Freaks, Unite!

Here it is! The single (as far as I know) breastfeeding picture ever taken of me. Scandalous, I know. Try to reign in your horror over the blatant immodesty involved in breastfeeding.

Beware, users of plastic grocery bags and buyers of commercial personal care products.

There is a Hippie Underground.

They are out there.

WE are out here.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!  (That’s my sinister laugh.)

I thought I was the ONLY ONE in my circle of acquaintance who believed in breastfeeding for at least a year.  But once I “went public” with that belief it turned out that most of the moms I knew felt the same way (in theory, if not always in practice).

I thought I was the ONLY ONE who wanted to use cloth diapers.  Now I know there are massive numbers of mommies wrapping baby bums in cotton (and bamboo and hemp and…. so forth).

I thought I was the ONLY ONE who was concerned about the reactions my baby was having to vaccines.  It turns out there are entire lobbying organizations that spend millions addressing the issue with the federal government.

I thought I was the ONLY ONE I knew who worried about recycling.  I started building a playhouse out of plastic water bottles and one of the ladies at church said, “I always wanted to try to build a boat out of milk jugs!”

I went public with my armpit vs. deodorant issues and found out that I know at least half a dozen women who haven’t used commercial deodorant in years.  I don’t remember any of them smelling bad at any point in all that time!

We all know that one hippie girl.  You know… the one that can look gorgeous and hip wearing a sari, even though she’s got pure white skin and grew up in Montana.  She looks better without makeup than the rest of us do after a full day at the spa.  She does yoga on a surf board, holding her rescued puppy, while communing with a dolphin and plays the bongos at her own wedding, while her husband does a ritual mating dance in her honor.

She’s so freaking COOL!

The rest of us just look like idiots if we try to do those things.

And no one likes looking foolish.

Except Jim Carey.  But he gets paid A LOT to be that way.

So we hide our hippie.

I say…

LET YOUR HIPPIE RUN FREE!

OK… maybe the hairy-legged, unwashed, pot-smoking, nudist within you should stay within. Far, FAR within.

But the part that loves music and laughter and peace and health and wholeness, not just for yourself, but for the whole world….  THAT part should be set free.

from http://www.sodahead.com

I say it in a silly way, but it’s really deadly serious.

You see, “normal” is what is done by the masses.  The mob defines what is “normal” at any given moment.

In the US, we live in a society where it is “normal” to eat pesticide covered, hormone-injected, genetically modified, chemically processed, foods but it is ILLEGAL in many states to buy raw milk or organic, untreated (ie. unbleached) poultry.

It is “normal” to feed a newborn infant a chemical formula made from dehydrated cow milk, dehydrated soy beans, and chemicals from a plastic bottle which leeches more chemicals into the drink, but it is considered rude and unsanitary to breastfeed in public.

It is “normal” to use disposable diapers, full of bleach and other harsh chemicals and then toss these waste-filled plastic storage containers into a landfill each day, but it is considered gross to use cloth diapers.

It is “normal” to let kids watch graphic depictions of sex and violence on television, video games and the internet, but it is considered sick to let your baby run around naked.

It is “normal” to use antibiotic soaps, household cleaners, and drugs despite 30+ years of warnings about “superbugs” and it’s considered weird to take a child to see a chiropractor or homeopathic practitioner.

It is “normal” to eat at a fast food place where each item is individually packaged in paper or plastic or foam, and thought to be unsanitary (and illegal by health department standards) to ask them to pack it differently, or in re-usable containers provided by the consumer.

I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point.

As a society, our entire connection with nature has been distorted, if not altogether severed.  The result is a generation faced with terrible allergies, respiratory issues, chemical imbalances, and more.  Even worse, those kids are going to be left with a planet that has been badly abused.

When you “go public” with your Personal Hippie Freak Tendencies you show someone else that they are NOT the only one (breastfeeding, recycling, running fast, avoiding unnecessary drugs, etc).

