Comox Valley Kids

I have a crush.

Not really on a person, but a lifestyle – a way of being that is both simple and magical. It pulls together all of the homemade goodness of our childhoods with the purposeful parenting partnerships of today’s generation of moms and dads.

It’s one of those things that I’ve been in denial about for a while (30 years or so).

I came out of the womb a career woman planning world domination, moved out on my own the Summer I graduated from high school, was working full time at a daily newspaper by my sophomore year of university and basically never saw myself doing anything else.

My mom loves the kitchen, the garden, the craft room and her sewing machine.

She tried to teach me. I wanted no part of it.

We spent a lot of time as kiddos with her giving us lovely projects to take on – crafts, painting, needlepoint and handmade everything. I wanted the results a trip to the mall produced, refused to see her inspiration.

My mom and I, we’re never going to see eye-to-eye on much. But, I now understand what she tried to bring to our lives in terms of creativity and connection amidst a whole lot of chaos.

Of course, I had to find that out on my own – and now lament my lack of basic homemaking skills – when I began to discover the remarkable learning that comes from the actual creating of beautiful things.

My latent homemaking tendencies were revealed to me slowly.

An obsession with photography allowed me to find inspiration in the creativity of other mamas – photographers from around the globe – who brilliantly have integrated all that was good from generations past with a way of raising kiddos today that includes the entire family, and beyond.

The village.

That’s where I first “met” Amanda Blake Soule – aka Soule Mama.

Her life is absolutely gorgeous and watching it unfold through photography and stories led me down a path to retooling our home life to focus on creativity, stories, hand crafts and yummy, healthy food.

So, when she announced that her book The Creative Family would be on bookshelves this Spring, I knew we’d be buying that family Bible for ourselves.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to nail down my own copy yet. But, a friend let me borrow hers recently (I promise I won’t keep it) and I now feel like I have THE guidebook to keeping the TV off and the creative brain juice flowing around here – with a bit of joy and tradition mixed in for good measure.

Soule is all about discovery, connection and creating things from scratch – and through this well-written, beautifully illustrated book she shows how any family, with basic tools, can change their lives from chaos to creative.

I joke with my friends that something must be wrong with her, because Soule’s life is SO sweet. But, I suspect she is a Zen master of family friendliness and her graciousness with life and family shines through.

To top off my new release reading list, you pretty much HAVE to check out I Love Dirt by long-time children’s author Jennifer Ward.

I honestly have been waiting…and waiting…for this book to show up at local stores. Then, the same pal let me borrow her copy of this absolutely perfect book about bringing families together through nature and now I can’t wait any longer. I hope it doesn’t take six weeks to come in. My pal will totally hate me for keeping these two longer than appropriate.

With a forward written by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, Ward’s 52 ways to get the whole family back outside is sure to reach legendary status.

Actually, I think it’s already there.

Her sweet writing voice, brilliant ideas and simple yet creative approach to inspiring families is genuine and very, very easy to love.

As you move into a Summer filled with the kids at home, outside fun and vacations galore these two books are the ultimate companions to bring some spark, get the kiddos to turn the TV off themselves and enjoy life a bit more through finding new ways to look at everyday life – together.

Check out all of CVK’s family-friendly book reviews HERE.

Book covers courtesy of Amandasoule.com and Jenniferwardbooks.com