I am Habiba, You are Habiba, We are ALL Habiba

Habiba is a young mother living in Madrid.  Due to financial issues she has been living with her 15 month old daughter at the Instituto Madrileño del Menor y la Familia or IMMF (roughly translated it means Madrid’s Family and Children’s Institute in English-Thank you for the translation  Amor Maternal).

On May 31 Habiba dropped her daughter off at the IMMF daycare center as usual.  Shortly there after that she was informed that she could no longer live at the IMMF Institute because she no longer had a child. 

It is alleged that the Institute took Habiba's 15 month old daughter away because Habiba was practicing extended breastfeeding.  It has been reported that the IMMF deemed the breastfeeding relationship between Habiba and her daughter as "chaotic" and "harmful" and also said it would make it more difficult to put the child for adoption if the need to do so were to arise.

I first heard of Habiba's plight from my friends Tanya when she posted a link to a press release that was in Spanish on Instinctual Mamas.  She gave a rough overview of what was happening and promised to translate the entire press release soon.  Ironically I was curled up on the couch with my 12 month old daughter nursing at the time that I read this.  I looked down at her and waves of emotion flooded through me.  I envisioned someone taking her away and telling me that our breastfeeding relationship was "chaotic" and "harmful".  I imagined the fear and confusion she would feel to not only be alone and in a strange place with strange people she did not know but to not have the comfort that nursing provides to help ease the stress.

Tanya did indeed translate the press release and posted it on her blog, Rockin Mama (click the link to read her full post on this).  She gave me permission to repost the translation here:

The Press Release Goes something like this: (roughly translated)

Four days ago, the Madrid Institute for Minors and Families (IMMF), decided to separate a little girl from her mother for not complying with the objectives of  a psychotherapy program and "maternal abilities" that imply to abandon  extended breastfeeding and breastfeeding on demand because it is considered "chaotic" and "harmful for every boy and girl".  With these considerations all lacking scientific or legal facts, they force mothers to take medication to cease milk production.  

According to the Spanish Association of Pediatricians, breastfeeding should be on demand and it can be extended as long as both child an mother wish.  No legal action has been taken to separate mother and child, and the mother has not been allowed to say goodbye nor has she been told where her daughter will be taken causing a grave defenselessness on both.  Habiba is engorged and on the brink of mastitis and with a broken heart with pain, with barely any sleep or bite to eat. This woman has been evaluated by a psychiatrist  and she does not show any signs of  mental illness, drug consumption or anything that would justify making her victim of such aggression.

They threw Habiba on the streets the same moment they took her daughter telling her she had no more room there because the resources they offer are for mothers and children and she did not have a child anymore. A humanitarian foundation has decided to help this mother donating legal support as well as shelter . We are deeply concerned by Habiba's pain and it pains us to imagine the circumstances this 15 month old child might be in, separated from her mother in an abrupt fashion most likely with no one explaining anything to her.

We consider Habiba and her child's case as a serious violation of human rights as well as children's rights. The damage is already done but if mother and child are reunited immediately it can be repaired because of this we urge you to write to write and protest to IMMF management, asking for the immediate return of the child to her mother

As I was preparing to write my own blog post on this PhD in Parenting reposted a guest blog originally posted by Amor Maternal on Habiba's story as well.  The post is called Spanish government authorities removed 15 month old nursling from mother’s care due to her refusal to wean her child by force.  I am always intimidated when bloggers I love and admire post on the same things I want to post on and often abandon such posts but I feel the more people who spread the word about Habiba the better her chances of having her daughter returned to her.  Definitely check out the blog above, it has a lot of details about the case in it.

I learned from Amor Maternal's blog that Habiba is currently being cared for by Fundación Raíces, which is a humanitarian organization.  They are providing her with psychiatric evaluations, legal services, healthcare and financial aid.

The IMMF has since said that Habiba's daughter was removed from her care not because of extended breastfeeding but because Habiba was a "violent person" but no one has been able to find any records of this anywhere.
Dr. Ibone Olza, one of the phyciatrists evaluating Hibaba was quoted  (from Amor Maternal's blog post) as saying:

“Based on Habiba’s thorough psychiatric evaluation I have reached the conclusion that this woman does not suffer from psychiatric disorders nor does she have a drug habit. In my opinion, she is a very capable, loving woman who is now suffering enormously from having been abruptly separated from her child.”

Habiba has not only suffered unimaginable emotional distress from this but she is also dealing with issues of engorgement and was close to developing mastitis when Dr. Olza stepped in to help her.

Habiba has only been allowed ONE 60 minute visit with her daughter since her daughter was abruptly ripped from her care and that was after NINE days of no contact.  She was forbidden to nurse her daughter in that ONE visit.  Amor Maternal reported that the IMMF did eventually take half a liter of breastmilk that Habiba was able to pump after pleads from Dr. Olza and many others but there are no guarantee's that the milk was ever given to the poor baby.

The accounts from Habiba and Dr. Olza on how the 15 month old girl acted during Habiba's ONE and only visit are just heart wrenching to read.  At many points I could no longer see the screen as my vision was so blurred with the tears. 

The little girl was reported to be listless and unconnected, she didn't even make eye contact with her mother.  No doubt living in a very underfunded and understaffed children's home in Madrid has already had adverse effects on her soul.  How the IMMF can justify continuing the separation is beyond me.  Habiba has been declared fit and loving and capable of taking care of her little girl.  Yet the IMMF has deemed the baby better off in a children's home that only  has 2 caregivers at night to tend to the needs of 42 children ages 6 and under.  I have 4 kids age 5 and under and I often have problems when more than 1 child awakes at night!

I know this sounds like MADNESS!  It sounds like the perfect plot line for a Lifetime movie.  Alas, it is all too true and there is a little girl out there stuck in a children's home lost wondering where her mommy is.  I can't imagine what is going through her mind right now "Why did mommy leave?"  "Who are all these strangers?" and the one thing that may provide some comfort for her, nursing, has been denied.

