The Not Quite Crunchy Parent: March 2008

Saturday, March 29, 2008

No Dear, Don’t Wipe Your Hands on Your Pants: How To Use Fewer Paper Towels - A Neat Reusable Solution

I may be over the top on this one...but maybe not...

I was reading a post by one of my blogging buddies at Sustainablog, Paper or Hot Air? Bring Your Own Hand Towel, and was struck by how much my 6-year-old son would like this solution.

My son, an original eco kids, constantly chides me and my husband for using paper towels. He refuses to use paper towels in the bathroom or kitchen, preferring to wipe his hands on a cloth towel (or my bathrobe which hangs tantalizingly close to the sink in one of the bathrooms).

In public restrooms he carefully and casually wipes his hands on his pants…and chastises me if I do not do the same…which becomes a bit of a problem during those rare occasions when I actually am attired in expensive and delicate clothing. (Then I wipe them on HIS pants.)

It turns out my son is a far seeing eco kid. A student at The University of Kansas did a little analysis, informal but useful.

So, on a daily basis I use at least 10 paper towels, or 50 paper towels a week, or 200 paper towels a month, or 2,400 paper towels a year! That is a lot of paper. But, I have to wash my hands and I have to dry them. Yet, every time I grab the paper towels, I feel a tinge of guilt. So, I started trying to find ways to conserve paper towels.

Just for some perspective, 2400 fewer paper towels used saves you somewhere around $50 per year…per person….if each person uses just one towel. No guarantee on that, especially if you have children in the house!

Obviously not a huge savings but, add in the fact that you’ll be saving trees. There are some complicated statistics on how many trees are used to make paper towels and the carbon dioxide exchange benefits lost, here.

So, I decided to check out the option suggested by our University of Kansas student…microfiber hand towels.

A 4 x 4 microfiber hand towel, available at camping stores,l costs about 80 cents and appears to come in some interesting options and colors. It’s washable and more or less seems to fit nicely in a child’s pocket.

But, oh, wait – aren’t these just the thin waffle weave towels you buy at the grocery store in for kitchen clean –up? Would it be dumb to just cut one up and carry it in my pocket or in his?

What about at home? If I purchase some microfiber hand towels (they are available in attractive colors) put them in the kitchen and designate them "hands only? Am a getting loony?

I think I’ll give it a try. What do you think?

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Attractive Toy Storage – A Somewhat Crunchy Approach

We are blessed these days to have a playroom, an old storage room handily transformed into a large open toy and craft area. But, it wasn’t always that way. When my son was small, like in most homes, the living room doubled as playroom complete with a wide variety of toys for tripping upon.

Of course now that we do have a play room, all toys are confined to the playroom or his room…NOT!

No matter how we try to get a handle on toys they always end up scattered across the house and frankly, I prefer that he play where I am working, cooking, cleaning, etc.…usually on the main floor of the house.

So, we have toys and books in the kitchen; in the dining room; in the living room and in our bedroom…fortunately attractively displayed. OK- not Better Homes and Garden attractive but, at least in line with living room décor.

Rule number one to accomplish this has been…stay away from brightly colored plastic! This fits in with the Waldorf philosophy of surrounding a child with natural, beautiful materials...including wooden and fabric toys and wooden and wicker toy storage. Since this fits in nicely with current design trends, it's not that difficult or expensive to do.

In our kitchen we have a small child’s table…a cheap white laminate one but, covered with a small table cloth which changes with the season. Random toys that have migrated into the kitchen, are often stored under it in wicker baskets.

In our dining room, which doubles as a family room since out living room is on its own level down below the kitchen, we have an old church pew I acquired from a friend who couldn’t fit it in her moving truck many years ago. Under and on top of the pew are baskets for art supplies and miscellaneous toys.

In our living room in our prior abode, and now in my son’s room, we have wooden entertainment shelves that I bought from Ikea for less than 20 bucks. Toys are piled in wicker baskets I pick up all over the place on sale. I also replaced the plastic bins in one of those wooden toy organizers with wicker baskets for a somewhat more attractive look. (This turned out to be a rather more expensive proposition than I planned but, being impatient I bought the baskets at full price…I wouldn’t do that again.)

