Over the last year, my husband and I have had the great fortune of participating in our first Northwest Earth Institute discussion group.  Over nine months we met with about ten other adults to work through the readings and discussions relating to their course called- Healthy Children, Healthy Planet.

I was reminded of our readings and discussions today as the Christmas season gears up and I begin to feel overwhelmed with the pressure to have a perfect holiday with all the trimmings. Last week, I hosted a cookie exchange that kept me up way too late and just brought extra sugar into our house. Humm, that was a mistake… I guess I got caught in the "Christmas machine".

One of the undercurrents of Healthy Children, Healthy Planet course is the practice of simplicity. A practice that I endeavor to undertake this holiday season as best I can without being too practical. But I will admit, I’m finding it particularly hard since my little ones are so sheltered from our materialistic, consumer society most of the year. Part of me wants to get them the moon for Christmas this year, since we do make the practical, simple choices most of the rest of the year.

However, I am planning to have a simple Christmas dinner this year. No long hours in the kitchen or late nights cooking. My idea rests on the hope I can get a pre-made dinner (hopefully with organic and vegetarian components) from one of the local dinners-to-go establishments that seem to be all over Tacoma. I figure I have plenty of other years to go all out cooking, but these years when my kids are little, I just want to watch them marvel at the lights, joyously tear the wrapping paper and snuggle as we read stories.

P.S. If you haven’t heard of the Portland-based Northwest Earth Institute, scoot over to their website…. www.nwei.org and you will find a heap of listings for their courses. In the Puget Sound Area you can contact Karin Van Vlack at karinv@nwei.org and she will be happy to talk with you about NWEI.