It has been alleged this is not an isolated incident and that many moms have been ordered to immediately cease and terminate their nursing relationship by the IMMF.

Most of the information currently out there on Habiba's fight are in Spanish, there are many Spanish links to her case.  So far, the only links I know of in English are the links above from Rockin Mama and Amor Maternal via PhD in Parenting.

I will leave you with the final plea in Amor Maternal's guest post:

If this story has touched your heart, if you wish to help in any way, please share this post. If you have a blog, please re-publish this information, if you know anyone in the press, anywhere in the world who could help in any way, please do contact them.

And a plea of my own- Please share my blog post, Rockin Mama's Post, and Phd in Parenting guest post from Amor Maternal with everyone you know.  Ask them to pass it on too.  Call your local TV news stations (or email them if you are like me and too embarrassed/self conscious to call).  We need to spread the word internationally.
If you speak another language please consider translating the information.   There is an abundance of information in Spanish, a few limited pieces in English and someone translated the original press release into French but that is is.

If you write a blog on Habiba's story please share a link in the comments so I can share your blog and post it on FB.  The more we repost these blogs the more people will be reached.

Please join the Worldwide Mothers support Habiba! IMMF Give her baby back on FB and sign the official petition which can be found in Spanish and in English

Save the photo above to your computer and set it as your default/profile picture on all of your social media accounts.  Tell people to ask you why that's your picture.  Share Habiba's story, knowledge is power.  SHARE! SHARE! SHARE!


This could be me.  This could be you.  We are all Habiba!

Love,
this choked up mama,
Christy

CLOSED: Blissful Body Take Me Away (a review and giveaway)

This will be my first ever official Review/Giveaway on my blog, I am so excited.  I don't want my blog to turn into a review/giveaway blog so I promise that these will be rare and therefore the products will only be things I truly love and back 100% 

I was recently introduced to the EWG Skin Deep website.  I had been using a lot of Aveeno products up until this point, pretty much all Aveeno (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, sunscreen, face wash, etc etc).  I felt comfortable with these products, I trusted that they were safe for my family and free of harmful chemicals since they were marketed as "natural".  Imagine my anger when I went to the EWG website and discovered many of these products were in fact ranked in the red.  I had 1 yellow and 1 green product but the majority of what I had been using were red.

When Cathy (Owner and CEO of Blissful Booty) told me she was thinking of making all natural body products I was ecstatic. She sent me a few to test out before she launched them on her website.

I received:
1 8oz bottle Blissful Body Mama Wash in Baby's Breath
1 6oz bottle Blissful Body Mist in Baby's Breath
1 8 oz tub Blissful Body Polish in Baby's Breath
1 8oz tub Blissful Body Whipped Goats Milk Lotion in Baby's Breath
1 8oz bottle Blissful Body Baby Wash in Sweet Summertime
1 8oz bottle Blissful Body Baby Lotion in Sweet Summertime
1 Blissful Body Chapstick

The Blissful Body line of products are made using only all natural ingredients.  They are free of any alcohol, harsh chemicals, dyes or perfumes.  They are Vegan friendly and made with many Organic ingredients (the baby line is 89% organic).  They always come packaged in a recyclable plastic bottle and the labels on them are made with eco-friendly paper and vegetable based inks.

All of the products from the Mama Body line are available in any scent offered by Blissful Booty (currently 22 scents are available with a new scent, Violet Whimsy, just added).  The Baby Body line is available in only 8 scents for now and can also be purchased unscented.

Initial Impressions
When I first received the package, like any "normal" person, I felt compelled to sniff and sample everything.  Everything smelled so yummy!  The first word that popped into my head was Luxury.  The products were luxurious, spa worthy even.

When I was younger (19-20) I worked at The Jone's Store (now Macy's) as a Cosmetics girl in the Clinique counter.  I often had to sub for girls in the nearby Lancome, Estee Lauder and Origins counters as well and was familiar with all of the products offered.  The Blissful Body line could rival ANY of those products and you have the peace of mind knowing they are really all natural and there are no hidden chemicals that can harm your family.

Blissful Body Mama Wash
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -

Blissful Booty Body presents our mild natural body wash made from coconut derived cleansers. Our luxurious lather will gently clean an soften your skin naturally. Use in the bath or shower to leave skin smooth and softly scented. Sulfate and Paraban Free and Certified Vegan! Comes packaged in our beautiful cobalt blue recyclable bottles with a large palm pump for easy dispensing! 8 fl oz. Can't decide which scent to choose? Check out our scent description tab on our home page!

I use the Mama Wash head to toe just like I do  the Baby Wash for the kids.  It actually does a really nice job of washing my hair.  It leaves it silky soft and tangle free.  I have thick naturally curly (aka frizzy) hair and the Blissful Body Mama Wash really does help to tame everything down.  I use Organic Virgin Coconut Oil in my hair as a leave-in conditioner every other wash.
It also leaves my skin baby soft to the touch.  I often skip the lotion because my skin is so soft as it is.
A little goes a long way too.  I have very long hair and I only need 1 pump for my hair, 1 for my body.  I have been using this every other day since April 24 and still have 1/2 a bottle left.  It will easily last me another 1.5-2 months.

Blissful Body Mist
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -

Our light, fragrant body mists refresh and nurture your skin with vitamin rich plant extracts and botanical oils. Our ingredient list isnt water, alcohol, & perfume like many of the "big name" body sprays. Our mists are completely alcohol free and contain soothing organic aloe juice, organic olive oil for softening, organic black willowbark and tea tree essential oil.  Our natural witch hazel base gives our sprays a natural cooling effect that can be spritzed on after shower, sun, or anytime!  It is pH balanced to be used all over the body, or use as a natural linen spray! Comes packaged in our beautiful and recyclable blue cobalt bottles with fine mist sprayer and cap. 6 fl oz.

