zanyzingzap

Hi folks. My name is Lisa. I live in NJ currently with my 8 yo ds and my dh
of 11 years when he isn't deployed as he is now. We are an unschooling AF
family. Other than a short stint in a prestigious, allegedly "child led
Waldorf/Montessori inspired" kindergarten program, ds has been homeschooled
and more recently unschooled. Letting go of needing his education to go in a
particular way has been a challenge that pops up often for me and I do the
best I can with it. :-) I have struggles with some health issues that are
thankfully improving and making it easier for us to get out and explore more
often! Yay! We seem to be a minority among minorities in the military life
since we do not avoid school for religious reason, nor do we raise our son
as if he is our own personal military troop. I know there are others around
like myself, finding them and making connections seems to be a challenge. We
lived in MS for the greater part of 10 years, with some times in Maine
(where I am from originally) when dh would deploy. I was not happy in MS (no
offense to anyone who lives there, I just couldn't handle the summer weather
or fire ants.) and was happy to find out we were moving to NJ, even though
growing up I thought NJ was all Newark or Cherry Hill. I love that there is
a LOT of farmland and forested areas around here. I left Biloxi, MS six
hours before Katrina hit and am so grateful we were already moving out as
the house we rented no longer exists. I have friends down there, who like so
many others, still have not recovered!



I am a member of the Weston A. Price foundation and make most of our food
from scratch, I go to Lancaster county, PA to buy all our milk, butter,
eggs, meat, beans, grains etc.I love being able to buy clean, raw milk from
the wonderful farmers I have met. My dh isn't totally on board with
unschooling, but mainly just lets things progress on their own. Since he was
deployed for 7 months last year and will be deployed for 10 months this
year, that isn't an issue for the most part. (Please know I would rather
have him home though.) I grew up in Maine (greater Portland area) and dh
grew up mainly in upstate NY (near Plattsburgh) and we both love going home
to both places as often as possible.



I just joined the other day so forgive me if I am jumping in out of context
with what I have been reading so far.



For the folks struggling with custody issues, my heart goes out to you. I
have a SIL going through a similar situation, my older sister also struggled
through something like that. They don't have the schooling issue to contend
with, but definitely have the abuse issues to be concerned with. I am so
sorry you are have to deal with this.



Food intolerances. if anyone is interested I have a friend who is a
certified nutritionist. If you contact me off list I can get you her contact
information. She also is a Weston A. Price foundation member. If you want an
idea of their deal, their site is www.westonaprice.org
<http://www.westonaprice.org/> . I myself am getting ready to do some
intolerance testing as well. I am happy to share some of what I have learned
(granted it doesn't feel like much to me so far but I am seeing small
improvements as I keep with it!). I am not a doctor and I am not
recommending anyone do anything in particular, I am just sharing what I have
learned in case someone else can use the information for themselves.



Corn syrup is a biggie as well as dyes. Also msg, and preservatives
(hydrolyzed soy protein, autolyzed wheat protein, BHT, etc.) MSG is in SO
many things. It is scary. I react strongly to any MSG/glutamate other than
what is naturally present in foods. Grains are trouble for me when they are
not soaked. Soy is a major problem for me. I only consume raw dairy
products. Pasteurized/homogenized dairy is an issue for me. One thing I have
found about elimination diets is that it is really hard to know where to
begin. I was put on a hypoallergenic diet by an allergist and it didn't seem
to create any improvements. Why? The main component is rice. Guess what, I
am really sensitive to rice. It causes reactions on the tongue, ringing in
the ears, itchy throat and other weird places (inner ears etc.) and is
supposed to be one of the least likely allergens. So it didn't really help
me out. I have a friend who has trouble with lettuce of all things. Another
thing people don't think of being a potential problem. I also seem to react
to other stuff and it is hard to get everything out of the system as once
since I do need to eat something.anyway, just wanted to put that in there in
case nothing obvious comes out for someone trying an elimination diet. If I
get one allergen out of my diet while continuing to consume something else
that is a problem, I may not get a clear cut reaction when I reintroduce the
first food.



