"Carnival of Natural Parenting" via Lauren in Google Reader

Wordless Wednesday: June 19th, 2013

2013-06-19T11:00:00Z

Birthday, Father's Day, town festival, and some gorgeous weather filled out this week.

We have some new visitors to the yard, too.

New dye!

Happy Birthday, to my husband!

This is what 10pm in mid June looks like in the Pacific Northwest! Still too light for stars.

And then I turned 21.

2013-06-19T08:34:07Z

And then I turned 21.

It’s weird, having hit all those major milestones of my young life. I guess at this point I am no longer considered a teen parent. I mean, 20 is not “teen” but it was still not “legal age” either. I thought that I would have this sense of FUCKING FINALLY when I hit this day, but instead I’m mourning this part of my life that I was apparently a bit attached to.

We are probably very uncommon teen parents. We are a happy and thriving family – and we did that starting at the age of 17. That was a really big deal, something I’m very (and always will be very) proud of. That is my success so far.

But as I say goodbye to my teen days I also say hello to real live genuine date nights with my husband. For the first time EVER, I went away from the kids after they fell asleep in the evening. (Grandpa did a great job listening to them snore while I was away). For the first time in 3 1/2 years I was outside after 9 p.m. I didn’t think I was going to get a drink because I’ve been off sugar for so long that I didn’t want to rekindle my addiction or throw my body out of whack. I had my first legal drink though (and wasn’t even I.D.-ed). Ty took me to our favorite punk-rock Mexican restaurant and I was so nervous going in to sit down that I was actually shaking and felt sick.

But we talked. And talked. And chilled. And it was amazing.

And now I have “date night” scheduled in to occur once every month.

Cheers!

Knitting

2013-06-19T08:17:00Z

I have cast on another project for me this week, a hat which I thought would be a gentle introduction to knitting cables. The first few rows after the ribbing were hard as these were setting up the pattern. The even rows on this pattern are to knit the knits and purl the purls as you see them. I was struggling to see them and I may have made some mistakes although I can't tell now! The cable stitches have turned out to be the easy bit. I love this pattern and after a few rows I have now got into it and can tell where I am. I just hope it fits after all the work.

I have also been working on the scarf I shared last week and this cardigan which is slowly growing. All my current projects are for me which is unusual, I do have projects for others in the pipeline!

I am away for the rest of this week on a camping trip with friends to celebrate midsummer. If you leave me a comment, thank you, it may take some time to appear! I will catch up with all the lovely post shared on this weeks work in progress over on Tami's blog at the weekend.

July Festival of Food Carnival – Call For Submissions: From The Garden

2013-06-19T07:00:57Z

Welcome to the July Festival of Food Carnival, hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama. This monthly carnival will aim to bring together seasonal recipes, healthy food, and a diversity of flavours and techniques.

Here are the submission details for July 2013

Theme: From The Garden

Have you grown anything this year? Share your fresh produce recipe. And if it’s not from your garden, then from someone else’s, or your local market. We’re looking for imperfect fruit and vegetables, made into something delicious.

We prefer recipes with low sugar or natural sweeteners and as few processed ingredients as possible. However, we understand that healthy differs for every family, so please share your favourite.

There are two ways you can participate:

EITHER: Link up your old post on the carnival day, or submit a new post for the carnival!

**Please note, by participating or linking up you are agreeing to visit and comment on at least two other submissions**

Deadline: 4 July 2013: Fill out the web form below and email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. GMT at festivaloffoodcarnival [at] gmail.com

Carnival date: 11 July 2013 . Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on 04 July 2013. We’ll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.

Please submit your details into our web form. This will help us as we compile the links list prior to the carnival.

Please do: Write well. Write on topic. If you’re using very uncommon ingredients, write something about them so your readers learn something new, or at least link to some information of them.

Please don’t: Please don’t use profanity of the sort that might be offensive to more sensitive readers or their children. Please don’t submit irrelevant posts.

Editors’ rights: We reserve the right to edit your piece or suggest edits to you. We reserve the right to courteously reject any submissions that are inappropriate for the carnival. Please also note that since there are two co-hosts on different schedules and conferring over email, our personal response to your submission might seem delayed. Don’t be alarmed. We also reserve the right to impose consequences if the responsibilities of the carnival are not fulfilled by the participants.

If you have questions: Please leave a comment or contact us at diaryofafirstchild [at] gmail.com and hybridrastamama [at] Hotmail.com

Links to tutorials: Lauren, Dionna, and Dionna’s husband, Tom, from the Natural Parents Network have written several tutorials about how to schedule posts in advance, how to determine post URLs in advance, how to edit HTML — all for both WordPress and Blogger users. For these tutorials and more, please see this handy summary post at LaurenWayne.com.

Stay in touch:

Subscribe to our RSS feeds: Diary of a First Child’s feed and Hybrid Rasta Mama’s feed
Follow us on Twitter: @hybridrastamama and @lvano, plus the Twitter list of our #CarNatPar Tweeters.
Find Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook and “like” us.
Follow Festival of Food on Pinterest

Show off: Add the code below to your post to identify it as a carnival contribution:

Stay connected! Be sure to “Like” the Festival of Food Carnival Facebook page.

