Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Natural Dental Care

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

February 4, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 10 Comments

February is Dental Health Month!

I am so grateful that we receive regular dental checkups very affordably through the military.

It’s super important that we teach our kids about dental health.

Teeth are necessary for healthy digestion, and if we don’t take care of our mouths, it can lead to all sorts of other health issues.

We’ve had a great year with NO CAVITIES for our family of six. I’m happy to report that we’ve switched to all natural dental care and it’s made a huge difference.

{Have you ever read the ingredients on the back of your toothpaste or mouthwash?!}

How we maintain healthy teeth, gums, and mouths:

1. Regular Dental Care

We receive two checkups each year with X-rays, cleaning, and fluoride treatments through our insurance program.

We don’t agree with having fluoride in our water or oral care products, but twice a year, having our teeth “painted” while otherwise keeping fluoride out of our bodies otherwise is good for us.

Our kids have gone to dentists since they had their first teeth! This helps them not to be fearful.

Also, it’s really important to keep up with dental health while pregnant. My gums got very sensitive with all those hormones.

Teeth care is correlative to full body health.

 

2. Teaching Good Habits

We brush twice a day. We try to floss at least once a day.

When the kids are young, we supervise and help, modeling the proper way to brush and floss.

We learn about teeth and dental care in our homeschool and why it’s important to take care of even our baby teeth so we have strong, healthy adult teeth to last our whole lives.

Our kids know we value our health and they look forward to dentist visits to show off their healthy teeth.

3. Oil Pulling

Use a small spoonful of coconut oil or sesame oil with a few drops of essential oils (I like the Thieves blend). Swish for about 20 minutes. Spit (probably not in the sink since it will re-solidify and clog drains.) Rinse and brush as usual.

Keeps everything clean, bright, and healthy with lots of health benefits.

I don’t get cold sores in or around my mouth hardly ever anymore.

 

 4. Healthy Diet

We limit our family’s sugar intake. We make sure we eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of filtered water.

I like to provide lots of variety so our kids are exposed to lots of different flavors and textures. We work those muscles chewing and smiling!

We’re aiming for a chemical-free lifestyle, and what we ingest has to be all natural and good for us!

We’re teaching healthy habits.

Our usual snacks are fruit, cheese, nuts, yogurt, and granola.

5. What’s in Your Cabinet?

Have you read the labels on your commercial toothpaste? Why does it have a poison control warning if you put it in your mouth twice a day? Why are there unnecessary chemicals, additives, and dyes? Do you know what all those words mean?

We use natural toothpaste.

We make our own mouthwash.

We use baking soda and essential oils (I like Thieves, Peppermint, and Citrus) for quick stain and tartar removal.

For really tough stains, we use activated charcoal or turmeric!

We don’t have fluoride in our natural toothpaste or added to our water, so we don’t have to worry about ingesting it and developing health problems from too much.

How do you teach your children to take good care of their teeth?

Do you have any healthy tips to share?

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Filed Under: Natural Living Tagged With: dental health, February, natural health

Should I Label My Children?

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December 8, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 4 Comments

I’m sure my kids would be inundated with all sorts of labels if they attended public school.

The one month my eldest attended third grade was a nightmare.

Schools need to place students inside convenient little boxes.

Almost everyone I know has one or more children with some disorder or another.

Is it real or imagined?

There is such competition for children to excel with schoolwork and test scores that parents are medicating kids to perform well – like little racehorses on steroids.

A diagnosis of ADHD brings so many benefits in the school system. Kids with ADHD are entitled to special classes and extra time on tests – even the SAT and ACT and college entrance exams. The schools have an invested interest in diagnosing kids with disorders and/or special needs to receive more tax funding. Teachers want quiet and compliant kids who stay silently in their seats.

Homeschooling allows me the freedom to teach each of my children however it best suits us. Each of my four children are individuals with needs that require much care and time on my part.

We all have strengths and weaknesses.

We don’t all have a disorder, or do we?

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

A child’s identity should be based on their abilities rather than disabilities. And certainly not just on appearances or a list of symptoms that may vary with different circumstances.

This thread on Twitter is educational. I don’t want to be that abled mother who sees my kids as “less-than.”

