Unpacking
May 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment
photo credit: chadmagiera
Moving.
It seems to have taken over an entire month of my life. There was the packing, the moving, the unpacking.
It exhausted me.
I’m still not done unpacking.
The thing about unpacking that takes so long?
You don’t really know where you want to put stuff until you’ve lived in a place for a bit.
You want to put things in places that make sense.
Know what I mean?
Sugaring
May 30, 2009 | 9 Comments
I’m blessed with lots and lots of dark, thick, coarse, wavy, curly hair.
Yeah, and the mane on my head isn’t half bad either.
Seriously though, being a hairy kind of gal can be a mixed bag.
I just signed the kids up for swimming lessons, and bought a pool pass. There will be swimming, maybe a trip to the beach, not to mention the everyday shorts and skirts of summer.
photo credit: Oneras [what about peace?]
I spend the first weeks of summer trying to figure out how to deal with it. If I were blonde and had thinner hair, I would probably just go au naturel.
But I’m not that crunchy.
If I were stranded on some deserted island, I would find a sharp flinty rock to take care of business. Now when it comes to pit hair? I don’t mind that a bit. But unfortunately, I live in the United States.
If a woman as hot as Madonna can disgust an entire nation with a little pit hair, who am I to try to rock the cultural expectations of beauty boat?
When I heard about sugaring, I was immediately intrigued.
Firstly, the ingredients are all natural – sugar, lemon juice, water – you can even make up a batch of the stuff yourself. Google for recipes, there are several on the internet.
Similar to waxing, you are basically applying a sticky substance to your skin, pressing it down with linen cloth strips, and ripping in the other direction. You first apply the sugaring wax with this little plastic thingie Then you apply the cloth strip on top, and rub it 3 or 4 times in the direction of hair growth. Then, holding the skin taut with your other hand, you quickly pull the strip back quickly as close to the skin as possible in the opposite direction of hair growth.
I had also heard that sugaring was less painful than waxing, which was a huge plus in my mind.
Traditional waxing makes you want to slap your mama for being more Italian than native American.
I went to the drug store and bought a NADS Sugaring Kit
It certainly WAS far less painful than traditional waxing.
My complaint with this product is that there are far too few cloth strips. You CAN wash and reuse them, which makes this a pretty eco-friendly hair removal product, as well as recycle the plastic tub the wax comes in.
I also didn’t know until I was nearly done that you can continue using the same strip over and over until it no longer picks up any hair. Even when it’s all gooped up with sugaring wax. This makes it a little tougher to smooth it on your leg, but I found that I could use each one two or three times and it was still effective.
I have washed all the strips and dried them about 3 times now and they still work great.
The thing that’s great about waxing/sugaring is that the hair tends to grow back more sparse and thin.
If you keep it up, you’ll find that you have to do it less and less. So even if you go back to shaving or whatever, you can go longer inbetween hair removal sessions.
Of course, it’s more work and time spent up front. If you’re looking to save time, waxing may or may not actually be a time savings.
Sugaring also doesn’t seem to remove as much of the finer, thinner hairs as waxing.
In fact, I called around to several Atlanta spas to see if any of them offered sugaring. I had to call 5 or 6 before I found one that even offered it. And when I spoke with the aesthetician, she seemed very unenthusiastic about sugaring. She told me that she isn’t that pleased with the results, and often has to use a bit of regular wax after the sugaring process in order to get all of the hair. I asked her if the clients seemed happy with the results, and she reported that they did – so that seemed to be the key thing to me.
I’m not THAT picky. I don’t have to get every single last hair, as long as I don’t look like a hairy beast I’m ok. Nobody is going over my legs with a magnifying glass. And it’s not like there is a man feeling me up. (Besides, the last time I was actually having sex, if memory serves, my ex-husband couldn’t have cared less about a little stray hair or fuzz.)
And since shaving exfoliates your legs, you have to remember to exfoliate on a regular basis when you do sugaring or waxing, otherwise you’ll get ashy.
Overall I like the sugaring kit and intend on buying it again. Amazon’s prices are better than the drug store prices.
