Lillunia 2010 New Year's Resolutions

Lillunia 2010 New Year's Resolutions
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Here at Lillunia, we have come up with some 2010 New Year's Resolutions that we hope you will find useful-- if only for thinking about the things that matter and that we treasure.

Happy New Year!

1) We plan to do one new "green" thing each month within our homes. At the end of the year we will be able to reflect on the 12 ways we worked to heal the planet for our future and the future of the next generation.

2) We plan to give our time, $ or talent at least twice this year to a cause or charity that we feel committed to. If possible we hope to involve our families in this process.

3) We are going to work hard to implement a 1 - 2 hour per evening no-electronic entertainment period: No TV, no radio, no computer or video games-- in an attempt to reclaim this time for talking, reading and non-digitized play. (Yes- I am a closet Luddite)

4) We will try to spend more time outdoors every weekend.

5) We will plant one new plant in the garden/ terrace/ windowsill that we were otherwise afraid of planting (for fear of failure).

6) We will smile every single time we realize we are frowning or pouting (unless deliberately to be sexy).

7) We will spend 5 solid minutes every single day of 2010 feeling palpably grateful for all of the gifts and treasures we have in our lives -- and with respect to the ones who are alive (both furry and not) -- we will let them know how we feel.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FROM

LILLUNIA

(www.lillunia.com)

Charity and Children

Charity and Children


At this time of year, when the whole world seems to be worshiping at the alter of consumerism, is there any way to salvage the season and teach our children about charity: the fundamental heart of this season?

http://www.lillunia.com/-FOCUS-SERIES-ART/Dierdre-s-Dolphins-p62.html deirdre's dolphins

There are many opportunities that this season presents to start our children down the path of philanthropy and charitable giving. And it is pretty easy. Some ideas:

1) Have an Annual Clean-Up & Give-a-Thon. Children grow up and out of clothes and toys at lightening speed. How about each year, at the start of December, we roll up our sleeves and fill a big box of toys and games and (gently warn) clothes to donate to a local charity. All those goodies your little one has outgrown are sure to make another child as happy as pie.

2) Have a Holiday Card- Craft Afternoon,: lets call it directed doodling...turn off the video or TV, pull out the coloring pencils, crayons or markers and some simple coloring paper. On-line you can identify a number of children's welfare organizations in your community or in the country, write down their addresses and buy some standard size card envelopes (any craft store will have them). Explain to your little one that you and s/he are going to send some holiday cheer to people you don't even know. Why? Because we can, its fun, and it will make them feel loved and happy as we do in our homes and families at this time of year.

3) Bake for a Cause: take one afternoon of holiday baking and spread the joy beyond the cozy warmth of your family. Most charities have holiday food drives and bake-sales or simply holiday meals for homeless families or indigent people. Call a few and ask what their policies are. Make a couple of boxes of home-baked yum and share them with others.

There are so many opportunities at this time of year, to teach our kids about the wider world and their vital role in it's progress. We love our families so much, and want to give them everything, but sometimes reflection is a very important gift...and if each year, at this time, we can help our little ones reflect on who they are in the larger world-- that seems to be the best present we could ever give them.

PEACE

From Our Family to Yours

From Our Family to Yours

No matter how busy we become this time of year, we are always reminded of what this season is truly about: love, family and community.

There are many different peoples and cultures and religions that celebrate at this time of year-- but at the heart of each is the understanding that we are all people who share this world with one another and myriad incredible animals and plants and resources. We are truly blessed.

From our family at Lillunia, to your family, we wish you all of the magic of the season for now and for the years to come. We are celebrating with our loved ones and cherished animals and hope, for all of us and for all of you, that the new year is merry and bright and filled with hope.

Happy Happy Joy Joy !!

ILLUSTRATE ILLUMINATE ELEVATE

Your Child's Imagination

Put down the video games and digital toys, turn off the TV and computer and watch your child's imagination blossom!

We love hearing stories about how Lillunia art effects parents and children. After all, Lillunia began because of the effect Anya's Giraffes had on Anya's mother while spending hours nursing and thinking about what family, and nurturing and community really means.

Well, we have just heard from a mother who has hung the 10-frame Sophia's Monkeys in her 2-year-old's bedroom. We could not be more pleased. Not only do the parents love the effect of having an entire magical tree filled with Monkeys in their daughter's room (an effect which they feel is astonishing in scale and in that it changes everything about the space)- but we are particularly thrilled with the little girl's reaction.

http://www.lillunia.com/-MOSAIC-ART/Sophia-s-Vervet-Monkeys-p73.html

Jumping and laughing and dancing around like a little monkey herself she fell in love with her new tree! No digital media, no video game can do what art does for a child's imagination.

The possibilities are endless- just like her imagination!

Share this magic with your children...watch what happens, it is breathtaking!
www.lillunia.com

Content Matters: Babies, Animals and Art

Content Matters: Babies, Animals and Art

We are sure at Lillunia...so sure, that content matters. When people talk about their desire to be ecologically sound- or green, we say YES- go for it, its not that hard these days, but what does it mean and at what level.

