Poison on the Grocery shelves

I am a naturally detail-oriented person ("anal" as many like to say), in every aspect of my life: my house, my schedule, daily to do lists (vs most people's weekly) and especially what I put in my mouth.  EVERY cook out I go to I bring my own plate and flatware & get comments about it. In fact the things I get the most flack for are: that I never eat on/with disposable dinnerware, I never drink water from the tap, I buy organic as often as fiscally possible and I'm ridding my house of all things plastic.

WHY? They always ask... Here's why:
In charge of all bodily functions are your brain and your endocrine system--your brain keeps you alive and your hormones tell your body what to do and when to do it. Hormones are a delicate thing--one missed signal can cause BIG issues.  For example--my son was born with Hypospadius, a condition that effects the development of the penis. (Fellas, stop cupping yourself!) This condition is caused by endocrine disruptors, chemicals charading around as hormones.  This obviously happened in-utero and thus was caused by chemicals is MY body.

Some of the biggest sources of endocrine disruptors: Plastic, unfiltered water, and chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, & insecticides--hmm, I wonder why I do those things my family teases me about?? Curious isn't it?  I am by no means flawless in my environmental efforts--I'm a single mom and student, I do what I can with what I can afford--it's a work in progress. My next step is not to buy ANYTHING even remotely tied to Monsanto.

WHY? You may ask... *sigh* there are few words to describe the level of evil that company is at. First, Monsanto is actively trying to control the food supply of the entire world--if not with their chemicals (herbicides/pesticides/insecticides) than with their patented seeds (you read right... patented.) They are driving out small family owned farms, they sell 'suicide' seeds that only live a year (causing farmers to buy seed every year)... they go around farms and test to make sure none of the pollen/seeds from nieghboring Monsanto farms isn't on Uncle joe-bob's farm, cuz if it is he loses the farm!! Nevermind he had NO idea of their presences, or that the wind is responsible for the transfer!
 OH! And let's not forget the GMO's!! Genetically Modified Organisms. They are in your food. The FDA decided (for you) that you didn't need a warning label on the majority of the products containing them! How considerate. Monsanto (years ago) created a potato that, when eaten by bugs, formed crystal shards in their stomachs and killed them. They then shipped all those 'harmless' potatoes to McDonald's for french fries.
Yup you ate that! And didn't even know it!

I, myself, plan on trying to know better. So these brands are now barred entry to my kitchen!!
My son's 'condition' was surgically corrected, but in his future is a time period (of several years) where his body will be awash with surging hormones--oh yeah, puberty!!  I plan on there being as few Endocrine disruptors in his body as possible (and not just to try to avoid another surgery).  If I ever have any other children I'd like very much for them NOT to have any issues I can trace back to choices I made (ignorant to their severity).

 

How many of these brands are in YOUR kitchen!?

Better Bribes for Better Behavior

Potty Training is without question one of the most frustrating challenges in parenting. No parent will argue this.  Case in point: My son has been urinating in the toilet for over a year but still refuses to poop in it.  I’ve been told to try a vast variety of ideas and strategies to get him to do so, all of which involve some kind of bribe. Now I never wanted to be the type of parent that relied on that technique, but with the stresses I’ve faced over the past few months I have resorted to it.  The issue with that is WHAT you use to bribe them with.  This is where my problem lies.

I am NOT the type of parent who buys my child some random toy every time he does something right.  Do I buy him things for no reason? Yes. Every parent does. The things I buy are stuff like: A magnifying glass, a bug catcher, a tag book (to encourage him reading) or some other kind of educational toy. His dad’s family buys him all the toys he’ll ever want. So I don’t need to add to it by using toys as poopy prizes. 

Another common bribe is candy. I’m equally opposed to this. Candy is horrible for you and its only ‘good’ quality is its taste. I am not a big candy person—and in fact I hate chocolate. I cannot understand rewarding a child with something that isn’t good for them and establishing junk food as an incentive (thus planting the seed for all kinds of eating and health issues). Unfortunately you can’t use healthy foods as a reward since you want your children eating them as much as humanly possible!!

So what, oh what, do you use as incentive for good behavior, potty training and the like?   

Unique experiences.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, ‘things’ will never compare to ‘adventures.’  A child can go on for a day or a week about some awesome toy they got, but they’ll go on forever about the adventure they had at the aquarium and all the things they saw and did there. 

April was particularly stressful. My son was all over the map with his behavior—spending a good portion of his time in time outs and going to bed early. And we made a deal. If he straightened his act up and didn’t get any more bad reports from daycare until the end of the month we would go to the zoo.  Now every time he picks up one of his animal toys he goes on and on about seeing it at the zoo, what he saw it do, how he wants to see it again… and so on. 

So I figured, why not try that with Potty training?  After a long discussion with a cousin who specializes in rearing children we decided on a potty bank. My son gets a coin every time he goes potty, two if he goes on his own (without my asking him to), and FIVE if he poops (even just a little) in the toilet.  I sat him down and we discussed what HE wanted his prize to be. On the table were things like: going to another BIGGER zoo, the aquarium, going to a circus, (Yes, a toy was an option--it was the first HE threw out) and going to the Dinosaur museum. He picked the last one. We took a Simply Lemonade jug, decorated it with dinosaur stickers and every time he goes we discuss all the things we’ll see and do there—amping him up for going.

And all the money in that Potty Bank? Yup, he gets to spend it at the gift shop.  

SO he gets the experience AND a souvenir of it.  He's pretty stoked... as am I.