The tide is slowly turning and people are becoming conscious of the fact that we cannot remain a consumerist society, dipped in chemicals and wrapped in bacon.

Bacon.  Wait.  I like bacon.  It’s so crispy and salty…. and  … oh… shoot… awareness… yes…. ok…

Sorry about that.

Anyway, the tide is turning, but not fast enough.  By being open about the “green” choices you make, you help others make good choices too.

How many more women would breastfeed if it didn’t seem “icky?”

How many more moms would cloth diaper?

How many people would buy organic, untreated poultry if they knew that millions were already eating it and NOT getting sick?

How many more people would ride bikes to work if it didn’t seem “nerdy?”

And you know what?

When enough people start making those choices, they will become the “normal” choice to make.

Cloth diapers will be easy to find in retail stores.

Raw milk will be on the shelf in the dairy aisle.

Cities will build more bike paths and less 14 lane highways.

Change “normal!”  Don’t hide your hippie! The world needs you!

Cover Page from Hippie Peace Freaks on Facebook. One of my favorite FB pages, by the way!

A Hippie Mama Peace Rally

Our beautiful boy has arrived! OK… yes… I know he looks kind of like Rocky Balboa after the fight.  But he was beautiful to us.

I’d like to stage a peace rally.  And I want to invite you all to participate.  I’ll tell you all about it.  But first I have to tell you this:

Tomorrow my baby boy will be one year old.  I have very mixed feelings about that.  Unless the universe intervenes in some highly unforeseen way, he’s my last baby.  And, of course I’m happy that he is growing, but I’m sad that his infancy came and went so quickly.  It all just seems like a whirlwind of sleep deprivation and busy-ness.  In the past year, though, I’ve come to understand, in my completely, totally, absolutely unbiased opinion, that he is the smartest, cutest, funniest, most talented, perfectly fabulous baby in the entire world.

Allow me to brag for a moment, if you will…

When I first found out I was pregnant my doctor ordered an immediate ultrasound due to problems I’d had in the past.  That ultrasound, and the 2nd ultrasound, and the 3rd ultrasound showed that there was no baby.  There was just an empty sac.  But the FOURTH ultrasound… almost a full month later… showed my strong healthy little bean with his perfect heart thumping away.  Ha!  My baby had his own way of doing things even when he was just a microscopic ball of goo.

At 34 weeks I started having contractions.  They were sporadic, but strong.  ”Stay in there,” we told him.  ”Hold on tight. You need to grow a little more.”  And he stayed.  All through week 34. And week 35. And weeks 36, 37 and 38. And week 39. And 40. And 41. And 42.  Finally, we sent someone in to get him.  He’s a very good boy.  He did EXACTLY what we told him to do!

He was born weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces.  A big strong baby boy!  On day one he could lift his own head and bear some weight on his legs, when supported.  I’m sure this had something to do with me being pregnant for 10 1/2 months (do the math… 40 divided by 4 weeks…). But still!  At six months he was crawling all over the place, eating needles off the Christmas tree and generally getting into everything.  At eight months, 3 days he took his first step. Saints preserve us!

And he talks! I’ve been told that boys’ language develops more slowly than girls, but this Hippie baby already has a whole pocket full of words that he chants like a mantra while going about the baby business of exploring the world.  ”Mamamamamamamamamama.”  ”Byebye!Byebye!Byebye!Byebye!”  And, most recently, my personal favorite, “Butt!Butt!Butt!Butt!”

His dance moves are a little…. uhm…. well, let’s just say that, with Handsome Hippie Hubby and I as parents he was never destined to be a dancer.  But what he lacks in skill he makes up for with enthusiasm.

So, you see?  Obviously, he’s a genius.  No doubt about it.  And I know why.

It’s because I breastfed him and used cloth diapers.

What?  You disagree?  WELL! Now we shall go to WAR!

At least, that’s what I understand from recent media.  I’ve been told that mommies are having WARS.

