subtle but it is up to us to help our children (and ourselves) find their gifts and help them to figure out ways to share it with others.  She is far more eloquent than I and I encourage you to go to her website and read more.   This was a very powerful session for me.

 

Raising Happiness: Fulfilling the Promise of a Happy Childhood--Christine Carter
       Dr. Christine Carter is a sociologist at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center.  This session was AMAZING and inspired me to buy her book (all based on science!!).  The session was about the power of gratitude, empathy and raising happy children.  She had some wonderful tips and suggestions for "happiness habits" that can be easily incorporated into your own daily routines.  These habits of gratitude help us all live a more fufiling and happy life.  I have started her book on my kindle and love it so far!

 

Complaint Free Kids--Will Bowen

       This session really hit home for me and I have already started to make change and bought the book.  Mr. Bowen said that the average person complains 20-30 times a day!!!  He encourages people to wear a rubber band on their hand and everytime they catch themselves complaining, switch it to the other side. The goal is to have 21 complaint free days in a row and this takes about 8-10 months.  I have yet to make it through one day :(  Mr. Bowen talked about the fact that nothing good can come of complaining and it is up to us to teach our children and model for them a more positive way of thinking and speaking.  One quote from Mr. Bowen that I loved was, "You want the world to be a better place? It starts with your interactions with your child".