Welcome to the May 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Emergency Preparedness

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their plans to keep their families safe. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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I wrote earlier about how and why we wrote our wills. Having a will is awesome, but what happens if there’s a fire or a flood or something else happens to our house? It made sense that the other half of being prepared is to make sure that our important documents are better able to survive, which is exactly why we bought a fire box to help us be prepared for emergencies and worst case scenarios.

I did a little bit of online research. Most of the fire safes aren’t very big and can handle some documents. And by some I mean your passports and maybe your will. That seemed strange to me – why go to all the effort of a fire proof safe and the not put all of your important documents in it for safe keeping?

For me the important thing was the fire proof portion of the equation and not the safe (aka can I lock it up) portion. I figure that it’ll take me more time and effort to replace all the papers that would get destroyed, versus the few that might be stolen. We also don’t own things that need to get locked away (like giant diamond rings). Also, the likelihood that someone would steal my dog’s vet records is small…

We ended up purchasing a Sentry Guardian Storage Box. It’s basically a fire proof letter sized file folder box. I was totally stoked because I could organize and label and put things away in their proper place, and then… the only bad thing about this box is that file folders can’t hang in it. A little frustrating, but still better than the alternatives.

I went through the exercise of sorting through our giant filing cabinet. Lots of things in it could be recycled or shredded (as necessary), as they were old or no longer pertinent. I was actually able to reduce everything info my new fire proof box!

Here’s what is in our fire proof box, which each bullet point as it’s own separate file:

• My ID & personal documents (birth certificate, SIN card, etc.)
• My son’s ID & personal documents (birth certificates, SIN card, medical records, etc.)
• My husband’s ID & personal documents
• My husband’s immigration paperwork
• Information about both mine and my husband’s work (contracts, options, etc.)
• Our marriage license
• Our insurance records (home and auto)
• Information about our house (title, title insurance, architextural records, etc.)
• Our animal’s vet records
• Tax documents
• Financial documents (records of opening accounts, investment statements, etc.)
• Wills – our will, my parent’s will, Jason’s mom’s will

I also added both of our baby book’s as these are irreplaceable and I’d be gutted if anything happened to them.

I still need to add the following:

• Details about all of our bank and credit card accounts (Provider, Account #, Contact Information, etc.)
• Details about all of our investments (Provider, Account #, Contact Information, etc.)
• Details about life insurance (Employer, etc.)
• Write down all of our internet passwords and seal them in an envelope, again so that in a worst case scenario things can still be accessed and communicated

I have to admit, having done this makes me feel super dorky.

What have you done to help your family prepare for emergencies?

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by afternoon May 14 with all the carnival links.)

• Be Prepared for Emergencies — Becky at Crafty Garden Mama is reviewing Angela England’s new ebook, The Untrained Housewife’s Guide to Getting Prepared. See what measures she is learning to adopt in her family.
• Prepare to Expect a Safe and Beautiful Natural Birth — What do you need to have prepared so that you can have a nice and relaxing birth at home? Lisa at The Squishable Baby shares her list in a guest post at Natural Parents Network.
• Fire Boxes for Emergency Preparedness — Jana of Jananas tells why she bought a fire box to store important documents and what is stored in the box.
• Firefighter Training Homeschool Curriculum — Kellie at Our Mindful Life helped her homeschooled kids prepare for emergencies through a Firefighter Training unit.
• 3 Secrets to a Royal Emergency — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep tells the secret to living like kings during a storm-induced power outage.
• Is Your Family Prepared for an Emergency? — Chrystal at Happy Mothering shares an overview of what her family has done to become more prepared for emergencies.
• What to Do in an Earthquake — Julia at A Little Bit of All of It gives instructions for staying safe in the event of an earthquake as well as tips for teaching your children to keep safe and where to find information online after an earthquake.
• Spring Cleaning & Preparing, Part 2 — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger organizes and replenishes her emergency supply every spring and is learning to add to the food stockpile by preserving year-round.
• 15 Must-Haves For The Natural Minded Family When Disaster or Emergency Strikes — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares how she prepares for disaster or an emergency as a natural minded mama. Learn what 15 natural items you should consider having on hand!