This is one of my favorite products that I received.  Prior to this I was using the Blissful Booty Wipe Water as my own personal body mist as well.  Who doesn't love to smell yummy.  I receive compliments all the time about my 'perfume" and they are always shocked when I tell them its really the Blissful Body Mist.  You don't have to spray harsh chemicals on your skin or poison the air you (and your loved ones) breath in just to smell yummy.

Blissful Body Polish
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -
Blissful Booty Whipped Body Polish awakens senses and pampers skin. The natural turbinado sugar crystals gently smooth away dry, dull surface skin cells to reveal a fresh glow, while botanical oil pampers skin to leave it beautifully soft and smooth without feeling greasy. Gentle enough for daily use--won't strip or dry skin.Available in 4, 8, and 16 oz sizes and packaged in our beautiful cobalt blue recyclable tubs

This is BY FAR my favorite product in the Blissful Body line!  It is our little miracle scrub!
Originally I was using it on myself.   i would use it on my face and body about every 4-5 days as a nice deep clean scrub.  It felt so nice to scrub on my skin, it was my mini spa in a bottle.  After you wash it off your skin is left with this fresh clean and oh so soft feeling.

As much as I loved using it, that's not why it became our miracle scrub.  As many of you know, Karma has eczema and it can often get really bad, especially in her diaper area.  At first I thought it was the cloth diapers doing it but she still breaks out with sposies. 

Eczema is basically severely dry skin.  My older 2 kids also had it as babies but never as bad as poor Karmacita does.  Her skin gets so dry and it actually starts to peel in some areas.  One day, while having my little personal spa treatment I had a thought. Maybe the scrub would help her skin too?  After all it was dry skin, if I could scrub some of it off maybe it would help.  I figured it couldn't hurt to try so I used it on her as well (she was already in the shower with me).

I thought it might help a little bit, I had no clue just how much it would truly work!  I was so amazed that within hours her skin already looked 100x better and by the next day it was smooth and soft.  Now, she still has flare ups, the scrub didn't cure it or anything like that BUT, when she does have the flare ups I use the scrub and its gone.  I even took before and after pics recently because it does sound crazy and too good to be true.  These pictures were only taken a few hours apart. 



Before using the body polish



Its hard to tell exactly what you are looking at.  They are both of the inside right thigh area, I promise no private parts are showing (I made sure of that!).  The first is much closer up as I was trying to show the dryness of it.  the top would be her waist, then her hip and the portion going down her right leg.  I felt I needed to clarify this as they can look confusing and I didn't want anyone to think they were not of the same area.

after using the body polish

In the second its sideways, so the bottom left portion is her waist, then her hip and going up towards the right is her right leg.  It was hard to take the pics while keeping her still and making sure no private areas snuck in the shot.

Blissful Body Whipped Goats Milk
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -

Relieve dryness, sensitivity and irritation with our luxurious Goats Milk Body Creme. Goat milk is prized for its restorative and healing properties. Full of vitamins, minerals and proteins, studies confirm this magic ingredient dramatically improves overall skin health. Naturally occurring enzymes gently work to exfoliate skin, leaving it healthier and smoother than ever before.  Packed with essential oils including Organic Coconut, Neem, Jojoba, Grapeseed, & Avocado it leaves your skin soft and smooth without feeling greasy. Apply to entire body as often as needed to hydrate and nourish the skin.
Benefits:
- Lactose exfoliates and helps speed cellular turnover.
- Goat milk has a very close pH to human skin and won't cause irritation.
- Witch hazel is a natural antiseptic and helps fight bacteria.
- Organic aloe calms and conditions skin.
Comes packaged in our beautiful 8 oz cobalt blue recyclable tubs.

This product is easily the nicest lotion I have ever used on myself.  I don't tend to use lotion that often because many leave my skin feeling greasy.  I don't have any problems with the whipped goats milk though.  It also only takes a tiny amount, I mean TINY to do the job.  I just put a little bit on my finger tips, dab on the skin and then massage in.  I still have over 1/4 of a tub left.

I have also started using it on Karma's eczema in between body polish uses and it really helps to calm it down.

Blissful Body Baby Wash
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -
This gentle formula uses the calming distillates and essential oils of lavender and chamomile. Kosher vegetable glycerin, vitamin B & E, wheat protein, organic aloe, jojoba oil and rosehip oil enhance the soothing qualities of this all over baby wash. Comes packaged in our beautiful 8 oz cobalt blue recyclable bottles with a handy palm pump.

I was a little surprised at how much thinner it was than the traditional baby washes I have used in the past.  This is because the baby wash is free of all the thickeners used in chemical, err I mean commerical baby washes .  This never bothered me though as the wash still lathers nicely and is easy to use.  Cathy did tell me she is looking into purchasing an all natural syrup thickener though to give it a more "traditional" consistency.

 I use this head to toe on my kids.  It is not tear free, as all of the tear free baby washes contain harsh chemicals in them (that's what makes them tear free).  I am just careful not to get it in their eyes.  I have not had 1 single incident yet of it getting in anyone's eyes.
A little really does go a long way too.  We received our products on April 23, 2011 and started using them the very next day.  We take baths every other day in our house and we still have 1/4 of a bottle left.  I have 4 kids so I use 4 pumps each time.  One pump is all you need head to toe.  This even covers my almost 3 yr old who has VERY long hair (it touches her butt!).  The lather really spreads easily to cover everyone.
It is available in 8 yumilicious scents and can also be made unscented if you prefer.

