BoHo in the City: Nature is Everywhere

As a BoHo Mamma it can be hard living in the city sometimes. I miss the connection to the earth, to the plants and trees. When I was a kid I grew up in a quiet suburb of North Vancouver, BC. My back yard was a forest with a river running through it. MAGICAL! My toys were rocks, twigs, leaves, and dirt. My music was the sound of the river. My friends were salmon, birds, and squirrels. As a child I was fascinated with Native legends and I read all I could about Canada's first nation stories. They all revolved around nature, and respect for all that Mother Earth provides. These stories came to life for me as I ran around in the woods. To this day the smell of decomposing leaves on the forrest floor brings back strong memories. We recently moved into a new house in Surrey, which is a HUGE city. MASSIVE! I have been busy planting herbs and flowers in our back yard to create a calm place to worship Mother Nature for Claire. I want her to have those same memories I do. Yet I can offer her more then just our backyard, every city has beauty to it You just have to look for it.

Yesterday we found a wildlife conservation park, just 10 minutes away from our house. Inside the trees all you could hear was the chirping of birds. No cars, or sirens, or people. Just birds and the wind in the trees.

With fall slowly creeping up on us the smell of forest decay was everywhere.  This smell is beautiful to me, it is the smell of re-birth: the leaves decay to make rich soil so more trees and plants can grow. Simple lessons from Mother Nature if you are ready to listen with all of your senses.

Do you live in a city? A major urban center? I challenge you to seek out your own oasis, Mother Nature is everywhere. Just look at her stubbornly growing between the cracks in the side walk. That dandelion is a reminder, she is everywhere.

BoHo in the City

This is the first post in what I hope to make a regular series on this blog: BoHo in the City. I dream of living on a farm in a small town, preferably the Sunshine Coast, but alas that cannot be for us (at least not right now) so I make the most out of where I live. Where do I live? In Surrey, BC, Canada, a HUGE city. I am from North Vancouver which is a fair sized city but it is quiet and full of nature. The home we lived in prior to this move was beneath the mountains, surrounded by parks and trees, and we had regular visits from deer, raccoons, skunks, bears, and lots of birds. It was a lot easier to escape into nature there. Here in Surrey, its a bit more of a challenge but thankfully there are lots of parks, lots of farms, and lots of time for Claire and I to wander and explore together.

You can't escape nature, she is everywhere. Even here in the big city! Surrey may be a mega-city but it is also surrounded by farmland, kind of ironic but I am thankful for it! Claire and I go for regular adventures and yesterday we went blackberry picking! My new neighborhood is full of blackberry bushes. Claire sat in her stroler in the sun, babbling away to me and the sunshine, while I picked us those deliciously dark little berries. When I got home my hands smelled liked berries, dirt, and sunshine.

That smell reminds me so much of being a child and picking berries to make jam with my grandmother. Isn't it amazing how powerful smell is to trigger memories? Soon after my house was full of the smell of baking blackberries, I made a cobbler! YUM! Tastes even better when you have picked the fruit yourself.

On Being a BoHo Mommy

I am a bit of an odd ball mom. I borrow from many different parenting styles and create my own form of motherhood...one that involves no shoes, lots of bare bums, letting my child climb things that "aren't safe" and generaly just trying to not stress about Claire's development. I'm a BoHo Mom. Or at least that is what I have dubbed myself. Some may say I follow "attachment parenting" but in fact I don't really. I don't co-sleep, and have dabbled in some sleep training (I'm sorry but waking EVERY HOUR on the HOUR was making me mental). I just don't like how black and white parenting has become. Or breastfeeding for that matter. You HAVE to do it this way or you are failing as a parent. Puh-lease. Life doesn't work that way. Life is full of COLORS, life is a rainbow; and parenting is an adventure. Why does motherhood have to be an all or nothing scenario?

I am currently typing this as I sit with a cold glass of wine (ooooohhhhh bad mommy) as I watch Claire play naked, totaly bucky. She has already peed on the floor once, no biggie. We got her potty and I put it down beside her. I watch her for cue's and when I think she needs to go we hop on the potty. It's a loose version of Elimination Communication and it works well for us. She goes potty 2-3 times a day and is barely 14 months old. I have been told "it's too early" I am going to "damage her kidneys" that I am "rushing her". All I care about is her having a positive association with the potty...not if I am following what some book says I should be doing.

Shoes. Don't even get me started on shoes. I am a firm believer that shoes hinder a childs ability to learn how to walk, to learn at their own pace that is. Children all over the world learn to walk without shoes, and they do just fine. What is it with our obsession about SHOES on a babies feet??? WHY? When a child takes those initial steps without shoes they can use there toes and flex their arches, finding their own balance. A child should feel the earth beneath their feet, the grass between their toes. Yes, there are times when it is not safe to be barefoot. But I get flak ALL THE TIME for this. Claire is doing just fine with her barefoot tootsies thank you very much! Daddy and I go barefoot all summer long, it's a family affair.

Claire's face is often messy, I let her choose her own clothes (yes at 13.5 months she has preferences) and I let her climb things that would make some moms faint. I watch her of course!!!!!! I do the climbing with her, she gets stuck, learns she cant get down, but I DONT do it for her. I let her solve her own problems. I feel she will learn what she is and isn't capable of, she will learn problem solving and cause and affect.

The process of becoming a mother, raising a child, watching her thrive, and learning to let her explore and grow on her own has also changed ME! It has given me the courage to let my true self out to play. My bohemian, laid back, low maintenance, hippy dippy self. I make more art, I follow the moon again, I am learning all about the healing powers of gemstones, I'm eating healthier food, I breathe, dance, smile, sing, and let my inner child out to play more. Or at least I try. Having the courage to let my child explore has given me the courage to explore my own life.

peace, love, and pickles