My dearest friend has a baby, a few months older than mine.  He’s never had a drop of breast milk and she wouldn’t dream of putting him in any kind of diaper that couldn’t be thrown away.  And he is bright and smart and healthy and strong.  And, admittedly, a much better dancer than my son.

A woman at church told me that, when her children were babies, she couldn’t bear the thought of them eating bland foods.  So she added salt and sugar to their baby food.  *GASP!*  Guess what?  They are all healthy, productive adults today.

When my sister’s twins were born she had four children, under the age of 3.  Do you honestly think she cloth diapered and breastfed all of them?  Are you nuts?!?!  I was in awe of her that they were all diapered, in any form, and that she did manage to nurse the babies for a while before switching to bottles.

Author Jill Churchill once said, “There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.”

Amen, sister!  Preach it!

Some mothers feel they can serve their family best by going to work to earn money which they, in turn, spend on the things their family needs and wants.  Some feel it’s best they stay home with their children. Some breastfeed.  Some use bottles. And the media will have us believe that moms are waging war over these differences.  But is that the reality?  I mean… if I see a mother neglecting her children or abusing them in any way… THAT is something worth going to battle for.  But, with rare exception, moms love their children.  A lot. More than anything else in the whole wide world.  More than they ever loved themselves.  More than they ever thought they could love anyone.  And, based on their own life experiences and culture and abilities, they make the best choices they know how for their precious little ones.

Moms love their kids.  It’s what moms do.  And they do it the best way they know how.

And so, I’d like to stage a peace rally.  I would like all the mothers of the world…

the ones who ONLY use silver flatware and the ones who spit chewed up food into their baby’s mouth… the ones who bust out a boob in the middle of the mall and the ones who can’t fathom not using a bottle… the ones who work their bums off in a job outside the house and the ones who work their bums off taking care of the house…..

to unite.  Let us, metaphorically, join hands and sing folk songs and celebrate our love for our children.  Maybe, when the media sees our sweet peaceful non-resistance and our united front in caring about the mental, emotional and spiritual health of the children of the world they will stop their ridiculous reporting on issues like the appropriateness of breastfeeding a toddler and they will turn their attention to helping kids who don’t get fed at all.  Or any other number of issues to which attention needs to be given.

Happy birthday, sweet boy. You are loved.

An Epic Saga

Perhaps there’s such a thing as being too in-touch with nature.

Let me share with you a tale of epic proportions.

Epic stench, that is.

My boy’s cloth diapers STUNK!

I washed them.  I used crunchy-mom (crunchy = those with a bent toward all things natural)  approved home-made detergent and hot water.  I did everything according to the instructions given to me at hippie mama school (Whoa! Hold the train!  Epiphany!  Hippie Mama School doesn’t actually exist, but it should.  Best. Idea. EVER!).  And still, they stunk.

I got some natural diaper de-stinker (that’s actually what it was called) at The Great Diaper Change 2012.

They still stunk.

It was getting worse.

It was a great green plasma cloud of stink, settling over the neighborhood.

Oh, they SEEMED clean when they came out of the dryer.  All fresh and lovely. But then they would get wet and buzzards fell dead from the trees in the nearby woods.

I washed them with vinegar, nature’s disinfectant.

The stink multiplied into various new levels of stench.

I added copious amounts of baking soda – God’s natural de-stinker.

The stank (is that a word?) only grew.

I believe it was around this time that the odor actually began to gain consciousness and we started to fear it.

Handsome Hippie Hubby staged a silent protest.  Every time I left the house I would come home to a baby in a disposable diaper.

So I committed the ultimate natural-living crime.  I went to the store (the big, nationally owned box store that is) and I bought a jug of toxic, fuming, fish killing, planet destroying BLEACH.

And I poured it in the wash.  A lot of it.  More than the recommended amount.  And I washed those stinky diapers in hot water.  With bleach.  Twice.  And then I rinsed them twice.  And guess what?

The stink is gone!

Oh happy day!

My neighbors danced in the street with joy and relief!

The dog came out of hiding!

The stink is gone!

