Grey Milk Mustaches
September 29, 2007 | 3 Comments
Oh for Pete’s sake. I just got an email from my local dairy where I can purchase (ahem) “pet” milk (meaning raw, because it’s illegal here in Georgia to sell raw milk for human consumption).
Apparently Uncle Sam wants to force dairies like this to dye their milk charcoal grey, ostensibly to help prevent (gasp!) humans from drinking it.
I’m not sure what to say. What’s next? Are they going to make me pump and boil my breastmilk before I let my youngest daughter drink it? Is anyone else concerned about the overeager safety zealots? Honestly, I can see homebirth being illegal soon, and after that nonvaccinating, and after that, homeschooling. Haven’t you heard?
You can’t take care of yourselves and make your own decisions, WE have to tell you what to do. How dare you study your options and assess risk! Don’t you know you’re not capable of doing anything we don’t think is safe for you?
“Rule 40-8-8-.06 (2) establishes requirement that raw milk used for pets and specialty pets be decharacterized by using coloring which will act as a distinguishing identifier.Interested individuals may submit written comments concerning the proposed rules by mail or facsimile to:Ms. Julie Hester
Assistant to Division Director
Georgia Department of Agriculture
19 MLK Jr. Drive Room 601
Atlanta, GA 30334
Fax Number – 404-463-6670 Written comments must be received prior to the close of business (4:30 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, October 24, 2007. You may download a copy of the synopses and the proposed rules from the Georgia department of Agriculture website at www.agr.state.ga.us. This notice is given in compliance with the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, O.C.G.A. 50-13-4.”
Personally, I believe that milk, which has been much maligned in the natural health community, is not evil. I think milk is actually quite good for you, but that pasteurization and homogenization are what cause the problems so many people associate with dairy products. I cannot digest pasteurized milk well and it gives me stomach pain and other problems, but I have no issues with raw milk. It’s certainly far more delicious than pasteurized and once you’ve had raw milk and raw cultured butter, you can hardly go back!
Resources:
Raw milk is safe
RealMilk
Why some love raw milk
Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be…. Fat?
September 28, 2007 | 3 Comments
This trend disturbs me. No, not the childhood obesity trend. Well, I guess it does disturb me a little, but not as much as this trend:
Young girls who are worried about their weight or who are on diets. I believe that dieting when you’re a child or teenager is about one of the worst things a body can do. I would much rather see a girl with a little meat on her bones than one who is limiting her calories during a period of rapid growth.
This hits home because I am concerned about my 4 year old daughter. She weighed in at 10 pounds the day she was born. She couldn’t even fit into her newborn clothes and skipped right to 6-9 months. During my pregnancy with her I ate better than I ever had in my life and took all kinds of whole food supplements. And it showed right on her cheeks and thighs. I think she’s beautiful with her big round cheeks complete with dimples, round arms and thighs and soft belly. But sometimes her brothers let the “f” word slip out of their mouths. Not in a hateful way, more in a descriptive way, as in “Ilana’s kinda fat”.
I try not to look or sound upset. Of course, it does upset me that they think that, because she isn’t fat at all, but why are their eyes already influenced that way, thinking that normal healthy girl flesh is fat? I remind them never to say that word in reference to her or anyone else, and I also remind them that Ilana is simply a big girl like her Dad’s female relatives (her Dad and my sons are small boned and skinny, and she is built like his cousins, big blonde German frauleins who have long legs up to __ here__ and who you wouldn’t want to mess with on the soccer field.). I’m not worried about her weight, because she eats a good diet and gets plenty of exercise, so her weight is therefore genetically normal for her.
In fact I worry more about my sons and how thin they are. I know the bones need fat reserves at the ends of the joints in order for the bones to grow properly, and despite the fact that they eat every 20 minutes, or so it seems, they’re both skinny as rails. I have a hard time finding pants that fit the two of them. If they are right in length, they’re gaping huge at the waist, and if they fit at the waist, they’re too short. They’re the No-Butt Brothers.
