Shower Me

The girls love to take long splashy baths. Like really long. Like hands turning to prunes long. And with long bath times comes abundant opportunities for a wet and moldy shower liner. I finally became disgusted with the cheap $4 toxic shower liner I picked up at Walgreen's. It was headache stinky and attracted mold and mildew. Our new liner is a non toxic, PEVA, earth friendly, chloride free shower curtain. Maytex makes it and it doesn't stink, has a pretty blue tone, and wipes clean with a damp cloth. It retails at $12. Less cleaning, less headaches, and worth the cost.

Silly Trixs

I trick my kids almost daily. I hide organic cocoa puffs by mixing them into the General Mills brand. I also mix cheerios with the organic version. Their 2 and 3 year old palettes can discriminate between the organic and heavily processed. "No mommy! Tastes funny," Janae will say pouting over her bowl loaded with organic love. I mix them in a Tupperware container, recycle the boxes so there is no trace, shake it and serve. Haven't seen an organic version of Trix yet, have you?

Carbon Free Kiddie Fun

What can you do outside with the tykes that's fun, inexpensive and carbon free?

1. Take a 15 minute walk around the block. Bring a brown paper bag to collect interesting flowers and rocks.
2. Sell lemonade in the neighborhood. Use eco-friendly cups and organic juice.
3. Bike to a local park. Play and ride home.
4. Make mud pies and water the garden using the pool water.
5. Summer sprinkles? Throw on the rain gear and let them splash.

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A Pink House

"So I hear you have a pink house?" the nurse asked laughing. "Apparently," I replied not too happy. A pink painted house (see pic) would have been Janae's dream come true. But instead it was my living summer heatwave nightmare: both girls with pink eye on the hottest day of the year. Lucky mama. Pink eye is contagious so if you see some yellow discharge or your kid wakes up with yellow crusted eyelashes or they keep rubbing their eye or hey, they just have a red eye. Welcome to the club. The doctor prescribed a 5 day dose of antibiotic eye drops which cleared up the symptoms in 24 hours. Here is an herbal remedy, some home remedies and some doctor recommended ones. If your house is pink, wash down all door knobs and frequently used toys, change all the bathroom towels and bedding, and keep washing everybody's hands. Hourly.

Green Thumbs

I thought we had brown thumbs. But it's been confirmed. They are green. The girls and I have ventured into gardening. And to prove our worthiness, we have eaten some pole beans, made pink peonies flower madly, and yesterday we saw itty bity baby cucumbers, lettuce and squash taking up space. Not bad for 2, 3 and 30 something year olds. I'll come clean. The pole beans, cucumbers and squash were sprouts but we did grow the lettuce from a seed. We used organic gardening soil to re-pot the sprouts and planted the lettuce in veggie pots. You can buy organic seeds online here. The girls love watering the plants and veggies and Janae really likes to pick and eat the beans. We used veggie pots to keep it easy but here are 7 tips to planting an organic garden. We're still waiting for the carrots to sprout. Hmmm...too late?

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Free Stuff to Do

Oh how I love free kid stuff. This past week we did two fun, entertaining, free events with the girls. At 10am, we went to our local Regal Cinema for a free kid movie - they offer this three days a week on multiple screens with two flick choices. Janae was engrossed. Belle got a little restless so I bought some popcorn. She stood, munched, watched and talked. Luckily the lady in front of me had a two year old in her lap so she didn't mind Belle's chomping and muttering in her ear. Afterwards, they gave us Costco waters, oranges, and coupons to Charlie Safari. It gets better. Outside there was complimentary huge inflatable slide. We also went to our local elementary school for the playground pals program for kids ages 2-12. Here's the schedule: free hot lunch, playground time, art and crafts, guest speakers, snack time, and playground time. All free and staffed. Check your local school district for similiar programs.

eco-swimming

Be honest. Are you still throwing diapers on your kid and dipping them in the pool? My hand is up but I'm stopping. Really. There are eco-friendly alternatives to the non-disposable, land filled, soggy swim disposable diaper. Kushies makes a very hip option - an environmentally sound waterproof, washable, terry-cloth lined wrap style diaper. Love it. I actually have one of these and forget to use it. That was until my sis-in-law told me her son Asher is in a chlorine free swim class (very cool) and she just bought one similar to the picture. If your wee-one goes wee wee or #2 in the pool, it won't pollute the water. Surfs up. Now if only I could get Belle potty trained...