I try to remember to utilize EFT when I am dealing with life issues, even
food issues. I was talking with my friend who is a nutritionist and a while
ago read something about some research that can suggest that some allergies
are the result of some type of emotional trauma that got connected with food
somehow. The easiest example I can think of is people who drink to excess
with a particular type of alcohol then can never be around it without
feeling sick again. For my friend there was a lot of stress in their family
life around dinner time, which more often than not had rice as a component.
She too is sensitive to rice. So she has been trying to resolve some of the
emotional issues as well as the food intolerance issues (rotation diet). EFT
is a type of energy healing utilizing tapping on certain pressure points.
www.emofree.com <http://www.emofree.com/> explains it better than I can. I
am still a newbie at that but have had some success when I remember to use
it. :-)



Ok, sorry to be so long winded right off the bat. I am happy to join your
group and I hope to be a positive contribution!



Lisa R.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

trektheory

--- In [email protected], "zanyzingzap"
<zanyzingzap@...> wrote:

> I was not happy in MS (no
> offense to anyone who lives there, I just couldn't handle the summer
weather
> or fire ants.)

Oh, ick, fire ants! We used to live in FL, and I learned to hate
those nasty bugs. We now live in ID, where it does get HOT in the
summer, but no fire ants, and little humidity. And I love autumn, so
this is a better place for me than FL.




>
>
I grew up in Maine (greater Portland area) and dh
> grew up mainly in upstate NY (near Plattsburgh) and we both love
going home
> to both places as often as possible.

We used to live in upstate, too, Albany.



Why? The main component is rice. Guess what, I
> am really sensitive to rice.

A friend told me that Asians are more prone to problems with rice.
Ironic, eh? Perhaps any food we eat too much of?


> I was talking with my friend who is a nutritionist and a while
> ago read something about some research that can suggest that some
allergies
> are the result of some type of emotional trauma that got connected
with food
> somehow.

Interesting. I'm fortunate to not have food allergies (though
environmental ones, like grass pollen, animal dander, stuff like that
are a problem), but I know a lot of people who do have major food
problems. Makes cooking for them challenging!

Thanks for the interesting info.

Linda

Christy Mahoney

Hi Lisa, and welcome. My dh is also in the AF, and we live in
Washington (state). He will soon be deployed again as well. I know
what you mean about being a minority - we have yet to find any other
like-minded families on the base here or on any base for that matter.

I hope you enjoy this group.

-Christy M.

zanyzingzap

>>>Interesting. I'm fortunate to not have food allergies (though
environmental ones, like grass pollen, animal dander, stuff like that
are a problem), but I know a lot of people who do have major food
problems. Makes cooking for them challenging!

Thanks for the interesting info.

Linda<<<



Hi Linda, I have actually read in some places that environmental allergies
are often the external symptoms of food intolerance triggers. I haven't been
actively reading on it, but thought I might just pass that on.



Lisa



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

zanyzingzap

Hi Christy,



My dh is actually out your way then, they are doing some training in your
state before they head to the big sand box. :-) He said it has rained a lot.
I guess that is the norm for WA though. I imagine one of the reasons it is
hard to find like minded families in the AF (I know they exist!) is that if
they are anything like me, they tend to mainly stay under the radar. We just
go about our own business, participate in military life when we choose to
but mainly steer clear of the scrutiny and judgment. We did have one
commander who homeschooled in MS but they did it for different reasons, and
had a whole different philosophy about life and parenting in general that we
didn't mesh well with. The base commander here homeschools from what I
understand. Which is great! They have a homeschool gym class at the youth
center, but the main focus is always on competition rather than healthy
habits so we went a few times until ds decided he didn't want to go anymore.
It is really geared toward older kids anyway. We have a yahoo group for the
base, but something happened on the list just before I got here and I don't
think the list has recovered. It seems to be dominated by people in the
"school at home, spare the rod spoil the child" mindset. That really isn't
my cup of tea so we let that pass by. I still hope another unschooler pops
up. We had one friend around the corner in housing but they caved to the
peer pressure to go to school and now the kids are in public school. :-( I
have had more luck with finding folks in the local area. We VERY recently
just made friends with a family in the local town and it is GREAT! They know
lots of other unschoolers too which is hopeful for me!



Anyway, I hope you find some great connections too! Are you at McChord? I am
trying to remember which AFB is in WA. My dh is actually at another services
base.



I hope you have a great day!

Lisa



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]