We’ve had a lot of rain today. It’s a day where I feel like singing, “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” That’s the “My Favorite Things” song from The Sound of Music movie musical.

So, let’s talk about some of my favorite things for mothering, which relate to The Sound of Music, because of the Maria Principle, named for Maria Von Trapp, the governess turned mother in The Sound of Music.

Before I get into the Maria Principle, please indulge me with some history of The Sound of Music.

Did you know that 60 years ago, this month of March 2025, The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews, the greatest family movie ever, premiered?

Yes, it’s true! A year ago, at my homeschooling co-op school, we as moms read the book the movie is based on and discussed it. It’s shown above and written by the real Maria herself. I found out that one of the moms hadn’t read the book nor watched the movie! I was aghast! She is so missing out! I hope she has rectified that cultural literacy omission by now. Anyway, that got me on a Sound of Music binge for a few weeks, reading other books about it and watching YouTubes of behind-the-scenes.

Heather Menzies, who played Lousia, one of the children in the movie, reported that it was strange to introduce herself on the first day of school in 1964 as someone who had just filmed a movie for her summer vacation. Nobody had seen it yet, so they didn’t realize what a big deal this was. Then during the fall of 1964 it went through whatever they do to make a movie launchable: edits and such. Then it was released in theaters in March 1965. So, to celebrate this 60th anniversary of the release of The Sound of Music, I’m going to blog every so often in 2025 about Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews, and all things Sound of Music.

The first post in this series is all about “The Maria Principle.”

What is the Maria Principle?

We get it from the book mentioned previously. The principle is hinted at in the movie, with the piece about Maria making the Von Trapp children play clothes out of the curtains in her room. The real story, as usual, is a bit different. In her book, Maria tells us her problem of seeing such a beautiful outdoor world for the little Von Trapps to play in. The home where she worked as a governess had a beautiful yard with grass, flowers, bushes, etc. She asked the little darlings why they didn’t ever play in the yard. They stated that it was too hard to play in the yard because if their ball went rolling away, they would have to get into the mud and then get their clothes dirty. The idea started percolating in her mind of how to solve this problem. Well, Christmas was coming, so she asked for boots for the children so they could get walk in the mud.

She put the letter on the windowsill, as was the custom for Austrian children when leaving letters for Saint Nicholas. Imagine her delight when on the morning after the visit from Saint Nick, all her Christmas dreams had come true! He had delivered boots and raincoats for the children. Now they could all play outside and not stress about the captain getting mad that their clothes got dirty.

In the movie, the fictionalized story goes that Maria sewed play clothes out of the curtains in her bedroom so the children could feel free to romp in the hills of Salzburg. That way they didn’t have to stress about getting their nice clothes dirty.

Translating the Maria Principle literally to your own life means having the proper outerwear (hats/boots/coats/capes/gloves etc.) for any kind of weather conditions to protect your regular clothes.

See my photo at the very top of this post. Here we have The Sound of Music movie girls dressed in charming hats and capes for a proper outdoor outing when it might get chilly. The boys don’t get hats, just jackets and pants. I guess they all don’t plan on chasing any balls in the mud, so they don’t need boots. I just hope the girls have some kind of leggings tucked away if it gets super cold.

This principle is super important if you are a Crunchy Mom who loves to get her 1000 hours outside in. A year ago, my married daughter did Forest School with her two preschool boys, even in January and February. That means they met outside with other homeschooling families in a forest at the same time every week, rain or shine, snow or not. They all loved it! Even though it was wet, mushy and gray, because they were equipped for the wet and cold, it was fun for her and the boys. She loves putting them in bright colored boots and other winterwear.

We can apply the Maria Principle much more broadly to all aspects of life, beyond having proper outerwear. It can look like having the right material things to enjoy play in all environments, not just mud and/or cold. It can look like having the right materials to enjoy all opportunities, for work or play. It can look like having the right materials that even turn work into play. When you don’t have the right materials, play can actually turn into work, LOL.

So, to sum up the Maria Principle, it is this: “Having just the right material thing allows one to best enjoy the opportunity for play, or work, resulting in the least amount of stress.” In this case, the boots helped them to play outside, protecting their regular clothes from the mud. They didn’t have to fear grumpy Dad would get grumpier. (Actually, the book stresses that the dad was actually quite nice. It’s just in the movie where he was grumpy.)

As a mom, I long ago learned the Maria Principle, I just didn’t have a name for it yet. I love it when I read books and they talk about things that I’ve already thought about! I know I would have loved talking to the real Maria about this. It was fun to read in her book about how, after she moved to America, she decided to have a family camp in Vermont to preach the joys of singing. She got to go shopping to get all the right stuff for it to equip the cabins. That sounded like some fun shopping trips in NYC and its environs.

So here is the beginning of my list of my top favorite material objects for enjoying opportunities to live, work, and play as a mom. When you are a mom, your whole life is actually a “job.” You are always on call 365/24/7. The lines between “work,” “play” and “just live” are so blurred. For example, nursing can be such a joy, but it’s also a “job” since you are nourishing another human being. If you are committed to nursing your baby, I encourage you to find all that you can to make it more enjoyable. My list below includes some of those things.