Reader Survey: I Want Your Input!

2013-06-19T05:27:36Z

With the Natural Living Series officially ending next month, I wanted to pick your brain and find out what types of things you want to read about (and what you don’t!) I have a survey below I would love for you to fill out! It’s quick and only 10 questions and completely anonymous! It will help me decide which direction to go with future posts. I write for you, my readers, so I really wanted to give you a chance to chime in! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading and commenting! The survey is below! Just use the scroll bar on the side to scroll through all the questions, and if you have any trouble with the form, let me know in the comments below.

You Might Also Like:

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Wordless Wednesday: Camping

2013-06-19T05:01:20Z

This week we asked: What does camping look like?

(Read more about Ecological Responsibility and Love of Nature on our resource page.)

During a lake camping trip Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy was able to see L1′s vision come to life.

Shannon’s family spent most of their summer weekends camping as part of the SCA. She has many fond memories of running in the forest barefoot and climbing trees in floor length dresses.

Shannon blogs at Pineapples & Artichokes.

From Charise of I Thought I Knew Mama:
“Our son loves to pretend he is camping any time he is in a playhouse outside.”

From Kym: “Last time we went camping was before we had kids, we only had a furbaby who was scared of water!”

Kym blogs at Our Crazy Corner of the World.

Sasha “helps” Daddy tear down the tent…

but soon gets distracted by a new patch of dirt.

See more of Jorje’s Spencer Creek camping photos at Momma Jorje.

Tell us: What does camping look like in your family?

You can find our upcoming topics on our Wordless Wednesday page. Feel free to send in your own pictures on the themes listed and join the photo fun!

Do you have a Wordless Wednesday post? Please link up below! And find more Wordless Wednesday linkies here.

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Product Review - Skechers Boys' Hot Lights: Damager - Police II Shoes

2013-06-18T23:26:00Z

Towards the end of May this year, I blogged about our upcoming product reviews for Skechers again and yes, it has been such an awesome opportunity to be able to work with Skechers again! I'll start off the shoes review with Ben's awesome kid's shoes, the "Skechers Boys' Hot Lights: Damager - Police II Shoes":

Description from the product page:
"A cool favorite gets even better in the SKECHERS Hot Lights: Damager - Police II shoe. Leather and synthetic upper in a light up police themed slip on sneaker with cool detailing."

Oh boy, we have quite a tough time trying to get our 4 years old boy the idea that it is time to change his shoes. He so deeply loves wearing his current Skechers Kid's Terminal Radian Z Strap Shoes and refused to remove his shoes to try out new ones! Had to persuade and gives him lots of explanations that his feet is growing longer and his current shoes ain't going to fit him any longer and he refused to even look at the shoes display in front of him...

Until the Skechers Boys' Hot Lights: Damager - Police II Shoes caught my eyes! Oh boy, police shoes! I immediately pointed to Ben my discovery and quickly grabbed the shoes to show him. He glimpsed briefly after hearing the word 'police' popping out of my mouth and when I realised there's also light shining out from the shoes like his current ones, whoaaaa... my boy was fixated with the shoes! I have no idea there are other series of shoes for this range as we can only see the police ones on display, else I might have gone for the soldier or fireman design. But in any case, I'm happy there's a larger size for the police shoes for Benjamin and he happily said yes, he wanted the shoes and I had to explain to him we need to let the staff process and write down the shoes details before he is allowed to wear it out.

Now let's see how this awesome shoes look like. Of course in Malaysia we don't have 911 for police hotline number but the point is, this is a police design shoes and that's all that matters for the mind of a 4 years old boy!

As with his previous shoes, Benjamin still can't tie his shoes yet so I love that this shoes came with a Velcro strap which can be easily taken off and stick back, easy for his little hands to handle this shoes. Color wise, white black and red, simple and yet elegant for a little boy, he has associated white and black colors for police force after having this shoes.

One awesome thing to note about this shoe is the way it lit up! I love that there is a start/stop button at the end of the Velcro strap which allows us to easily switch the lights on and off. You can see the straps lighting up and also the front part of the shoes also have lights shining through! Coolness!

It's so cool and I can see Ben purposely stomping his feet when he walks just so he can see the light blazing through his awesome shoes! The first time he wore it out for our outing, I let him try it out in our bedroom (since it's brand new, no issues for me for him to step and run around in our room) Noticed we even paired his new shoes with a police socks? Hahahaha, he loves it!

Pictures below are taken during our family outings:

Based on our previous experience with Skechers shoes, we are of course happy our boy is wearing Skechers shoes again as we feel he is safe in it and can protect him and yet it makes him look cute and cool at the same time! Also, I'm very happy the shoes do not have any sound and that the light is not too overbearing.

Our vedict? An awesome shoes yet it looks stylish and edgy for a kid! Skechers never disappoint us at all and will continue to have our support and praises!

You can check out the designs at http://skechers.com.my/index.php

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Skechers in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

I survived the Dirty Duo!

2013-06-19T03:07:00Z

And it was six miles! SIX! I've only run two on my own! To be fair, I didn't realize it was six miles when I signed up, but...