Blissful Body Baby Lotion
The Blissful Booty website describes this product -

Use as often as needed throughout the day to hydrate and nourish babies skin. Our baby lotion is certified vegan and contains 89% organic content. Comes in our beautiful 8oz recyclable cobalt blue bottles with a handy palm pump.

I chose the Sweet Summertime scent for our baby lotion.  It smells so good.  I love to to snuggle up and smell my babies after I have applied this lotion on them.  They are all so soft and snuggable.  As with the baby wash it is available in 8 scents or unscented.








Cathy is currently working on an all natural Detangle Spray and a Peppermint Foot Lotion so be on the look out for these to appear on her page soon.  I need to order some detangle spray for sure!

She is currently offering FREE SHIPPING today through Saturday on all orders placed at Blissful Booty's Shop.  So you can order yourself some of these goodies and not have to pay any shipping.

She has also offered to give 2 lucky winners their own Blissful Body products to try
1 lucky mama will win a bottle of the Blissful Body Mama Wash in her choice of scent
1 lucky mama will win her choice of EITHER Blissful Body Baby Wash OR Blissful Body Baby Lotion in her choice of scent (either or, not both).
It will be random which mom is which.  The first mom drawn will be the winner for the mama product, the second for the winner of the baby product.

CONTEST RULES:

In order to make this simple and easy on everyone, please just leave ONE comment to enter.  I am going to take the 1 comment for each person and put them into a spreadsheet with however many entries they get.  This way I do not have to sit here and count out comments to determine the winner.
So there is no need to list multiple comments for each individual thing you do.  Multiple entries by the same person will be deleted.  Make sure you include a valid email address in your comment, entries with out a valid email address will also be deleted.

In order to enter you must like (follow) Blissful Booty on FB (already like them? gGreat you're in! just make sure to say in your comment that you already follow them)

You may earn additional entries by doing any of the following:
Follow my blog via google friend connect
Follow Adventures in Mommyhood: Mommy Outnumbered on Facebook
Follow Instinctual Mamas on Facebook

The contest will run June 9, 2011 through June 17, 2011.  Winners will be picked and announced within 2 business days.  Cathy will ship directly to the winners.

GOOD LUCK!

WINNERS:

I am not sure if this made it easier on me time wise BUT it did make it easier on me counting wise.  I just copied and pasted all of the comments into a word document and numbered each entry 1-146 then used random.org to pick the 2 winners based on that.

The first winner will rceived the Mama Wash........

Kaila- tnprat@gmail.com

The second will receive either Baby Wash OR Lotion (winners choice)..........

Katie Sparkles (The Sparkle Mama)- thesparklemama@gmail.com 

I will pass both of your info on to Cathy from Blissful Booty and she will contact you for shipping info and your scent of choice.

Plastic Guilt

Teddy standing next the the offending cups

So I am pretty much certain I will now be labeled as the "weird" mom on my son's T-Ball team!  You know, the one everyone thinks is a little off .

As we were cleaning up so that the next 2 teams could play their game I noticed several moms picking up all of the plastic cups that the kids had gone through and putting them in a plastic bag.  These are 5 and possibly 6 yr olds (not sure if everyone is 5 on his team) so they got a new little cup every time they got a drink.  There are 10 players on the team and there were easily 20+ used cups. 

The cups were just used for water.  I cringed as I saw them cleaning it all up because I knew they were going to toss them in the trash.  Before I could stop myself I blurted out 'don't throw those in the trash I can recycle them!" and then, in a futile attempt to make it "better"  I said "I just can't stand to see any plastic go in the trash, it makes me feel guilty"  YE-AH, that last statement so did not help!

I do though, I have serious plastic guilt.  If I see anything plastic on the ground while we are out and about I will pick it up and take it home so I can recycle it.  I recycle every piece of plastic possible in our own home and really try to avoid buying anything packaged in plastic that cannot be recycled.  I am the lady who rinses (and yes even washes with soap if need be) out plastic baggies, cups and plastic wrap so it can be recycled.

I have been recycling for almost 3 years now but its only with plastic that I am so hard core.  If I see paper or a soda can on the side of the road I can walk on by and not even give it a second thought.  If its a plastic water bottle I just can't do it.  I have tried to make myself keep going and its almost like an obsessive compulsive need.  I just HAVE to pick it up, I can't leave it there.

It's all Oprah's fault too!  It was seeing an episode on Earth Day, April 2009 that showed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that did this to me.  I had been recycling for about a year at the time (a little less than as I didn't start until after my first daughter was born) but this episode and the images they showed kicked my recycling into high gear.  Before that I was a very laid back wishy washy recycler, sometimes doing it, sometimes not.

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

image credit- google images

If you did not see the episode of Oprah I mentioned above (click on the link for a snippet of it), the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge area of the ocean in which garbage has accumulated overtime.  It is carried there by the oceans currents and then compounds and builds upon itself.  More than 90% of the patch is made up of plastic!  Plastic water bottles, bags and even diapers.  It is now estimated that the size may range anywhere from 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres (5,800,000 sq mi) That's 0.41% to 8.1% of the size of the Pacific Ocean. (size facts quoted from Wikipedia).  Or roughly double the size of Texas (although some suggest its as large as the continental USA).  It stretches from the coast of California to the coast of Japan at its widest point   It is estimated that at its deepest point the trash descends into the ocean by as much as 90 feet. 

Sadly the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not unique, every single ocean has their own garbage patch, the Pacific patch is just the largest and most well known of the bunch.

Now, when I see people throwing plastic away I picture it floating in the ocean, choking a sea turtle and killing marine life so I have to go and fish it out of the trash.  GASP!  Yes, I have fished others plastics out of the trash!  It was only once and it was a water bottle on top of the trash but still, I dug in the trash and took it home with me!  I keep plastic bags in my car just for this purpose.

I have also been known to sneak out bottles from family and friends houses when they are not looking!  So far no one has caught me but I know I will be so embarrassed when they do.

