Monday, October 26, 2009

Eggs, Toast and Tide!

Honestly, I never really used to read labels or worry about things like chemicals in my conditioner or poison in my plastics.  To me, if the house smelled like bleach it meant that it was clean, if it whitened/de-wrinkled/smoothed/skinnified then it was worth the potential side effects and whatever the microwave did that could heat a dish in 14 seconds flat was genius. 

However, Jenny McCarthy changed all that for me when Mad Dog was about 4 months old.  She scared the bejezzus out of me -- and all Oprah-watching moms out there -- that in the process of trying to protect our children from deadly diseases with vaccines we were injecting poison into their little bodies giving them a greater risk of autism.  Oh no, not scary.  Not scary at all.

Fast forward 2 years and I am a little neurotic about the whole thing.  I worry about the foods my family eats, (I am already having anxiety about the Halloween candy and how to convince my son the Organic chocolate I will be giving him is just as good as the stuff the neighbors dish out), what I put on their skin (I highly recomend California Baby) and toys they play with.  I can literally see the lead entering Lulu's bloodstream when she chews on one of the dog's toys. 

What got me started on this ranting and raving today?  My son drank a wee-bit of Tide this morning.  I have literally painstakenly rid my house of any and all chemicals...except, of course, for the laundry detergent.  The "green" stuff just didn't work as well for the 42 loads of laundry we do a week.  Why couldn't he have taken a swig of the dish soap made of moss or the glass spray specially formulated from salt.  Sigh.

All kidding aside, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Family organization is doing some really great things to raise awareness and support for folks trying to make this world we live in a little safer.  I was especially inspired by this blog post today:  http://blog.saferchemicals.org/2009/10/the-cure-to-our-toxic-society-maybe-its-a-bill-not-a-pill.html

Take a moment to read it and if you feel obliged, click on one of the links on the right to show your support.  Perhaps then, when a little boy in a future generation drinks some Tide for breakfast...his Mom won't have to worry because it will be a little safer!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Vacation

I am pretty sure I have never needed a vacation as badly as I do now.  I am also pretty sure I have said that before ANY vacation I have taken.  But, seriously, it has been way too long since a few uninterupted days of adult time.  There have been some trips, but trips = kids and vacations do not! 

I know I need a vacation because I am already dreading coming back.  Typical me.  Heaven forbid I live in the moment and enjoy it...I already have to think about what's next.   

Yep, we are headed to Las Vegas with four other couples.  They are normally friends we hang out with, with all the kids.  We start conversations but never finish them because a little person is needing/hitting/getting into something.  It will be really nice to hang out without the kids.  I am, admitdely a little nervous too.  I sometimes feel left out because their kids are older than ours and well, I really, really don't want to get in a bathing suit in front of other human beings.  Its like HS all over again. 

But, we are going and I need it.  My parents have graciously "given up" their home, solitude, routine and (shhh, don't tell them)... sleep to take the kids so we can get away.  I know a lot of other parents that aren't as lucky as we are.  Trust me, I don't take that for granted. 

So, one week from today...with breast pump in tow, its Vegas Baby, Vegas!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Welcome to My World

I guess I never thought it would happen to me.  I heard stories from moms, saying they actually couldn't remember what their life was like before they had kids.  At the time, I remember thinking...could life really change that much?  Yeah, it does and yeah, I don't really remember what it was like not to have kids.  But, what I do remember, is what it was like to only have one!  I remember thinking how hard my days/nights were, how exhausting it was to come home from work for my "night" job, how leaving the house was next to impossible and if I was EVER going to get my precious 10 hours of sleep a night again...and WHAM, number 2 was born!  Now, I laugh, because those days were a breeze!


My kids are 22 months apart.  That wasn't exactly the plan, but I wouldn't change it for the world. 


But, as I sprinted to my son's room this morning at 5:04 a.m. to stop him from screaming my name at the top of his lungs so he wouldn't wake the baby all while trying to convince him to go back to sleep by showing him it was still dark outside (didn't work, by the way) and finally getting him settled into our bed watching Handy Manny...I started to drift off to sleep and was slammed back to reality with the coos of the little one waking for the day.  And, as I sat at the kitchen counter watching my son dump the entire box of Cascadian Farms Purely O's on the counter, while spooning the pureed pears into Lulu Belle's mouth AND trying to hold my breast pump in place with my thigh...I was reminded how boring life used to be! 


So yeah, there is a lot to motherhood that the books didn't prepare me for.  But, they also didn't prepare me for the heartwarming, nothing-feels-this-good sensation I felt when my little baby girl waved goodbye to me for the first time today as I was leaving for work.