My friend and I had to leave our houses at six forty-five am. We had a very last minute car problem that nearly put us out of the running, literally. We were supposed to take her car since mine was going to be in the shop getting the AC (finally! after months!) fixed. Then the day before her car broke down and her husband needed their van to take her kids to baseball. I finally convinced Adam to let me drive his car and to borrow his parents van.

Now, my husband loooves his car. I swear he loooves it more than me most days. I've known the man over 19 years and it has only been in the past year that he has allowed me to drive one of his cars. I guess he figures that if he is going to have a car that does not fit all of us, I'd better use it when I need an extra car!

Anyway, he was telling me things like, "triple park horizontally" and "park far away so no one can park near you." I sent a text to my sister asking her to find a picture of a car similar to Adam's parked in the mud. I wanted her to send it to him to harass him... but, apparently, pictures like that do not exist!

The race itself was... long. It was made longer by the fact that we all ran in the wrong direction for half a mile! I have no stamina, so I was pooped at the beginning. I didn't pace myself well because I was trying to keep up with my friend, who is a much stronger runner than I am. She quickly outpaced me and I ran/walked the whole way.

At about every mile, there were obstacles and most were pretty easy, like walking on a log. I say easy... but when your legs are so sore and tired from running, everything is hard! I tired, though, and the only ones I didn't finish were the ones that required upper body strength. When the going got really tough, I thought of my sister and Miss Who and kept on running/walking.

AND I WASN'T LAST! My friend was wearing the time piece but I think I did six miles in about a hour and half.

And we went through the mud! We were totally disgusting and covered in mud. My parents and Adam snapped pictures, my kids watched the mud pit and I inhaled a hot dog. (I think it was a hot dog... I'm not sure I tasted it.)

Will I do another one? Yes but I will make sure it is a 5k first! The Dirty Duo? Maybe... if I keep running and can work up to six miles. Right now, it's more about time. I have 45 to 60 minutes to run in the mornings so I just go with what I have, no matter the distance. (I think I could go pretty far if I pushed myself but that's another post.)

Oh, and in case you are wondering... I took a nice long bath when I got home and napped!

Wordless Wednesday: Big Brother’s 3rd Birthday #Linky

2013-06-19T01:01:51Z

My very special guy turned three last week, and we had a wonderful day. Highlights included going out to breakfast, playing in the sand and with the water tables at Discovery Museum, visiting the cats and dogs at our local animal shelter and bringing them the gifts Big Brother collected for them at his birthday party, going out for frozen yogurt, and doing family movie night in bed. I love my big boy so much, and I’m so proud of the kind, loving, bright, and thoughtful person that he has always been.

What We've Been Up to, Photog Edition

2013-06-19T00:02:00Z

Mrowr

Matthew entered the science fair at school this year~he chose the topic
"Luminescence" and learned a lot about how to make things glow. His was
pretty impressive and we were super proud of him!

I made Ayden a monster. Which his sister keeps trying to appropriate

Summer days mean more time at the park, and some pretty cute clothes

How we look when our brother is teasing us

How we look when we're teasing our brothers

Diapers drying in the sun. Which is our final shot of this! Amarys hasn't worn
a diaper in weeks. We're done. Forever! Yahoo!

Summer weather means picnics on the deck

I made another monster for an online contest

Matthew made a fountain

Ayden made a Transmogrifier (a la Calvin and Hobbes)

Here are the shortcut buttons (or you can type in your preferred animal with the letter pad on the side)

Riley will demonstrate how to transmogrify into a Dog. Here he is selecting his animal...

And into the Transmogrifier...

Clearly, Transmogrifation was successful!

Isn't he a handsome dog?

Zazoo Kids Photo Clock Giveaway: Help Your Little One Get More Sleep! {US & CAN; ARV $90; 7/3}

2013-06-18T18:38:58Z

I first heard about Zazoo Kids Photo Clocks when a reader mentioned them in a comment on my post: 3 Products That Help My Toddler Sleep Better. It sounded perfect for my son who had been in a stage of waking up very early, so I was happy to give the clock a try when the opportunity presented itself.

Although my son now wakes up at a much better time for all of us, he is still loving the Zazoo clock. One of his favorite features is how the clock pictorially displays whether it is day or night. Big Brother has recently turned three years old, and he is extremely interested in whether it is day, night, morning, afternoon, or evening – particularly because with the late Spring sky, a light sky does not necessarily equal daytime. This feature really helps with answering his questions on this topic.

The other feature that my son really loves is the photo storage aspect. Big Brother could spend all day looking at his favorite pictures of our family and friends, as well as photos we regularly snap for him of large construction vehicles like cranes, bulldozers, and dump trucks. These pictures can easily be displayed on his Zazoo clock, and there is a very easy to use remote that allows you to scroll through the pictures at your own pace. In my son’s mind, I think this somewhat the equivalent of having an iPhone like Mama and Dada.

Check out this short video to learn more about the Zazoo Kids Photo Clock’s many features:

The ZAZOO Photo Clock helps young children tell time using visual cues. In doing so, they learn when it is time to wake up and when it is time to stay in bed, which allows busy parents like you to get more sleep. The clock can also be used as your child gets older as a timer (great for homework), a rotating digital picture frame, an MP3 player and an audio book reader. All of ZAZOO’s clocks can be personalized to fit your child’s unique personality and come in a variety of colors and cute designs…

To learn even more about the Zazoo Kids Photo Clock, please visit their web site or their Facebook page.