I did notice that in addition to less pain, the sugaring didn’t make my legs all red, angry and screaming at me.
Here are a couple of tips to make sugaring work better:
- Wash your legs (or wherever you’ll be sugaring) with soap and water, rinse thoroughly and dry well. Your legs need to be very clean and dry for the sugar to grip the hair properly.
- Warm the wax first by placing the closed tub in a pan of hot water. You don’t want it thin and runny, but it’s much easier to spread and there’s less waste if you melt it a bit.
- Even though sugaring is less painful than waxing, it’s still pulling hair out at the root and hurts a little. Don’t wax or sugar right before your period when your body is more sensitive to pain. If you’re really sensitive, you might want to take a pain reliever half an hour before you start sugaring. Me? I sometimes drink a beer before I do it.
- Make sure the hair is long enough before you start. This is one of the hardest parts! It should be about half a centimeter long, at least.
- After sugaring, rinse the area with cool water to remove the last bits of sugar. Cold water can feel really nice too.
So.
What do YOU do for hair removal?
doh
May 28, 2009 | 2 Comments
Two things I’ve learned about my phone in the last 48 hours.
One: I don’t have to enter apostrophies. How many apostrophies have I manually entered in a year’s time?
I have no clue but it boggles me.
Two: I can blog from my phone.
Take this post for instance.
My mind is currently blowed.
WW: He Ain’t Heavy
May 27, 2009 | 3 Comments
Green Slime Smoothie for Kids
May 27, 2009 | 1 Comment
Green Slime Smoothie
What you need:
2 cups spinach
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 banana
2 tablespoons raw honey
1/2 cup ice
What you do:
Place the spinach in the freezer until frozen, at least 1 hour.
Combine the spinach, strawberries, banana, honey, and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
You can use other fruits your kids like, such as bananas and berries too.
Your kids will never suspect there’s spinach in there and they’ll ask for this smoothie over and over, so be sure to have plenty of the ingredients on hand throughout the summer.
Looking for more smoothie recipes?
Try these:
Treasure Basket Play Giveaway
May 20, 2009 | 7 Comments
A few months ago, I interviewed Melitsa Avila of Play-Activities about entertaining babies and toddlers without electronics.
She shared with my listeners something called treasure baskets.
I don’t have a baby anymore, but I loved Melitsa’s ideas. When my kids were babies, I always noted that they much preferred to play with everyday, ordinary items from around the house.
My wallet, keys and cell phone were the especially interesting picks! As an aside, a friend of mine has a fancy new smart phone. It has a feature on it that allows her to hand the phone to a baby and they cannot harm it. It has a toddler game on it, when the child fingers the touchscreen, circles of different colors light up. She has to enter a special combination of buttons in order to unlock the phone. So obviously this is a common phenomenon for marketers to have picked up on the need.
Treasure baskets aren’t about cell phones and electronics however. They’re about creating a safe, stimulating assortment of just those items that babies and tots are incredibly attracted to. The whys and hows of treasure baskets are explained in Melitsa’s new book.
Many parents are interested in stimulating their baby’s brain so they can reach their maximum potential for intelligence. But what’s the best way to go about this? (Hint: We have learned it’s not from Baby Einstein!) One of the ways is with treasure baskets. And they’re also the more eco friendly choice.
You can find out more about treasure baskets here.
Melitsa has also been generous enough to offer a free copy of her product to my readers.
Just leave a comment below. I would like ask that only moms with young babies enter.
The deadline for entries is Monday, May 25th at NOON Eastern time.
Make Your Own Natural Baby Products At Home
May 20, 2009 | 2 Comments
photo credit: jolien_vallins
If you’re concerned about the products and ingredients going on your baby’s skin, then the best solution is to create baby products right in your home. It’s fun to make natural baby stuff for your friends too. They make awesome baby shower gifts and are frugal and eco-friendly.
You can choose organic ingredients and herbs right from your own kitchen and/or garden. Choosing to create your own products also reduces the amount of unnecessary packaging that goes along with products you’ve purchased from the store.