Here we go, here are Tree of Life Mama’s Top 15 Things that Exemplify the Maria Principle for Every Crunchy Mama With a Nursing Baby. This list comes after 30+ years of being a mom. Please appreciate all the years of hard knock experience I went through to gain this knowledge. I am assuming everyone reading this has a smartphone, if not, add that to the top of the list. Some of these things I don’t even own, I’ve just heard praises about them, so they are on my list. I’m also assuming you already have an automatic dishwasher, washer and dryer, and refrigerator. If not, start with those basics. I’ll cover other things beyond being a nursing mom in other posts.

These 15 things all relate to being a young mom with a nursing baby, balancing that job with homemaking. On other days I’ll share Maria Principle items related to pregnancy, homeschooling, and older motherhood.

1. An apron. Much as it might sound old-fashioned, frumpy, and unfeminist, an apron is actually quite a desirable thing. In my newlywed and early mom days, I resisted using these every day even though my sweet sister-in-law gave my husband and me matching aprons for a wedding gift, which I still have. Finally, I wised up, realizing that it was worth wearing them. When I used one to protect my clothes when preparing food, I saved time doing laundry. I later discovered that they come in lots of fun colors and styles. Like the one with The Sound of Music curtain print above. You are sure to find one that you love, from etsy or amazon or somewhere else like here. You can even feel glamorous in an apron! I now subscribe to apron therapy. That’s the idea that wearing an apron can make working in the kitchen more fun because you feel so good because you look great!

2. A bed big enough to enjoy sleeping in with your growing baby next to you and your husband. Sharing a bed with the baby at night makes night nursing so much easier, after you master the art of nursing lying down. I’m talking California King size. Get that instead of a crib. I wish I had bought one before my first baby. It’s probably the best investment you can make for family and marriage harmony. The three of you fit easily enough when the baby is a tiny newborn, but trust me, that baby will grow in a blink of your eye. When the baby is a toddler, and starts giving you ninja kicks at night and wedges between you and your husband to form the letter “H” you will be glad you got the biggest bed possible.

3. A sturdy bed rail that folds down. It attaches to the side of the bed. We had two of these through my nursing baby years. They gave me peace of mind, for all the times when I was cosleeping with the baby not between my husband and me but on the other side of me, next to the edge of the bed. With it properly installed I didn’t worry about the baby falling out of bed. I didn’t always want to nurse on the same side all through the night. This is needed after the baby learns how to roll over.

4. A babysling or some other babywearing gear. Babywearing gives a mother an extra set of hands. So needed and so wonderful! That’s my husband and me above, with our firstborn in my first babysling, a puffy padded Dr. Sears NoJo ring sling. I had two other iterations that were blue plaid and blue striped. I’ve also enjoyed a homemade baby carrier that my mom sewed for me, a New Native imitation. It was a simple tube of khaki cloth that I enjoyed because it was more streamlined, without all the padding. The drawback however is that it’s not adjustable like the ring sling. See what New Natives look like over here. Baby carriers make getting out and about with baby easier as well so that when shopping or touring baby is right by you without your arms getting tired. (I do believe in strollers too, they have their place. I’ll have to have my married daughter fill us in about the best strollers another time.)

5. A wonderfully fitting, supporting nursing bra. I had my favorite brands when I was nursing, which were Bravado and Leading Lady. My married daughter likes Hot Milk.

6. Nursing friendly clothes. They don’t have to be specifically designed for nursing, with the special slits that allow easy access to mom’s nipples. A loose-fitting top and skirt or pants make a nursing-friendly outfit as does a specially designed nursing dress. This way your baby can nurse easily without you feeling like you have to undress or go hide in a closet to nurse if you are in public because you feel like you are showing too much. Not that I’m against nursing in public, I’ve done it many times. I’ve done it in church, at the park, at the zoo, while shopping and at the airport. I do agree that it’s high time we normalize nursing in public. Anyway, this site has some stylish offerings of nursing clothes.

7. Baby outfits with feet covers so you don’t need socks. Baby socks and booties and shoes are those things that seem so cute when you first encounter them. So you want to buy them all as soon as the pregnancy test turns positive. But after living with them for months/years, having to keep track of them after they constantly fall off, launder them (the socks, not the shoes) and store them, you realize they are really annoying.

8. A nursing pillow. It’s amazing what a little support under the arms can do to make nursing more comfortable, something you look forward to because you can completely relax. If I had to buy a nursing pillow today, I’d get the one below with the gorgeous pillow cover shown above.

9. A food chopper that can be operated with just one hand, like the Zyliss food chopper shown above. This greatly came to my aid with my second baby. Sometimes I ended up nursing her in the sling while making dinner, otherwise she would cry, and I don’t believe in letting babies “cry it out.” This chopper allowed me to chop veggies with just one hand while I supported her head in the sling to nurse, with my other hand. Some moms have mastered the art of nursing in a sling with no hands. I did when my babies were older, but when they were younger it was hard for them to maintain the latch in the sling without my addding a hand to support the head.