Curse you Oprah!  First you give me a serious case of plastic guilt and then you go and retire on me!!


What can you do about it?

Please, PLEASE recycle your plastic!  I live in the sticks, I do not have the luxury of having my recycling picked up at my curb each week.  I must gather it all up, load it in the car, drive it to a recycling center and sort it all myself.  I do this WITH 4 kids!  With gas as expensive as it is I only do this about once every 2 weeks when we go do our big grocery shopping as the store we shop at is near the recycling center.

You can also try to avoid buying things that are overly packaged in plastics.  Skip the small individual water bottles and either buy a jug or even better a filter for your tap and a reusable water bottle to use instead.  Avoid anything that's prepackaged into individual servings.  Sure, it may be convenient but at what cost.
We do buy some single serve items such as cheese for the kids but I make sure to recycle all of the plastic from each individual stick.

Skip the plastic bags at the store and use reusable instead.  Most places sell them for $1 or less now and if you are particular;y crafty you could probably even make your own with scrap material you have on hand.

Say no thanks to the plastic straws.  Plastic straws come in just under plastic bottles and shopping bags as the largest cause of plastic waste.  Opt to drink straight from the cup or you could even buy yourself some stainless steel straws.  If you do get a straw rinse it out and recycle it once you are done.
Upcycle things that cannot be recycled, only certain types of plastic can be recycled.  For all the rest try to find another use for it.

image credit- google images
Jellyfish caught up and tangled in plastic

Think it doesn't affect you so why should you care? 
To quote Fabien Cousteau (who is the grandson of undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau) from the Oprah Show: 
"The pesticides that you spray on your dandelions run off into the oceans and end up in the food chain, which ends up back in our plates.  It's a closed system. Everything's connected. We're all connected with the planet in very fundamental ways."  he also went on to say "You wouldn't let a child open up a cabinet under the sink and start tasting the chemicals down there so why would you dump those chemicals down the drain and have them end up on your plate, which you then feed to your child?"

"But Plastics aren't pesticides or chemicals" you say?  Plastics are made up of chemicals and as they break down they release those chemicals into the water.  Small fish eat the plankton that is floating in the plastic chemical water (if the poor fish don't just eat the plastic itself).   Bigger fish eat the smaller fish.  We eat the bigger fish and those chemicals find their way right back into out bodies and the bodies of our children.

Surely there is someone else out there who also has a serious case of plastic guilt!  I cannot be the only one jumping at a chance to take home the plastic water cups form their son's T-Ball game.  Can I?


Love,
this plastic guilty mama,
Christy

Wordless Wednesday- Food Eploration

Decided to try and pick back up with the Wordless Wednesday posts after taking a complete break from blogging in April and just kind of forgetting each week after that.

I like to try to match my theme up with the Natural Parents Network when possible.  This week's theme is Food Exploration.

Sariah

Sariah

Karma

Karma

Kimmy

Teddy

Lemon Drop Melon

I am sure there are plenty of things I could be doing right now around my house.  A few things that come to mind are dishes, laundry and various other cleaning opportunities that my kids provide me with daily.  Instead I decided that blogging about a yummy new fruit we tried was much more worthy.

Today while perusing the fresh fruit and veggie section at out local store I spotted a small section labeled Lemon Drop Melon (may be called  Lemon Melon not 100% sure which is the proper name as our store had it labeled Lemon Drop but when I google it I barely come up with any results for either combination).

We live in the sticks so I am always impressed with the large variety of fresh fruit and veggies our little country bumpkin store has available, and its usually locally (from local small farms) or in the least USA grown produce too.  For that reason the selection changes with the seasons and in the summer they get in some very exotic (to us) fruit and vegetables.  In the past we have purchased star fruit, pomelos, mangos, pomegranate, kiwi's as well as the staple fruits of the summer from them. 

It was their wide selection of fruits that inspired me to create my Food Bucket List.  Its a list of foods I want to try eating at least once before I, you know, kick the bucket.  It mainly contains a lot of exotic fruits and veggies but also has fun things on it like Deep Fried Snickers and Ostrich Burgers.

our Lemon Drop Melon before it was cut up

I also love to buy a wide variety of fruits to expose my kids to.   I think it's important for them to have an appreciation for all foods and to try new things as much as possible. My kids LOVE fruit (what kid doesn't right!) so its easiest to get them to try new flavors when they come from fruits.  Currently their favorites include peaches, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.  So I purchased all of those along with the Lemon Drop Melon and made a little fruit salad to go along with our lunch when we got home.

I was not sure what to expect from the melon.  I imagined it would be somewhat tart or tangy from the name so I was not sure how much the kids would like it.  Therefore I only put about 1/4 of the melon into the fruit salad.  They. LOVED! It.  They were picking the melon out over all the rest of the fruit and asking for more melon before they even touched anything else.  I made them finish the rest of the fruit they had on their plates first and then cut up more melon.  We ended up eating the entire thing, minus a few slices I held back to try some Lemon Drop Melon Water (which is currently chilling in the fridge, I have yet to try it but hope it's as good as it sounds).

Lemon Drop Melon Water

The taste of the melon is hard to describe.  Its sweet with a tangy almost salty taste to it.  The closest I can come is that it really reminded me of my childhood.  Growing up my grandma would always sprinkle salt onto our honey dew or cantaloupe melon after she sliced it up (healthy I know!).  It sounds awful if you never tried it but it actually tastes good.  I no longer do this as an adult, I appreciate the tastes of the fruit themselves and don't want to add any more salt to our diets BUT that's really what this fruit tasted like.  It was sweet like a honey dew or cantaloupe but it had a tangy/salty taste to it as well.  In a totally good way.

The whole point of my nonsensical ramblings is.... in the wise words of Yo Gabba Gabba......

TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!