Legos of which we have quite a few, are stored in a large wicker laundry basket which can be dumped on the floor for easy access to the parts. (I'm not a big believer in organizing Lego parts - I think the "big pile of mixed pieces approach inspires more imaginative play. That of course may change as my son gets older and perhaps whines that he needs to be able to find certain pieces.)

While our home is still toy filled, it has a certain Pottery Barn on a budget look rather than a Toys r Us on steroids look. ( I'll put up more pictures later...it's dark out here right now.)

That works for me. What neat ideas do you have?

See more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas here.

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Today Class We Will Draw An “Action- Life” – Encouraging Drawing in Boys

Last week I wrote, Boy Drawing- Girl Drawing – There is Difference. This week I want to follow up on that point, mostly because I finally found the article that sparked the idea and wanted to complete my thought. (What a novel concept…completing a thought…must remember that in the middle of a hectic morning of trying to get out the door for school.)

But, I digress.

OK, so the New York Times article that inspired me, Teaching Boys and Girls Separately, is part of a larger discussion of education in this country which includes from time to time everything from, No Child Left Behind to “pouch schooling”. But, I don’t want to address the bigger issue of same sex education right now, though I am a product of such, I want to discuss drawing.

What Boys Draw. What Teachers Want Boys to Draw. Why Boys may not want to draw those things. Why this is important.

The NY Times article highlights a key fact. Boys draw differently because they have different interests. Teachers, overwhelmingly female, ask boys to draw things that interest female. This can and does cause conflict. Let me explain. In the article a key paragraph caught my eye and now… I see all around me.

….girls’ drawings typically depict still lifes of people, pets or flowers, using 10 or more crayons, favoring warm colors like red, green, beige and brown; boys, on the other hand, draw action, using 6 or fewer colors, mostly cool hues like gray, blue, silver and black. This apparent difference, which Sax argues is hard-wired, causes teachers to praise girls’ artwork and make boys feel that they’re drawing incorrectly.

Hmmm. Yes, surely there are female teachers who buck the prevailing trend and a handful of male teachers who encourage drawing male topics but, peaking into classrooms over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed an abundance of flowers and a paucity of space ships on display. Yet, during free drawing time what do boys draw…pictures not likely to end up on the wall of the classroom. What do girls draw…those subjects that most likely will.

Even, Meet the Masters, a popular drawing curriculum for both home schoolers and traditional schools focuses primarily on drawing still lifes and “girl” pictures (though of course most of the artwork was made by men.)

Leonard Sax, a family physician turned author and advocate of single-sex public education offers an alternative.

Under Sax’s leadership, teachers learn to say things like, “Damien, take your green crayon and draw some sparks and take your black crayon and draw some black lines coming out from the back of the vehicle, to make it look like it’s going faster.” “Now Damien feels encouraged,” … “To say: ‘Why don’t you use more colors? Why don’t you put someone in the vehicle?’ is as discouraging (to a boy) as if you say to Emily, ‘Well, this is nice, but why don’t you have one of them kick the other one — give us some action.’ ”

LOL- perhaps I won’t go that far but, I will be more aware when I am drawing with my son. And perhaps hang some “action scenes on the wall.”

Visit The Carnival of Homeschooling.

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A Seasonal Table For A Hectic Spring

March has come in less like a lion than like a cyclone and then continued on from there. Always a busy month for us with family birthdays and a seemingly endless parade of birthday parties for my son’s friends, the added complication of an early Easter has really thrown us this year.

We like to decorate and “do up” the holidays. We also like to be avoid the over decorating with throwaway junk and try to be at least somewhat eco about the whole thing…which requires a little more care preparing for each holiday.

Some years you just have to wing it.

While the early month birthday planning went well but, by the time St. Patrick’s Day rolled around I was already planning Easter. I never did find all of my decorations for the Irish event and the ones I did find were about for more or less a nanosecond prior to be replaced by chicks and bunnies.