Baby Bath Milk
1 cup milk
¼ cup corn starch
¼ cup finely ground oats
2-3 drops lavender, rose, or chamomile essential oils
Mix ingredients together and put in a shaker style bottle. To use, sprinkle a small amount in warm bath water. This makes a lovely baby shower gift. Find an attractive glass container (a glass baby bottle would be cute!) and decorate with ribbon.
Baby Massage Oil
One favorite baby skin care product you can make at home is a blend of both sweet almond oil and olive oil poured into a vial. The great thing about this blend is that you can use it for so many uses. It’s great as a massage oil for the baby. You pour a small amount into your palms then rub together and gently give him or her a massage. It helps reduce colic and promotes blood circulation. It relaxes baby and put him or her to sleep.
Another use for this oil sweet almond/olive oil blend is to use it in place of conventional baby oil that is made from petroleum. After a bath, instead of using petroleum baby oil or purchased lotion, you can, instead, keep in that moisture by applying the created blend of oils. It is better for baby’s skin and harmless as well.
If your baby has a dry and flaky scalp or cradle cap, you can apply a small amount of this oil to reduce or eliminate the dryness. Rub it gently into the scalp and brush through with a soft baby brush. The same can be done for mild cases of eczema and chapped or peeling lips. Breastfeeding mothers can also use it for chapped areolas.
Homemade Baby Powder (Talc-free) Recipe
½ cup corn starch
½ cup Arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon dried ground chamomile
1 tablespoon dried ground lavender
¼ cup finely ground oats
Blend well and put in a shaker style bottle. Now you can powder your baby’s little bottom in safety.
Dream Sachets
Another natural remedy you can easily create yourself is a “dream sachet”. What you’ll notice is that many baby lotions put the scent of lavender and chamomile in their lotions and washes. Many of the times the scent is synthetic and does not serve as aromatherapy. Instead, fill a sachet full of lavender, chamomile and rosemary. You can infuse a small amount in a warm bath (in a mesh bag) or you can wear the sachet around your neck as you cradle and breastfeed your baby to sleep. The aromas will lull him to sleep with the power of aromatherapy.
Teething
Teething is a tough time for baby and mom! It’s not a good idea to numb baby’s gums with something like Orajel. Gels like this typically do little to assuage the pain. Worse, they can actually numb baby’s gums to the point of them biting you and/or their mouth while feeding. Ouch!
There are natural remedies you can try instead. You can freeze a fruit such as mango slices or peach slices. Take a wet (and cold) washcloth and put it around the fruit. Let the baby gnaw on the washcloth to help relieve gum pain.
Another natural remedy many parents use is a diluted version of clove oil (1 drop to one teaspoon of almond oil). Test on your own mouth first to make sure it’s not too strong, then rub it on baby’s gums. Using your finger to massage the pain while applying the oil will be a relief for baby. Do not use the clove oil remedy in excess.
Before baby products came on the market, mothers all over the world utilized the ingredients in her home to create baby products that were safe for baby. Talk with the older generations in your family and see what kind of natural remedies they used with babies in the past. You might just discover a wonderful recipe.
WW: Pinky
May 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
She Does Dishes
May 19, 2009 | 3 Comments
3 year old Sadie came to me and asked me to “tie it” (the string on the back of her apron).
Several minutes later, she came back to me (my feet up, seated at the couch, nursing a sore throat and a bad mood). 
She grabbed my hand.
She led me to the kitchen.
“I washed the dishes Mommy.”
“You didn’t have to do it.”
(Half a bottle of Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid used, thick-with-soapy half clean dishes stacked ever so precariously in the drying rack…)
I almost cried.
Things I’ve Learned About Public School
May 19, 2009 | 7 Comments
photo credit: woodleywonderworks
There have been a few things that have surprised me about public school. As you know, I enrolled my 3 older kids into the local elementary school a few weeks ago.
Not all of the things are bad.
For instance, I’m surprised at how much they like school.
Even though my oldest is having problems tolerating many of the kids in his class, he likes school overall and is liked by his teachers. He did awesome on the CRCTs (standardized tests) and has impressed his teachers and the “good” kids (read: girls).
My 8 year old son was Student of the Month last week. 