• Emergency Preparedness: Cosleeping, Cheezits, Chocolate — Kristine at All the Things in the World was happy to have cosleeping in her emergency tool kit during Hurricane Sandy.
• Being Prepared For Personal Disasters — Luschka at Diary of a First Child draws on her own recent experiences and considers five things every parent should have in place to ease the burden when sudden disaster strikes.
• The Natural Emergency Kit That I Always Carry in My Diaper Bag — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares the four green and natural items in her emergency kit that she can’t do without when she’s out and about with her little ones.
• Prepared… or not? — Is it dangerous to not prepare? Jorje of Momma Jorje shares whether her family prepares…or not.
• Pack a car safety kit: 25 must-have items for emergencies — Whether you’re out for a leisurely drive or fleeing a disaster, Lauren at Hobo Mama offers tips on stocking your car with emergency supplies that will tide you over if you’re stranded.
• Teaching My Children About Tornados — Destany at They Are All of Me writes about preparing her children for tornado season.
• Preparing our children for emergencies — Preparing for emergencies means preparing your children, and Robbie at Going Green Mama shares ways on how to empower kids when it comes to emergencies.
• Emergency Preparedness in Sub-Saharan Africa — After living in Sub-Saharan Africa for 7 years, emergency preparedness is not just a concept any more to Laura from Authentic Parenting.
• Five Ideas to Keep Babies and Toddlers Safe from Choking — Do you have a baby or toddler who likes to put everything (and I mean *everything*) in her mouth? Dionna at Code Name: Mama does, and today she’s sharing a story and some tips on how to keep your little ones safe from choking.

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by afternoon May 14 with all the carnival links.)

• Be Prepared for Emergencies — Becky at Crafty Garden Mama is reviewing Angela England’s new ebook, The Untrained Housewife’s Guide to Getting Prepared. See what measures she is learning to adopt in her family.
• Prepare to Expect a Safe and Beautiful Natural Birth — What do you need to have prepared so that you can have a nice and relaxing birth at home? Lisa at The Squishable Baby shares her list in a guest post at Natural Parents Network.
• Fire Boxes for Emergency Preparedness — Jana of Jananas tells why she bought a fire box to store important documents and what is stored in the box.
• Firefighter Training Homeschool Curriculum — Kellie at Our Mindful Life helped her homeschooled kids prepare for emergencies through a Firefighter Training unit.
• 3 Secrets to a Royal Emergency — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep tells the secret to living like kings during a storm-induced power outage.
• Is Your Family Prepared for an Emergency? — Chrystal at Happy Mothering shares an overview of what her family has done to become more prepared for emergencies.
• What to Do in an Earthquake — Julia at A Little Bit of All of It gives instructions for staying safe in the event of an earthquake as well as tips for teaching your children to keep safe and where to find information online after an earthquake.
• Spring Cleaning & Preparing, Part 2 — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger organizes and replenishes her emergency supply every spring and is learning to add to the food stockpile by preserving year-round.
• 15 Must-Haves For The Natural Minded Family When Disaster or Emergency Strikes — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares how she prepares for disaster or an emergency as a natural minded mama. Learn what 15 natural items you should consider having on hand!
• Emergency Preparedness: Cosleeping, Cheezits, Chocolate — Kristine at All the Things in the World was happy to have cosleeping in her emergency tool kit during Hurricane Sandy.
• Being Prepared For Personal Disasters — Luschka at Diary of a First Child draws on her own recent experiences and considers five things every parent should have in place to ease the burden when sudden disaster strikes.
• The Natural Emergency Kit That I Always Carry in My Diaper Bag — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares the four green and natural items in her emergency kit that she can’t do without when she’s out and about with her little ones.
• Prepared… or not? — Is it dangerous to not prepare? Jorje of Momma Jorje shares whether her family prepares…or not.
• Pack a car safety kit — Whether you’re out for a leisurely drive or fleeing a disaster, Lauren at Hobo Mama offers tips on stocking your car with emergency supplies that will tide you over if you’re stranded.
• Teaching My Children About Tornados — Destany at They Are All of Me writes about preparing her children for tornado season.
• Preparing our children for emergencies — Preparing for emergencies means preparing your children, and Robbie at Going Green Mama shares ways on how to empower kids when it comes to emergencies.
• Emergency Preparedness in Sub-Saharan Africa — After living in Sub-Saharan Africa for 7 years, emergency preparedness is not just a concept any more to Laura from Authentic Parenting.
• Five Ideas to Keep Babies and Toddlers Safe from Choking — Do you have a baby or toddler who likes to put everything (and I mean *everything*) in her mouth? Dionna at Code Name: Mama does, and today she’s sharing a story and some tips on how to keep your little ones safe from choking.

