How to Raise a Happy, Healthy Teenager

September 6, 2013 · 34 Comments

How to Raise a Happy, Healthy Teenager

So, you thought the terrible twos were bad huh? Welcome to the teenage years.

I have two gorgeous children, my boy is now 19 and my girl 16 (had to update that!)

So far, the teenager thing is a little challenging but not too bad! I certainly don’t have all the answers but I wanted to share my tips on what is working for us. I would love you to share your tips too, so please add them as a comment.

♥ Love bomb. Just because they are all grown up now, doesn’t mean you should stop hugging and kissing and telling your kids how much you love them. Keep it up, even if they resist. Find sneaky ways to love bomb them, like sending them a message on Facebook! Take them on one-on-one dates to the movies or out for dinner. Look for anyway you can think of to make them feel loved, always.

♥ Talk. Keep the lines of communication open and make the time to talk regularly. Always have dinner together at the table where everyone can chat about their day. For more personal chats, I find going for a walk with my kids really useful. They are more likely to open up when it’s in a relaxed setting, away from distractions and not face to face in ‘interrogation mode’.

♥ Establish boundaries. I have a fairly relaxed style of parenting – I let my kids pretty much do what they want, within reason. There are certain things I won’t tolerate though. Rudeness, disrespect, hurting each other, etc. Make some firm boundaries, let the kids know what they are and have consequences for stepping over the boundaries.

♥ Choose your battles. Best bit of parenting advice, EVER! So what if what they are wearing looks weird (to us!) or they want a wacky hairstyle? These are the small things. Save your energy and angst for the big things that really matter – their safety and wellbeing.

♥ Respect their privacy. Give them some space and respect their right to privacy.

♥ Make your home a safe haven. Teenage years can be tough – negotiating school, friendships, work and romance! Making your home a relaxed, loving environment where they can de-stress. It keeps them close to you and they will come to you for help, advice and validation, rather than looking elsewhere for these things. Keep the nagging to a minimum and the love bombing and fun a priority.

♥ Feed them good, nourishing food and teach them how to cook it. This is so, so important! Fill your pantry with good, healthy food so they always have something good to snack on. I also have taught both kids how to cook as it’s such an important life skill. Get them involved in the weekly menu plan and ask them to cook one night a week for the family. I find appetite is so variable at this age, so I just relax about food and let them choose what and when they eat to some extent. As long as there is good food available, they will be fine. I always try to have healthy snacks with lots of protein for growing bodies ready for them (like bliss balls). Don’t be too hung up on a bit of junk food that they might choose to buy with their own money. Let them explore and make choices.

♥ Encourage activity. So many studies show that sport and exercise is vital for growing bodies and good mental health. Get the kids involved in sport or just going for a familywalk or bike ride.

♥ Use technology with respect. Establish boundaries around the use of technology. We like no phones or gadgets in bed at night as they interfere with sleep. Talk to teens about being safe online. Have rules about appropriate use of phones ie not at the dinner table! Find out some more tips about limiting screen time.

♥ Acne. Please refer to my blog, Natural Acne Remedies for help with acne. Don’t nag kids about it or make them feel bad, give some gentle guidance and help.

♥ Coping skills. I really think this needs to be taught in schools! Coping safely and effectively with emotions and stress is so important. Teach them things like yoga, meditation, relaxation exercises, essential oils and EFT to handle this crazy time.

♥ Give responsibility. Teenagers should contribute to the smooth running of the household. Work out some chores you would like them to do. Make them responsible for the cleanliness of their own spaces. Gradually give them more and more responsibility for things like their lunches, laundry and transport. They don’t learn life skills if you keep doing everything for them.

♥ Get support. There is so much support out there. Here are some of my favourite resources that I use:

The Kids are All Right website. A fabulous Aussie website with forums and blog articles. Ask questions, find information, feel better!

Scarleteen website. This is a sex education website presented in a teen friendly way.

Flower essences are a fantastic emotional support (for you and your teens). I recommend Megan at The Simplest Remedy.

♥♥♥

I know all kids and all situations are different, but I hope some of these tips are useful for you. We seem to just struggle through the best we can and so far it’s working out okay. I would love you to leave a comment and talk about what is working for you. The more information we can share, the better.

Do the best you can. Breathe. Persist. Love.

Natural Acne Remedies

September 2, 2013 · 26 Comments

Natural Acne Remedies

There has been an uproar in the media recently with information that drugs prescribed for acne- Roaccutane, Diane-35, Yasmin and Yaz are causing very serious problems including teen suicide and blood clots.

I have always had problems with my skin and I was on Dianne for some time in my younger years. The doctors said there were no side effects and my skin did clear up. But now I shudder thinking about what could have gone wrong.

I am a little embarrassed to tell you what else I did to my poor skin when I was younger. Metho! Yes, I was desperate and miserable about it. It’s a horrible thing to have – it can really affect your self-confidence. I never went anywhere without makeup to cover my skin.

Unfortunately, the acne didn’t go away as I got older but I just managed it as best I could. I used Dermalogica products, which were quite good but they used to bleach my towels if I accidentally got some product on them. Yikes!

It really only cleared up properly when I gave up wheat. You will get dermatologists telling you acne is hormonal and yes, it is, but I think everyone is different and you need to try a few things to see what works for you. I know diet and gut health plays a big part in how good my skin is or not.

Now we have teenagers in the house, the whole cycle begins again! So here, are our best tips for you.

♥ Water. Drinking lots of filtered water helps flush out toxins – it’s that simple! Jazz up your water to make it easier to get down.