The bright spot was my seasonal or nature table, which dues to space constraints occupies a small table in the corner of our dining room. Rather than make an elaborate display, this year I settled for a piece of driftwood, a pine cone and a gnome.

The early spring white silk, leftover from our winter display was swiftly replaced by a green one and a scattering of wooden shamrocks and gold pieces for St. Patrick’s Day. We magically transformed the gnome into a leprechaun for the day simply by proclaiming it so.

A few days later we whipped off the green silk and draped both pink and purple ones over the table and scattered about our Spring lamb and felted eggs, as well as a few pink chicks our neighbors left as a surprise on our doorstep a few days before.

While I would like to have spent some time this year making some more felted eggs and attempting some new Easter crafts I am acutely aware of how time flies. Perhaps it is because I only have one child. Perhaps it is because I realize how precious these early childhood years are because of that.

Either way I choose to spend less time decorating and more time with my son this year…reading books completely unrelated to Spring, digging in the garden with no particular purpose and dressing up like pirates.

Oh well, there’s always next year. When’s Easter? Late April, I hope!

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Healthy Child Healthy World- Book Review

Christopher Gavigan’s book, Healthy Child Healthy World – a guide to creating a greener, safer home, struck me as yet another entry in the, ‘how to be green” category. Since I’ve read a few similar books I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new when I was asked by MotherTalk to review it.

Written in what I call, “sound bite style” the book combines text with sidebars from blogs and celebrity comments…including one from Michelle Obama who is listed simply as “wife of Senator Barak Obama”. Despite the somewhat predictable style though, I found this book did cover some areas I hadn’t considered before and included some web sites and phone numbers for reference.

This book is an easy read and one that will be picked up again and again. It carries perhaps more weight than other books on green parenting that I have read because it’s author is the CEO of The Healthy Child, Healthy World organization, which is dedicated to educating parents about environmental hazards.

I believe that the more people read about the unhealthy world we live in and the better informed they become, the more likely we will see change in our lifetime. So, I recommend this book to any parents interested in learning more about environmental hazards and the role they play in our children’s health.

You can purchase the book here or at your favorite bookstore.

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Friday, March 21, 2008

A Shot In The Arm – Should We Be Required to Vaccinate Our Children?

Like many not-quite-crunchy parents I went through a series of changes of heart in my son’s early years. First, I was determined to vaccinate - not vaccinating wasn’t on my radar and never crossed my mind. Then I heard about potential risks and planned to forgo vaccinating.

I was adamant.

Then I wasn’t.

Then I waffled for a number of years, researching the vaccination/autism connection; checking world health statistics and vaccinating partially and not on schedule.

When my son entered pre school I completed the personal exception form that allowed me to continue to vaccinate, or not, on my schedule and according to my beliefs. I did the same for kindergarten.

Many of my friends did not vaccinate their children at all. Some did and never gave it a second thought. I, of course had to make the whole issue difficult.

I’m still not sure if what I did was correct. I’m still waffling and vaccinating as I see fit.

This article in the New York Times, Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines, though, feeds into the fears that I have had all along about not vaccinating. What if those scary diseases our society has eradicated come back?

Since I know I have readers on both sides of the issue what are your thoughts after reading this article? Changes in opinion? New ideas? Thoughtful presentation to incitement to hysteria?

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Healthy School Birthday Treats

Recently, after a prolonged period of “promote the sugar high” my child’s school laid down some rules. Up to that point, to my frustration parents and teachers seem to, on a daily basis, ply the children with candy, cupcakes, cookies, marshmallows and other sweets.

Birthday? Bring in cupcakes with mile high frosting.

Holiday? Bring in the candy and cookies.

Math class? Let’s count M&Ms.

Tuesday? How about marshmallows?

To say I was getting a little peeved is an understatement. Fortunately I wasn’t the only one and a new rule was put in place. No candy, no frosting, no high sugar treats allowed.

This has met with some success though; it seems there is still a bit of “bending the rules.” Not by me.