So here is what I’m thinking…

Our society has come so far from what is natural that doing natural things (ie. Breastfeeding or eating organic veggies) has become “weird.”  And that divorce from nature has led to a whole host of issues.  We have harmed our planet and we have sickened ourselves.  We’ve created a generation that takes medicine to cure the side effects of medicine used to treat conditions that are caused from our un-natural lifestyles.

HOWEVER

There are some things that have been invented/discovered in the last 100 years that are useful!

Like bleach. (Actually, bleach as we know it, has been around for about 200 years.  But you get the idea).

The natural, home-made, old-fashioned stuff is just fine for the average dirty laundry.  In fact, our clothes have smelled better and maintained brighter colors since we started making our own detergent.

But world-class stench required something more.

Every day I am learning more and almost all of what I learn leads me further down the path of natural living.

My family now has natural skin care products and first aid items.  We’ve upcyled and recycled and freecycled and bicycled and enjoyed all that cycling.

But sometimes…..

My very dearest friend has been invaded by ants.  She keeps a clean house.  Cleaner than mine, for sure! But the little creepers were getting into everything.  They invaded her baby Tylenol bottle for goodness sakes!  She tried dish soap and vinegar and borax and finally sprayed poison.  Which worked.  Sometimes you have to realize there is a good reason why these products have been successfully marketed for so long.

And that reminds me: infant Tylenol is a beautiful thing.  Do I think people are too quick to reach for the medicine cabinet? Absolutely.  A baby with a low fever doesn’t need drugs.  And sometimes sore gums can be gently soothed with frozen teething rings and crunchy treats.  Certainly those should be the first line of defense.  But SOMETIMES you just need a little something more.

Have you met those people who believe that:

If you have EVER used a plastic bottle your baby is already doomed to a lifetime of developmental disorders with capitalized acronyms.

Babies should be breastfed.  ONLY breastfed.  Until puberty.

A child will be scarred for life if you make them sleep in a room alone.

Every medical doctor is a pawn of money hungry drug company stockholders, out to profit by hooking your family on as many medications as possible.

The point of all this?

Embrace the natural!  Find your roots again!  Center yourself.  Know that you are inseparable from the environment in which you live.  You are part of the world and the world is part of you.  Be in harmony.  Find your inner hippie and embrace her (or him).  Feed your body lovely whole foods and remove harsh toxic chemicals from your every-day use.  Search for NATURAL solutions to every day problems.

But for goodness sake, use some common sense!  When a mild, natural solution  isn’t working for you, don’t be ashamed to do what you need to do.  If you are miserable (because of stinky diapers or ants in your cabinets or a screaming teething baby) you are not doing anyone any favors.

And, if you are one of those rare few who ONLY eat organics, ONLY breastfeed your children, ONLY clean with natural products…. Good for you.  Perhaps you  are the standard we should all strive for.  But don’t be too quick to judge us mere mortals.  We are all on our own journey.

Are you a hippie mama (or daddy) who’s “given in” (or given up)  on one thing or another?  Please share! I’d love to know I’m not the only one!

Have you found an all-natural something-or-other that is better than the chemical version?  I’d love to know about that too!

The Journey I’m on Today

Maybe the journey would be easier if we could make it on horseback.

Have you ever found yourself in a really awful situation?  The kind that stinks like a garbage heap and threatens to bury you alive?  And then you have the worst of the worst moments… the moment that makes your stomach drop… the moment that threatens to break your spirit…. the moment when you realize that there is a very good chance you created this mess yourself.  “Chance?”  Who are we kidding? In the words of Jimmy Buffett, “It’s my own d*** fault.”

Please tell me that this has happened to you too.  I can’t be the only one!

I’ve done this in my life, time and time and time again.

I have heard people say that bad things “just happen.”

“Life is hard.”

“Misery will always be with us.”

