Have you ever met someone and later realized "I know this person!" It's not knowing in the physically sense, but in the spiritual sense. Kindred spirits. Soul Sisters.
During the amazing Disney Mom Blogger Mixer I had the pleasure of meeting some truly phenomenal women. One of these such ladies was The Original Execumama herself.
She is an incredibly gifted and talented young lady. If you know her blog you can attest to the beautiful relationship she has with words. Her stories seem to leap off the pages and take on life. I would be remiss not to mention she's a recognized author. Yes, she's written a book too! Smart and progressive don't adequately sum her up. No. She's a philosopher and a wise woman beyond her years.
You must visit her incredible site and while you're browing around check out who's being featured! OH MY, she's talkin' bout me!
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WHAT IS SHE GIVING AWAY NOW?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
My, She's Fly! OH MY, She's Talkin' Bout Me!
Procrastinator
I am and probably always will be constantly strive to not be a procrastinator. I remember in my high school and college days trying to convince myself that procrastination was actually a good thing. Oh yeah! I would tell people that my best work academically was birthed out of frantic desperation to beat the clock. The closer the deadline, the harder I would work and this "good stress" would produce amazing low A's to high C's in school. I was actually proud of myself that I could wait until the last minute to study and manage those grades.
As much as my Mama would tell me that I would probably be a straight A student if I organized my schedule better, I failed to listen. School days are long gone and procrastination still is my weakness. I often jokingly say it's because of the "island" in me. We islanders like it slow and easy. We aren't rushed to get anywhere. That's right! If you expect us some place at a particular time, tell us to arrive 2 hours beforehand.
There might be humour in this, but when it comes to my own children I had hoped they wouldn't get this bad habit. I didn't luck out. Tiger is a procrastinator and it appears he knows it.
Me: Why aren't you eating your food? You have been sitting there for the past 10 minutes just staring at your plate.
Tiger: I'm not hungry, Ma.
Me: What do you mean you aren't hungry? The last time you ate was a few hours ago.
Tiger: Ma, you always tell me I'm a procrastinator. I guess, my hunger is procrastinating to the table.
*dead*
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Monday, July 6, 2009
Gender Prediction
I really don't get the whole "let's find out the gender of our baby before it's born" trend that seems to be so dominant these days. The market is saturated with kits like Intelligender that promise to predict the gender of your baby as early as 10 weeks! I know 3 women who are pregnant and all of them found out around 16-20 weeks what they are having. Same goes for the Mama bloggers that I know online - they also couldn't wait until that magical period when they could find out their babies' gender.
I'm not saying that there's anything is wrong with this. Fact be known I found out what gender I was having with both my kids before they were born. I know. I know. You're probably wondering why I would wonder why other parents find out their babies' gender, when I did the same thing. In my own defense, I didn't want to know. Unfortunately, both my ex-hubby and the Hubster were dying to know. My ex-hubby wasn't good at keeping secrets and the Hubster didn't even try to hide it. He just blurted it out during an ultrasound visit despite the fact I was closing my eyes so I couldn't see. The Hubster slept two nights on the couch for that. Kidding!
I'm not here to criticize parents who do find out their baby's gender before the birth. I'm just curious as too the reasons behind it. It does seem at times there's a bit of a "rush" to know. My question is what's the big rush? Is the need to know because of wanting to get the right things for baby? Is it that curiousity to find out if the gender wanted is the one that will be born?
The Hubster is a military man. For him, everything is about timing, preparation and planning. He's not one for surprises when it comes to baby readiness. He'd rather know what to expect so he can make sure everything falls in line like it's supposed to. Months before Tarr was born he was reading books and preparing himself on what to expect. As a matter of fact, one of his favorite sites was Whattoexpect.com. I can't fault him for that because one of the things I love about him is his preparedness. However, I made him swear that if we ever have another child we would let his/her gender be a surprise. Anyway, the factory is closed over here so we don't have to worry about that.
I suppose the rush to know just seems like another example of how our culture is characterized by impatience, need for control and doesn't leave a lot of room to just enjoy the simple moments. My last pregnancy was horrible. However, everyday I marveled and was in awe of what my body was able to do without any assistance or effort on my part. I relished every moment, so grateful for the opportunity to experience life being knitted in my womb, as the Bible says. There were two pregnancy shirts I just loved. They said, "I am a superwoman! I create life!" and "I create milk! What's your superpower?". Gotta love that, eh? They summed up for me that despite the hardships of pregnancy, it truly is an amazing experience not to be taken for granted.
I'd be curious how many of you did/didn't find out what gender your baby was before he/she was born. For those that did find out, what was the main reason for doing so? For those that did not, did you receive pressure from others to find out? Please share your stories...
