written by : Giada Combusti 

I consider myself to be a spiritual being, and despite the incredulous look I often see on people’s faces when I declare such a thing, just before I met my husband I was trying to figure out how to become a Christian nun. The idea of me living a simple, minimalist life at the service of others and in a constant state of prayer felt to be the best place in this world, however, God had certainly other plans for me. LOL

By saying this I would like to make clear how material possessions didn’t delude me to think that they would help me to live a more meaningful and happier life.

So when my daughter came into our lives, I knew for certain that toys and best gadgets were not the main thing that will thrive her development and happiness. 

These are the best gifts we ( as parents ) gave to our daughter and son:

TIME.

Before I became a Mother I thought I didn’t have enough time to do things but only when I had my children  I realised how I had time before but not anymore. 

Little children need a lot of attention and dedication. I gave my life to them but I can’t stress enough how all those infinite hours spent together helped me to live a richer and fuller experience as not only a parent but as a human being. We can’t quantify this with numbers but with tears in my eyes, I can certainly state that the time I gave them has transformed into the most precious time of our lives. 

Can this be considered the best gift I gave to my children? Surely is. 

GOOD HEALTHY EATING HABITS.

“ We eat the food that has been cooked, our kitchen is not a restaurant, therefore, there isn’t a menu and we shall be grateful to have 3 main meals every single day.” Ameen. 

This is what I often preach when I see my children not too keen on eating what has been cooked for them, so eating what is available is the first lesson I have implanted in their hearts. 

My dad is (very) far from being perfect but he has taught me something very important: processed food is bad and sugary things are detrimental to our health. So in our home apart from occasional crisps or instant noodles there isn’t processed food and our added sugar intake is very low. This is what Dr Hu said “The effects of added sugar intake — higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease — are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke,”  at the Harvard Health Publishing – Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar

Our diet is rich in fibre, vegetables, fruits and pulses. Definitely humble and simple meals!

Could this be considered a gift for life? It was for me and certainly will be for them. 

NO TV, NO PHONE, NO TABLETS. 

We got rid of our tv as soon as we learned how bad tv was for babies. Here’s an article about it: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Why-to-Avoid-TV-Before-Age-2.aspx

“ Good evidence suggests that screen viewing before age 18 months has lasting negative effects on children’s language development, reading skills, and short-term memory. It also contributes to problems with sleep and attention.’’ (!!!) Let alone tablets and phones. 

We choose to live without it and this has been one of the best decisions we made in our lives. Less distraction more intentional living. However, there are great films out there that I don’t want my kids to miss and so Thursday is our movie night and this is when we are together watching a movie, cartoon or documentary.  They love movie night and it is a special moment we share together. The rest of the days in our week we read, play, draw, walk, dance, swim etc 

When I search for movies I search for those that would impact us in the most profound way; recently I became aware of how I don’t want to stare at strangers doing stuff I want to see myself doing stuff, making my life my own movie ( DOES THIS MAKE SENSE ?)

I can see adults addicted ( including myself !! ) to phones, tv and tablets, it is extremely difficult  to be without them, it is a huge problem we are facing in our society and no one can deny that.

Why on earth do we want our youngest to waste their most important developing years in life watching a screen ??? I don’t get it.

Could a life without screens be a gift? I think so!

ENJOY SIMPLE THINGS

One of our relatives said to me as soon as their kids started to walk she got rid of the pram. That stuck on my mind and as soon as my children knew how to walk I got rid of the pram and I patiently teach them to walk in any circumstances, it has been tough and challenging at first as I had to slow down my paste, picked them up when they fall or encourage them to be strong and focus on going up to steep and slippery surfaces. 

Both our kids since a very young age has been great walker. I remember my little girl when she was 16 months walked for HOURS at the Etruscans necropolis which doesn’t have the easiest paths in the world. 

A walk in the forest is one of our favourite thing to do.

Could the teaching of loving something simple as a walk in the forest be considered a gift? I believe so.

SWIMMING. 

I was blessed enough to witness the first steps, words, smile, laugh etc of both of my children and these things filled up my heart with infinite joy but seeing my little girl ( who is not 6 yet ) freely snorkelling in deep water had helped me to experience something extraordinary joy and a sense of accomplishment I never thought they existed! 

Can teaching swimming be considered a skill for life and therefore a gift? Definitely yes! 

RIDING A BIKE.