Win it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a Zazoo Kids Photo Clock, but all opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Learning Letters with Water B

2013-06-18T21:33:00Z

Thanks for reading! I hope you'll decide to follow along on Pinterest, Facebook, Google +, or Twitter!

Summer Safety Tips For Parents of Young Children

2013-06-18T20:45:09Z

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Safety really matters. When it comes to young children, there are measures we can take as parents to create an environment that is safe for our children to grow, explore and learn in.

Here is a list of common summer safety hazards and tips for creating many happy summer days:

Water = Be Alert!

Drowning can happen in 18-30 seconds.
67% of all drownings occur in a backyard kiddie pool, pool, spa or water feature. Use covers, gates, close doors.
Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates – parents often believe children are safely inside when it happens.
Drowning most often occurs quickly and quietly, children do NOT scream, yell or splash for help.
Supervise young children at arms length when playing with water.

Dehydration danger!

Children get fussy and cranky in the heat – please don’t ignore crying.
Respond promptly to requests for going into the shade or having a drink of water.
Respond promptly if a child complains of headache, dizziness or seems unusually tired.
Drinking plenty of water is the most effective way to keep dehydration at bay.
Use wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and cotton clothes that will keep your child’s skin covered to reduce exposure to the sun’s damaging rays and heat.

Car = Hot Zone!

The car is like an OVEN reaching 109 F/42 C in under 10 minutes on a summer day.
Do not leave children alone in the car, not even for a quick errand.
Don’t forget a sleeping child: Place an important item like a handbag, phone or briefcase on the back seat.
Burn Hazard!! Seat belts, car seat buckles and especially the plastic coating on straps can burn skin.
Check it before you Click it: If buckles are too hot, try applying an ice pack or cold cloth to cool it down.
Dress children in a way that will offer a barrier between buckles and skin especially shoulders and legs.
Placing sun shades on car windows is wise, especially to protect babies from direct sun exposure.

Bugs are such a bother!

Insect spray can be very poisonous – keep it out of reach of children at all times.
Ticks can pose a health risk, it’s important to remove it properly. Removing it incorrectly is worse than waiting for it to be done properly so don’t hesitate to contact a health care provider for guidance.
Investigate natural alternatives for bug control whenever possible such as lemon eucalyptus. Many bug sprays have toxic substances.
Bee stings: Remove stinger, ice it, elevate it. Swelling or hives call emergency services right away! Learn more about Bee Sting First Aid

Plan ahead!

Agree on a summer safety plan for the whole family that includes how you can be reached and what to do in an emergency.
Check over your first aid kit in your home, place one in your car, and try to bring one with you on outings.
Keep first aid kits someplace where all adults/caregivers can reach them, but the children can’t.
Make a list of emergency phone numbers and post them by the phone and in your car.

Just Three More

Don’t forget Helmets: it can reduce head injury and prevent death from a bicycle crash.
Clean Hands & Cooking Areas: Food borne illnesses increase in the summer because bacteria grow faster in warmer temperatures.
Hug often & laugh a lot: connection helps children feel well and choose well.

Peace & Be Well,

Ariadne

Judgement Day

2013-06-18T20:01:38Z

I was recently invited to write for a blog carnival on parenting taboos with the theme “I miss my life,” all about the stuff that you lose when you become a parent. I didn’t end up doing it, because everything I wrote felt whiny–and also because I have a few good friends who are struggling with infertility, and I couldn’t imagine them reading some “blah blah I miss sleeping and going out whenever and not dealing with poop yada yada” post. They probably miss not having any idea when they are ovulating, you know?

When we were on our trip to Maryland, though, I had a revelation, something I do totally miss–and that is judging parents. Judging ~~parents~~ mothers is, in case you haven’t noticed, sort of the national pasttime (baseball? Baseball has nothing on mom-judging. Baseball has, among other things, a limited season). Since I had my little cherubs, I just can’t participate any more. I didn’t realize how much I did it until I stopped. I think that, when people become parents (mothers, especially), they have to chose between going all-in on the parent-judging game or fold ‘em. I know when to walk away.

When Petra was shiny-new, I had two moments in the same week where other moms assumed I was judging them. One changed her son’s diaper during a playdate and said, rather apologetically, “I just couldn’t do cloth. I thought about it, but…”

I knew why she was a bit embarrassed–I had given her a book on cloth diapering before the baby came. I said, “Whatever is getting you through each day, that is what you should do.” And I sincerely meant it.

Another lady grimaced while shaking up a bottle of formula. “I tried nursing, but he had a tongue-tie and I didn’t have time to pump at work and…” I hadn’t said anything about her choice of how to feed her baby, but she felt like she needed to explain herself.

“Whatever is working for you is fine,” I said. I meant that, too.

We all assume that people are judging us, and we’re almost always right. Judging other people is super fun! Schadenfreude is the best! And of course, we’re all above average (as are our children).

