Toxic cleaning

I am a crazy, concerned mom. I confess it. For the past few years I have been reading more about chemicals (in foods, cleaning products, our air) and I now am convinced that so much of our ailments, sleeplessness, or lots of other body issues come from all this pollution that we put into our homes and bodies. Pollution sometimes is caused by cleaning products. Hence, I have attempted to cut out all chemical cleaning products. One of the best books I read on the topic is Green This!: Greening Your Cleaning By Deirdre Imus. The book gives many examples of body burden studies and other forms of research which proves how much of the junk our bodies absorb. A really scarey one (that made me give up all teflon) was a study done in 2001 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that found "PFCs-a likely human carcinogen-in the blood of the vast majority of the human population." And here's the kicker...it was in "96 percent of the 598 children test," not to mention, "the umbilical-cord blood of newborns." (Imus, 102)
Speaking of cord-blood, that's what did it for me on chemical cleaners. The "Body Budern: The Pollution in Newborns," also done by EWG in July of 2005 noted some frightening things are in our babies at birth. Look for yourself. OH, and clorox? Yea, don't get me going! Same with ammonia. There are tons of studies that will scare your socks off. (And make you wonder why on earth we still use this stuff.) Imus drew from one study titled, "Chlorination, Chlorination By-Products, and Cancer: A Meta-Analysis," American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 8, No. 7, pp. 955-63. There are things out there showing chemicals linked to everything from childhood cancer to asthma, from autism to obesity. We really should think about what we are putting into our (and our children's) bodies.
So, what's a body to clean with, you ask? I am fond of Seventh Generation products to clean dishes and laundry with. I use distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner's soaps daily. And I can't praise essential oils enough. (And you can mix these up...vinegar is an awesome fabric softener and it helps your towels absorb more water . And! try "bleaching" with peroxide. It'll work without compromising your fabric.). That's mostly it. It's amazing how much you'll save and how much better you'll feel when you switch to more healthy things. My list of things to clean with is not exhaustive. But I want to encourage all out there to give it a try. There are tons of books and sites on the web that will give you recipes and simply, organic cleaning ideas. Go forth and green thy home!
**the top pic my laundry pic (minus peroxide). next is L. with our "all purpose" stuff. next, the bathroom cleaners (which L. helps with). lastly, my "everything i own & use" pic. enjoy!

Athens, Georgia

Barclay and I took a (very) short trip to Athens over Christmas break. As we are with most SEC schools in fun college towns, we were suckers. We fell for the scene. We hiked around campus till my tummy muscles ached (which didn't take too much, considering), and had some friends, Alison & Fred, open their home to us, so the stay was free. As we do, we hung out way too much in ye ol' downtown bookshop. Our dough was spent on books and great food, but we had a blast. It was good to spend time with just the hubby and not have to put little L. to bed or get up 5 times during the night with him. (Grandmom and Grandad kept Langston. He only cried at night...probably from being tired as much as missing mommy.) Our "freedom" reminded me of that one whole year and nine months I once got to spend with my beloved (before my other beloved came along). Someday, we'll get to do "just us" things again. That's what retirement is for, right? Oh, and our pix consist of me snapping a sign that began with, "y'all" (I MISS the South!), our pose with "the tree who owns itself," Barclay on the field where the first college football game was played, and B. under "the arch." There's also one of us eating dinner on New Year's Eve at Farm 255, an organic, grow-their-own-food place that was too yummy.

12 whole hours!

Little L. officially slept for about 12 hours last night! 8:45ish to 8:30ish! Hooray! We had a long day of travel and a fun family night of basketball & movie, so he was pretty worn out. Plus, no nappie-poo for the guy. I'm going to try for the same thing today. I know that last night can't be repeated exactly...and it doesn't really need to be. He feel asleep (on Barclay) during the movie, so no bath, brushing teeth, or reading books,which isn't the way I would plan it, but...I'll take it. Barclay and I actually got to hang out for a few hours (which is unusual) and we had a great time. Only a few more months 'til those days are gone again! Hopefully, this sleeping thing with L. will give us a break (of 8 weeks or so) and inspire me to put baby girl in her crib more than I did with L-town.

He Sleeps....sort of.

Hi all. Here's an update on L's sleeping issue. Thanks for all the wisdom, btw. Last weekend, we had a gas leak in the oven (yikes), and I spent all afternoon finding someone to check it out, repair it, etc. I also had to run over to the OB's office to get my rh-negative-mom shot. (My dr. forgot to give it to me at my appt. and the nurse called to say that I had one hour to get it or else...blood work again. urg.) So, little Langston didn't get his nap that day. He went down at his usual (late), but slept for almost 12 hours! So, I have been weaning him away from naps. He has been sleeping better at night. I feel pretty draggy by nap time (thanks, 3rd trimester) and I'm not going to deprive him if he's super grumpy, but so far, he's doing well. (This also means *AHHH!*...when will I nap when baby girl gets here?) I guess we'll figure it out. Next comes pushing bedtime back. Keep the wisdom coming. I know we'll survive, but it's been a long and sleepy three years with this sweet guy.

What the Groundhog said...

Amir and Langston

Langston asked me why there weren't any pix of he and bf, Amir, so here they are. Amir belongs to Byron and Lorette Oden-Shabazz. They are good friends of our here in Macomb. We have kid trades often. ;)

Say a Little Prayer for Me...

Langston has joined us (we all pray) or lead prayer many times at the dinner table. He recently had a memorable prayer, though. It began as it does sometimes, "Dear God...[thanks for our family, friends, a few more thoughts]." Then came the funny part, "God, bless your heart. And I pay the money." Of course, at the familiar phrase, "bless your heart," I almost lost it, but when he followed it with, "I pay the money," I couldn't stifle the laughter anymore. Neither could Barclay. He said, "Amen." And we congratulated him on a job well done. We also explained that sometimes he said things that were so sweet, cute, or special, that we had to smile and laugh. He's a pretty sensitive guy, so I hope we didn't hurt any feelings. I would also like to add that this isn't the first time we have had this thoughtful praying. He does thank God for "helping the children, our house, milk," various foods before him, any friends with whom he has interacted that day, and specific toys.
During the month of November, we were really trying to get him to sleep "by self." This was our first real attempt in IL and to kick it off, I bought him a safety rail (that attaches to his bed), which he calls his "tent" (bc of the mesh fabric?). So the first few nights, his "tent" was awesome. He'd say that I could "go away" bc he had his "tent," he'd be fine. A few nights later, he changed his mind. We began the "monsters are in my room" thing. Urg. He isn't allowed to watch things with shooting, bad words, hitting, etc., so I haven't a clue where the "monster" thing came from.
Well, he and I had just finished reading through one of his New Testament story books. He had lots of questions about miracles, bringing people back from the dead, and that sort of thing. He did understand the basic principles of Jesus and prayer, though, and he enjoyed talking about that. I told him that he could talk to God anytime...happy, sad, thankful, scared, etc. So one night after I put him down and went back to my room, I heard on the monitor, "Hey Jesus...and God. I know you're magic. My mom got me a new Heffalump movie. It's got Pooh. She got it for my pooping. [A rental reward for going potty.] So, I know you're magic. You wanna' come watch it with me?" This prayer continued for a while. And he continued to pray like that, at night, for a while. Out of the mouths of babes...