The first few days were great… then he got sick and we’ve been bouncing between constipation and diarrhea, but I’m still confident this will work (otherwise this might be my last post since I’ll lose my mind and get locked up in the looney bin!) 

But the point of this post is: As parents our job is to shape and mold our children into competent, well rounded, GOOD people. Rewarding them with objects of little or no permanent significance only feeds into our overly commercial, uber-consuming society. It feeds back into that unhealthy, destructive cycle. Why do that when you can reward personal growth and milestones by adding to their character, knowledge base or skill set? These milestones aren't just steps in development and physical growth, they're markers of personal growth and evolution--celebrate that by ADDING to it!!

Nature News

Alright, its been AGES since I've posted--and posted regularly.  SO I'm trying to get back into it but the past few weeks have been chaotic to say the least!!  Regardless, I wanted to share some articles and interesting stuff I've found.

Every 22hrs a Rhino is poached. Tomorrow is WORLD RHINO DAY!! Raise awareness tomorrow (and everyday) 
World Rhino Day!

Get one last trip in before Fall--and you don't even have to leave the house!!
An Electronic Field trip to Saguaro NP!

Two more reasons to love the National Parks!!
National Parks--does a country good!

So sooner or later I'll be going to here to help with the turtles!! Funds have been low the last few years, but maybe I can take lil man with me this year now that he's older!! How amazing a memory would THAT be!?
Hatching up a trip to Padre Island! 

Can we save Maine's fisheries?

Human waste poisoning Coral Reefs!?

Melting Kids

For over a week it has been 95+ degrees.  It’s hot: here, there and everywhere.  Last week I was in northern Michigan at our lake house, and presently I’m in Western PA.  So what do you do with little ones to keep them from parking themselves in front of the television inside the air conditioned house??

First & foremost you have to have to put a cap on tv time.  My 3yr old gets about three hours—which I admit is a lot. He gets 2-3 of his favorite little shows on Disney in the morning, and then a movie to wind down for bed; but quite often he goes the whole day with out any until his movie.

But sometimes it really is just too damned hot to be outside.  My family is Irish--and therefore whiter than Casper, and my son has both sensitive skin & allergies—so there are a lot of days where even if it is alright to go outside he can’t stay out long without either burning or his skin breaking out and swelling. 

Days like that I call ‘throwback days’—days you dig into your childhood and pull out the things you used to occupy yourself with.  Things like fort building, hide & seek, wrestling, board games, arts & crafts (He’s been making a TON of sun-catchers--to be used for Christmas gifts), reading and my son’s current favorite: swimming in the bath tub.  My son is obsessed with sharks presently so he can spend hours in there if I let him.  We fill the bathtub up and he’ll play for a while in it and then get out and do other things and then later in the day if he wants to go again the water is already ready (and clean still!).  

Other little things you can do? 

*MAKE popsicles. Keep them hydrated and make it fun.  You can even make ‘em fancy.  Fill it ¼ with one kind of juice/kool-aid, freeze it, and repeat 3x more with three other flavors!

*Use fans.  Yes, there’s AC, but most of what people find un comfortable is stagnant air, so turn up the AC temp a few degrees and kick on the fans to circulate the air.  Save $$, save energy, and spare the atmosphere pounds of CO2.

*GO SOMEWHERE!!  Go to the Aquarium, the movies, the pool etc… not only is it air conditioned but you’ll be spending quality time DOING something with your family other than sitting in front of the television or computer!

*Relax the dress code.  We are not an uptight family. My son hasn’t worn pants all week.  Randomly throughout this summer he has declared it ‘no pants day.’   And it is not uncommon for people to come over and find us both in our underwear (me +tank) in the living room having a picnic

*Go somewhere with TREES!!  Hike in a forest, the park, etc.... Obviously save this for the more tolerable days,but its summer it's going to be hot--be outside when you can to remember when when you're cooped up in the winter.

*Kill the lights.  Most people close the curtains, & use lamps for light--which is foolish.  I understand open curtains give as much heat as they do light, but if you push them open an inch or two at each side and in the middle you let in light without tons of heat.  With blinds, point them up.  

Just because you have to rely on energy to keep you cool doesn't mean you have to rely on it for everything else--find ways to get around upping your usage even when it's blistering hot.

And just because you have to be cooped up SOME days in the house to escape the heat doesn't mean that those days have to be spend with the tube or the internet.

Park Passes

So I wanted to share something I found pretty cool recently, my birthday was in May and when I got the tag renewal in the mail I noticed something new (at least I'VE never seen it before, but I've only been back in MI for a year so I may have missed its start)--there's an option to pay an extra $10 and get a free pass to ALL of the State Parks!!   
Park Pass with Renewal

This is a FABULOUS idea!!  How better to encourage people to get out into the parks (especially in hard up times like now)??

Now it doesn't cover camping, boat launching, or any thing other than general admission but it's still awesome!!  The last state park I went to (albeit years ago) was $15 to get into! And that included NOTHING!  Campers and fishermen rejoice!!  The baitshop owners outside the park shall too!!   It gets people out into our state's parks AND drives local economy--all for ten bucks!
Sold!!

Furthermore, the revenue generated goes right back to the parks to make them even better than before!!
(A nice little article: permit renewal program sparks more park revenue)

I have yet to come up with a con--and I challenge you to try to!!
A pal of mine mentioned gas prices, and how people flocking to the parks meant more gas consumed and CO2 released.  Tis true.  But a free pass means more people will likely vacation close to home--rather than traveling to FL or CA or where ever else. So in that regards its an even better idea than first believed!!

So pony up the extra ten bucks & enjoy the summer in 
Michigan's fabulous state parks!!