It is vitally important to buy environmentally safe and sustainable products...we are convinced, but what about the content. Yes, we want to wrap our kids in organic cotton, paint their rooms with non-toxic and biodegradable paints, and to feed them the most wholesome foods- but what do we want to put in their minds?

Can we be ecologically minded in what we teach the little monkeys? YES! Lillunia is all about education...and sooner rather than later our coloring books (in process) will help drive this home. We want to help parents feed the minds of their little ones with a steady diet of nurturing elements from the wide,wild world. We want to give children a window on the greater planet and all of the families that share our common goal: NURTURING OUR CHILDREN-- giving them all the tools we have to be the best Person, Lion, Robin, Elephant, Fox, Hippo, Kangaroo, Horse, Giraffe, Dolphin or Polar Bear they can be

LILLUNIA:
ILLUSTRATE ILLUMINATE ELEVATE



visit us at:
www.lillunia.com

Kids and the Environment:
Challenge But Exciting

There is no doubt that teaching our children about the challenges we all face with our changing environment can be daunting. There was a really funny article on GreenMuze recently describing some of the pitfalls. ("Eco Lunacy Parenting")http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs.html. There are ways, however to start the learning without adding fear and worry (leave that to us for now). At Lillunia we love the Canadian site Eco Kids http://www.ecokids.can for helping teachers and parents move children through the issues and the big questions we all face. But what I like most is that they start from stewardship and the idea that we can all play a constructive role in the health of our planet and the creatures that live here; ie, starting from a positive place.

Making it fun

There is no reason why feeling like a member of a larger world with responsibilities to it, has to be scary...or even boring. Children love to feel important to processes and projects...and the wonderful part of environmental stewardship is that they (our children) really are important-- its not make believe- our children will inherit the earth we leave them.

More and more school programs are adding environmental topics to the standard curriculum-- and this is fantastic. But these lessons we can certainly start at home: recycling, backyard nature outings, certainly reading and coloring, healthy food choices and eco home projects.

Embrace the opportunity to mold their lovely little minds- as parents and teachers we can make the serious issues about our world accessible and fun. That way-- their children may not be in the bind we find ourselves in now-- and if they are still "cleaning up" they will be better equipped to do so!

ILLUSTRATE ILLUMINATE ELEVATE: LILLUNIA

http://www.lillunia.com/-MODERN-ART/Devon-s-Deer-p85.html
Devon's Deer

Plant the Seed of Charity

There are so many wonderful stores and companies and websites featuring myriad organic baby products- it can make your head spin. But aren't we lucky? Aren't we lucky that we live in a time (finally) when all of this is available to us; at time when we don't have to buy chemically laden baby toys and furniture, when we can choose to buy "corporate" baby products or local, artisanal or handmade.

I think that what we do now, the choices we make for our families are the first lessons children learn when they are confronted with making their own choices about sustainable products, about chemicals in their food, about pesticides and about animal welfare.

I would go so far as to say these are the first seeds of charity. Teaching children that our choices- the basic ones we make everyday- are the building blocks to healthy environments for children all over the world and for animals in the sea, the sky and those that share the land with us. This is where children start to understand their unique and special role in this great web of life.

As parents it is both daunting and exhilarating to be so fundamental a part of this time in a new person's life. Teach your children well and they will reward you and their community in kind.

We are working to be a part of the solution- www.lillunia.com

Love your families- love your animals!

Teaching Our Children to Respect Animals

Teaching our Children to Respect Animals


Children naturally gravitate toward animals. I am constantly enchanted when walking down the street, by the little hands that extend to touch a fuzzy dog or the outstretched arms pointing skyward at tweeting birds.


The park is even more captivating...with ducks gliding and squirrels twirling up tree trunks. There is an indescribable beauty and peace in the activities of animals. They are pure, they are childlike in this way.


Without anthropomorphizing -- there is no need too, animals are a spectacle that is never tiring for children. When we actively teach our children to respect animals we teach them about their place in the larger world. It is not "all about me" -- a lesson that they are constantly taught in the media.
dylan's dolphins http://www.lillunia.com/-ART/Dylan-s-Dolphins-p53.html




It is easy for children to learn the kind of self centered, materialistic lessons that are so abundant in our world these days- but it is just as easy to teach them respect and empathy and the benefits of community. This lesson must start at home (and hopefully be continued in school).

We owe it to our children and our world to raise the best people we can. I know that animals are a part of this lesson. Living with animals myself, I know what they bring to my life and the life of my family.



dereck's deer http://www.lillunia.com/-MODERN-ART/Dereck-s-Deer-p83.html


Start young. It works.

We love this link to the Humane Society. Browse around the site- it has so much to offer for families.

http://www.hsus.org/humane_living/living_in_harmony_with_animals/kind_newstrade_teaching_kids_to_care_about_animals.html

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANYA!

Happy Birthday Anya!

The little girl who launched Lillunia turns 2 today, December 2, 2009.

See her Giraffe's, Lillunia's first image, also featured in Hampton's Magazine "Eco-Fabulous" column.

anya's giraffes

http://www.lillunia.com/-ART/Anya-s-Giraffes-p56.html

Looking to the bright future- Anya, we wish you all love and happiness and joy!