And maybe they’re right.  I mean,  a few years ago there was a story in the news about a lady on a fishing trip in the ocean.  Miles from shore, on a calm, beautiful, sunny day a  giant fish (stingray?  I can’t remember.) jumped out of the water, smacked into her and killed her instantly.  So… uhm….  yeah.  I’m thinking that wasn’t her fault.  I mean, she made the choice to be on a boat that day but who could have predicted that? So maybe some bad things happen at random. Or by the will of God or the Devil or the Alien Puppet Masters.

Just so you know, I don’t really believe in Alien Puppet Masters.  But, hey… you never know!

For the most part, though, I think we bring misery on ourselves.  I totally understand that the following are not always true, but they often are.  And, as I write this, I’m primarily thinking about adults.  When bad things happen to kids…. I’ve got nothin’ for that.  It’s an issue I struggle with.  But…

Disease is brought on by poor nutrition, environmental pollution, lack of exercise, substance abuse,  etc.

Poverty is brought on (or made worse) by bad choices with money, misuse of credit, or a lack of ambition.

Abuse is brought on by poor choices in friends and lovers or allowed to continue out of fear of the unknown.

Loneliness is brought on by our choice not to seek out companionship or our choice to cling to someone who doesn’t reciprocate our feelings.

And so on.

Again: Not ALWAYS.  But often.

And so we (because I just can’t accept that I’m the only one) find ourselves in the midst of the garbage heap and it feels as if we will never get out of it.  And since we’re already here (overweight, sick, in debt, alone, etc) we may as well just wallow in it.  Right?  I mean if you’re $100k in the hole, what’s another $1,000 worth of debt?  If you’re 100 lbs overweight, what difference is one dessert going to make?

And this whole scenario is applicable on a global level as well.  If China’s coal mines create more pollution than all the cars in America then there’s no point in me driving one mile less today, right?

But maybe we just need to take a single small step to fix it.  Whatever “it” may be.

We’ve all heard that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, right?

Just a few short months ago I read an article about gDiapers and decided to start using cloth diapers.  It seemed to me that they would be better for the environment, my baby, and my pocketbook.  It was an easy, natural choice for my family at that time.  Maybe not the right choice for everyone.  But for us it was a good change.  Simple. Painless.

Upon researching the best way to care for my son’s diapers I learned about home-made laundry detergent, which is better for the environment, for my family, and my pocketbook.

So I bought the ingredients for home-made detergent and learned that it was good for other stuff too!

And in researching what those things may be I learned how to make my own deodorant. Which is better for the environment, for me, and for my pocketbook.

And the wheels keep turning…..

I’ve always had a bent toward a “crunchy” lifestyle.  It’s just how I’m wired.  But that single choice to change the kind of diapers I use has changed my family’s whole life in just a few months. When I started blogging about these changes, for all the world to see, it made me hyper-aware.  So now I buy less and recycle more.  I am more careful about turning off the light switch and water faucet.   We are eating better, more nutritious, food.  We have less toxic chemicals in our home. We’ve produced less garbage and are reducing our “footprint” a little more every day.

Our life isn’t perfect now.  Being  better recyclers didn’t magically give us a higher credit score or turn me into a great organizer.  But we’ve made progress in one little corner.  We are on a journey of a thousand miles.  Improving every area of our lives where we see a need for growth would be impossible.  But just one change…. that doesn’t seem like such a big deal.  And neither will the next one.  Or the next.

It makes me think, where else would I like to grow? What is one tiny, painless thing that I could change in that area?  How far could the ripples of that tiny change extend?

Well… if a butterfly flaps its wings…..

The next step on my path?  I’m not sure yet, but I’m open to suggestions.  What tiny change have you been glad you made?  Maybe you’ll inspire me.

What I Have Learned About Cloth Diapers

Home made cloth diapers means Baby J and Daddy can match when they go for boy's night out at the Stable.

I have come to the realization this week that my (all of our?) world is WAY too controlled by fear.  There are so many things that I (we?) want so very badly to do but I (we?) allow my fear to rob me (us?) of these experiences.

