Daily Archives: December 22, 2009

The Twelve Days of Christmas

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In times ago, Christmas was celebrated as a festival of twelve days and thirteen Holy Nights.  Christmas Eve is actually the first of the Holy Nights, with the first day of Christmastide being Christmas and then the Holy Nights extend until Twelfth Night on the eve of January fifth (anyone remember Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare?)  January 6 is of course Epiphany.

These Holy Nights, is one of my most personally fulfilling times of the whole year.  It is a very inward time, a time to dream and a time to plan.  I do a lot of reflecting and thinking about what I want to see in my family life during the next year and what I want to see in myself.   I try very hard to schedule nothing during this time, and to have copious amounts of time to just be.  We hike a lot during this period if the weather holds up, and otherwise just enjoy being together.  You can see my thoughts about the Holy Nights and where I was in inner work last year at this time here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/12/24/the-holy-nights/

Some families give gifts on only Three Kings Day, and some give a small gift every day throughout the Twelve Days.  It might be nice to spread out your gift-giving.  This Wikipedia definition has more about these days in general:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_days_of_Christmas

Many Waldorf families mark this time by setting up a path of stars for the Three Kings to travel on to reach the infant Jesus.  Some families make an Advent-type calendar to mark these days.  Some families make a Weather Tree, and have fun guessing what the weather will be like each month of the new year based on the weather of each of the Twelve Days.

This is a great time to play card and board games with your family, to catch up with your family and friends, to grow more intimate with your spouse or partner as you plan and dream together.

Where are you right now in your inner work?  Where are you in parenting and homeschooling? Planning for the next school year (assuming you will be starting another school year in September of 2010) is right around the corner.  Perhaps you can use some time during these Twelve Days to talk finances with your spouse regarding your homeschooling budget.  This is important; there would be expenses even if your children were in school, so you should also be thinking and planning for Spring purchases for Fall.

Where is your house?  Perhaps during these Twelve Days you can consider what projects around the house might need to get done.  Where is your rhythm, your menu  planning?

This is your time to slow down, to take stock.

Enjoy this quiet, introspective time –

Love,

Carrie

“About Curative Education” by Carlo Pietzner

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Have you ever wondered about anthroposophical  curative education?  Here is a nifty little booklet to provide a solid introduction to this important subject:  Carlo Pietzner’s “About Curative Education”.   The lectures given by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 and now collected in “Curative Education”  is the foundation of this movement.  These were twelve lectures given by Steiner regarding specific indications for specific children which grew into curative education.  This little booklet aims to introduce some of the concepts Steiner put forth in these lectures.

Steiner introduced the concept that children and adults who have special needs should be seen as those who have “special tasks to be worked through in a special way.”  There is a thought that these affected individuals are in need of “soul-care”. 

Pietzner writes, “The concept implies  that by appropriate care and practice the soul-activity of a handicapped person can be guided and stimulated to become a mediator between that individuality and his unwieldy bodily nature.  It postulates an intact spiritual entelechy in contrast to a damaged, inadequate or one-sided bodily foundation.  But the soul needs help and support if it is to learn to mediate between its higher intention and its imperfect instrument.  An element of “healing” must become active.  And that is the foremost ingredient in the “special soul-care” that Rudolf Steiner provided.”  Curative education sees individuality as “indestructible”  and that an individual’s uniqueness provides us with ways to help.  An individual never is only the challenges he is facing in body, but himself.  

Curative education takes place in the classroom,  in the home, through daily life and routines.  This was a very remarkable idea in 1924!  Medical care and eurythmy. especially curative eurythmy,  are seen as a hand –in-hand approach with the curative teacher.  The spiritual resolve of this teacher and this teacher’s talent is of the utmost importance.  Steiner lectured as to the extreme importance of the relationship between the teacher and the person with special needs; there is a reciprocating relationship rather than a doctor-patient, caretaker-“suffering”  person.  The inner work and preparation of the curative educator is of utmost importance as this work involves the whole person.

Steiner lectured about this inner work, saying that the curative educator must feel called to this work, that the educator must work constantly to improve themselves and to be able  to connect their own intuit and attentiveness what they observe.   Clear insight is an essential skill, this ability to observe closely and then take it inside and see how one can best help.   “Perhaps the most valid diploma of the anthroposophical curative teacher is his enthusiasm for the experience of truth….That one has “passed” is often disclosed by the smallest event:  A child has mastered a deed long striven for. ….But it is not the achievement – and these are genuine achievements- not this that arouses the enthusiasm.  It is not a question of the success of a subtle training procedure.  Rather it is the confirmation of a specific expectation, of a confident hope that has based itself on innumerable observations.”  But the curative teacher and the  individual take this journey together, and it is always addressed to the individual, not just the symptom.  Remarkable stuff for 1924 and for today.