“Good balance enables you and your child to concentrate, sit still and listen when required, to think clearly, to succeed at reading, spelling and mathematics and to develop skills in sporting activities.” said Rosemary MurphyLearning Difficulties expert at: https://developlearning.co.nz/parent-resources/blog/48-the-perfect-balance-why-good-balance-is-key-to-successful-learning/

To our own surprise, both our kids ( 3.5 and 5.5 ) know how to ride a pedal bike, for kilometres. I worked as a fashion model for years and I have been on magazine covers, visited the most luxurious places, eaten the most sophisticated food, travelled to many astonishing cities, met the most interesting and successful people, went to wonderful nature walks etc but seeing my family cycling together has been for sure one of the best things I have ever experienced so far. Not only cycling is good for our health, but it is also a way of living that could potentially keep our children away from silly things that they could encounter in their lives. 

Could the ability to ride a bike at a very early age be considered a gift? For sure. 

LOVE FOR BOOKS.

I wouldn’t feel as happy, serene, content and grateful as I am if I didn’t have my books. 

Books are a source of life; they give me hope, knowledge, truth and a sense of concrete peace. When I walk into a library or a book shop it feels like I am in heaven. I see opportunities, lessons to learn and adventures to discover. Books are good for my mind and essential for my soul. 

One of our very first activities has been reading to my kids. Every single day ( unless I am very unwell ) I read at least one story and to today they can’t live without it. If you happen to be at our home you would be seeing at some point of the day both our kids go through their books, by themselves without me suggesting it. 

I remember one night my little girl was sick, I had to shower her and change the bedsheets in the middle of the night, as soon as we were ready to go back to bed with a very weak voice and trembling eyes she said: “ Can you read me Mowgli ?” 

Do they find comfort with books? Is this a way to escape from boredhood? In both scenarios I see it as a good habit. 

Could the transmission of love for books be considered a gift? It is a treasure for me it shall be for them. 

Those are definitely our best gift for our children, I hope you enjoyed reading my list 🙂 

I hope this article will be helpful to someone. 

With Love

Giada

written by Giada Combusti

Nature is good for us, no doubt about that. 

However, it looks like, our modern lifestyle doesn’t consider it something to prioritise. Many studies like this one  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3 show that is kind of essential to our well-being to spend time in a natural environment, it says that Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing.

I try to spend as many hours as possible each day in nature with the kids.

I see only improvement whenever I and my family is outdoors. 

Here are 9 activities to do with  kids when in nature

1. WALK. 

As soon as my kids started to walk properly ( without falling down ) I got rid of the pram, a family member did so and I follow her advice and highly recommend you do it too.

Our kids ( 5.5 and 3.5 years old ) are now great walker, they can walk for HOURS and their balance is spectacular, my 3,5 years old boy run freely and fearless down bumpy, stony and slippery grounds and is fascinating to me how only a year ago he had to hold on tight to my hand to walk down these paths. Now he’s as brave and confident as I could ever imagine he could be, he’s been a lazy boy in the beginning as he started to walk at 18 months! But because we constantly pushed his limits now he can walk for kilometres without complaining ! ! No matter how difficult the path is !! 

Walking is one of our favourite activities and most of the days we are out to walk and this not only keeps our body fit and healthy, but it also teaches us to be patient, to be present, to be mindful and whenever we reach our destination (especially when we go for longer walks ) we feel a sense of completeness, satisfaction and joy. Such a simple activity brings so much to our lives. 

If I had to choose one of our outdoor activities, this is would be the one.

One way to make it even more fun is to explore the natural area around your home, you will be surprised how a new route /path can be exciting and full of new discoveries! 

2. COLLECT LEAVES, FLOWERS AND  MUCH MORE

Each season gives us a lot, it is simply amazing to witness the changes that nature goes through each year, especially in these parts of the world where we can experience four seasons. From a silent, naked and still winter to a lively, colourful, rich summer, I feel so blessed to see all this! And so should you.

I like to keep things simple and with the kids when we go for short walks we bring our wooden baskets and we collect things, it is like treasure hunting, a very meditative activity. We love it. 

From flowers ( there is always a type of flower in every season ) that we use to the embellishment of our home, to yellow, red and brown leaves in autumn for our artworks, but also for food, that’s right, food!

Nature has a lot to offer and unfortunately, we are losing all our knowledge about this, but, also thanks to my husband we are getting more confident in eating things straight from the wildness.

Here in Tuscany, where we have spent the last 1,5 years, we do not only collect fruits such as cherries, apricot, figs, Indian figs, blackberries, olives, oranges etc we are a great fan of mushrooms, salads and my absolutely favourite wild asparagus which are thinner than the one you buy from the shop but much tastier!

I can’t stress enough how much the kids love this activity, they are fully immersed and super enthusiastic when we are out and about searching for things.

I would like to suggest parents, to learn about the eatable plants in your area and go for food foraging, it is so much fun! There is so much information about it out there we can’t miss this opportunity to relearn our human history habits.