The post Fire Boxes for Emergency Preparedness appeared first on Jananas.

Up until now, it hadn’t seemed like a big idea because things would go to my husband. Adding a child to the mix makes things more difficult, as custody becomes a big issue. Who do you want looking after your children in the event that you aren’t capable? Do they hold the same parenting values? Education values? Will they financially be able to support your child?

Our will was a little more complicated than most due to cross-border issues and tax issues, leading us to go down the path of the creation of trusts if needed. It also meant that we needed to find a lawyer who was well versed in both. Thankfully we live in a large city, so it was pretty easy to find someone who was able to help. It did mean that we had to throw down a fairly large amount of cash so that everything was done to make closing the estate as easy and painless as possible for any surviving loved ones (a major criteria for me).

Major things that we did in our will:

• Specify who we want our child’s guardian to be
• Specify setting up trusts, including general principles on spending money to support our child (health, education, living expenses, etc.)
• Have our lawyers act as executor’s to spare each other/family from having to deal with it
• Have our investment company manage the trusts as needed (as not all people involved have the knowledge to do so and to ask them to would be unfair)
• Set up who gets what (disbursements) as an appendix, so that we can change this as needed without having to redo the entire will every time we change our mind about what charities we’re supporting

We also set up powers of attorney for both monetary matters and health. Just to cover our bases and because we were already there. Strangely, I didn’t consider these as ‘important’ as the will, but really could have a much bigger impact on us as they come into play when we are still alive!

We’ve also had conversations about what the other person would want done to their body (cremation vs. burial, where, etc.) so that we’re aware. We both still need to write the actual disbursement sections and we’d add these wishes to this section. But overall, we’re 95% of the way there and for now I’m happy with where we are.

Writing our wills made me feel like an adult. It seemed like a whole different level of responsibility (compared with making sure that bills are paid on time, etc.). And yes, Silas it’s another way of showing that I love and care for you.

The post Writing your Will as Preparation for Baby’s Arrival appeared first on Jananas.

I put little man down on the bedroom floor with some toys and hopped in the shower. I was almost done when I started hearing banging noises in the bathroom. I was a little confused until I stepped out of the shower and saw this.

The noises were the container being hit against the cupboard. Since Silas was happily playing and we feed the cats good quality grain free cat food I decided to let him keep playing while I got dressed.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Mama confession – I watched and took photos as little man ate cat food.

p.s. there’s cat food in our bathroom as we recently took a cat in and we’re in the process of slowly integrating her into the household. Our door’s open to the house now but she doesn’t seem ready to leave and we didn’t want to force integration and then leave for two weeks. So we’re letting it go slowly.

p.p.s. we made the temporary switch to disposables for the trip a few days early as all the cloth diaper laundry had to be done before we left. OMG guys, so much laundry. Also, yay for not leaving that stank to stink up the place for two weeks!

p.p.p.s. this post typed entirely with my left hand due to a sleeping nursling.

The post Mama Confessions – My Son’s Breath Smells Like Cat Food appeared first on Jananas.

I totally could have read and watched tutorials online to figure this out, but some things are so seemingly scary that it’s nicer to have someone walk you through it in person. Plus it was the ever lovely Robbie teaching and how could I pass those good times up?

I knit up a giant swatch (seriously, mine was 12″ which was longer than I needed. Better safe than sorry?). I did, however, use up some odds and ends of cascade that were sitting in the stash.

