1. Being prepared for childbirth in a honest manner.

2. Having what you really need in your birth bag.

3. Passing along potentially life-saving information.

4. Sharing my own experience about how to deal with the typical discomforts after giving birth.

5. Using examples from my own life when I think it can help others.

6. Promoting the use of chocolate as a tool for successful parenting.

7. Trying to find ways for all of us to be healthier and fitter.

8. Sharing my confusion over why more people don’t view eggs as the ultimate, and healthiest, fast food.

Post from: Babylune

July and it’s already time for the thirteenth Healthy & Fit Family. There are plenty of people who still believe that 13 is unlucky, but I am feeling pretty confident about this edition. As usual, the carnival is limited to the ten submissions I thought were most family-oriented, health-oriented and fitness-oriented.

I know, I know, most carnivals publish everything bloggers send them. And, if it weren’t for that kind of democratic spirit, none of my submissions would ever be featured in a blog carnival. That said, when was the last time you read a carnival post with 50 or 60 links?

Ten posts is a manageable number to read, and since so many people have their kids home on vacation, even 10 might sound like a stretch of stolen time.

If you’re tempted to let the kids watch as much TV as they like, the Midnight Raider has a lesson for you. If you’re thinking video games, the Grrl Scientist has a warning for you.

Speaking of vacations, a number of us have carefully planned and expensive trips to take. The closer we get to our departure dates, the more we need to follow Ruby’s advice about how to prevent illness.

Meanwhile, Nature Mom’s care never takes a holiday. She has learned a lot about packing her son’s lunch to take to kindergarten.

Therapy Doc’s classroom doesn’t close for the summer either. She has already started teaching her little grandson about asking permission.

I ended another term of the English classes I teach by learning a lesson about how to include other people’s children with allergies in a cookie-oriented class.

One of the most positive things about taking up exercise is the opportunity it presents to strengthen our awareness and do good in our communities. Most races support charities and other runners launch their own campaigns. Richard ran to save a local river.

A Crazy Wisdom Grandma (her words) is eating to save herself, her family and the planet.

Mama is ranting again, but this time she’s been talking to a healthy eating expert.

Crazy Grandma, Ranting Mama and everyone else, you can’t always bend kids’ eating habits to your will and knowledge. Hueina wants to teach us how NOT to take it personally.

The Fourteenth Healthy & Fit Family will be held on 7 August at Sports Girls Play. Submissions are now open on our Blog Carnival page.

Post from: Babylune

The First of May is Labour/Labor day in Europe. It’s a chance for unions to parade, families to relax and outdoor swimming pools to open. Not that I am going near the cold, cold water in our local park. No, I have other ideas for how our family is going to splash around in warm water this afternoon. Have I become a temperature wimp? Probably, but it’s a great way to introduce the Eleventh Healthy & Fit Family.

It seems to me that the old adage “no pain, no gain” is especially destructive when you want to be active as a family. Nothing is going to turn independent thinking kids off exercise more than parents who behave like the phys. ed. teachers of old. Families need to support each other’s efforts with love and warmth. When I read through the 22 submissions to the carnival this month, I was looking for that support. These are the ten best posts representing health & fitness information combined with the love and compassion that drive family interaction (or that should drive family interaction) from the first days of infancy to the last years of our lives.

We all know that “breast is best” when it comes to feeding babies, but Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 has also found convincing evidence that its also best for protecting mothers’ mental health.

I know that my mental health is threatened more by the little illnesses my pre-schooler brings home. Project Paradox has some ideas about how I, and parents like me, can cope. It’s not all about pre-school. The Mad Kane’s husband brings home colds too. I wonder if Be A Good Dad’s post about how to give kids medicine can be used on spouses too?

Did you know that April was Autism Awareness Month? I had no idea until My Name is Mommy brought it up.

The Expatriate’s Kitchen (her symbolic spelling) has a series of very informative articles about children’s nutrition.

Zen Habits is all about avoiding extremes and being gentle as you try new things in this post about gradual vegetarianism.

Dr. Hal reminds of the phrases we need to use in order to have successful relationships and accomplish any goal together.

Hueina reinforces the priorities behind those phrases through life balance lessons.

And finally, when any life comes to an end, there is grief to deal with in healthy ways. Anna has one idea of how both children and adults can do that work.

The Twelfth Healthy & Fit Family will be hosted by Wisdom of Healing on June 5. Submissions are now open.

Post from: Babylune

Photo by Kate Baggott

Can you guess which one is the ugli fruit? Not especially challenging, is it? We’ve gotten a bit carried away with the “let’s try new things” spirit of the Eating the Alphabet Challenge. So much so that going grocery shopping today was, well, expensive.

Sure, the quince jelly and 4 little lychee nuts didn’t set us back much, but the won ton pastry to make out Daikon Pot Stickers combined with the sesame oil, really added up. Luckily, we could only find one nectarine and were happy to share the ugli fruit four ways too (imagine a grapefruit without the zip). So, I think by sharing 4 pieces of exotic fruit 4 ways (we also ate the baby pineapple) we got 4 letters, but only one serving toward our daily total of 5. It was, though, a very interesting serving.

Post from: Babylune

Inspired by My Name is Mommy and her well-communicated efforts to lead a healthier life, I am pleased to present the Healthy & Fit Family, a blog carnival.

Healthy and Fit Family is a weekly update from bloggers who are working to improve the health and fitness of their entire families. Are you a father who has managed to cut half the fat from spaghetti bolonaise? A mother who taught her kids ten skipping rhymes the old-fashioned way (by jumping along)? A kid who inspired Gramps to get up with everyone else and do the electric slide at a wedding? If so, this is the carnival to share your posts about the experience of leading (or starting to lead) an active life as a family.

Here are a few ground rules:

Since my own health goals have to do with stress and time management, only ten submissions will be posted in each edition of the carnival.

The emphasis of posts should be on living healthier lives as a family. Naturally, we’re interested in weight loss, but not eating disorders. If you’ve been losing weight through dehydration, self-starvation, or self-hatred, or if you’ve been brow-beating your kid into losing weight, you should read the carnival to learn about being healthy and having a healthy attitude, but your submissions won’t be considered.

The deadline for submissions is every Sunday at midnight starting on the 29th of October. Click here to submit.

EDIT: Today is October 30th and you can read the first edition of the carnival here.

Post from: Babylune