He was presented with a special award and commended for his exemplary conduct and effort. I was very proud for him. (He has also fallen madly in love with a hot little Mamacita in his class named Jasmin, but that’s another blog post!).
Schools are very good at positive reinforcement.
My oldest was taken by his music teacher to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the historic Fox Theater. They have something called “Eagle Bucks”that the kids earn for good conduct and hard work and they can spend these dollars at the end of the week. My 8 year old came home with a love note from his teacher, commending him on his hard work the first week. I cried.
I also really like the school administrators and staff.
I think they’re awesome people who are doing really well to do their jobs with integrity and care.
One thing I don’t like is the abundance of candy offered. It seems my 6 year old comes home with a lollipop almost every day. Um, not pleased. What happened to stickers or pencils or other non cavity inducing stuff like that?
And does this contribute to my daughter being so darn moody after school?
I’ve noticed the kids fight with each other more.
I’m sure it’s because they’re a bit overwhelmed and tired at the end of the day. My 6 year old has picked up an accent from her peers, as well as a very fierce way of talking. I don’t like it.
I had lunch with my oldest last week and was shocked at the behavior of the 5th graders. When I was in school, we had to have a bit of decorum in the lunchroom. We could talk and have fun of course, but the volume had to be kept at an acceptable level. This lunchroom was deafening and overwhelming for me – an adult.
Not to mention, some of these kids are huge. Some of them were bigger than me. In comparison my son looked so small and vulnerable. It really made me nervous.
He is the only blue eyed, blonde, caucasian child in his class and in one of only a handful in the entire school. He gets a bit of discrimination targeted at him.
I’ve made it my aim to raise children who see no color, and I think I’ve succeeded in that. My children do not classify people as “black” and “white”. In fact they call anyone with a shade of skin different from their own “brown”. And usually people with lighter skin are called “beige” or “light” or whatever.
My youngest is the only caucasian in her class and couldn’t care less, and the aforementioned girl crush of my son? She is Latina.
Unfortunately, not everyone thinks the way I do about race.
My oldest child is referred to as a racist by one of the little punks in his class. Interestingly, several of the girl students came to his defense, and they even asked him to sit with them at lunch (the boys and girls sit separately, by choice). They knew it wasn’t true, and the accuser was basically an idiot.
I told him the boys were probably just jealous and using the racist thing to try to get to him. Thing is, it is getting to him a little bit. The other day he stomped a kid on the foot for being verbally abusive to him. I think he had taken all he could take. The teacher wasn’t overly concerned about it, because it was out of character.
I’ve decided not to send him to middle school next year.
Everyone I speak to says that middle school is worse than high school in terms of the behavior of the kids. He’ll be back home with me. He’s such an independent learner, he requires very little from me by way of instruction anyway.
Caleb has a very difficult time with the language his peers use, the jokes they tell – in short he has been raised to think about pleasing God in his daily life. He is literally offended by much of the behavior he sees, and it wears on him. His teacher has told me that he is free to leave the classroom at any time to take a 5 minute breather, grab some quiet if he needs to.
I’m ok with the middles going back to public school next year.
Ilana will be in 1st grade and Julien in 3rd. Julien still struggles a LOT with his reading, but I think that Jasmin and the positive peer pressure of the other kids has done some good in helping him to work harder. His teachers are understandably impressed with his good conduct.
School lunch isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The meals are actually quite well balanced and the bread is whole grain, there are no desserts served and there are veggies and fruit with each meal. But the milk is low fat, which bothers me. Doesn’t everyone know that children should NOT be on a low fat diet?
I don’t pack their lunches anymore because they don’t want me to, and they were not eating half of what I packed in there. They kept begging me to let them eat lunch like the rest of their class mates, and so I relented.
But the WASTE… oh my goodness.
There are no longer real silverware and reusable plastic cups and lunch trays. Each child is served a disposable tray, a plastic wrapped disposable fork and knife combo, and EACH bit of food is in a disposable plastic dish. It’s sickening to think about how much waste ONE school creates each day from school lunches.
Another thing that surprises me?
I actually like getting up at 6:30 every day to drive the kids to school.
