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Parent with a Purpose Featuring Sarah Frey

December 7, 2016

One of my favorite things about publishing Macaroni Kid Cleveland East is the chance to connect with other parents in our community. Often times these connections inspire me and remind me of the ability of one person to make a difference. It is with this in mind that I launch a new article series called Parent with a Purpose. My hope is to introduce you to some amazing parents living right in our communities who not only are doing unique and wonderful things but also deserve to have some attention brought to their mission.  

This is where YOU come in! Do you know someone who fits the Parent with a Purpose bill? Maybe it's your neighbor, friend, child's teacher - send them our way! All you have to do is email me their name, email address and why you think they're perfect for a Parent with a Purpose feature and I'll take it from there! jennys@macaronikid.com


Today we celebrate: Sarah Frey. Watch your mail, Sarah. You will soon find a token of celebration from  me!

1. What is your MISSION? What do you want to accomplish?

This is one tough question. I guess my mission is to live the happiest life I can and to do what feels right. I really like to repeat the following statements: Listen to your heart, everything happens for a reason, and smiles are contagious.

2. What inspired/encouraged you to transform your backyard into a functional garden?
My children are why I have a garden. It started very small in a flower bed at our first house. I began by planting veggies I knew they would eat which was green beans and maybe a cucumber plant. We also grew sunflowers. I felt it was something fun for them to learn, how to plant this little seed, care for it and watch it grow as tall as the house in the case of the sunflowers, or grow a bean for us to enjoy together. They were amazed. I let them pick out what seeds they wanted to plant. I have found being out in the garden is calming and relaxing for me. I call it my therapy.

The yard is still a work in progress. I work mostly on an experimental basis by trying different things. One area is our butterfly garden, another is for herbs. I also thought how cool would it be to be able to go outside and pick berries in our own backyard? Or apples? So I planted apple trees, blackberry bushes and blueberry bushes. All of these are still very young, but we had berries this year!

The kids are part of the experiments, too. We experimented with growing potatoes from the eye of a potato and onions from the roots of an onion from the kitchen. We propped them up in jars filled with water and watched them grow. This year we decided to plant them in the garden.

Then came the beehive. This was my second year with the bees and it has been such an amazing experience. I plan to expand the bee yard next spring. I make lipbalm and lotion bars from the wax and we extracted honey for the first time this year. Certain areas of the yard I've asked my husband to stop mowing to let the grass and wildflowers grow. To be honest, most of the bees go elsewhere to pollinate, but we love seeing the bees in the plants in the yard. Creating a natural yard brings all sorts of cool bugs, animals and birds. It becomes a place to observe events in nature you wouldn't normally get to see in your own backyard where we live.

The garden is such a wonderful learning experience for my kids. They are welcome in the garden any time. These days they're usually playing with neighbors but they come in whenever i'm there to check it out and see what is growing. They like to be a part of it and often offer to help. 

3. How did your life before children influence the mom you are today? What part do your children play in your current mission?
Both of my parents enjoy spending their time outside. My dad is a big outdoorsman and would take me and my siblings one at a time on his hunting day trips. It was something we always looked forward to, and I still do. My mom volunteers for hospice and other organizations when I was younger. My mom was never big on electronics, which I'm so thankful for. I didn't have a gaming system growing up, had limited T.V. privileges and I turned out fine (I think, ha!).

My children are everything in my mission in life. They are the motivation behind nearly every decision or action I take. I want them to appreciate where things come from, to respect their bodies and what they put in it, and to listen to their hearts when making choices and decisions.

4. What lessons/values are you learning through this process? What lessons/values do you hope your kids are learning?
I'm learning to pay more attention to the positives in life. I make it a point to acknowledge simple acts of kindness my children make instead of harping on them every time they do something they aren't supposed to. It's easy to react only to the negatives.
 
I've also learned to respect the decisions my children have made. There as a quote that says "children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded." I want them to love and appreciate the beautiful natural world around them. Jam is made from the berries we pick over the summer. Applesauce is made from the apples we enjoy picking from the trees they love to climb. We spend a lot of time outside, in nature, just enjoying what we see and hear and smell. I want that to be a part of their lives forever. 

5. What do you do to take care of yourself and how do you make time to do it?  
I have never been great about gym exercising. It's not my thing and I don't like it. Being outside and hiking and exploring with my kids is my exercise. The fresh air does wonders for the soul. My best friend is my hair stylist and would tell you I don't take care of it as well as I should. I focus more on my breathing, stretching, and my kids are great at joining me for a spontaneous squat session throughout the day. I do squats while I brush my teeth, and do a few stretches to get my blood moving. I also apply an essential oil to the bottoms of my feet every morning. My breakfast is a green smoothie (I love following simplegreensmoothies.com). It has drastically improved my energy and reduced my coffee intake in the mornings. It's helped me to loose some weight and keep my body in check. I also stopped eating wheat over a year ago which has helped me lose weight naturally and improved my overall body health. I do have a reminder in my phone (necessary or it would never happen) to take at least a 20 minute bath with epsom salt, baking soda and lavender oil once a week. I have it set to go off on a day and time I'm usually home and after the kids go to bed. I really look forward to this time. It's so relaxing and the ingredients are great for your body. Over time I've also fit in painting my toenails after bath. Something about nicely painted toenails makes me feels 1000% better.  We try to stick to whole, natural, real foods in our house. My kids are very interested in the ingredients listed on labels. If they can't pronounce it, they usually decide on their own they don't want it in their bodies.

6. What steps can other families take to move their families in the direction you have taken yours?
Make the time. Start small and do what feels right for your family. Explore together, use your words. Be involved. I volunteer as much as I can at school. I get to know the kids in my children's classes and my kids loved seeing me at school. I worked full time until three years ago, then i went down to working three days a week. It was tight money-wise, but I didn't want to regret not spending all the time i could with my children while they were young.   About six months ago my husband and i started "one on one" dates on a monthly basis with each of our kids. It doesn't have to be anything big, but the kids really appreciate their special time with mom and dad without the distraction of other siblings.  It is really hard to get these planned and organized between our schedules but we really do try and the kids look forward to it. For the last two years friends of ours have taken our kids on ice cream dates for their birthday instead of giving them gifts of objects. Aunts and uncles have now joined in on that trend for Christmas presents and the kids love having a special "date." They would much rather have that special time instead of an object they lose interest in. 

7. Is there anything else you would like to add?  
I don't think what I do is much different from another mom you could have chosen.

I have spent a lot of time with my kids ever since they were little at different events throughout the city. Each year we get a different membership for Christmas and I keep in touch with all the nature centers and libraries and other places that have fun activities planned. I would always talk to new mom friends about different activities available around town when they complained about being stuck in the house. It didn't have to be that way for them and when I found Macaroni Kid, it was a match made in heaven for me!

I recently had a job sort of fall into my lap. In August I got a phone call and was asked if i was interested in working full time at the school my kids attend. I was working for the government with great benefits and had been there for nine years. This was such an unexpected door that opened and I walked through. I'm looking forward to vacations off with the kids and going on never-ending road trips over the summer to see the world!