I don’t think that everyone should be a parent, and I respect people who have the maturity to know that parenthood isn’t for them. I wish people would stop hassling my child-free friends about when they are going to have kids–either they are trying and it hasn’t happened yet, or they have searched their soul and decided that this is not for them (or at least, not yet). Still, I sometimes wish that everyone could experience parenthood, just so they could give their own parents a little grace. I now know, in a way I could not have before children, that the fact that I lived through teething was a conscious decision on my parents’ part, perhaps one they reconsidered on a minute-by-minute basis.

One’s hypothetical children

One’s hypothetical children are always more charming, neater, quieter, easier-going than any real children. If you tell yourself that you are being realistic in imagining them, you are wrong. One’s blog children are rather like this, too, and that’s why I’m sharing a picture of Petra doing what she spent most of Friday and Saturday doing–losing her mind if I wasn’t holding her for OMG SERIOUSLY FIVE SECONDS.

I’ve gotten used to the level of silent scoring people do every minute in every public space in Harrisonburg. I hardly notice the looks people give me anymore. In Maryland, though, especially in Columbia, they have a more extreme standard. I felt the glares and stares all over the place. Parenting is a higher-stakes sport in metro areas, at least among the middle class. I found myself at a total loss as to what I could say when making banal play-area conversation. I let Silas climb too high on the playground! I didn’t have Petra–who is eight months old–in any enrichment activities! Nursing Petra in the mall, I got to hear, “You know, it used to be that they’d make you go to a special place to do that.” I told this anonymous commenter that the “special place” would have been the bathroom and also that Maryland state law allows me to breastfeed anywhere I am allowed to be, and isn’t it nice how far we have come? She looked at me…closely, if you will, and said, “Well, it’s not like you can see much of anything anyway.” Yes, this is true. And you see even less if you are minding your own business.

I’m too comfortable in Harrisonburg, maybe, where I’ve only ever even heard of one person being harassed for nursing in public. I usually get positive comments, or none at all.

The best/worst was when we were in a library, just hanging out, and there was a tornado warning. A librarian got on the PA and told us all to move to areas away from windows. The only spot without gorgeous skylights was the teen corner, so we went there, along with all the other library patrons. Silas got excited about the comic books, and Petra started screaming–maybe the air pressure from the storm was hurting her ears? I decided to nurse her, just feet away from some teen boys (who were paying no attention to me, as they were looking at some girl’s sexy Facebook pictures). I even covered up, which I practically never do. I didn’t have much choice–I couldn’t go anywhere because there was a tornado. If I hadn’t nursed her, she would have been screaming in the library. Still, a lady was glaring at me. She would have glared if I’d let the baby scream, too (in the library, shhhhhH!).

When Silas was in his last hitting stage, Bethany gave me the best gift ever. She looked me right in the eyes and said, “This is a stage that every kid goes through. It does not reflect on him or on your parenting.” It was a reminder that every moment, we see only a slice of each other’s lives. We don’t have context to know if this is the first time a child has hit, or if his parents have been working on it for a while. We don’t know if he had his nap yet or if his mom is just getting over a time of being sick and lax about discipline because she just needed to get through the day. We don’t know anything about each other, and offering grace is the best thing we can do.

I’m not entirely over judging other parents. If you are beating your kid, starving him, lying to him, yeah, I’m judging you. If you are decamping to Hawaii to have your baby in the water with large predatory animals, yeah, I’m a bit concerned for your sanity. But mostly? I’m over it. This game isn’t fun for anybody.

Simply Downstairs

2013-06-18T11:47:00Z

Welcome to the June edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - Around the House cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about what we do to keep the little things from overwhelming us. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

We were on a waiting list for 9 months before we moved into our two-story home. We would like to have waited for a flat, but were advised that the wait for them is much longer. So... we settled. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs. We decided, however, to keep our closet downstairs. It started because of our weird schedules. My husband leaves for work around 3 o'clock in the morning. This does not lend itself well to picking clothes.

So we actually put both our clothes (and Spencer's) in the downstairs closet. Its a good size closet and it just seemed easier than going upstairs to change, too. Eventually we moved Sasha's clothes down here. Inevitably, we'd find ourselves downstairs mid-day, needing to dress her to go out... but not wanting to climb the stairs to fetch an outfit.

Maybe it is strange to use a big coat closet as a family closet, but you know what? It works for us. Our master bedroom closet is used for storage of things we don't use very often (like holiday decorations).

This makes laundry so much easier! The dirty laundry gets cleaned downstairs. How much clean laundry do you tote back up your stairs? For me its only bath towels and family cloth! Yes, I have a dirty clothes hamper downstairs... I can stash it in a closet or on the washer when I have company here.

Since then, I've taken it another step. I often have to wear Spencer while preparing Sasha for bed. Worse yet, sometimes I have to leave him alone (asleep) downstairs while I take her up to bed. It makes me nervous. Spencer is pretty quiet when he wakes.

When Sasha got a new toothbrush from the dentist, I got an idea! I now keep a toothbrush and floss on the kitchen windowsill. Her hairbrush is also downstairs in a plastic jar full of headbands and "hair doodies." (I always brush and braid her hair before bed.) So now, I do almost all of Sasha's bedtime routine before we ever go up the stairs! It is so simple, why didn't I think of it sooner?