First up we practiced a crochet reinforced steek. I have to say that I loved, loved, loved this steek. It looked so finished and I can see how easy it would be to quickly baste down the steek. Easy AND nice looking finishing is a huge win in my books!!

Those two mustard-y yellow lines are my reinforced steek edges. Then comes the scary part – cutting your knitting apart. Eeep! Tiny, very shap scissors make this part much easier.

All done! I have to admit, once I made that first little cut and realized how easy it is I’m wondering why I waited so long to learn. Oh right, because it’s easier to be afraid and hide then it is to grow and learn. Thank you humble little yarn for teaching this mama.

Next up we practiced a raw steek. No reinforcement, no sewing, no nothing. Just cutting right into the knitting!!! I was expecting mine to unravel a whole lot more, but it still looks quite clean. This was a little harder to do as I didn’t have the easy to see crochet reinforcement to guide my cutting (aka it would have been much easier to accidentally snip a stitch!).

Last part of the class was learning how to pick up stitches between the main piece of the knitting and the steek stitches, so that you could theoretically add a button band, sleeves, facing, etc.

I was being a sillyhead, but Robbie persevered and got me to practice picking up stitches. I totally picked mine up going the wrong way – you can see a hint of the blue yarn running parallel to the live stitches on the needle – yeah, those should be on the other side of the knitting. Whoops!

If this was a final piece, I would have ripped back and done them the right way. But, it’s a swatch and it was getting a little late. I was away from my nursling and my breasts were telling me that it was time to head home to nurse (apologies for running out early!). So I left it, haha.

But guys, I can steek! Now my dreams of a stripe-y raglan v-neck are one step closer to completion.

The post Steeking Class at the Knit Cafe appeared first on Jananas.

And then you go and do something ridiculously adorable like eat grass. I guess it’s pretty official that we’re free range kind of parents.

And even on the difficult days (and I am blessed that this really rather mild day is what passes as a difficult day in our house!) there are moments and breaths and oases of cute and calm and cuddles and love.

Because these difficult moments? These too shall pass. And on the first real days of spring, take your little family to the local park and eat a picnic. Let your child eat the grass and explore. Play on the swings. Chase the dog.

And maybe all that difficult day will result in one crashed out little man (with rocket dog jammies!).

The post Free Range Babies appeared first on Jananas.

1 – Use Coconut Oil / Olive Oil. We first used this on little man’s bottom. The oil helps keep the meconium from sticking as badly and makes the first first few days of diaper changes easier. We also use it to moisturize post-bath (instead of using a lotion full of chemicals) and for diaper changes (although we have to be a little more careful with our cloth diapers). It’s our go to.

2 – You Don’t Need to Use a Baby Bathtub. We tried ours for the first few baths but it as awkward getting it filled and Silas didn’t really enjoy being in it, as was obvious by all of the screaming. Instead of the baby bathtub I just climbed into the tub and held him, with Papa close by to hand him to me and do the actual washing. Silas was much happier being held close and I could nurse him as needed to comfort him.

3 – Breastfeeding can be Difficult and it Takes TIme to Learn. I needed eighteen arms for the first week – one to support that floppy newborn head, one to support his body, one to hold my boob, one to keep my boobs from smothering my child (I’m a busty lady), and another fourteen to hold SIlas’ arms so that he didn’t keep putting them in front of his mouth right as we tried to latch (omg child!). Turns out that baby’s don’t see very well and use their hands to help find their, which means that the hand in front of the mouth is just them helping to find the nipple. But yet, still frustrating. Papa helped by holding the arms so I could work on the rest. A good swaddle will also help. Also:

a) Watch youtube videos on what a good latch looks like

b) Don’t be afraid to find a lactation consultant (if you’re in Toronto check out Helen at GTA Breastfeeding)

4 – Don’t be Afraid to Turn On a Light. When we were first learning to breastfeed, night feedings were really, really difficult. Especially when you’re supposed to be teaching them about the day/night by keeping the lights dim. Well dim lights meant that I couldn’t see well enough to get a good latch so we all just ended up frustrated and little man was hangry. Seriously, don’t worry about it just turn on the light and get latched. A fed baby is a happy baby and you can worry about the rest a little bit later. Once we got the hang of side-lying nursing we started to use an OXO Candela Zoom which provided enough light to see by/quickly check that Silas was okay while bed-sharing.