Pietzner goes on to write that the source of curative education was Steiner’s taking of Goethe’s work further:  “This fundamental source is the teaching of metamorphosis, that dynamic principle of transformation by which the spiritual manifests itself in the physical realm.”  Steiner used the image of the lemniscate to connect the head and metabolic-limbic system, using this as a piece on top of inner work and observation for the curative educator’s use. 

There is more in this little booklet regarding karma and curative education, the curative teacher as a co-creator with co-responsibility, curative teaching as an attitude, not just a profession, but I leave you to read this for yourself and discover the gems in it!

Carrie

Breastfeeding and Dental Caries

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These are some notes I have about this topic and thought I would share:

Early Childhood Caries (ECC)

  • -Formerly known as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay or Nursing Caries
  • -Defined as the presence of one or more cavities in the deciduous teeth in a child aged 71 months or less (LEAVEN, April/May/June 2006)
  • -Recognized as an infectious disease process caused by an overgrowth of microorganisms that are part of normal oral flora.
  • -Streptococcus mutans (S mutans) is thought to be the primary cause.

Three Factors Necessary for Dental Caries:

1. A susceptible tooth – A tooth becomes susceptible through genetics ( leading to pitting/grooving, poor tooth enamel, pH level of mouth low); pregnancy factors ( maternal fever, maternal malnutrition, iron deficiency, lead exposure, stress, antibiotic use). Other risk factors include infants born via cesarean section, prematurity, small for gestational age, infant of smokers.

2. Presence of cavity causing bacteria – Typically transmitted mother to infant or from other adult caregivers, siblings, playmates to infant.

“Reducing the level of bacteria in a mother’s mouth may reduce transmission to the baby.” (La Leche League’s LEAVEN, April/May/June 2006). Ways to do this may include xylitol ( a natural carbohydrate sugar substitute that interferes with bacteria’s ability to stick to teeth), chlorhexidine rinses (this is prescription only, may have side effects, discuss with HCP).

Be aware of the “Windows” of infectivity – 19 – 36 months (although with some children this window can start as early as six months), and 6-8 years of age.

3. Presence of Acid – Decreased saliva flow decreases the protection saliva provides of washing debris away. Children who are mouth- breathers, take antihistamines and/or asthma medications may be at higher risk for caries.

Problems Caused By Caries-

They can be painful and cause abscesses, the ability to eat and chew is compromised, children with dental caries may show “slowed growth rates or failure to thrive”, speech may be affected, if primary molars are lost to decay malocclusion may result, caries may affect self esteem of child. Having ECC is a strong predictor of decay in permanent teeth.

Signs of Decay – White spots on the surface of the teeth, usually on the front teeth, or white lines at base of teeth. This will later turn to brown spots and decay. Dentists recommend a child first visit the dentist by 12 months of age or within first six months of teeth erupting.

PREVENTION of ECC

  • -Non-breastfeeding infants are at higher risk of decay when compared to breastfeeding infants . One recent study of Jahalin Bedouin infants in Israel found that the children drinking bottles had levels of ECC almost two times the infants that were breastfeeding. (from Early Childhood Caries among A Bedouin Community residing in the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem by Livny, Assali, Sgan-Cohen, BMC Public Health 2007).
  • -Human milk is not cariogenic unless another source of carbohydrate is introduced for bacteria to feed on.
  • -Human milk does not decrease the pH of the mouth while almost all brands of artificial milk do – S mutans thrives in low pH
  • -Most artificial milks support high level of bacterial growth, while human milk supports moderate bacterial growth
  • -Components in breast milk, including secretory IgA and IgG play a protective role and slow the growth of S mutans and lactoferrin kills bacteria. Also, the calcium and phosphorus from breast milk are deposited on the tooth enamel.
  • -However, once first teeth erupt and additional foods and fluids are added to the diet, the breastfed infant can be at risk for caries just like any other infant
  • -Also, if the infant is receiving human milk by bottle the protective mechanisms of breastfeeding are compromised.
  • – Fluoride is controversial in treating caries. Some studies suggest flouride decreases the rates of caries from 50 to 70 percent, but other experts cite fluoride as a neurotoxin and that fluoride inhibits calcium absorption. Some holistic dentists are working with Vitamin D or combinations of Vitamin D, Vitamin C and calcium to try to reverse early decay. Vitamin D can be toxic at higher levels, so please discuss this with your HCP.

SOURCES

Early childhood caries:new knowledge has implications for breastfeeding families. Altshuler, A. LEAVEN, vol 42, No 2. April/May/June 2006, 27-30.

Avoiding dental caries. Fowler J. NEW BEGINNINGS, vol 19, no 5. Sept/Oct 2002, 164-7.

Big bad cavities: breastfeeding is not the cause. Reagan L. Mothering Magazine. July/August 2002.