I’ve seen mamas’ digital signatures in forums and whatnot, proudly displaying the whole “Wife to so-and-so, mother to 4 kids, 1 with {insert disorder acronym, spectrum tag, disability, whatever}”

Obviously, it’s informative and helpful for moms to find others to share and support each other.

But I think some mothers wear their kids’ disabilities and disorders like a badge of honor.

Some mothers seem proud they have such a burden in their kids’ disorders. They love the attention they get and the sympathy when they complain.

And I get eye rolls and tsk, tsk if I dare utter a complaint ever because my kids are neurotypical or even “above average.”

Who decides what is typical or divergent?

But what is normal?

Is mental illness the new norm?

I am all for people getting the services they need and deserve. There are more great therapies and medication to help people than there ever was before. Knowledge is power.

But where is the knowledge coming from? Is it correct? Who decides?

Movies and television programs deify psychology. The person with a psychology degree is considered a god. Social media encourages kids and teens to self-diagnose themselves.

It was worrying to think how labeling her like that, without a diagnosis or even a doctor’s appointment, could affect her for the rest of her life. Saying so nonchalantly that children have a psychological or neurological disorder as if they are hungry or cold is very serious. Not only does it belittle the severity and seriousness of those who truly suffer from these conditions, but it also labels children unfairly. When they hear a plotline repeated about their lives, they begin to associate themselves with these labels and draw identity conclusions from them. These narratives become their life story, and it is very hard to get our of them.

The Danish Way of Parenting

I know some parents with very real struggles with very real children with very real challenges. I am not discounting real diagnoses or real special needs or disabilities that are physical, biological, or psycho-social.

The issue with ADHD is that it has no biological markers. It is overdiagnosed in the USA.

Lots of kids don’t actually get a real medical diagnosis. You can’t just claim your kid has ADHD because he can’t sit still for hours or she daydreams sometimes instead of completing 60 algebra problems in an hour.

It’s so much easier to make our kids pop a pill than to teach them executive function or self-control or to learn it ourselves.

We are destroying children with our expectations.

In 1991, Congress included ADHD as a disability that falls under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). So the child’s family is entitled to disability benefits. It is more work for individual teachers completing IEPs for these kids. It is quite the conundrum.

Schools and the expectations for children is often a big part of the problem.

Since when is being a child an illness?

There should be comprehensive tests to diagnose disorders and syndromes (and physical issues as well). It should take more than 20 minutes and a little checklist of 6/15 symptoms for a doctor to determine a child has ADHD.

Online quizzes are dangerous. I look at those online medical quizzes and apparently I have every disorder, syndrome, disease, and illness known and unknown and will not live past next year.

Like astrology in which everyone relates to her horoscope, almost everyone who takes an ADHD quiz discovers she is “sick.”

Is this the new witchcraft?

So, without a battery of real medical tests that come back with a true medical diagnosis, don’t label kids to make up for a lack of relationship.

I think there is a vast overdiagnosis of American kids with ADHD and other psycho-social issues. We are medicating America.

It makes our society complacent and then no one is responsible for any behavior. They blame “The Disorder.”

Sure, lots of kids probably show signs of ADHD. It’s often a temporary thing that kids experience under stress. And we are surely a very stressed out society.

In America, the oddball is the mother with kids who have no labels.

Does everybody who is labeled with it actually have ADHD?

It’s way overdiagnosed in America. Fewer European kids are diagnosed or medicated for ADHD than American kids. They have a different lifestyle and priorities.

We monitor behavior in our family closely. We have a flexible schedule and structure. We stay close together to relate well.

A military pediatrician diagnosed my eldest as “OFF THE CHARTS ADHD” when she was seven. I just never fully agreed with it. Honestly? She was SEVEN. She was learning to cope with daily life with a new dad, two new sisters, a cross-country move, and beginning homeschooling. She had been abused by her birth father. Stress!

I don’t fear the ADHD label: I just think many kids diagnosed with it is unnecessary and imaginary. My little kids don’t even know these labels exist. They’re children. When they get rambunctious, I send them outside or we have a dance party. No one wants to sit still and quiet for hours.

 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

Deuteronomy 5:8-10

In John 5, Jesus asked the man at the pool: “Do you want to get well?”