Here is a link to an article on a blog I’ve enjoying for some time now called Junk Food Science that talks about a University of Georgia study about girls as young as 4 who are obsessed with their bodies already. What?!
Dieting during youth has got to be the single biggest predictor of lifelong weight problems. It just breaks my heart when I hear mothers talking about how fat they are or the latest diet this or that. I also cringe inside when I hear mothers expressing concerns about their daughter’s weight. I think they’re doing far more damage to their little girls than a few extra pounds that will probably come off when the growth spurts hit (or won’t…. who cares?).
What do you think? And how do you shield your little girls from negative impressions around weight?
p.s. That’s not my Ilana, it’s a stock photo. 
The Real Reason My Kids Are So Healthy
September 26, 2007 | 3 Comments
I have 4 healthy kids who have no allergies or chronic illness. None of them take any medications and not one of them has ever had an ear infection. The only time I have ever had to fill a prescription for antibiotics was once when my daughter developed a staph infection on her finger, and I was weeks away from delivering a new baby, and didn’t want to have an active staph infection going on. Her finger didn’t respond to alternative treatments, so I opted for the meds.
But … this is not because I’m some kind of supermom. In fact, it may be an indictment on my housekeeping skills. 
My sister, who is 7 years older than me and whose youngest is a year older than my oldest (meaning I got to observe and learn a lot from her mothering journey!) had a saying. It went something like this:
“When your first kid drops the pacifier, you pick it up, sanitize it, and hand it back to the kid. With the second child, you pick it up, rinse it off, and hand it back to the kid. With the third child, you pick it up, put it in your mouth to “clean” it, and hand it back to the kid. With your fourth child, you take it out of the dog’s mouth and hand it back to the kid.”
LOL! She had four as I do (and her, four boys back to back), and this little ditty was a way for her to explain the folly of trying to keep a spotless house with a houseful of young un’s. Turns out that keeping a too clean house may make our kids sicker.
First the news was that antibacterial soaps (the kind that contain Triclosan) were contributing to nasties like candida overgrowth on people’s fingernails. Ick. Now the research is pointing to overzealous use of hand “sanitizer” and antibacterial everything for household cleaning as a possible explanation for the sharp rise in allergies in kids. There’s also some evidence that kids who grow up in a home with multiple siblings and pets (read: dirtier) are healthier.
Personally, I always let people hold my hours or days old newborn babies as long as they washed their hands with soap and water first, and thought mothers who whipped out the hand sanitizer on their newborn’s delicate digits to be not only overzealous but actually putting their babies in danger. Those hands go right into the mouth.
I hereby give you permission to put your feet up, read a book and do something wonderful for your children’s health!
References: Hygiene Hypothesis
Triclosan (scroll down to “health concerns”)
Tackle It Tuesday – Bathroom Floor and Money Market Account
September 25, 2007 | 3 Comments
Well I promised that I would stop procrastinating and commit to doing my bathroom floors every Tuesday. And I did
The thing about housework is to do it. And I think having a schedule for it makes it easier. Once I got into it, it wasn’t bad. Getting started is the hard part. And after I was done, I rewarded myself with a big glass of iced CherryBana fruit herb tea. It is sooo good. Then I turned on the radio and Bob Marley’s One Love was playing. It’s all good mon.
Oh and another thing I tackled was opening a second savings account. And just in time for this week’s Moms Money show. I interviewed Janine Bolon
I opened this account after reading Suze Orman’s book Women and Money. There is a coupon code in it that gives you $100 free when you open an Ameritrade account (a brokerage account but you can use it like a savings account too). Cool huh? So I set it up, made a deposit and set up automatic transfers. So after this account is a year old, I plan on moving the funds to a Roth IRA. Maybe sooner actually.
So what did you tackle?
Natural Moms Podcast #63
September 25, 2007 | 1 Comment
My guest this week is Barbara Coppo. Barbara is the mother of an autistic son who suffered terribly as a result of a routine D.P.T. vaccination at 19 months of age.
