family

Hiking, Worship, and Healing.

/ Sonia Castaneda / Leave a comment

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Jude and I spend a lot of time together. Naturally, where I am he is. I make it my mission to spend time with him outdoors. Today we went on a hike with our dogs, while my favorite worship songs played loudly in my pocket. My family’s faith has been tested and strengthened in the last 6 months. You might have seen a post of two mentioning the woman’s bible study I joined 7 weeks ago, I needed God.  My son has been dealing with a string of challenges and he’s finally feeling…free. Jude started showing signs of anxiety many years ago and it only intensified over the years. We thought it was just a phase, it didn’t go away. His emotions were all over, ranging from sadness, boredom, and anger. He didn’t know how to express himself.

Because I am on YouTube, I am judged for everything including my parenting. I am always compared to other influencers and how they choose to raise their children. Ive been sent so many bibles, passive aggressively,  I could start my own church. A few made comments about how my son isn’t in private school and how selfish I am to not give him the best education with the resources I have. The truth is, I tried. He was attending Christian private school during summer. Kris and I volunteered 2 days a week to support our son and accompany his class on field trips. My son was dismissed only a month in because he had sever anxiety – not getting into a fight, no rules were broken – simply because he was having an anxiety attack and they didn’t know how to deal with it. There was no prayer, no sympathy for my son, no nothing. I was handed a check and I left with my sons hand in mine. I assured him that I was happy with him, and grateful we had the opportunity to find somewhere better.

From that moment I was going to do whatever it took to ensure he would NEVER feel dismissed by anyone, because of who he is and what he is going through. This post is not to shame him, but to shed light on mental health and to give hope to others. Through my research and personal therapy, I feel comfort knowing I am not alone. My son is not the only one, my family is not the only ones feeling this way. There is light at the end. There are better days to come. I am happier and grateful for the healing my son and family are finally experiencing. Amen!

YouTube has been a place were influencers have shared only the best parts of their lives. If connecting with my followers has always been my motivation for uploading…I knew I needed to start sharing. Im on a journey to start living my purpose. If you too are going through something similar, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section. I would love to connect.

*Latina Kisses*

Sonia

 

Summer Blues

/ Sonia Castaneda / Leave a comment

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Its summer! Some are super excited, and others are mothers. Mother’s who work from home who now have to juggle being mommy and the employee. I didn’t really understand why my mom was more stressed during school breaks. Now I get it mom, loud and clear! Its all the food our children are consuming. The “Im bored” declaration before noon. I struggle with finding balance. There are only so many video games, books, and card games before you all start getting cabin fever! I know I need to work to provide, but my heart breaks looking up from my screen to catch my son’s big beautiful eyes waiting for his turn with me.

I am grateful our family has been united but I can’t help but still feel like a single parent sometimes. Most times. I think I am just feeling like a mom. A lot is expected of us. To cook and clean, stock the fridge, make the lunches, play doctor or referee. We make the budgets, plan the vacations, and everything else in between. This is why we get lost for hours at target…on purpose! I love Kris, but if he asks me one more time how much allergy medicine to give our son, when all he has to do is move his thumb on the bottle he is holding – I am going to lose it! Again, I love him, but come on!

With that said I am going to try my best to schedule out every moment, even some time to do nothing. At 8:15pm tonight I plan to lay on my bed, like a potato, and watch a teen sitcom for hours shamelessly judging all the poor choices the characters make until I pass out. Hey, whatever floats your boat. 13 Reason Why is where its at! I want to spend more time in prayer, grow my own vegetables, eat those vegetables, and play with my son. Like really play with him. Maybe even learn how to play his favorite video game. MAYBE!

I have been a mom for almost 9 years and my son Jude gets around. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for:

TOP 10 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR KIDS IN CALIFORNIA ON A BUDGET. 

Money never stopped my mom from having a blast with her 4 kids, and it shouldn’t stop you either. Are you feeling the summer blues? How do you shake it off? What are your plans for the next 2 months? Let us all know in the comments below!

 

Never too late for growth.

/ Sonia Castaneda / Leave a comment

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TESTING 1 – 2 – 3 ! – Starting up my blog in a new place (wordpress.com) is intimating! Its like I am starting from scratch! Sometimes I feel too old to learn new things, but I am always willing to try! I hope this is the start of something fun and freeing!

My family is experiencing a lot of new changes. Kris and I are growing closer after being separated for 6 years. Jude has suffered from anxiety and mood disorders for years and he is starting to experience healing! Work for me has been steady, and it keeps me grateful everyday! I am learning to love my body and all of imperfections. I don’t have cancer, I’m not disfigured…im just curvy. Okkkurrrr?!

I have big plans this summer! Traveling, Fitness, Volunteer Work and so much more! Make sure to check in with me or follow me on social media for updates! Also things are going to start changing over on my YouTube channel. My content is going to take a shift and I hope you guys like it! AHHHHHH! Im excited and want to throw up at the same time haha.

Ready? Set. GO!