5 – Even if you don’t think you’ll go there, Learn How to Safely Co-Sleep. There are going to be nights when OMG all you want is a little bit of sleep and sometimes that ends up with bed sharing or co-sleeping (which is what we do all the time, as this mama likes her sleep and has a little one who won’t sleep on his own and has never wanted to). James McKenna has some great scientific research on co-sleeping and very good safety guidelines.

6 -The 2-3 Week Growth Spurt and Nursing is Kinda Hell. Somewhere between 2-3 weeks, Silas had a cluster feeding growth spurt where he nursed for almost 14 hours straight. Thank goodness for Netflix, full seasons of television shows, and having a large pitcher of water on hand to fill my glass as needed. Around hour 10 I had a minor melt down and Papa took over for an hour. I was so touched out that I needed a break, even if it meant an unhappy little one. Papa walked him around while I napped (if you can call it a nap at 11pm at night). When I woke up I was refreshed enough that I was able to be present and not resentful. It is okay to ask for that break!

7 –  Find Other Moms / Join a Meetup Group. I knew that I’d go totally stir crazy if I didn’t have something to do most days. I found a local meetup group for moms and started going to events. It meant that I didn’t sit on the outside looking in wistfully and wishing that I’d be invited to join. I also made sure to tell every new mom I met in the neighbourhood so that they’d know as well (share the knowledge!). Sometimes I’m a little shocked at the ‘put together’ moms (hair AND makeup!?!), but then I just need to remind myself that they are doing what is important for them to feel like themselves. I just happen to prioritize knitting/spinning time over showering, heh.

8 – It Doesn’t Have to be Expensive. I totally fall prey to the OMG cute baby item, must buy now problem. I try to offset it by finding other things secondhand or on sale. My favorite places to go:

a) Friends! Does someone else have one they don’t need right now? I try to pay this forward by lending out things we no longer need as well.

b) Freecycle – I’ve found lots of clothes, re-usable breastpads, etc. for free. When I’ve gotten big lots and things that we can no longer use, I pass the windfall along to other friends. The big caveat for me is that it has to be a place that I can easily reach and at convenient time, otherwise it isn’t worth it for me.

c) Second hand stores – my favorite local Toronto one is Once Upon a Child. How can you go wrong with $1 per onesie? We also found our nursing pillow and glider there, both at significantly less than retail.

d) Craigslist – we found our gently used stroller with all accessories for way cheaper than a brand new one. I consider this a win! Plus, it allowed me to get a fancier one than we would have been comfortable purchasing brand new. The easiest thing for me was to rss feed my searches so that the information came to me.

 9 – Smartphones / Tablets Help! My smartphone and tablet totally kept me sane during the early days of nursing, when Silas could nurse for 45-60 minutes at a time (including comfort nursing). I could read books via the kobo app and spent a significant amount of time looking at brightly coloured pretty things on pinterest. Especially useful when you final realize that no one else is awake at 3am on a weekday.

10 – Give In.Bend with the changing winds and give in to the flow of the baby. Fighting it will leave you frustrated, as many times there’s not much you can do other than cuddle, nurse, and walk/rock. I found that the times I was frustrated was when I ‘needed’ to do something (read, wanted to). When things didn’t go my way and little man needed me, I’d be mad about not getting to do what I wanted. The major thing that helped was changing my perspective – the less I fought, the happier and calmer I was (as was Silas). What also helped was carving out a little time every day that was 100% just for me so that I could recharge my batteries and do some of the things that made me feel more like me.

Other parents, any other advice or tips and tricks that you’d like to share?

The post 10 Tips for Surviving with Newborns appeared first on Jananas.

My Theory of Parenting is that you are doing it right when your reach that sweet spot between a super happy as possible baby and parents that are as sane (and happy) as possible. That’s it.