Try new foods, expand your horizons, buy that crazy looking/sounding fruit. You never know if you will like it if you never try it.

Ok, so now that I have wasterd 30 minutes of my afternoon writing this and a good 5 minutes of your afternoon as you read this I guess I will go and do something a little more productive.

Love,
this fun fruit lovin' mama,
Christy


P.S.  Check out my new blog called More Exotic Melons for a little more info on this melon and several other new (to me) melons I discovered.

UPDATE 08/01/11

Check out the comment that Sarah left, she works in the produce department at a grocery store and had some great info to share, thank you so much Sarah! 
Also, I just bought a Lemon Drop Melon a few days ago and used it for smoothies, I will be posting the recipe soon, it was YUM YUM YUM!  Be on the look out for that, I will link it here when it is up.

"Hi! My name is Sarah and I just stumbled across your blog here for the first time, and I'm hoping I can be of a little bit of help. I work for a grocery store in the produce section and it's my job to find out more information to pass on to customers and it just so happens that the Lemon Drop melon is what I'm looking at this week, and I'm happy to share the information that we found.
First off, the Galia Melon and the Lemon Drop Melon (a.k.a. Lemon Melon) are NOT the same melon.
The Lemon Melon came about only in the last few decades from a melon breeder in the Mediterranean region. He originally found a melon that was naturally high in citric acid, which is what gives the Lemon Melon it's lemony taste. Over the next decade or two after it's discovery, it was bred with many sweet-type melons using traditional breeding techniques (Non-GMO) to get the delicious melon that we have today.
As far as nutrition goes, the Lemon Drop Melon is fat free, low in calories (60 calories/cup) and high in Vitamins A and C.

To Sarah: I don't have twitter, I am not "cool" like that and find new technology intimidating.   I am on Facebook

Also, I got a notification a few days ago that someone left a comment on More Exotic Melons telling a trick on how to know if the Lemon Drop Melon is ripe.  I know many of you are wondering this, however when I go back and look the comment was gone.  I remember he said something about the green lines in the rind being dark in color but that's it.  So Sorry, I have never been good at how to tell if any melons are ripe.  I usually just grab 1, I have not been disappointed yet.


You can feel free to contact me on my personal twitter account, which is sarahwells61 if you have any more questions. Hope this helped! "

Flats and Hand Wash Challenge- Final Thoughts and Impressions

It's over, the Flats and Hand Wash Challenge is over.  I think I should feel relieved or something, like "OH MY GOSH THANK GOODNESS I'M DONE!!" but I strangely don't.  Its odd, I actually enjoyed those little squares of cloth!  Not only that, but I got a strange since of satisfaction from hand washing them all too.

Going into this challenge I was convinced it was going to be hard.  I thought I would strongly dislike it (trying to get out of the habit of using the word hate!).  I was convinced I would fail, at least with Karma, a few days into it  and already had my excuses lined up as to why I couldn't continue.  "I have 3 girls in diapers!" "its just too much work, I have enough to do being a stay at home mom of 4 little ones" "Karma is a super soaker, there is no way those thin little flat can contain her".  The list went on and on.

I was willing to give it a try though because I wanted to see if it was in fact doable.  I have a little grass roots project with 2 other mamas called Spreading The Fluffy Love.  Our goal is to get diapers to mamas in need who cannot afford to start cloth diapering on their own.  I figured if I was able to do this challenge then I could in good conscience ask other mamas to use flats and even hand wash if they did not have access to a washer/dryer.

Once I started my motivation shifted a bit and I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do it so that I could then add some flats and covers to our 72 hr emergency kits and have a sustainable way to diaper the girls if we were ever with out electricity for an extended period of time.  We live in the sticks so its very feasible that if something happened, like a huge tornado that knocked the electricity out, we could go days before it was turned back on.

The thing is, I didn't strongly dislike it, I didn't even dislike it a little bit, I enjoyed it.  Aside from a few a hiccups along the way it was pretty uneventful.  By the third day into the challenge I felt like I had been doing it forever.  Perhaps this was because I pretty much cloth diapered like this, using prefolds and the washing machine that is, for months when we first started out.  We had a very small stash when we started cloth diapering last summer and I had to use random things from around the house to get through each day.  I already knew that hooded baby towels make the best back up diapers, but take forever to line dry.

I actually love flats!  In fact I discovered that I like them FAR MORE than I do prefolds!  Prefolds and covers were all I had for the first 7 months!  Then in March/April I started to get nicer pocket, fitted and  AIO diapers and I felt quite spoiled.  I began to shove the prefolds to the back and use only the "nice" diapers.  I technically now had a stash large enough to only have to wash every other day but I was so sick of the prefolds and covers that I still washed daily so  I could strictly use the "nice" diapers. 

That's not the case with the flats, I really enjoyed them.  If I had it all to do over again I would have bought flats to go with my covers instead of prefolds.  Not only do I plan on buying 1 package of flats for our emergency kits I plan on buying a second package just for me to use.  Not only are they great to use on their own but yesterday and today I have been using them as boosters folded inside of Blissful Booty AIO diapers and they work great! (yesterday I was using them just on Karma since I ended the challenge Sunday night with her due to an eczema flare up, today on everyone)

This challenge reaffirmed my belief that cloth diapering does not have to be expensive to start out.  I think I got sidetracked and forgot that once I finally had "nice" fluff and became spoiled.  You don't need hundreds of dollars or a full stash of pocket or AIO diapers to start cloth diapering.  You can buy a few basic things like 2-3 reasonable priced covers and a package of flats to start you on your way. 