3. SIT DOWN AND DRAW / PAINT 

We found a very cute corner not far from our home where we can sit down ( on the ground ) and chill while enjoying the sun, especially in winter. I love drawing, and in my backpack, I always bring my sketchbook and watercolour and as we all know kids copy what we do and they started to do drawing outdoors with me and I swear I never saw my d.s so concentrate on another activity than this. We do artwork at home, and it does wonders to us, but when we are in nature, I see a deeper connection to it. It is definitely worth giving it a try! 

4. PIC NIC

Over the years we tested different ‘’ menus ‘’ from packed sandwiches to takeaways pizza, raw vegetables, cooked pasta or even rice! The sky is the limit LOL when it comes to food, no matter where we are!

However, the thing we enjoy the most is hotdog sandwiches, the only reason why is we light a small fire to cook our sausages! Once again simplicity is what we enjoy the most and yes there are many lovely restaurants and cafes where we sometimes enjoy ourselves but we far more enjoy our picnics. Even your back garden can be the perfect place to have a picnic. I think this is the absolute favourite thing we do for the kids and highly recommend you to try it out!

5. STORY TIME 

Every single day, unless I am unwell I read at least one story to the kids, not only bedtime stories but throughout the day and this is something that you can definitely do when you are outside in nature. There is always a good excuse to establish good habits in our children and I think reading in nature is one of these. 

6. CLIMBING TREES / HILLS / ROCKS 

As this article https://ilslearningcorner.com/2016-05-why-balance-how-does-it-facilitate-attention-focus-and-higher-learning/ says : 

Why is Balance so Important for Learning

Physical inactivity in children may not only lead to known physical risks such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, it can create poor motor skills, which also causes underdeveloped vestibular systems.

I took this in my heart and from the very beginning whenever possible I helped my children’s balance straighten. Despite the fact that I am sometimes scared of them falling down, with the appropriate precaution, I and most of the time my husband teach them to climb trees and hills and walk on rocks near the sea. 

I want them to be brave and confident in life and I think these types of exercises help them to flourish in the best version of themselves. 

7. LISTEN TO NATURE

What about sitting down and listening to nature? The quieter the better. Just the other day we were laying down in our little corner and we played the silent game for a minute and guess what? we saw a beautiful green woodpecker flying over us. The more we witness this kind of thing the more I see them willing to be quiet because the results can be very rewarding!

8. BECOME AN OBSERVER  

Not long ago my d.s ( age 3,5 years ) spotted for the first time an eagle, I was very happy to see his excitement when he saw it first. By only observing nature we can learn a lot not only can help us to be more grateful but also make us more caring about our surroundings. I am nowhere an expert in nature, yes I can name some trees, fruits, and birds and I know the wildlife of our area but expertise is something I’m definitely lacking however the excitement of learning and discovering is something that is vibrant in my heart and our kids too they are becoming good observer and constantly ask questions and make their own conclusions about things they see in nature, I found this fascinating. 

9. MUD KITCHEN 

Only God knows how many hours our kids play in their mud kitchen; this is a must for those who have a bit of space outside their homes. This is obviously nothing fancy we have a wooden pallet on top of some bricks and some old kitchen utensils such as pots, pans, spoons etc with these I saw them make delicious meals such as green grass spaghetti, mud cookies and yummy soups LOL. I can hear them talking and talking and moving things around. Very engaging and creative activity indeed. 

10. KEEP A NATURE JOURNAL 

We have a notebook where we stick in it the things we find in nature like flowers, porcupine needles, snake’s skin etc I’m sure this notebook will be a fun thing to go through together when they will be older.

Over the years we tried different activities some worked better than others and we always try to find a new way to enjoy and understand more our planet. This is my list of our favourite ones, I really hope someone will find this inspiring! 

With Love

Giada

Written by : Giada Combusti

Life can be tough. It can leave us with a sense of bitterness, injustice and anger, it can harden our hearts and make us want to give up on EVERYTHING. 

We’ve all been there and it is not nice. I know. 

However, I think God ( or life as you might prefer to refer to it) has planned to give us more than this sense of harshness.  

Every day we can choose how to live our lives and even when the world looks like going against us, it is always worth making an extra effort to be kind, gentle, loving and understanding with the people around us but mostly our family members. Is it easier to be an asshole than a nice person but the results are incomparable.  I CHOOSE TO LOVE.

Here’s how I make sure I give the best to my family. 

Bear in mind I don’t always succeed but as I often say “I try my best !”