♥ Cut out the chemicals. Ingesting and applying chemicals to your skin can really cause problems. I have heard so many people say that when they switched to a more natural lifestyle, including skincare, their skin clears up.

♥ Go Easy on dairy, wheat and sugar. Fizzy drinks and lollies play havoc with acne! Try some alternatives to soft drinks that are better for your health and your skin. Limiting dairy or swapping to non-dairy options seems to make a difference with us as well. In my case, wheat was really causing havoc with my skin. So, experiment and find out what flares up your skin.

♥ Acne Complex Homeopathy. I love homeopathy and Owens Homeopathy are great for the home prescriber. I love ordering from Megan at The Simplest Remedy as she has free shipping and great advice! If she doesn’t have something in stock, just ask and she will order it in for you. The Acne Complex has several remedies in one.

♥ Fruit and Vegetables. Time and time again, our family finds that getting stuck into the fruit and vegetables (particularly lots of greens) results in a glowing complexion! Try a green smoothie, daily.

♥ Herbal Tea. Teas like Red Clover, Nettle, Dandelion Leaf, Calendula and Burdock can all help with detoxification in the body and get your skin clear. We drink it hot or cold. My daughter often makes it up a big batch of iced tea and sips on it all day. The Complexion Tea from Tea Tonic is a winner and it tastes delicious.

♥ ACV. We dilute apple cider vinegar with some water (about 1 to 4) and use it on a cotton wool ball after cleaning. It kills off the bacteria and it also makes your skin alkaline, so the bacteria finds it hard to grow again. Leave it on for 20 minutes and then wash off and apply moisturizer.

♥ Essential Oils. Lemon oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil are all effective on acne. Just pop a drop on the spots using a clean cotton bud or mix one drop with a little coconut oil and use as a moisturiser. Eco Oils actually have a blend called Pimple Clear you might like to try. It’s budget friendly and this blend is safe to apply direct to the skin without a carrier oil.

♥ Good Hygiene. Acne is bacteria, so keeping your face clean, not touching it with dirty hands and washing pillowcases frequently all helps.

♥ Supplements. Find a good supplement to support healthy skin. Zinc, vitamin C and A and omega 3 are all beneficial. These supplements are fantastic and really work well for us. Their skincare is great too.

♥ The Healthy Skin Diet. This book by Aussie mum and nutritionist, Karen Fischer is really worth a read. If you are having persistent problems with any sort of skin problem, Karen guides you through it with eating plans and advice. We found it very useful! Get it here.

♥ De-stress. The cells that produce sebum have receptors for stress hormones. Get stress out of your life and see if it helps your skin. Try yoga, meditation, relaxation exercise and walking.

♥ Natural acne skin care. It’s important to use a good quality, natural skincare designed for acne. Don’t use horrible, harsh chemical-laden products – they just bleach your face and make the problem worse. Here are some that you might like to try:

Skin B5. A little more affordable, the kids found this range to really gentle on their skin and to be very effective at keeping the acne under control.
Botani (pictured). This is an all natural 3 step treatment pack that’s very gentle on troubled skin.
Noosa Basics. This natural company make a face wash and an acne drying lotion.
The Jojoba Company Jojoba Oil. It seems strange to put oil on oily skin but jojoba oil works really for acne because it has anti-bacterial properties and can help prevent excess sebum on the skin.

♥ Professional help. Visit a naturopath or integrative doctor aand get specific help if you feel like nothing is working. The answer could be more complex and involve your gut or liver health.

I hope these tips help! Let me know in the comments below what you have found good for clearing up acne.

Make your own (mostly) organic face wash

April 20, 2012 · 18 Comments

Make your own (mostly) organic face wash

Our skin is our largest organ and will absorb what we put onto it, straight into our blood stream. Think how nicotine patches work!

When you start really looking at all the products we use and what’s in them, it will freak you out! This short video explains it really well for those of us without a science degree. You can also check how toxic your cosmetics are at Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.

I have been using natural skin care for a few years now. In a perfect world, I would love to be able to afford organic products, for the whole family, all of the time. But, seeing as it’s not a perfect world, I have to be content with finding ways to avoid the toxic chemicals that are within my budget.

One option I am investigating more and more is making my own products at home. I like to keep it simple though, as I don’t want to spend hours tracking down unusual ingredients and fiddling around like a mad scientist!

One thing I have been able to make at home, really easily, is face wash. In fact it’s embarrassingly easy. It’s also very economical – which is handy with kids who like to splash stuff around!

I start with Dr Bronners Unscented Baby Castile Soap and then add essential oils. I decant it into smaller bottles, then I add essential oils, shake well and label. You only need to use five drops of the mix to wash your face – told you it was economical!

DIY Acne Face Wash

For the teenagers, who need a good face wash for acne, I use:

100ml Dr Bronners Pure Castile Soap

10 drops of tea-tree oil

10 drops of eucalyptus oil

10 drops of manuka oil*

10 drops of lavender oil

*Manuka oil is an essential oil I picked up in New Zealand. It is the pure essential oil from the manuka tree (yep, same one as the honey!) It is absolutely incredible – I find it to be much more powerful than tea tree or eucalyptus. If you can’t source it, then just leave it out.

I usually just play around with whatever essential oils I have on hand, so experiment yourself! You can also add things like some herb-infused water, jojoba oil and rose-hip oil.

That’s it. Pretty easy, right?

If you are interested in learning more about making products yourself, take a look at these awesome DIY beauty recipes. They also have all the ingredients you need as well!

Do you DIY?