My Fuzzy Tarantula: Stories from a Sustainable Mom

When I was 20 I walked outside with my 2 year old niece. She screamed and ran back inside. Shocked I stood there looking into the empty street wondering what she saw that was so frightening. It turned out to be a bee. She learned from her mom who doesn't like bees.

This stuck in my head and I filed it away only to be pulled out over ten years later under the file ‘I don’t want my girls to be petrified of bees (or other insects).’

When my girls were one and three we would have scavenger hunts, looking for plastic insects (yes, plastic) I would hide around the yard - bees, ants, butterflies, spiders, etc. We would finding real ones too. I would put rolly pollys (sow bugs), worms, lightning bugs, whatever I could catch, in my hands for them to see, touch, and maybe hold too. I love nature and wildlife and I wanted my kids to appreciate nature too.

Bella holding a tarantula at the Field Museum

We played the scavenger hunt at least once a week. The following spring I took my family, including my 9 year old niece to Members Night at the Field Museum in Chicago. I always like the insect room because the beetle collection is as beautiful as it is diverse.

We walked in and the first part is live bugs. Among them there was a tarantula and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. I wanted my niece to touch the tarantula. I knew I had to do it first so she would feel it was no big deal. It worked. (Aunt pressure can be as persuasive as peer pressure).

When we moved up a bit I turned around and there was my preschooler (with her father), trying to snuggle with the ‘fuzzy’ tarantula, almost rubbing her face on it. Well, mission accomplished! I will never forget that night (even though I forgot the camera) because my little preschool girl did not see that big hairy tarantula as a scary monster. A few years later and I got a picture of her holding one.

The point is, if you want your kids to do something, sustainable or otherwise, it is best learned through modeling.

You can find more anecdotes and information on raising a sustainable child in Alexandra Gnoske's upcoming book: 'How to Raise a Sustainable Child' coming out soon. 

The Lazy Summer

It's been a rather lazy summer for me. Instead of signing up for dozens of events and focusing on work, I took the family to the Grand Canyon and that started a downward spiral of doing as little as possible and enjoying myself, my family, and my house.

When we were at the Grand Canyon there was no wifi and my phone died so I was totally disconnected for a week. No Face, no updates, no twitter, no texting. Instead we had camping, cooking outdoors, hiking, birdwatching, amazing vistas, and serious road tripping. It brought me back to a time that seems like forever ago, before children, before the pressure to work, make deadlines, pay bills. A time when I lived off little and enjoyed life at my own pace.

But who am I kidding? It is all about perspective. At each stage of life you find pressure - things that seem so overwhelming and important at that time, that later look so insignificant. (Remember that pimple just before your High School year book picture? Thought you were going to die!).

BALANCE
A challenge many parents face is finding that elusive balance. Isn't working or pursuing your business goals - isn't that for the good of the family? Isn't it for you? So when people say you need to take time for yourself, isn't going off to events, networking, speaking, etc. for you?

I'm not going to pretend I have the answer. But I've decided this is the lazy summer. I've been playing with my kids, 'working' in my garden (one of my greatest joys), riding my bike to work and ditching my car, reading the 'Harry Potter' series with my kids, taking Zumba and getting back to running, visiting friends and going on dates with my husband.

My 3 kids aren't in camp. I like them to get bored because that's where imagination blossoms (as well as learning to get along, having time to do chores, and I really don't like the pressure of driving them around to meet camp schedules). Right now they are working on a Littlest Pet Shop video. I don't know if they'll pull it off, but they are having fun setting it up and they are happily working together.

Here's to having a wonderful, lazy summer - as lazy as you can be, anyway!

World Read Aloud Day: Promoting Literacy throughout the World

Do you think there's a literacy problem in the United States? I didn't think so, until I got involved with LitWorld and their event World Read Aloud Day (WRAD). The statistics are surprising:

Illiteracy Statistics

• 42 million American adults can't read at all; 50 million are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth or fifth grader.
• The number of adults that are classified as functionally illiterate increases by about 2.25 million each year.
• 20 percent of high school seniors can be classified as being functionally illiterate at the time they graduate.

Source: National Right to Read Foundation

Where Illiteracy Leads

• 70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.
• 85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate.
• 43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.

Source: National Institute for Literacy

There are so many ways you can get involved, donate, help. You can find programs through LitWorld or find information on starting your own program. You can also participate in a nearby WRAD event. In Chicago there are 3 events happening on Wednesday, March 9th.

Nili Yelin is coordinating three WRAD events in Chicago:

10:30am at Psychobaby
1630 N Damen Ave
psychobaby.net
Family Read Aloud Event

4:00pm at Little Beans Cafe
1809 W Webster Ave
littlebeanscafe.com 
Family Read Aloud Event

7:30pm at Book Cellar
4736 N Lincoln Ave
bookcellarinc.com
Mom and Dad's Favorite Picture Books Event

You can also get involved locally at Open Books, a nonprofit social venture that operates an extraordinary bookstore, provides community programs, and mobilizes passionate volunteers to promote literacy in Chicago and beyond.

Alexandra Gnoske is the Author/Illustrator of "Loui Saves the Earth" and an Environmental Expert.

Chicago Green Festival

What are you doing this weekend? Hop a train, a bus, or hop on your bike and get down to Navy Pier for the biggest Green and environmentally friendly event of the year!

May 22 - 23 is Chicago's 4th annual Chicago Green Festival brought to you by Green America and Global Exchange featuring hundreds of local and regional green businesses, non-profits, and community groups who are making a difference for you and the planet!

There will also be dozens of expert speakers on many interesting and current topics, lots of free samples, and the fabulous food court where you can taste so many different healthy yet delicious things!

You can find RECYCLE ME and local Chicago author and illustrator Alexandra Gnoske of Loui Saves the Earth at the Sweet Spot Cafe in booth 1230 with BOT Bakery. BOT Bakery makes handcrafted Organic-Vegan-Gluten-Free, baked goods!

There so much to see, learn, and experience (for kids too - and kids always get in free), you should stay for the whole weekend!