While cookies (sans candy in or on top), brownies and other baked goods are still allowed as long as they don’t violate the “no candy, no frosting rule”, we are encouraged to bring healthier snacks. And so I’ve accepted and yes, embraced the challenge.

Here are some of my favorite alternatives. What you can bring of course depends on whether you are dropping off or attending the event.

Fruit skewers

Cupcakes with homemade whipped cream frosting

Large juicy strawberries

Popcorn in festive bags

Organic, low sugar cookies or brownies

Pineapple Boats

Apples and your apple peeler/corer for a fun activity

Big, soft pretzels

Smoothies

Small wooden toys/rocks/shells

I’m excited about our new rule and need more ideas…what are yours?

For more great Works for me Wednesday ideas visit Rocks in My Dryer

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Boy Drawing – Girl Drawing- There is a Difference

As one of two girls growing up, I had, of course some contact with boys but, not the everyday sibling kind. That’s perhaps why, as my son enters the obsessive drawing stage, (Is 50 drawings a week NORMAL?) I’m alternately horrified, amused and sure he will grow up to be a psychopath.

But…my fears were laid if not to rest at least quelled a bit when I started hearing about the differences in drawing by gender. A recent article I read explained if not the “why”, the “what” of that which I was seeing.

The first time I saw Leonard Sax speak about gender differences, he flashed up on a Powerpoint screen of a drawing nearly identical to the one described above that I had seen my daughter draw so often. There was the girl, the dress, the friend, the pets, the sun, the flowers, the rainbow and all those colors. Then he flashed the same picture up several times. The interesting thing was these drawings, he said, were not from the same girl but from girls all over the world.

Then he went through a series of boys’ drawings — bloody red battle scenes, gray rocket ships and black speeding vehicles. Same story — similar drawings from boys all around the world.

Oh, so our sons are hardwired for violence? Maybe. Maybe not. Some suggest it is cultural, which this study seems to refute. Some suggest that all cultures promote violence for boys…which I do believe has some merit.

Whatever it is…it gives me the willies.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Everything Natural...Isn't

Since I started writing for Green Options Media, I been spending some a fair amount of time following news in the natural products industry and writing about it on a few of their blogs.

(Which means...I haven't been writing about them on this blog...now, I gotta decide what the focus should be of this blog...sigh.)

Anyway...There are however a few posts I've made that I think would be of interest to readers of this blog so...mosey on over if you're interested in deciphering labels that proclaim, "natural" and "organic" and check out a few of these posts.

Natural Means Nothing

Natural Means Nothing What Does Everything Else Mean?

Half of All Natural Products Contain Cancer Causing Chemicals

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Book Review: Your Child's Strengths

N
My son is always the last one done.

“Hurry,” says his teacher.

“Hurry,” say I.

That’s what first came to mind when I started reading Your Child’s Strengths – Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them, by Jenifer Fox.

As I delved further into the book I’ve found myself changing my attitude toward his slow, meticulous work Summing up, this book shows parents and teachers how to implement the, truly American, method of accentuating the positive while raising one’s child.

Jenifer Fox, a struggling student in High School, now a Harvard educated teacher and author of “The Strengths Movement” curriculum, preaches following the path of the positive. Rather than focus on a child’s deficiencies, as we tend to do, especially in school, she recommends focusing on his or her strengths.

Her book is filled with practical advice and thoughtful exercises to help parents change the way they and their children approach life, learning and relationships. This book primarily though, is about a vision. Ms. Fox’s vision is one of seeing things in a positive light.

This is usually not that difficult for me. My sister proclaims a visit with me is like a trip to “The House at Pooh Corner’s. “ My husband claims I am undeservedly optimistic, perhaps to a fault.

They don’t see that this does not necessarily apply to how I deal with my son.

So, this book came a great time for me and I find myself pouring over it endlessly and distributing the 6 or 7 copies I received from The Parent Bloggers Network to all of my friends (Don’t ask me why I received so many copies, I don’t know…perhaps they thought, rightly it turns out, that I would love the book and want to share it without loosening my grip on my copy.)