Go potty - yep, have one downstairs.
Brush teeth - see recent post.
Brush hair - the back of the couch is the perfect height!

Then we go up, pick a snuggle for the night, talk about dreams, tuck in and start relaxation CD. It all seems like it gets less battle, too! Living simply for the win!

How have you taken unusual measures to simplify your life?

Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating simple ideas around their homes. We hope you will join us next month!

Embracing the Schedule - Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy writes about how her family learned to keep on top of household life by creating a family calendar.
Simply: Car Free - On the one-year anniversary of selling her car, Lyndsay from ourfeministplayschool, reflects on her family's decision to go car-free in urban downtown Toronto.
The Importance of Finding Your Housecleaning Rhythm - Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama outlines how she keeps her housecleaning under control with a daily rhythm. Even her 4 year old gets in on it!
Keeping It Simple At Home - At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy shares some tips for keeping the clutter and cleaning at bay.
Cleaning? - In her post, sustainablemum outlines how keeping clutter to a minimum makes for an easy life when trying to keep her house clean and tidy.
Simply Downstairs - Jorje of Momma Jorje has found a way to simplify laundry AND bedtime... all with one simple move.
In Shares, not Chores: Helping your Kids Help You Without Coercion Laura from Authentic Parenting tells us how she gets work done with two little kids and without coercion.

Review: Save Three Lives

2013-06-18T18:53:00Z

I love the gardening shelf at my library. I've also discovered homesteading books in there and a couple farm memoirs. But there aren't many, and I figured it was just the fault of my small library. I tried the catalog for "farming," "homesteading," and "self-sufficiency" and came up with zero results.

Turns out I should have asked my librarian husband. There was a TON of books on all the topics I wanted -- several shelves over, listed under "agriculture." I've been missing out for two years! I brought a big armful home.

The first one I read was Save Three Lives: A Plan for Famine Prevention, by Robert Rodale. It's an excellent summary of the causes of chronic hunger in the Third World, especially Africa, and a detailed plan for soliving some of these problems.

The main point Rodale opens with is that famine relief sent by Western nations isn't just unhelpful -- it actually makes the problems worse. We export our own super-productive, hybridized or GMO grains, especially corn, and encourage poor farmers to grow them as cash crops. The trouble is, these grains are very hungry for soil nutrients; they won't grow well in Africa except with a lot of fertilizer. It's hard to get fertilizer to all the remote places where it's needed, and often the farmers have to go into debt to buy it. And then the soil itself becomes impoverished and even more reliant on artificial fertilizer the longer they keep doing it. These crops are also very thirsty for water, and the impoverished soil, low in organic matter, doesn't hold water very well. All it takes is a little drought and the crops all fail. Since the farmers relied completely on the cash crop, not growing any subsistence crops, they lose everything.

We've been sold the idea that technology is going to save us. But those who have studied different farming methods can tell you that more fertilizer and more pesticides only give improved yields for a short time before wearing out their usefulness. As soil declines in organic matter, more and more nitrogen is needed. And as pests become resistant to pesticides -- and their natural predators are killed by the same chemicals -- more chemicals are needed, and with less effect. The book gives this statistic: "Percentage change, since 1945, in the amount of insecticide used on US crops: Plus 900%. Percentage change, since 1945, in the portion of US crops lost to insects: Plus 86%." And yet we are giving these technologies to Africa, where the soil is much thinner and there are many more pests. Consider this:

"In temperate growing zones, 15 separate diseases have been reported to attack sweet potato crops. In the tropics, there are 111. Rice? Fifty-four diseases treaten harvests here. But 500 to 600 have been recorded there. Tomatoes? In your backyard, this favored summertime crop may have to resist as many as 32 different diseases. Move to the tropics, put the same plants in the ground, and now you're up against 278."

Meanwhile the idea of exporting Western-style agriculture, where a monoculture of cash crops brings wealth to everyone, isn't working very well in a place plagued by instability:

"Consider the roads, for instance. Even if it made ecological sense to import those genetically engineered superplants and the chemicals and diesel-fueled equipment necessary to grow them, it simply can't be done, mostly because the roads just aren't there. Where there are roads, there are also soldiers, waiting to waylay such shipments (and relief convoys as well), kill the drivers, and steal the trucks and their contents. The chemicals, seeds, and equipment are then sold on the black market. Relief food goes to soldiers. Sometimes it is simply destroyed."

And then, worst of all, once famine does hit, we send big tankers full of American grain. This is actually US law, to send grain instead of money, so that we can support American agriculture at the same time. Sadly, the result of this is to undercut local farmers in the area who do have food to sell. Other countries have had the smarter idea of sending cash and then buying grain just outside the famine area, which gets there faster and helps the impoverished region much more. Rodale tells the story of a drought in Ethiopia which lasted three years. By the time Americans had raised the money and sent food, the drought was already over: "Much of the food arrived, ironically, as local farmers were bringing in their first good harvests in years. Harvests that, unfortunately, were now worthless to those impoverished farmers because the country was flooded with free grain."