“Many of us want freedom from pain, but we don’t always want the adversity that comes with spiritual wellness.”

Michelle Lazurek

I am not discounting real physiological illness that can be complex.

We weren’t always in a homeschool environment. As a classroom teacher, I saw all sorts of kids with very real family, medical, and personal problems.

My eldest attended day care and preschool until she was five. When she attended third grade (for a month), the school officials immediately labeled her. Many of her classmates were already labeled. It was a military (DoD) school and medical clinic. They certainly had an agenda.

I see many parents who reveled in their kids’ labels and hid behind them rather than do any real parenting. They’re winging it and perpetuating generational trauma. Many just don’t know any better. And just because a kid has real special needs doesn’t release a parent from setting some boundaries and education.

Many of my students acted differently with me than with other teachers. I treated them differently and tried not to listen to what others had to say about attitudes and behaviors. I gave those kids a chance to be themselves. I respected them. I listened.

I do know very real issues are out there, but I think some doctors and parents are too quick to smack an ADHD label and prescribe an addictive amphetamine rather than evaluate and learn the root of the problem. The doctors don’t have time to do a proper exam or listen to issues.

As a military family, there is little continuity in the medical field. We have new doctors frequently and records don’t get written up well, transferred timely, or read by new staff. We moved every 2-4 years and it’s just really hard to maintain a relationship with the medical staff.

There are many real reasons for the symptoms of ADHD that should be explored. Hormones, environmental causes, brain injury, dietary allergies, or emotional issues. This is not a biological illness as the drug companies and many doctors would have us believe. ADHD is usually a temporary psycho-social disorder that could be managed with therapy and addressing environmental and relational stresses. Drugs should be a last resort and only temporary. We don’t have many longitudinal studies about the effects of these drugs long-term.

The common drugs prescribed for ADHD: Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Quillivant, Methylin, Strattera – many highly addictive stimulants – are Schedule II controlled substances (the same category as Oxycontin).

Some help for brain (and physical) health for some people:

  • Vitamins: especially D, B complex, E, and other antioxidants.
  • Mineral supplements: magnesium, chromium, selenium
  • Cod liver oil. Everyone needs this to help maintain mental acuity.
  • Healthy real food diet. Start by limiting processed snacks and sweets and introducing more fruits and vegetables. Healthy fats and oils instead of trans fats. Be wary when eating out. Even if allergy tests return negative, don’t discount a sensitivity. Do an elimination diet to make sure!
  • Regular exercise. Get the whole family in the habit.
  • Outside time. Fresh air and sunshine works wonders.
  • Therapy. We need to overcome our triggers and generational trauma. We cannot continue to pass this along to our children.
  • Meds. Perhaps as temporary assistance while undergoing lifestyle changes and therapy.

If it takes two years to gain fifty pounds, it will take many months of hard work to lose weight. Too many Americans want instant gratification in the form of a miracle med that often exacerbates the issues with unwanted side effects. I know too many mothers who are exhausted due to a poor lifestyle during their childhood and youth. It often takes years, much time, and even money to get healthy again. It takes work.

Our lifestyles are a rat race trying to keep up when we really just need to slow down.

How is this affecting our children?

Instead of having a relationship with our children, we look to the screens as babysitters, food as drugs, and drugs as candy.

And we wonder why so many kids are asthmatic, obese, and inattentive? Some parents just aren’t the best role models. They don’t know any better. But kids learn by example. If we had poor role models, shouldn’t we educate ourselves so we can be better stewards of our bodies and teach our kids to be good stewards of their bodies? To leave a legacy of physical and mental health is important.

And I realize that receiving sufficient mental and physical health resources is a privilege many don’t have. It’s very expensive in the USA and there is a societal stigma that we are slowly removing, but kids, women, and people of color still have issues finding and receiving good medical care.

As kids get older, maybe we should ask them if they want the label. We should learn and help them understand the stigma so we can eliminate it in our society. We as an entire society need to shift and heal together.