This is just one tiny example: I used disposable diapers for years because I feared the unknown.  I stood in the Babies R Us Superstore, surrounded by thousands of square feet of things my baby “needs” and I opted for disposable diapers because I was overwhelmed and they were familiar.

Finally, 3 or 4 months ago, I read an article about “hybrid” diapers (gdiapers) that pushed me to check out the other side of things and I have found that my baby and I are both much happier for having explored this brave new (well… actually OLD) way of diapering. We have all heard that it’s cheaper, better for the environment, yada yada yada. But there are a few things you may have not heard.  This is what I have learned:

1) Cloth diapers make your baby’s butt huge.  None of his pants will fit any more and you’ll have to go a size (or even two) larger to get his poofy bum into his jeans.

2) Fancy flushable liners are glorified paper towels.  Laying a 1/2 sheet of paper towel inside the diaper will be just as effective, softer, cheaper, and easier on your sewer system.  Viva are particularly soft and sturdy, but I’ve heard Scott Naturals are good too and more eco-friendly.

3) You may have to change detergent.  Anything with additives (bleach, fabric softener, etc) will ruin the absorbency of your cloth diapers and/or make them smell especially bad when they are wet.  I started making my own and have been very happy with it.

4) You really need hot water to get them clean.  I have always done my wash in cold water, unless it was especially soiled, to save energy and it’s been just fine. With diapers, they don’t really smell fresh unless I use hot water.  Some people do multiple rinses and soaks and so forth.  I do not.  I wash them on a regular hot water cycle and they look and smell great.

5) In a pinch, you can wash your diapers with other items, but it’s not a good idea as a routine.  I did this for a month or so and everything was fine but then I started to notice that my clothes smelled like ammonia.  GROSS! So now we wash seperately.

6) Disposables are better overnight and on long trips.  There are lots of mamas out there who disagree with me so you’ll have to decide for yourself.  My experience is that, in order to avoid overnight leaks, we had to really stuff my baby’s diaper cover with pads etc which was uncomfortable for him PLUS when he wets the cloth he can feel it more so he wasn’t sleeping as well.  That made us all grouchy.  As far as long travel – cloth meant a bag of stinky diapers in the car, taking time during vacation to do laundry and bulkier luggage.  I’ll take disposables next time I travel.

7) Cloth can be insanely expensive.  There are beautiful hand knit diaper covers out there for as much as $100 or more.  It’s possible to spend $20 a piece on the insert (the part that gets peed or pooed on). It CAN be much much cheaper to cloth diaper than to use disposables.  You can get a package of 12 Gerber prefolds for about $15 and a package of 3 pull-up vinyl covers for about $3.  This means you can diaper your baby almost forever for less than $40 – or the cost of 1 large case of disposables.  If you can sew, you can make them pretty much for free from old receiving blankets, terry towels, flannel shirts and other re-purposed items.  BUT…

8) Not all prefolds and covers are created equal.  I have never used the Gerber stuff so I can’t comment on it’s quality.  I have used gDiapers, Rumparooz and Econobums.  Each brand fit differently and has different pros and cons.  I have heard from moms that like one brand for one child and a different for another SO… before dumping a whole bunch of money into a single brand that seems great in a magazine ad, buy a few used and try them out.  Same thing with inserts.  Keep in mind that some fabrics, like microfiber, lose their absorbency with time and use and others, like bamboo, are more resistant to smells and germs.  Again, try a few and see what works for you.  Some stores will let you pay a deposit and try any and every brand you want over a set period of time.  This may be PERFECT if you’re looking to explore.

9) Sort of along the same lines, some people spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars buying mountains of adorable covers.  There are a lot of cute covers out there, but all you REALLY NEED are about 6 covers and maybe 2 dozen diapers or inserts.