If you have absolutely no money you can still use what you have around your house.  Use receiving blankets, hooded towels, old t-shirts for the diapers.  There is no need for covers around the house if you can't buy them right away.  When you need to go out put on a pair of fleece PJ pants over the diaper, or an old wool sweater if you have one, you could even pin a fleece blanket on top.  Fleece and wool are water proof and they will not leak.  Fleece is my night time secret weapon, its the only thing that keeps Karma dry over night.  Then, you can take the money you would normally use to buy disposables and buy 1 nicer diaper each month.  After a few months you will have a nice little stash built up for your baby.

Cloth diapering is available to all moms, no matter what their income is, we just need to think outside the box sometimes.  I think too many moms research the options, see the $20-30 diapers and think "I can never buy enough of those, heck I can't even afford ONE!" and write off the entire idea as out of reach.  Or they think to themselves, "sure I could afford to buy diapers but I have no place to wash and dry them" and again brush off the entire idea.  The idea of using flats and hand washing probably never even occurs to most.  Hand washing is not and idea that most think of, but it can be done and you know what, its not bad at all! Just watch out for poop and invest in some gloves!

If I were advising a mama in need who had little to no money and was going to start a flat stash and hand wash them I would suggest:
Blue Dawn- easily available and cheaper than any cloth diaper friendly laundry soap.  Its also great to scrub out the shower, tub, sink or wherever it is you are washing the diapers so there is nothing left behind.
Purex Crystals- to help keep stinkies away, make diapers softer and make hand washing fun.
Gerber Flats- cheaper than other flats and again easily available for purchase.  Double up though, 1 will not cut it very long.  Two will go 3-4 hrs on a baby no problem.
Econobum Covers- they are simple adn white yes, but they do their job and if you watch Cotton Babies they often put them up on their seconds sales for $4.95 each and they always have free shipping.   That's where I got mine from. For 1 baby 4-5 would be enough covers so you could get them for $20-25.

For all of the above you could start cloth diapering for under $40! ($12 for flats, $20 for covers, $2 for dawn and $4 for the Purex Crystals).

Think outside the FLUFF!  It can be done!

Love,
this flats lovin mama,
Christy

P.S. A HUGE THANK YOU to Carrie Prince Cox for loaning the flats to us so we could be a part of this challenge.  We appreciate it very much!

Use What You Have-Flats Challenge Day 7 Recap

Day 7 Recap
Yesterday turned out to be the final day for Karma in The Flats and Hand Wash Challenge after all.  She has eczema that often flares up really bad in her diaper area.  It flares up in cloth and disposable diapers.  Certain cloth diapers seem to make it worse.  The worst for her to wear are the PUL covers with prefolds (or in this case flats) as they seem to rub and agitate it more.  The inside of her legs and her belly area were just bright red and looked awful.  I let her run around without a diaper for a few hours and put her to bed in a Blissful Booty with a fleece cover.  She looks much better today.  So we failed the final day with her.  I still plan on continuing Kimmy and Sariah in flats today through bedtime and will hand wash their diapers.

Karma's eczema flare up :(
I don't feel like we really failed with her
because if all we had were flats and this happened
I would just let her run around naked for a few days.

Yesterday and today I am also boiling the water I use to hand wash with.  I was talking with a friend about the challenge and she asked why I was even bothering to do it.  I explained to her that it was to prove it was possible for a family to diaper this way but it was also so  I could prove that I could do it this way as well.  I plan to add a package of flats and 5ish covers in our 72 hour emergency kits.  Then if there is ever some sort of disaster and we are out of power for a few days/weeks I can still sustainably cloth diaper the girls.  She pointed out if we had no power we would have no hot water to wash with.  So I was inspired to boil the water.  I am technically boiling it on my electric stove BUT I know I could easily boil it over the fire pit we have if needed.


Use What You Have
When we first started cloth diapering we had very little to work with.  The stash would have been small for 1 tush and we had 3 to cover.  I had to wash a minimum of once a day and more often twice a day to make the stash last the entire day.  So I had to be creative at times using random things we had around the house not only as diapers but also as accessories.

Receiving Blankets, Hooded Towels and T-Shirts
One of the very first things I started using as diapers were receiving blankets, hooded towels and old t-shirts.  In fact, I started using them within the first week.  They were great to supplement in with our stash to help stretch things until I was able to wash and dry the dirties.  Now, I have heard many actually take the time to sew these items into diapers.  I did not have a sewing machine at the time so I literally used the items as is.  I would trifold them and lay them inside of the cover and use just like a prefold.  It worked, they served their purpose well.  Milk Bubbles has a few great tutorials up about how to start cloth diapering for free doing exactly this.  My favorite of hers are the scarf diapers.  I was really wishing I had a cute scarf that I could do the same with but I alas I did not.


Burp Cloths
Everyone has these, in fact if you look closely some of the burp cloths you were given may actually BE flat diapers.  I was not given any of these but I was given many hand made burp cloths that I discovered rather quickly made excellent booster pads.

the burp clothes I used as doublers

I simply folded them down in a smaller trifold and laid them flat on top of whatever I was using as a diaper for that particular change.  They add a few extra layers of absorbency right in the "wet zone" without adding too much bulk over all to the diaper.

burp cloth laid on top of a hooded towel
all ready to use as a diaper. 

Receiving Blankets, Baby Wash Cloths or Old T-Shirts
Yes I already listed 2 of those above but this time I am listing them for the purpose of creating your own cloth wipes.  Baby Wash Cloths make excellent cloth wipes.  Old T-shirts and receiving blankets can be cut up and made into wipes as well.  Now, when I first started I did not have a sewing machine so I cut up these things and just left the edges rough.  It never bothered me.

cloth wipes- you can see the rough edges on the ones I
made myself from receiving blankets.  There are some
baby wash clothes, the pink stripe is an old t-shirt (very soft!)
and there are a few flannel ones made by Rockin Mama

Spray Bottle and Baby Wash
An old spray bottle and some baby wash can create a very simple wipe water for you to use at diaper changes.  Add a little warm water in the bottle, a squirt of the baby wash and viola, wipe water.  Don't try to make too much though as after a few days it starts to smell stale.  I would make up a little bit each morning to use for that day.