Rodale urges that we must find local solutions, "Small solutions. Too small for powerful people to trifle with. Too small for an army or a group of soldiers to care about. Too small to attract a lot of attention in troubled times. But big enough to feed the family who tends this small solution."

His first solution is to plant drought-resistant "famine plants" instead of corn. Sure, according to American agronomists, the yields are lower. But they're more reliable - they will keep producing their modest yields even in a dry year. And many of them are more nutritious than corn -- like amaranth, for instance, which has twice as much protein as corn and many trace nutrients corn lacks. You can also eat amaranth greens. And since they won't die in a drought year, you don't have bare fields eroding in the wind.

Next, he talks about the problem of firewood. The people of Africa use wood for their cooking fires, which also keep away mosquitoes and provide light. Attempts to convert them to using fuel-efficient stoves has been unsuccessful; they can't afford the stoves and, since they just cook food and nothing else, the Africans don't want them. But their search for firewood has been destructive: the hillsides are becoming bare of trees. That means more erosion on the hillsides, less water brought to the surface by deep roots, and less rain altogether -- since evaporation from trees helps increase cloud formation. And it means more of a burden on women, whose job it is to gather firewood as well as do all the farming, cooking, and water carrying, because they have further to go to get wood.

Rodale talks about the success the alley-cropping technique has had. This is the method where trees are grown in alleys between crop fields. This way the wood is right there, no long walks needed, and the farmers care for the trees personally because they own them. Instead of cutting down the whole tree, they cut back the branches every year or two and use the prunings for wood. The leaves make animal fodder and also help add organic matter to the soil. The rows of trees stop erosion, especially in flood-time. Rodale describes some amazing native trees that are able to live on barely any water, fix their own nitrogen, and grow in harsh conditions.

Next he talks about how to deal with pests without expensive pesticides that also pollute fresh water. Most of his ideas are familiar to anyone who has gardened organically -- encouraging beneficial insects and birds, planting deterrent plants, and avoiding monoculture. You see, when an entire continent plants the same variety of corn, pests leap from field to field like they're following a superhighway. When each farmer has a field of this and a field of that, it's much harder for pests, whether weeds, bugs, or disease, to spread.

Organic techniques can also help increase organic matter in the soil so it will hold water and nutrients better. He mentions a few native green manure plants that can do a lot of good.

Importantly, he talks about addressing any teaching to women, since they are the farmers in most regions. Western farming experts have made the mistake in the past of addressing everything to the men, who nod sagely while the women keep on doing exactly the way they always have. Increased education and rights for women fight poverty more than anything else.

Last he talks about water -- how to harvest it, preserve it, purify it, and make the best use of it. He has page after page of small-scale ideas for different circumstances -- no giant dams required. Among these are diverting small streams, terracing hillsides, and even raising fish in brackish ponds that are no good for drinking. Turns out tilapia don't mind those conditions, and it means nutritious food with very little outlay.

By the end of the book I was angry about famine relief that doesn't work and so eager to change things, I was wanting to join the Peace Corps. So I was hoping he would tell me what charity I could give to that was doing all this stuff. Instead, he discussed how to lobby charities to start using smarter tactics. You should write to them, detail the sort of projects you'd like to donate to, and tell them you have $100 you'd like to donate if they can guarantee it will go to that kind of project. Pretty clever. Better yet, he says, get your friends together and offer a larger donation. His own charity is called the Famine Prevention Project, but I can't find any mention of it online, so my guess is that it's defunct now. Probably because the author, as the forward tells me, was killed in a car accident in Russia in 1990.

I would recommend this book to anyone, especially if you've ever dealt with the argument (as I have) that we need GMO's [or pesticides, or whatever] if we want to feed starving people in Africa. What we need is to teach them how to feed themselves, with native plants and ecologically sound techniques.

And if anyone knows a charity that actually does any of the projects listed above ... I'd like to hear about it.

Interview | Jemma, 2 3/4 years old

2013-06-18T13:00:00Z

The other day during one of our "please chill out and get a grip" just for fun baths, I decided to interview Jemma. She's been talking up a storm lately and saying some of the darndest things. Some of our current favorites are how she says "soooo crunchy!" when describing food - namely cookies and crackers. Might I add that my cookies are not crunchy at all. She says it while gritting her teeth and fists and squinting her eyes and it's super hilarious. It's on our list of "things to catch on video". I'm pretty sure she learned the word "crunchy" from this book. She also says "deeewishus" pretty often and calls strawberries "strawstrums". I love how her vocabulary is booming all while she's dreaming up her own words and interpretations for things. Now, the interview of a not quite 3 year old ...

How old are you?

Two. Two and a half.

What is your favorite animal:

Elephants! Mama rhino! To the zoo? Daddy and Gwampa and Gwamma?

What do you like to do outside?

Outside crayons and yellow slide. YELLOW SLIDE!!!

>>>Mama Memo: Outside crayons are chalk. You know, to denote that we only color with those outside.

What is your brother's name?

Max.
>>> Mama Memo: She also calls him "Bubbie" all the time. Every morning she yells, "Good Morning, Bubbie!" and then they wrestle and laugh ... until someone starts crying for one reason or another.

What is your favorite color?

Black, blue, purple.