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
Yummy Mangonade Pipops (Popsicles)
In Haiti, popsicles are called "pipops". The word popsicles is a little too difficult for Tarr to pronounce so I decided to use the word pipop. It was a great way to teach him more creole too. This week we made some homemade pipops with mango, pineapple and lemonade. The kids just loved them and they were so yummy.
We went to a local farmers market and got our ingredients. The mangos and pineapples looked so delicious that once we got home Tiger and Tarr couldn't wait to get a taste!
Would You Bathe Your Baby In Irritants?
Would you shampoos your hair with neurotoxins and put make-up on your face that contained hormone disrupters?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test cosmetics (which includes lotions, shampoos, body washes AND baby products) before they go on the market. Our skin is the largest single organ of our bodies. It's like a sponge that absorbs whatever is put on it and pulls these substances into our bodies. Many lotions, shampoos, and baby products are loaded with potential irritants, carcinogens, neurotoxins, and hormone disrupters. Toxins from cosmetics can enter the body when we absorb, inhale and even ingest them during daily use. Despite this, the FDA still does not require safety testing before beauty products hit the market.
Most cosmetic companies test their products for common sensitivities, which are often tested on animals. However, researchers from the National Research Council found that "of the tens of thousands of commercially important chemicals, only a few have been subjected to extensive toxicity testing, and most have scarcely been tested at all."
How do you figure out what’s safe in beauty and personal care products? The labels on beauty products can be very confusing and difficult to understand. Cosmetic manufacturers are required to list all ingredients on cosmetics, but do you understand what the chemical stand for? I know I didn't - at least not until I started researching them. When a product states it contains sodium laureth sulfate which is disguised as a "natural" ingredient because it "comes from coconuts" should you trust that it's healthy for you? You would think so, right? Unfortunately, you would be wrong if you thought so.
Terms like "natural" and even "hypoallergenic" have no real meaning since products are not subjected to federal regulations. Advertisers know if they claim their products are made from natural elements, consumers will believe they are healthier and be encouraged to buy them. The fact is that just because an ingredients is naturally derived, does not necessarily mean that this product is safer for you. A great example is Petrolatum, better known as Petroleum which is naturally created from the remains of ancient organic material over time. Truth be told, Petroleum promotes sun damage and can interfere with the body's natural moisturizing mechanism.
At this point you are probably asking yourself, how can I find out if the products am buying pose a risk to my health. A good place to start is to purchase beauty products that contain USDA certified organic labels. Products with the USDA certified organic label must comply with certain standards under that program. Do not confuse products that claim to be "organic" with USDA certified organic.
Furthermore, look for products from companies that have signed the pledge created by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of public and environmental health groups that lobby companies to voluntarily eliminate chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, and other health problems. The steps for compliance with the compact require global compliance with the European Union’s Cosmetic Directive, performance of an ingredient deck inventory, substantiation of ingredients and impurities for safety, development of a substitution plan and transparency and public reporting.
Lastly, always read the ingredients and know what the ingredients mean. The Organic Consumers Association created a list of the 10 synthetic cosmetic ingredients to avoid. It's a very informative list and certainly something to familiarize yourself with. The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetic database of ingredients is a great tool to check products for their toxicity level and also to find products that are worth your money.
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Thoughts On Homeschooling
I have wanted to homeschool my kids for awhile. I don't homeschool them because neither the Hubster nor my firstborn's father agree that it's a viable choice for long term educational training.
I had the pleasure, while I was a SAHM, to homeschool Tiger during the summer months one year. That was the summer before he started kindergarten. I don't know if that experience propelled him above his grade level or if he was going to show signs of being advanced on his own. What I do know is that he thrived in that brief homeschooling period. I think the reason he did so well was due to the fact that I could tailor the program around his specific needs and utilize teaching techniques that worked well with his learning style.
There are other reasons why I feel homeschooling benefited him, but these are the main ones. My reasons for being in support of homeschooling are broad. Some of these reasons may come out of my personal experience. I took correspondence courses through the University of Nebraska for high school. Correspondence courses are deadline driven so there probably isn't as much opportunity to learn at your own pace as with homeschooling. However, the courses are a lot more individualized than in a classroom. If you want to work ahead you can. If you need to take alittle more time to grasp the concepts there are some chances for this as most courses give ample time to complete assignments. There isn't that same sense of urgence that you have in the classroom.
I am very curious to hear from other parents on their views on homeschooling.
If you are a homeschooling parent, what made you start researching homeschooling as an educational option? What ultimately made you decide to go ahead and homeschool? Has the experience been what you imagined it would be? What would you say are the biggest pros and cons of homeschooling your children?
If you aren't a homeschooling parent, would you consider it? Why or why not?
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