While I still worry that my son seems to take sooo long to complete anything. I’m trying a new attitude these days. I cheer his meticulous work. I praise him for being thorough. I still worry though about those timed tests looming in his future.

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Eco Birthday Goodie Bags

One of the things about birthday parties that chill my, progressively-more-eco, heart is the ubiquitous goodie bags. (Is it eco-goody bag or eco goddie-bag or eco-goodie-bags? Whatever.) Though there is a lot to cringe about (at least for a not-quite-crunchy parent) at children’s birthday parties, goodie bags seem to attack my senses on two or perhaps three levels:

- Those little plastic or even paper bags with garish ink surely aren’t terribly recyclable.

- My child surely doesn’t need a bag full of plastic, breakable (surely made in China) toys.

- After sugary cake - sugary candy doesn’t seem especially wise.

- While I don’t mind attending a commercial character themed birthday party; I don’t necessarily want to have to then take those characters home with me.

Now don’t get me wrong- I’ve done my share of packing crinkly plastic bags with multiple plastic character-based toys that break on the way home but, I’m getting better. And so are my friends…using the simple (and catchy) eco principles of:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

(I like alliterative catch phrases, don’t you it’s often the only way I can remember anything, especially when planning a birthday bash.)

Reduce - Is there something written somewhere that indicates exactly how many little trinkets belong in a goodie bag. How about one? (OK – maybe a few.)

Reuse - Rather than invest in plastic bags that are thrown away - how about something that can be used again and again – at the party even.

Recycle – you get the idea – paper not plastic or at least the recyclable kind.

Here’s some ideas from recent parties I’ve given and attended:

- For spring and summer parties- a small plant (flowers, veggies, cactus) under a dollar in multi packs.

- Capes- this is big hit with the preschool set – You can buy a few yards of no sew fabric – (fleece, vinyl, etc.) then sew on Velcro, a button and loop or a ribbon to fasten. If you can’t sew don’t worry – this is easy – I did it with my $35.00 sewing machine.( BTW – I found making a hem and inserting a ribbon easier than struggling with sticky Velcro.)

- Masks – this can be a craft activity as well. Fabric or foam masks can be decorated as part of the fun and worn during the party – think kids as decorations.

- Tiny Treasures – shells, rocks, geodes, wooden animals, tiny fairies

- Your craft activity – Planning a craft activity that has “legs’’, that is can be used after the party produces an instant favor. Last year we make ocean themed “snow globes”. I still see them at friends’ houses a year later. Other ideas include: bead necklaces, painted tee-shirts and fabric hats.

- And, if you feel you must have something to put goodies in, as I do – think reusable. For under a dollar a piece I’ve bought, tiny metal buckets (on sale at Michael’s after every holiday in that holiday’s color) and little fabric tote bags.

Sound expensive? Well not really. Cutting back on the number of goodies means you can spend a little more to give a few slightly more expensive ones.

I know you have some great ideas too. Help me out here…I have a birthday party to plan next year!

For more great Works for me Wednesday ideas visit Rocks in My Dryer

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Tap Water Contains Drugs? Just Great.

OK so we know there could be Phthalates in our plastic bottles – so don’t refill them; chemicals can leach. And those plastic bottles, well they’re really not very eco anyway…ending up in landfills, dissolving slowly etc.

So what’s an eco mom do to? Why, good old tap water, maybe with a filter either on the frig or on a pitcher. That’s what we do, using our Brita filter; refilling our Kleen Kanteen .

Perhaps we’ll stop.

Just out today and all over the news.

Drugs found In Most Cities’ Drinking Water

Just great.

A new study found traces of common drugs including: an anti-seizure medication, a mood stabilizer for treating bipolar disorders, ibuprofen and naproxen, and an antibiotic typically given to cattle in the water of 24 out of 28 US metropolitan areas.

So, now I suppose the best thing to do is to go back to spring water. (You know that expensive stuff we drank when we were and childless and had nothing better to spend our money on?) Hey Evian! Hey Perrier, Hey all you new spring water companies…now’s your chance to get the “mommy market”.

Sigh.