Gerber Prefolds
They are useless as actual prefolds on their own.  I received some when Kimmy was first born, I planned to try cloth diapering then but did not do any research on the Internet about them.  I just tried these prefolds and after a week of solid leaks and nothing being contained I stopped.

Gerber prefolds.  Great as doublers, horrible as prefolds!

Once I started up again with all 3 girls last summer I used these as doublers as well.  Again, just trifolded and laid in the center.  They are a great booster pad, horrible on their own!

Ironically, the Gerber flats I used for this challenge were amazing.  I was so impressed with their performance and would definitely recommend them to other moms.  I had to use 2 flats per diaper but still, they worked, they did their job and we did not have any leaks all week.  So Gerber prefolds no good, Gerber flats awesome!

Microfiber Towels
Most have at least 1 microfiber towel in their home already, if not they are fairly inexpensive at places like Walmart.  Karma is a super soaker and after only a few weeks of cloth diapering her I began asking how in the world could I keep her from leaking out all of the time.  Most of my cloth diapering mama friends suggested either hemp or microfiber inserts.  I could not afford to buy any at the time but I did have a few microfiber towels.  Microfiber is not supposed to touch skin so I would place it trifolded inside of a prefold.

microfiber towel on top of a flat

microfiber towel folded up inside of a flat.
Place in a cover and BAM-great diaper!

For the purpose of the Flats Challenge I folded it up inside of a flat.  This actually made a really nice diaper.  Great for overnights and for running errands.  Microfiber is not the best on the hand wash side though.  It can hold onto smells more than the other materials, it was the only item I ever had stink issues with the whole week. (thank goodness for the Purex Crystals!).  It also takes about 2 days to dry hanging up!  I know from past experience it can dry in half a day hanging outside in the sun but we had no sun the entire week.


Fleece PJ Pants, Fleece Zip Up PJS, Fleece Blankets and Wool Sweaters
I think some of you may be thinking to yourselves "Sure, all the above is great to use as diapers but what about covers?"  FLEECE!  Fleece is the answer to that!  Everyone has got to have at least 1 pair of fleece pajama bottoms or a pair of zip up footie PJS, even a fleece blanket somewhere in their home.  Fleece is waterproof and my secret weapon for no leaks at night.  I put the girls to bed in fleece PJs almost every night.  I have a few pairs of fleece PJ pants I plan to cut into shorts for the summer so they are not too hot. If you don't have any pajamas try a fleece blanket, you can tie it on or pin it on.

my go to fleece PJ pants for Karma

Wool is also water proof.  I have not tried wool but many mamas swear by it for night time.  If you have an old wool sweater in your home you can pin that on top of whatever you are using for a diaper, instant cover.

You really do not need covers around the house during the day, these would only be needed at night or when going out.  I even saw a blog post by someone also participating in the challenge (that of course I cannot locate now to link!) that mentioned using plastic shopping bags tied over the flats as covers when she had none that were dry.  It may not be pretty to look at but it would work.  You would only need to do it for a few weeks to a month and then could use the money you saved not buying disposables to buy 1-2 inexpensive covers.

Drying Racks
After only a week of cloth diapering I had stains on the prefolds.  My cloth diapering mama friends told me to sun them.  I had no place to do this though, or so I thought.  I did not own a drying rack or a clothes line.  It didn't take long for me to figure out some alternatives. 

At first I used some decorative lattice things on the front of our home (no idea what they are called).  they work great but because of the direction our house faces they only get sun either early in the am (on the East side of our home) or late in the afternoon/evening (on the West side of our home).  So if I needed to sun in the middle of the day I still had no place to do it. 

decorative lattice things

That's when I thought of using the side of the old crib we had in the attic.  The crib had never had a baby in it (in our home that is, it was given to us when we adopted Karma) and we even lost the hard ware to it when we moved.  I called the company and even though it had not been recalled it was a drop side crib and therefore they were no longer making that particular model and would not sell any replacement parts for it.  I stuck it in the attic because I had no clue what else to do with it.  Now we have 1 side screwed into the wall near the stairs as a "baby gate" and the other we use as a drying rack for diapers.  Recycling is good!

crib rail drying rack.  It was rainy this day
so I had it up on the porch hoping the wind
would help dry the flats faster.  Didn't work!
This was the day I had to get creative with the drying.

My point here is, cloth diapering does not have to be expensive.  You can start it with little to no money.  I see people all over the place who say they just can't afford to start.  There is no rule that says you must start out with a full stash of expensive pocket or AIO diapers.  Yes, these diapers are nice.  Yes, they make diapering easier but there are cheaper alternatives that you can start with.  Then, you can take some of the money you are saving from not buying disposables and slowly build a stash 1 diaper at a time.  This allows you to try a wider variety of diapers and get a better feel for what you like.

Take a look around your house, I bet you have a lot of items you could easily use as a diaper in a pinch.  It does not have to be a matter of "do I buy dinner today or diapers for my baby?".  I know how that feels, we were there.  I was the one who thought cloth diapering was all or nothing.  That I had to jump in with hundreds of dollars to spend.  I didn't realize I could start slow and add a little at a time. 

I know for most the challenge is over now, they are writing their final thoughts and impressions blogs today.  We will continue (with 2 girls that is) through today and will post our final thoughts tomorrow.  I really hope you all come back to check it out.  This experience has been really wonderful for us and we have so much we want to share with you.  I will give you a little sneak peak on it, if I had it all to do over again I would have started cloth diapering with flats and covers instead of prefolds!  I think the flats do a much better job.  That will be my new recommendation for mamas looking to start on a very limited budget.

Until then........

Love,
this flats converted mama,
Christy