What I’m NOT saying:

  • I’m NOT saying that everyone who has weight issues is lazy or a bad parent. Weight issues are quite real and are often hereditary and a sign of many other problems that can take generations to heal with help. Weight doesn’t always equal health. It’s often a struggle. But the medical community loves to only treat symptoms and not look for the reasons behind them. I realize our society has fatphobia.
  • Not every mom revels in her kids’ labels, disorders, special needs. If a child has a real medical illness, physical disabilities, mental disorders, or special needs, then by all means, doctors, specialists, medical professionals, and recommended services should be used. Use discretion. Just don’t make excuses or use bandaids.
  • All home and school environments are unique. I have experienced public, private, all levels, homeschool, co-ops…and I have seen all sorts of parents, kids, teachers, and administrators who did and did not serve children well. Learn to recognize toxic and abusive environments and avoid them.

The symptoms of ADHD do exist, but many of the symptoms can be explained by other medical or mental diagnoses.

Helpful: Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale for ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Even if and when kids are correctly diagnosed with a medical disability, disorder, or disease, they are more than a label.

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: ADHD, mental health, natural health, parenting

Natural Remedies for Urinary Health

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

April 3, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Urinary health is important.

My aunt died of bladder cancer. My mom suffers from many UTIs and it worries me that she seems to be constantly on antibiotics for it.

I’ve had UTIs several times throughout my life and they are so unpleasant.

I want to practice prevention and I want quick relief when I do suffer from any UTI symptoms.

Natural Remedies for Urinary Health

My top ten list for urinary health:

1. Baking Soda

Try a spoonful in a glass of water. It neutralizes the acidity in your body and urine. Not sure if lemon oil helps the taste or not.

2. Cranberries

These tart treats have anti-bacterial properties. Make sure you drink no-added-sugar instead of cocktail. Recommended 2-4 glasses a day if you have a UTI already.

3. Blueberries

An anti-bacterial superfood. Sprinkle these on yogurt or blend with cranberries for a great juice or smoothie!

4. Pineapple

Contains bromelain. It’s thought to have anti-inflammatory effects.

5. Water

Stay hydrated! Drink more to flush out your system if you have a UTI. Also, adding salt tablets or drinking a fitness drink helps get the hydration where it needs to go.

Warm water in an old-fashioned water bottle on your lower tummy helps to ease discomfort of the UTI.

6. Vitamin C

Keeps the bladder healthy by acidifying the urine so no bacteria can grow. A great general antioxidant.

7. Cotton underwear.

Fresher and dryer. And maybe opt for skirts or looser pants and leave the skinny jeans in the closet.

8. Stay clean.

Make sure you go after bathing or sex to ensure bacteria doesn’t stick around down there. Always wipe from front to back to make sure there’s no cross-contamination.

9. Limit caffeine and alcohol.

These irritate the bladder and dehydrate you.

10. Goldenseal

Maintains urinary health (possibly fights E.coli, a common UTI-causing bacteria.) A good antioxidant supplement.

And my friend shared this yummy Tabbouleh salad recipe that helps maintain urinary health:

1 box of plain couscous – prep as directed (can also use bulgur or quinoa)
1 c. Chopped tomatoes
1 c. Chopped cucumber
1/4 c. Chopped green onions (or red onions)
1/2 c. Chopped fresh parsley and/or cilantro (yum with some mint too!)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. really good olive oil
Sea salt to taste

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Filed Under: Health Tagged With: natural health, urinary health

10 Natural Remedies to Keep on Hand

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March 21, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Every natural remedies cabinet should be well-stocked.

I like to teach my kids how to practice self-care and be proactive about their health. We keep our cabinet well-stocked with natural remedies.

It’s frugal and smart to try to stay healthy year-round with good food, herbs, supplements, teas, and essential oils.

10 natural remedies:

Chamomile

The tea is good ingested and as a humidifier (Put a towel over a steaming bowl and inhale.)

Eucalyptus

Invigorating. Apply diluted oil to chest, back, feet or diffuse. Great as a shower soother.

Melaleuca

Apply diluted tea tree oil topically or diffuse.

Honey

Great to soothe sore throats and if you can get local product, the pollen could help with any seasonal discomfort. (Lemon is great with honey!)

Apple Cider Vinegar

ACV has so many amazing benefits. I take a shot every morning.

Raw Garlic

Will shock anything right on out of your system. (Take with ACV for extra oomph!)