10) It’s not rocket science.  100,000 years ago moms were wrapping their baby’s bums in fur and stuffing dry grass in there as padding.  Apparently those children survived because they are our ancestors.  All mommies have common sense.  If your baby is wet or dirty, put him in something clean and dry.  If his diapers stink wash them.  You know how to take care of your baby better than anyone.  Be empowered to explore and ask questions and go with your instincts.  My favorite lady to ask? Theresa at Squishy Tushy.  She knows more than I ever want to and she is kind and generous with her advice.

Granny Wernt Stoopid

My grandmother was not an educated woman.  She left school at an age that would be illegal by today’s standards to get married and start a family.  I only had a few short years to know her but from memories and the stories of others I can tell you: my grandma knew things!  She knew how to cook like the Iron Chef! She could keep a clean house, catch and clean her own fish, and put my grandfather in his place, even on his worst days (and this was a man who once came home drunk in the middle of the night with a live turkey thinking she’d be HAPPY that he brought it home).  All grandmas (well, ok.  There may be the exception to every rule but… let’s go with the positive side of things, shall we?) are awesome.  They are graduates of motherhood.  They made it through to the other side.  My totally unbiased opinion was that my grandma (AKA “The Good Cooker”) was the most fabulously awesome granny in the whole universe.

I’ve recently discovered a secret that every woman in my grandmother’s generation knew: Borax.  I’m not sure how or why Borax became forgotten.  I blame the fancy commercials during the afternoon stories.

I first heard of Borax when I wanted to make biodegradable laundry soap that was safe for cloth diapers. It was easy to find, very inexpensive and did a great job.

Then I read that you can use it to make dishwasher detergent.  1/2 TBSP of Borax + 1/2 TBSP of washing soda in the soap cup + a splash of white vinegar in the rinse cup = the sparkly-cleanest dishes you’ve ever seen for a fraction of the cost of commercial products and with no harmful effects on the environment or bad chemical smells in your house (ever get lightheaded walking down the detergent aisle? Ever think about why?).

So then I thought, if it cleans the dishes that well, would it clean my greasy stove?  I had the perfect chance to find out after making fried chicken.  Here is my before pic:

Ew! The fried chicken splattered, the potatoes boiled over, my daughter left a portion of a butter stick on the stove to melt and I don't even know where the rice came from!

I sprinkled the Borax on and wiped it up with a warm, wet rag.  I know I sound like a housewife on a commercial but I really didn’t need to scrub at all.  I literally just wiped it up.  Here’s the after:

Much better!

So NOW I’m starting to get all enthusiastic!  What else can this wonderstuff do?  Well….  the box says it can clean carpet.  ”Hmm,” I think.  ”I do have that one mysterious stain in the living room that no one will admit to causing.”  I sprinkled Borax on the stain, wiped it with a rag, waited for it to dry, swept it up and VOILA!

Before

After

I’m so excited!  My carpet is clean again! Hooray!

I used it to clean my toilet too, but I’ll spare you the pix.  Suffice it to say, I have a nice white bowl again.

So I did a little looking and learned that Borax will kill the weeds that spring up in your sidewalk cracks if you sprinkle it there.  It repels bugs. It removes rust. It kills mold. You can use it to make lotion.  You can use it to make slime.  I’m not really sure why you would want to make slime, except maybe to impress your kids.  But, hey!  If you want to, just get some Borax!

So now, after 35 years of living: 1/2 of them more or less as an adult on my own, I know what my grandma knew when she was just a girl.  Every house needs a box of Borax!

A disclaimer, before I go.  Borax is natural and biodegradable.  It is NOT NON-TOXIC!  Keep your wonderpowder locked away from your pets and children!  There are some cautions out there about using it on dishes and cutting boards as it can, in LARGE QUANTITIES be harmful to the digestive tract and kidneys and also to the male reproductive system.  My advice: don’t eat Borax in large quantities.  Rinse things well.  The 1/2 TBSP you put in your dishwasher that gets rinsed with 6-10 gallons of water (the amount used in an average cycle) is probably just fine.  It’s  going to be much safer than the paraben-loaded stuff sold commercially.  Borax does not know the difference between a weed and a plant that you are hoping will thrive so keep it on the sidewalk cracks and far away from your garden.  As with anything, use common sense! After all, that’s what grandma would do.