Her book shares not only the difficulties and struggles but also the moments of joy she has experienced while raising her son, and is a testament to the enduring power of a mother’s love. The Boy in the Window
Download the mp3 HERE or listen on the site.
Win a Copy of Finding More Family Time
September 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Aurelia Williams, who was our recent guest on Natural Moms Talk Radio, is giving away a copy of her report on her blog. If you would like to win a copy, go visit her
I’ll be back with another awesome guest, Barbara Coppo of Boy in the Window, very soon.
Overcoming Procrastination For Moms
September 21, 2007 | 3 Comments
I wrote a post on my business blog about procrastination and work at home Moms. September 6th was Fight Procrastination Day, dedicated to helping the 25% plus Americans who suffer with chronic procrastinating.
As I said over there, procrastinating often makes tasks more difficult and costs us time. If you wait an extra couple of days to vacuum, it doesn’t really take you any longer once you do it. If you let dirty pots sit in the sink getting crusty and gross, it takes you longer to clean them.
Procrastination costs us money. For example, putting off taking the library books back means late fees. I deal with this by always taking my stuff back well before it’s due. I go to the library once a week and everything goes back even if it’s not due yet. I have a large cloth bag that is the “library bag” and when we read a library book it goes right back into the bag so they’re (usually!) all together when I make the trip.
Procrastinating about balancing your checkbook can mean bounced checks. I’ve bounced a few checks in my lifetime because I didn’t bring down my checkbook balance immediately after spending money. Sometimes it’s hard to do when you’re at the grocery store with 4 kids in tow who are tired of shopping. So I make it a daily habit to do this every night before I go to bed. It takes less than one minute but saves me money.
I’ve decided to come clean about one thing I procrastinate on.
My bathroom floors. I put off cleaning the bathroom floor far too long. It’s the only household chore I consistently don’t do in a timely manner. The sink, mirror, toilet, etc get cleaned every day (this is a necessity when you have boys, and if you forget to do it your nose will remind you!), I don’t know why I’m so bad about the floors but I am!
So I’ve decided to make Tuesdays my bathroom floor day. On Tackle it Tuesday I’ll be sweeping and mopping the bathroom floor. Hold me to it ok?
So what do you procrastinate about? Do you have any systems that keep you accountable? Share them
Amazon Grocery Specials
September 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I thought I would pass along these discounts from Amazon.com. They have $10 off (automatically reflected in your shopping cart) many beverages, and discounts on some organic snacks, pita chips, Erin Bakers breakfast cookies, and a lot more.
Remember they also offer free shipping when you spend $25. Click on the banner below.
Safe Co-Sleeping Is Safe
September 18, 2007 | 5 Comments
I came across a news story about an infant who died while sleeping with his parents here. Honestly I don’t know if anyone will ever be able to prove scientifically that co-sleeping is safe because there are so many variables.
What kind of bedding the parents use in their bed
Whether the parents (and whether they admit to) are using alcohol or drugs, including sleep meds and cigarettes
Whether the parents are obese or have circulation problems that cause numbness in their extremeties
Whether the baby is healthy and the actual cause of death (if the baby was recently vaccinated his death could be related, babies often go into a deep abnormal sleep after a shot)
Etc
There are a couple of things about this article that stuck out. For one, the example given to supposedly prove the “co-sleeping is dangerous” argument goes like this:
In February 2003, Tucsonan Shawn Dallas Ramon and his girlfriend, Stephanie Molina, were charged with manslaughter and child abuse after their 7-month-old son, Shawn Dallas Ramon Jr., died in their bed. An autopsy report said the infant died of “probable suffocation due to overlying by adults while in bed.” Though the Pima County medical examiner ruled the death accidental, the couple were criminally charged. They admitted to being intoxicated the night their son died. Both later pleaded guilty to endangerment and in 2005 were sentenced to probation.
The article explains that the Mom drank a 6 pack of beer the night her son died. Hello! Having drunk parents increases the chance of a baby dying by ANY cause. This is not going to prove that co-sleeping is dangerous. Having alcoholics for parents is what’s dangerous.