An even better item is a food processor attachment for the next item, because it gets the job done faster. If you get it set it up before the baby needs to nurse, then you could operate it with one hand. It’s rather ironic that the same baby I just mentioned in the previous paragraph gave me this set of attachment blades for my KitchenAid stand mixer after she grew up and graduated from college, for a Christmas gift one year. It was like a karma paycheck for sacrificing for her all those months, nursing her in a sling while making dinner.

10. KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Speaking of stand mixers, let’s dive into that topic. My mom had one of these when I was a child. One of my sisters inherited it so I had to find my own. I was thrilled to finally get one used for $100 about ten years ago off of KSL Classified ads. It’s still working. It’s not nearly as pretty as the one shown above, it’s just boring white, but hey it gets the job done. I’ve heard they don’t make them like they used to and now use internal plastic parts instead of metal, so they don’t last as long. I don’t know which kind mine is, but it’s still working after getting it almost ten years ago used. I love all the attachments you can get for it for different jobs: food processing, pasta making, sausage making and more. Now they come in so many fun colors! You can even find knock-offs with the Pioneer Woman designs.

11. Sharp kitchen knives. Sharp knives cut so much better, so much more cleanly and so much more efficiently than dull ones. This allows a mom to enjoy food prep so much more! When the knife easily glides into the food, it’s like fitting Cinderella’s foot into her glass slipper. Such perfection and satisfaction in the kitchen! Get a knife sharpener for your knives and keep it handy. I’ve had a Cuisinart set of knives for years. They do well as long as we keep them sharpened. If I had more money I’d invest in the best knives of all, Cutco brand.

12. A sturdy vacuum cleaner that’s lightweight enough so it’s easy to push and pull with one hand, especially if you are nursing a baby in a sling. I’m so glad we’ve improved upon the clunky Kirbys like I had when growing up. That thing was a beast to move around! I’ve had an Oreck and thought it would last forever but the handle fell off. If anyone has a vacuum recommendation I’d love to hear in the comments below.

13. An Instant Pot. It makes fixing dinner so much easier! It has a slow cooker feature, so it can cook like a crockpot, but it can also cook things in “fast cook” mode as well with high pressure. If only this had been around when I was a young mom! Recipes abound on the Internet for all of the possibilities: yogurt, beans, pot roast, mac and cheese, soups, lasagna, dessert, and so much more!

14. A stylish diaper bag with tons of functional pockets that doubles as a purse. I suffered through using the cheap diaper bag given to me by the hospital sponsored by the artificial baby milk (ABM) company that had a contract with the hospital, stuffed with cans of ABM (which is so unethical! As it says here, “Hospitals should market health and nothing else!”) After suffering the fate of having such a bag that lets everything fall to the bottom, I ditched it and found something much better. I didn’t like hauling a diaper bag and a purse and learned to combine the two, with a bag that had lots of pockets so things stay organized. My favorite was a Lands End bag that the company no longer sells. It was similar to this one by L.L. Bean over here. I loved that it had a compartment for a bottle, which was for the baby, but I used it for my water bottle, plus lots of other compartments, with a changing pad that fit nicely inside. If I were to buy one now, I’d get something like the one above that is more stylish. I just might get it now to use a purse, not a diaper bag, since my baby is now 15.

15. Rugs, blankets, shower curtains, towels, bedding, and furniture in the colors you love. We see these things daily, they may as well be in colors and designs that you love. For me, that means bright cheery colors. My favorite “line” for all the afore-mentioned things is Pioneer Woman designed by Ree Drummond, from Walmart. I call these the Garanimals (it’s a 1970s things) of housewares because even though the designs are different, as every season she comes out with new designs, they all sort of go together in a splashy, eclectic way. You can find potholders, towels, dishes, appliances, rugs, kitchen tools, and more. She even has furniture that she has designed! These designs and colors just make me smile. You can find the “out of print” designs on ebay.

That’s it for now! When I was a child, my family’s budget was always fairly tight. It wasn’t until my teens that my parents had more disposable income. When I was 14, they bought new furniture. Then we got a new TV and even a VCR. (This was the 1980s.) Our furniture was all brown and boring until the new stuff came in. Basically, I was raised with the pioneer mindset of “Use it up, wear it out, make it up, or do without.”

It’s nice to be thrifty like that but the drawback is that one starts to limit one’s thinking with that view and not expand one’s vision to see how one can attract more money and more material things that will make life much more beautiful and much easier. I believe God has inspired people to create things to make life more pleasant and convenient. It’s wonderful to become aware of all these wonderful things and avail ourselves of them and give them to others too!

So, in the coming months, I plan on blogging more about the Maria Principle. I want to blog about the Maria Principle regarding books during the nursing baby years, as well as items related to pregnancy, labor and birth, life with toddlers, life with older children, as well as homeschooling. I’m excited to share, so stay tuned!

(None of the above links are affiliated with me. I receive no compensation if you purchase anything from those links.)