What other uses do you know for Borax?

I’m Going to Attempt to Break a World Record!

What are your plans for the weekend?  Me?  Well…. I’m going to GET INTO THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS!  Yup. That’s me. HISTORY MAKER.  I think I’ll add that to my resume.  Maybe. OK.  So it’s not JUST me all by my little ol’ lonesome making history.  They probably won’t put my picture in the museum or anything.  Then again, you never know.  I am freakishly good-looking.  heeheehee.  Plus my crazy adorable little (massively huge) 10 month old baby boy is helping me out.  The two of us, together with 563.4 bajillion other mommies and babies from SIXTEEN countries around the world are going to be taking part in The Great Cloth Diaper Change, 2012 (http://greatclothdiaperchange.com/). It’s all a part of the effort to raise awareness that there are moms using cloth diapers and that it’s really not that hard.  We are all going to change our lil’ pumpkins stinky bums into fresh, clean, cloth diapers at the same time thereby earning our way into the realms of Guinness.  Will my picture be in next year’s book? Probably not.  But I will always know that I was there.

Want to take part?  Check out the link above or go to http://www.thelittleseedling.com/store/ for more information.

The Great Laundry Detergent Experiment of 2012

No! That's not coffee in that can. It's enviro-friendly, easy-to-make laundry soap!

I started cloth diapering a while back and, upon reading the numerous steps that some germ-conscious mamas take to get their baby’s bums pristinely clean, I learned that laundry soap is bad for the environment. It’s also expensive (I already knew that. I’m lazy, not oblivious) and it destroys cotton diapers.  By extension, I guess that it destroys most cotton anything over time.  We’ve already established that I am lazy. And sort of broke. So I found myself in a quandary…

There are special laundry soaps out there that are better for the environment and better for our cotton-covered bums.  Not so much better for the wallet, though.

An approximate cost breakdown of some “standard” detergents:

Tide 2X = $.20

Tide Ultra = $.17

Arm & Hammer = $.14

And some “green” detergents:

Allen’s Naturally = $.31

7th generation = $.21

ecos = $.14

Most days I do 1 load of laundry. Well, I wash and dry 1 load of laundry.  About once a week I get around to folding it and putting it away.  That means that  I’m spending $50-75 a year on laundry soap.  I COULD be spending that money on dinner at the Olive Garden with my oh-so-handsome hippie hubby!  What’s a modern girl to do?  Turn to the internet of course!

There are a LOT of recipes out there for detergent. Some are supposed to be extra-super-color-brightening-stain-fighting fabulous.  There are sweet-scented liquids. I found a powdered one that was cheap and easy.  It is good for the environment. It is reasonably gentle for tiny tushies.  It is a lazy hippie mama’s dream come true!  I altered it a little because I like Ivory soap better than the kind they used.

1 bar of ivory soap grated up on your cheese grater’s tiniest setting (this also makes for the cleanest cheese grater in the universe)

1 cup of borax

1 cup of washing soda

Mix ‘em all up on an old coffee can or other container with a lid, use 2 TBSP per load and…. voila! You’ve saved the earth, your favorite cotton clothes, and a bit of cash all at once.  How much cash, you ask?  Well… by my math this recipe costs me about $.03 per load, or about $11 per year so I’ve earned one nice, kid-free dinner out.  It took less than 10 minutes to make and my 7-year-old, the aspiring chemist, did pretty much everything.  I’m told that, for especially nasty dirt, an extra shot of the borax straight into the machine and/or a scoop of oxy-clean will give the needed boost.  I haven’t tried that yet.  I have also read that, since this is a very lo-suds soap it is safe for front load washers.

I’ve used my creation for about a week now and our clothes are as stain-free as ever and not a single person has mentioned a horrible smell so we must be clean (but probably wrinkled since I haven’t folded lately).  If you try it, let me know what you think!