Museums are a lot cooler than they used to me

/ Sonia Castaneda / 1 Comment
I took Jude out for another fun activity on day two of week two during winter break. Today we hit the road towards the beautiful city of Pasadena for Kidspace Children’s Museum. The location was perfect, only about 25 mins from where we live so no excuses! Admission was a little high for what it is at $13 each, infants under a year are free.
[“KIDSPACE” at the entrance]
My initial thought was this place is perfect for kids in kinder and younger. Jude’s first opportunity to go was when he was in TK (Transitional Kindergarten) and he declined…yes, he declined, because he didn’t want to walk around. Thankfully he’s out of his lazy stage and was ready to make the best of our trip and explore!
When you first walk in there is a tunnel that leads you straight to the admission booths. In the tunnel we found tons of cool glass and electrical discs that reacted to your body temperature that stopped the static movement – aka super cool lights lol.
Jude dressed himself today:
[Zara] Jacket
[Vans] Long sleeve top
[Zara] Trousers
[VANS] Skate Shoes
This week at Kidspace they are have SNOW PLAY
where the kids can make snowmen and have friendly snowball fights. Its man made snow so don’t expect too much from it. I almost had Jude dress up in snow gear and I’m glad I did not. There we so many small children I was afraid Jude might play too rough so we skipped that activity.
There was a mud and clay table outside which was something no parent looked forward to haha.
My son is an only child who lives for social interaction with other children. As a toddler I was enrolled in at least 1 mommy and me class so he learned to play well with others. Its still a struggle because he’s also the youngest in the family and thinks he’s the boss. I am grateful for these opportunities to see his face light up with excitement.
[Jude in a truck that belongs to an archeologist]

 

As we moved around the grounds we discovered their ANT HOLE.
That was his favorite part (stay turned to my vlogs for that experience).

 

Cookie decorating could be skipped but since it was on our list of things to do, we were the test dummies. The cookie was stale and decorations were limited. ($3 each)
The child in me wanted so badly to run around with him in the Hawks Nest. This area came with a ton of costumes which made the experience as a bird that much more fun.

 

 

If you followed me from the start you know I felt uncomfortable about my son playing with guns. I felt like todays society normalizes violence and I didn’t want to be a part of it – my son especially. Through my research and time spent with a therapist there was nothing odd, or alarming about his interest in weapons in general. Long story short – I eventually lifted the ban hahah and Jude was over the moon when he discovered this ball blaster. I wish there was an employee there to make sure each child had a limited amount of balls to shoot. I was behind a man with his two sons who used their shirts as baskets and held over 20 balls each *eye roll*.

 

Overall we had a nice day and I enjoyed watching my son enjoy himself and exercise being a nice human with a ton of wild children running amuck. Jude said he would like to return to Kidspace one day, but there are other age appropriate museums in the area I think I would prefer to visit instead.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE MUSEUMS?
Our favorite to date is the Exploratorium in San Fransisco, California.
I hope you all are enjoying these mommy friendly posts as much as I am enjoying living them!
Until next time friends!

How to make hiking fun for kids

/ Sonia Castaneda / 1 Comment
HIKING WITH JUDE
This morning was the first day of the second week of Christmas break with Jude. He is like most 7 year olds who lose interest in anything that doesn’t require batteries or an electrical outlet. In this house we call the devil many things…including “electronics”.
I have been over eating with the rest of the world during the holidays so I wanted to get out and move this body of mine, and since Jude is not old enough to do much alone…he had to come with me!
[COLBY TRAIL : GLENDORA, CA]
In the past few years digestion has been a battle so after-dinner-walks are a must. To keep my little guy entertained and interested I used a small pocket notebook and created a small scavenger list. At the time he was too young to read so drawing pictures of common sites on our walk worked perfect. For example:
[] ROCK
[] TREE
[] CAR
[] TRUCK
[] FLOWER
[] GRASS
[] MAN HOLE
[] FIRE HYDRANT
[] BIRD
[] DOG
[] HUMAN

Jude is old enough to read and write so he loved the printable lists I found thanks to handy dandy Pinterest! Its cold this time of year so I made sure he was dressed appropriately, packed a bottle of water, pencil, and went to a local trail that was safe and kid friendly.
If you live in the Los Angeles are there are TONS of trails, only a quick google search away!
What are some ways you are keeping your kids busy this winter break? I have a week planned for my little guy and hope the weather stays nice so I can share them with you!
On our hike we surprisingly found everything BUT a pinecone and acorn! We looked for over and hour and nothing! We saw cool animal holes and even a snake “house” haha. Of course I was not going to stick around to say hello! *Runs away quickly with kid in arms*
Outfit details:
[ZARA] Hat
[FOREVER 21] Sweatshirt
[ZARA] Vest
[ZARA] Joggers
[VANS] Shoes
Like cell phones, iPads and game consoles have a hold on our children and are creating a new generation of anti social adults. I am trying to encourage other ways to use time that requires us to unplug. One of my New Years Resolutions is to spend at least 1 day a week without an email check, without a social media post, a weekly electronic detox!
I can’t wait to read the way you are getting active this winter in the comments!
Like in my YouTube videos, Thank you so much for joining me!
*Latina Kissed*