1. Sleep, sleep and sleep

Sleep is so important for me, whenever I have a poor night the day after is just miserable. I’m half patient, I feel lethargic and I perform really scarcely. Sometimes we underestimate sleep and we think we don’t need to sleep that much but soon or later the body would let us know that something is missing.

2. I fill up my cup 

I, most of the time the one who wakes up earlier in the morning, 1 or 2 hours before everyone else. This is my time, when I pray ( meditate ), work on my projects and where appreciate the silence and the birds singing.

I am also the one who goes to bed at the latest as this is the time when I read my books. 

Those two things for me are essential to start and finish the day in the best way. What are your things? Perhaps running? Cooking?

3.  Healthy diet 

I’m Italian and in our culture, there is no junk food, even ready meals from Italian shops are like home-cooked ones, so I have a very strong base and general knowledge of how to eat healthily; although there are temptations ( 🙂 ) everywhere I try to keep my sweet intake very low ( I have noticed that sugar gives me a bit of depression mood ) and I eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, nuts and dates. I only drink coffee, tea and water. When I feed myself well I feel good, strong and more focused therefore I give the best to the ones around me. 

4.  I choose to keep quiet rather than fire up a fight and so should you 

With time, the tension in our relationships will rise and expectations will let us feel treated unfairly by our partner. This can be a challenge but what I tend to do is to try to ‘’fix’’ myself first, analyse my thinking and way of being, have conversations in the most constructive way and when things get nasty I just choose to keep quiet and I wait till the water has calmed down to discuss about that issue. It is easier to say than do but as I always say I try my best!

5.  Do more of the things I love

I choose to minimise the things we do and the things we own and to spend more time doing the things I love which are drawing, shooting with my camera and spending time in nature. 

SPENDING TIME IN NATURE is something I would never stop recommending to people who want to have a happier life.

Spend more time in nature. Is it as simple as that, we are natural beings and we should implant in our heads that nature is us and we need to be there to feel GOOD, more often the better. There are tons of studies about how good for our well-being is to spend time in nature here’s one: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032712002005 

However not every time we have the possibility to go out due to bad weather or lack of time, so I would suggest finding something that you truly love and embracing that thing, indulging yourself in your hobby. This is another article I wrote about how to find your passion: https://peaceful-space.co.uk/how-to-find-your-passion/

6. Connect with other humans 

Talk to people. Say “ Hi” to them, make new friends, be nice, encourage them, try to leave a positive note in their day and make sure to smile! Be a river of compliments, there is always something nice to say to anyone!

Even in our darkest time, a chat with someone, anyone, can really flip our mood, we shouldn’t be shy because there is nothing to miss and everything to gain.

7. Keep our home clean, tidy, and uncluttered and try to create a Peaceful Space

Our home should be our sanctuary. 

Home should be a  place where we feel at peace.

Home should be a place where you can rest – regenerate ourself.

I used to be a full-time fashion model and for years I moved from one place to another and I never had a chance to settle down and create my peaceful space. That came to an end when I became a mother over five years ago. In that time I learned that settling down is not just about having a fixed abode but creating a home where I am at peace. When my home it tidy and uncluttered I feel at peace and I found out how the balance of my home can interfere with my mental health. Minimalism is the key to success and I can firmly say less is more.

Less stuff is equal to less time wasted on cleaning, maintaining and replacing stuff with don’t really need. Everything has a place in our home and how nice is to wake up to a clean and tidy home, this makes me start the day on a very positive note. 

8. Quiet time 

In our era we constantly try to keep ourselves engaged in something, we scroll our phones to see what other people are up to, we call someone to have a chat, we watch videos on YouTube and we listen to podcasts; this can’t be necessarily all bad, it can actually be good and educational HOWEVER what I have discovered recently is that is GOOD to just do one thing at the time and just listen to the sounds of our homes and dive into our thoughts while chores. I found this sometimes to be therapeutic and necessary to feel connected and content.

9. Writing 

When I write I can better picture my feelings, I can understand myself more and reassure my heart, I have done this since I was little girl and I can’t live without it. Writing my feelings, desires, fears and much more helps me to be connected and feel secure about myself and my values.

There is always a light at the end, look for it, don’t give up and just try your best, the rest will come with time….

10. Praying 

Is the era of meditation and everyone is talking about it, I am a more classic/simple kind of person and I like to call this practice prayer.  I dedicate this practice lots of time in the day by being grateful for every small / grate miracle I witness, as the things I can experience with my senses; I thank God for the beautiful things I have in my life, including the hardships, I ask for guidance for a more meaningful existence, a life at the service of others and I pray for the best for family, friends and the oppressed. This is food for my soul, light for my heart and clarity for my mind. 

I hope this was a nice inspiring article for you guys. 

With sincere Love

Giada