Raw Onion

Place a slice on feet and cover with socks. Great for fevers and other ailments.

Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint trio

Apply 1 drop of each essential oil diluted with a carrier oil to base of the throat twice a day for allergies, congestion, or sinus irritation.

Inhale on palms or diffuse.

You could also get the fresh herbs and some lemon slices for tea or a cold drink with honey!

Lavender is calming. Lemon and Peppermint are invigorating. This trio smells fresh!

Meat Stock

Add a spoonful of ACV to chicken, turkey, or beef bones to get all the nutrients out. Cover with water. Add veggies like carrot, celery, tomato, aromatics like onions, ginger, garlic, and seasoning like peppercorns and salt and herbs. I often use a slow cooker overnight. Smells and tastes great. Soothing and warm. Freezes well.

Elderberry Syrup

I recommend buying at a health food store rather than foraging. We really like the gummies!

What would you add to this remedy list?

We take supplements and cod liver oil every day.

Make sure you eat well, get good sleep, and drink plenty of water to flush out your system and stay healthy!

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Filed Under: Natural Living Tagged With: natural health, natural living

Natural Remedies for Fever Blisters

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March 21, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Having a virus doesn’t mean you have to be miserable.

Natural remedies can help with the discomfort of fever blisters.

Essential Oils for Cold Sores

The Herpes virus often causes painful outbreaks of blisters when the virus is active, followed by latent periods.

Both the varicella zoster virus (chicken pox and shingles) and herpes simplex type 1 and 2 virus (causes both oral and genital discomfort) belong to the same viral subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae.

Valnet recommends a blend of lemon and geranium.

Tisserand suggests eucalyptus and bergamot.

Wabner says rose or melissa oil could lead to a complete remission of herpes simplex lesions.

Essential oils recommended that could affect symptoms of facial irritation:

  • Bergamot
  • Eucalyptus
  • Geranium
  • Myrrh
  • Peppermint (could relieve itching)
  • Helichrysum
  • Clove
  • Lavender
  • Rose
  • Melissa
  • Lemon
  • Roman Chamomile
  • Thieves blend
  • Ravensara
  • Sage
  • Rosemary
  • Melaleuca quinquenervia (Niaouli)
  • Sandalwood
  • Cypress

A lovely topical essential oil blend (diluted):

  • Geranium oil (8 drops)
  • Lemon oil (3 drops)
  • German Chamomile (6 drops)
  • Melaleuca (8 drops)
  • Lavender (5 drops)

Dietary supplements that might help:

  • L-Lysine (could retard growth of the virus) – check out these foods high in lysine
  • Zinc
  • Vitamin C
  • Cumin
  • Cayenne (capsaicin numbs pain)
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Filed Under: Natural Living Tagged With: natural health, skin care

Body Pain Remedies

This blog may contain affiliate links: disclosure. Please see my suggested resources.

March 10, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

I have friends and many acquaintances who suffer from Chronic Body Pain.

I don’t like it nor do I think it has to be that way.

Do you struggle with body pain?

Body Pain Remedy | https://www.jenniferalambert.com/

There are many pain remedies for different kinds. This particular remedy in the image above and the books listed below offer help, support, and solutions for chronic body pain issues.

Natural remedies that may help with pain management:

  • essential oils: Pine, Lavender, Fir, Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood, Peppermint, Wintergreen, Chamomile
  • staying hydrated
  • magnesium spray or supplements
  • exercising (I know! who feels like it when you hurt?)
  • eating well (we like eMeals for simple meal planning!)
  • sleeping well
  • balancing hormones (I recommend this book to help with any hormones issues)
  • know your pain triggers and how to prevent them (check out Diagnose Yourself)
  • chiropractic care

Typically, a whole lifestyle overhaul is needed to manage this kind of pain. I know we want instant relief! These remedies will help while your body heals itself.

 

I highly recommend this book for managing body pain:

Check out this lovely devotional 21 Days to Finding Purpose in the Pain by my friend, Stacy.


Check out Dr. Purser’s other books:

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22517298

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23196150

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7954745

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987714003077

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Homeschool Giveaway & Freebie Suggested Resources.COM for just $5.98 at NamecheapSucceed Academically.

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