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!