>>>Mama Memo: This is the first time I've ever heard her say she liked black.

What is your favorite story book?

Too Purpley!

Where do we drive in the blue car?

Food store. nom nom nom. And red store.

>>> Mama Memo: Red store is Target. Guess we go there as often as we go grocery shopping :)

What is your favorite show to watch?

A show!!! Dorie and Arfee. One show? And then turn off?

>>> Mama Memo: That's Dora and Arthur. She is also really in love with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, but apparently he wasn't on her mind at this exact moment.

What is your favorite food to eat?

Purple grapes, bananas, oranges, toast is bread, carrots!

>>> Mama Memo: Girlfriend hasn't eaten a carrot in forever. Max on the other hand eats them often and truly does love them.

What do you like to do at Mimi and Pops house?

Riley and Posie! Oh no, Jack ::shakes head::

That's right, Jack is in heaven.

WITH JESUS!

>>> Mama Memo: Riley is my sister's dog who lives with my parents. Posie is my cat who I developed an allergy to and my parent's adopted. Jack was my other sister's hamster who recently died. My poor parents had all their children move out and leave pets behind, you know, like they begged for pets all those years ago! The furry friends does make their home a favorite place for Jemma though, so I guess they serve their purpose :)

I think I'll really enjoy looking back at interviews over the years so don't be surprised if you see more thoughts from Jem in the months to come!

Naptime Reconnect

2013-06-18T17:59:00Z

I lay the snoozing baby on the changing table to sleep, because man, this baby sleeps anywhere (he's just awesome like that) and sit on the bed with the big boy. I know if I lay the baby on the bed with us, the hyper two year old will wake him up, and I know baby is safe on the changing table because I'm only a few feet away and he's zonked out anyway.

We've had a hard day. Lots of time-outs, lots of yelling, very little obedience and very little listening. He woke up at 5:30 after going to bed at 10:00. The later he goes to sleep, the earlier he wakes up, every.time. We're all tired.

I sit on the bed with him and we read some books. It's time to take a rest, I tell him. (It's only noon- we usually don't start naptime till 2:00, but this day has just been, well, you know.) He lays down, I grab my laptop to respond to a friend's message.

He kicks me.
I slap his little booty.
We both cry.
He yells, "Don't hurt me!"
I respond with the same.
I don't know why I respond with just knee-jerk reactions-- though I know they are worse when I'm tired.
We don't "spank" so to speak, but I'm ashamed to say there are certainly times when I lose control.

We're tired, we're cranky, and we both are yearning for attention from the other in the way that we each want it.

I put the computer down.
Baby's still zonked out.
I open my arms and invite the big boy onto my lap.
He nuzzles in just as if I was nursing him.
I cradle him, we kiss, tickle, hug.
We apologize.
We say, "No more kicking. No more hitting. No more yelling."
Lots of "I love you"s.

He says, "I just want to snuggle you. Sing me a song."
I sing his Burkley Song.
He holds me tight and I lean my head back on the bed frame.

He dozes off.
I lay him down, get up and grab the sweet baby and bring him to bed with us.
Time for a naptime-reconnect.

I think we'll all wake up in a better place.

The unspeakables

2013-06-18T15:45:00Z

First it was just grumpiness.
We put it down to her being just-three.
But it went on...
So we thought she must be coming down with something.
Then she got really fussy about her food.
Plus whining a whole lot more.
And tantrumming.
And night waking.
And then one night as I was putting her to bed, the dreaded words... "my bottom itches."
A friend had told me that day that she had just treated her kids.
Another had treated hers the week before.
So we headed straight to the pharmacy.
And it life got much better.
But we only treated her.
Because it hadn't been that long since the whole family had been double-dosed.
And then her older sister's tantrums grew.
And nightwaking.
And school-refusing-three-hour-biting-screaming-tantrums.
And we thought it couldn't possibly be the unspeakables.
This behaviour was just SO extreme.
Her face pale.
Dark rings under her eyes.
Angry and oppositional.
Wore her uniform (after we spent three hours getting her into it) day and night for a week.
It couldn't be worms.
Could it?
Really?
This is insane.
There has to be something bigger wrong with her.
And I thought about the post I wrote.
Proclaiming this miracle cure we had found.
And how thousands of mothers around the world had read it.
And I worried that it had just been coincidence.
That I would have to write a retraction... "sorry folks, it wasn't really worms..."
We had never had any physical proof that the unspeakables were really there.
We had to hold off on treatment for a few days - long car trips meant the side effects of the treatments were less desirable than the unbearable tantrumming.
And then we treated her.
One tiny tablet.
And four days later our girl was back.
Rosy cheeks, dark circles gone. Loving, happy, relaxed. Sleeping deeply. Skipping to school.
It really is her... our... miracle cure.
We have all just taken the second dose again... the moment I heard those infamous words "my bottom itches".

No idea what I'm talking about - read here...

dreamingaloudnet@blogspot.com Visit www.dreamingaloud.net for an inspirational archive of articles.

Silas says…

2013-06-18T15:55:25Z

“Mama, Petra is a flower and you are a egg and I am a bug.”

What is Daddy?

“Daddy is a helicopter.”