[earthwriter]

I really need caring kind support. I love my 2 year old toddler son very much with all my heart, but his being a toddler is driving me crazy and stressing me out! It pains me to say this, though I have a feeling that I'm not alone with feeling this way, but he's a real handful. I have a lot on my plate and I feel overwhelmed and I'm having a very difficult time with coping. I wanted to post this in the natural living forums, but I don't see a forum about holistic living, only eco green. I do my best to take good care of myself with self-care and I meditate and do yoga and tai chi, deep breathing, and I take B12 and B-Complex, but I still feel very stressed and I am grieving for the loss of my dear sweet beloved departed Mother who died last summer. I don't drink coffee because it's not healthy for me to consume any caffeine...my nerves are very frayed and ripped to shreds...I'm a non-smoker...I don't drink alcohol...I enjoy as much comedy and laughter as possible...I take Bach Flower Rescue Remedy and I use organic natural essential oils and I enjoy Ayurvedic aromatherapy, but I feel like I'm missing something...I'm 100% holistic, an herbalist, organic vegan, and I eat only natural whole foods...my dear husband and I enjoy sweet sensual intimacy when we can...I enjoy cuddling with my 2 furry kittycats. I'm feeling tired and I'm not able to think well...I really need some mature Mamas who think outside the box to help me and to listen. How do you cope with stress?

 

[luckiest]

Read this book first:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1890572152?pc_redir=1407137958&robot_redir=1

Also read this article and see if it resonates with you about your toddler:

http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/positive-discipline/Parenting-Strong-Willed-Child

If it does, then buy Laura Markham's book, Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids.

I'll try not to delve into nutrition too much - I'm a student nutritional therapist and everything I've learned about food, through my own healing journey and through my school, has lead me to an ancestral diet. I don't believe that there is one diet that will work for everyone, and there is a lot of room for major variation in an ancestral-type diet, but there are some underlying foundational aspects - whole, unadulterated foods; grains only if they have been properly prepared (soaked/sprouted/fermented); and the inclusion of pastured/grass-fed/wild animal foods. The Weston A Price Foundation has so much amazing information, as does Dr Price's book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Fat soluble vitamins are so, so important to our health. I would really consider adding in fresh local farm eggs and, if it's available, raw dairy. Wild fish as well, if you're open to that.

If you're wanting to add in another supplement, consider a quality magnesium, which is depleted by stress and carb-based diets. Natural Calm is a popular one. Best to take it at bedtime.