”We live in a very complex society. We don’t sleep on the floor of a hut where there are no soft pillows,” said Dr. Marilyn Heins, a Tucson pediatrician.
Point taken. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bed. Get rid of the extra pillows and comforters and sleep on a firm mattress. Better yet, use a natural mattress that won’t offgas formaldyhyde and you and your baby will sleep better.
As Linda Palmer puts it in this article on APConnect.org,“The risk of death to babies who sleep with a safe parent is actually far smaller than that of babies who sleep in a crib in another room,” Palmer said. “In fact, for infants over 2 to 3 months of age, the studies show that letting infants sleep in the same bed as their parents protects them from SIDS more effectively than simply having them sleep in the same room.”
Palmer decries the AAP’s conclusion that babies are at risk of SIDS simply by virtue of sharing a bed with a parent. “Infants are at risk of suffocation in adult beds, just as they are in cribs — this is a bedding issue, not a sleep-sharing issue,”The article goes on to point out that the studies that seem to point out risks of co-sleeping are flawed because they include all sorts of co-sleeping arrangements, including sleeping with a baby on a couch. It also includes smoking and drinking parents.
The co-sleeping is unsafe just doesn’t seem logical in my opinion. Many people sleep with their pets. Do they accidentally smother their dogs? How come Veterinarians haven’t issued a policy statement condemning sleeping with your pet? Many people sleep with their mates. Do they accidentally sleep on top of a thigh (which would be roughly the circumference of a newborn baby)? No. Why not? Because we compensate for the other beings in our bed unconsciously.
I wonder if anyone has done a study showing how many babies die in fires each year because their parents couldn’t get to them in time? And the fact that babies and toddlers are more likely to be sexually assaulted while sleeping away from their mothers is certainly worth investigating. Some co-sleeping detractors say the opposite, but I love what Dr. Robert Mendehlsohn has to say about it: The late Robert Mendelssohn — well-known pediatrician and author of several books — noted that when confronted by mental health specialists who feared sexualization of the family bed, he sarcastically agreed that “psychiatrists should not take their children to bed with them, but it is quite alright for everyone else!”
I also have a problem with the supreme arrogance of the AAP in thinking they can tell people of various cultures and ethnicities that their age old practices are wrong. Co-sleeping is more common in Black and Latino communities, and it is also a common practice in China, Japan and Hong Kong, and in many other places around the world and has been since the beginning of time.
Another point of note: One of the most well known studies on co-sleeping was funded by none other than the Consumer Products Safety Commission. When babies sleep with their parents, nobody makes any money. Anyone smell a conflict of interest here?
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year…
September 18, 2007 | 2 Comments
No, not that time… at least not for me. For me the most wonderful time of the year is right now. Fall has added a crispiness to the air that give me energy and makes me feel a kind of “fall fever”. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember. Spring is wonderful, but it brings Summer after it with the oppressive heat and humidity, and unless you live within walking distance of a beach, leaves something to be desired.
I recently read an interesting book called The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions by Winnifred Gallagher (I also recommend her other book, House Thinking. Fascinating stuff!) I found that there may be a scientific explanation for the burst of energy and giddiness I feel every autumn. Apparently, research has shown that cool temps are an antidepressant. And just as some people are affected by the darkness of winter (I am), a phenomenon known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D. for short), some are negatively impacted by hot weather and especially high humidity. Maybe I’m living in the wrong state! I love Georgia but the summers here really affect me.
Anyway, I’m sitting here in my new office, which for the next several weeks will be outside on my front porch, so I can enjoy every moment of the weather until it gets cold. Sadie just came up to enjoy a little “mee-mee side” and her head didn’t produce drops of sweat running down my arm. How nice! The boys are running around climbing trees and my 4 year old is chasing after them.
Now it’s time to get to work. I have articles to proofread for mine and Tiffany’s new private label rights membership site for wahms targeting the natural mom community. Talk with you later!
