Here in Los Angeles kids go back to school just after the Labor Day weekend. I’m finishing up the shopping for school supplies and clothes. Shopping for lunchbox items has been a little more complicated. It’s no secret that I’m a big Tupperware fan but Tupperware doesn’t fulfill every need in this house.
The good folks at Enviro Products sent over a stainless steel food container. I was a bit skeptical at first, because my son is the only one who packs a lunch and sometimes these things are too difficult to unlatch. It turns out I had no reason to worry, the latches are firm but easy enough for an elementary school boy to maneuver and there’s no metallic taste. It’s a large container, and I’d love to see one that’s sandwich sized, because that would keep the sandwiches from flailing around and falling apart. It’s perfect for pastas grains and fruits. My kids seldom want soft skin fruits like peaches or nectarines in their lunch boxes because they’re ruined (smashed) by lunchtime.
One of the great blessings of my adult life was a summer vacation spent with my husband and children at Catalina Island Camps. We spent the better part of the week learning about the ocean, our food supply and our ability to affect change.
Jean Michele Cousteau (son of Jacques Cousteau) would call himself an ambassador of the environment. I would call him a hero to us all.
Most recently Cousteau has discovered many populations of killer whales are contaminated with toxic, synthetic chemicals known as PBDEs, or flame retardants. I understand the wisdom of not wanting your children’s pajamas to catch fire, but how many of us are living in gaslight districts? At what point do we ask for change, and at what point do we demand it?
I just finished reading The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green. I’ve got one word for you.
Yipee!
Finally, there’s a book for moms who are looking to go green that doesn’t make them feel like a failure. I’ve always been pretty green. It was recent that I realized that a lot of my peers don’t think about sustainable living. I’d just assumed that everyone went through the same processes that I did.
What I didn’t realize is that a lot of women (especially parents) felt like they had to do everything. By “everything” I mean everything from green cleaning products to the diva cup to growing their own food, and by being made to feel like a perennial failure, many parents are unwilling to attempt any part of a sustainable life, for fear of being mocked.
Trying to determine how to best build your list of followers can be a challenge and a raging argument is going on right now with the Twitterati on quality versus quantity. Is it better to follow lots of people and have lots of followers or does the quality of the follower matter
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”
New Years Resolutions usually revolve around saving money or losing weight, not going green or doing good things for the environment. Most resolutions aren’t kept for more than a month or two with the resolution falling to the way side verses being maintained and achieved. This is usually do to the goals being set to high and not being obtainable.
This New Year, feel good about yourself, maybe lose some weight, save some money but best of all be some sparkling shade of green this New Year with these 9 easy and very manageable and obtainable tips:
1. Make a list. Write down exactly what your family can do to help the environment this New Year and pick one of these to start with. When you’ve mastered eating only veggies, limiting your meat intake or buying organic beef…move on to the next item but the list is what applies to YOU and YOUR family.
Typically I’m here as a Mommy Blogger. It’s a title that makes some cringe, but I embrace it. I have kids, I’m raising them, it’s the most important job I’ll ever have, therefore I’m a Mommy Blogger. Today I’m here to talk about my mom.
This morning I found a great new website (well, new to me), called Barter Quest. It’s in beta, which means that it might have a few kinks to work out, but it’s amazing.
Simply put, you take that hideous gift Aunt Sally sent an item that you no longer want/need and put it up for trade. Then you search for another item that you actually need or want.
One of the most fascinating parts of being a Mommy Blogger is that you will always be challenged to defend your decisions. I’m okay with that.
There are no video games at my house, yet. My husband is dying for a Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray. Since he’s the primary earner in the household, if we do end up with a gaming console, it’s the most likely option. The kids want a Wii and I’ve already succumbed and bought one for my mother’s house, but I’ve been comfortable with my decision to keep the house free of video game systems.
I took the kids to an EA/Nintendo party last week where the kids played a bunch of the new Nintendo releases. There’s a pop star sing along that’s cute and appropriate for most. (If you’re very conservative in your dress, skip it.) And there are a whole bunch of Sim Games.
1995: Dated the kindest man I’d ever met. He drove a Ford Festiva, it had no gas gauge nor door locks, both had been stolen, it smelled a little like Hockey Gear. I fell in love
1997: We are given a 1984 Oldsmobile, it has less than 20,000 miles on it, it was his Grandparents car. It has fuzzy blue fabric and bench seats. We are still madly in love.
1999: I’m going need acupuncture if I have to duck into that f**king car one more time to get the baby out of the back seat. Mom! Don’t sell that Explorer just yet, we want it. We need it, my aching back needs it.
I’m confused. Yahoo news is reporting that there is Melamine in infant formula. The FDA says that there is no acceptable limit for Melamine in infant formula. The FDA also says that we (parents) shouldn’t overreact.
Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling U.S. infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe. The Food and Drug Administration said last month it was unable to identify any melamine exposure level as safe for infants, but a top official said it would be a “dangerous overreaction” for parents to stop feeding infant formula to babies who depend on it.
“The levels that we are detecting are extremely low,” said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “They should not be changing the diet. If they’ve been feeding a particular product, they should continue to feed that product. That’s in the best interest of the baby.”
I get that I’mjust a housewife(with a graduate degree) and I couldn’t possibly really understand what the scientists know…
Previously undisclosed tests, obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the FDA has detected melamine in a sample of one popular formula and the presence of , in the formula of a second manufacturer.
Here in Los Angeles kids go back to school just after the Labor Day weekend. I’m finishing up the shopping for school supplies and clothes. Shopping for lunchbox items has been a little more complicated. It’s no secret that I’m a big Tupperware fan but Tupperware doesn’t fulfill every need in this house.