It’ll look different for each baby and every set of parents. It’ll look different between parents. It’s flexible and fluid. Best of all, there’s no guilt because you’re ‘doing it wrong’.

As more friends become parents this acts as a reminder for me. There is a balance between being respectful of other people’s parenting decisions and tactfully sharing information that you’ve found helpful. I’m still working on it and to my soon to be parent friends, I apologize for the toes I’m going to step on as I hopefully get better at this!

The post Theory of Parenting appeared first on Jananas.

Silas has a hand spun and knit sweater for the trip and I wanted to show off things that I’ve made myself as well. Even though I already have 8 bazillion cowls, I don’t have any hand spun ones (what?!? how did that happen!!).

So I spun some yarn, a quick and dirty n-ply from Hello Yarn’s Prism fiber club.

Which I then knit into a super squish-tastic Honey Cowl. I knit this up on US 10 / 6.0mm needles, which is larger than the pattern calls for however the yarn was also a bit bulkier. It was a good decision as the fabric is SQUISHY.

When I was spinning this yarn up, I was 100% convinced that it was ALL OF THE BROWN. And then I knit it up and realized that it totally had lots of purple and pink and blues and greens. So take that brain.

I also knit myself a pair of Camp Out Fingerless Mitts. I’m not 100% sure what the weather will be like when we’re travelling, so I thought that I’d bring along a pair of fingerless mitts just in case. These took me three days to knit in moments of spare time – I’m thinking that this pattern will make the perfect easy gift for the ladies at the day care little man will be starting at later this year (and yes I’m already thinking about that!).

These are knit up out of the leftovers from a sweater that I knit for little man. There is still a little leftover, which might get incorporated into a leftover-busting advent calendar (maybe? if I ever get around to it…).

And then a glamour shot of the two together! I’m looking forward to getting to wear these while traveling.

I’m looking forward to traveling as well, but there’s an undercurrent of being nervous about traveling with a little one. Any advice or trips and tricks for us?

The post Hello Yarn Handspun Knits for our UK Trip appeared first on Jananas.

I immediately ordered a physical copy and awaited it’s arrival. And then I read the very sad news that Iain Banks is terminally ill. The book that was on it’s way to me would be his last Culture novel. My joy was bittersweet.

I’m a mom. It’s easy for me to read eBooks, as I can prop my smartphone up against a pillow (or my son!) while nursing. A dozen pages multiple times a day makes for a quick read.

This book was a physical book. A big, solid book that feels good in my hands. I find it more difficult to read books like this. I can’t hold it one handed. It’s fussy to prop up. Oh, and little man keeps trying to eat the book.

Normally I would have crawled into bed with this book and devoured it. Bathed in the words. Let the pages glide past my fingers and the words absorb into my head.

Instead I’ve been stealing reading time at night. 5 or 10 pages. Sometimes a whole chapter. It’s made reading this last Culture book so precious. It’s drawn out and I’m astounded by how lovely it is.

Thank you babe for teaching me to slow down and savor the experience. You surprise me with the lessons I’m reminded of and learn.

The post Iain Banks & Reading with Babies appeared first on Jananas.

As usual, the stress was totally self inflicted as I was thinking about spinning 3 braids of fiber (so 12 oz total) for a 3-ply. If I break the problem down though, into a smaller amount it’s totally doable. So I split each of the 3 braids into thirds and am spinning 1/3 of each, for a total of 4oz total.

Below are my choices!

Top is Hello Yarn’s Bristling on Shetland. Bottom right is Hello Yarn’s Prism on Polwarth. Bottom left is Hello Yarn’s Burrows on Rambo. And yes, I do have a rather large amount of Hello Yarn in my fiber stash.

I’ve started the fiber bobbin, with Burrows, and am loving the cool blues and warm yellows and dark browns.

I can’t wait to see this little sample 3-ply come together! Even more so, because I have 8oz of each colour so if this experiment goes well I’ll be able to spin up 24oz (or 1.5lbs!!) of it.

The post Combo Spinning appeared first on Jananas.