Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and stay up to date.

I am a firm believer that nothing but the purest ingredients should go into and onto a baby’s body. The I Dream Baby line available from buygreen.com is natural and mostly organic, giving parents the peace of mind that they are not using products on their little ones that contain known carcinogens. You don’t have to be a baby to enjoy these products!

Wildcrafted and Handmade in Northern California

The I Dream Baby gift set comes with one bottle of baby wash and shampoo (7 oz.), one bottle of baby lotion (7 oz), and one bottle of baby oil (3 oz). The products contain a “thoughtful, soothing blend of organic, wildcrafted or sustainably grown therapeutic grade essential oils.” These blends smell so good, and the bottles are recyclable aluminum, which makes this plastic avoiding mother happy. Read more »

My mother just turned 65 and, wise woman that she is, requested no presents. She did however, request that we all go down to the Starlight Lounge and dance our fool butts off! She is a woman who has her priorities straight: people are fun, stuff is…well, it’s just stuff.

This past week, I went into a Wal-Mart for the first time in about two years and I thought my head was going to explode just from the sheer volume of stuff and the incessant beeping of the registers! As I looked around all I could see was next year’s landfill! I was pretty close; in The Story of Stuff you will find the shocking statistic that 99% of the stuff we buy, we toss out.

Like any other bad behavior that is perpetuated generationally, we adults not only have to be come aware of, and change, our own habits, but find effective means to help our children not repeat our mistakes.

Older kids, 12 and up, may enjoy the Story of Stuff and be thoughtful about the implications. Younger children may just end up feeling helpless. I’ve mentioned Eco-phobia before and feel it necessary to reiterate that we risk making children numb to issues if they get too much bad news too soon. I thought it was great the the Story of Stuff blog links to kid-produced You Tube responses!

The reality is, $15 BILLION dollars is spent by marketers to turn your child into a good consumer. Read more »

My 6-year-old daughter is extremely jealous of anyone else I show affection to, outside the family.

She quizzes me relentlessly about how much I love the person -- often a friend of hers I gave a hug to, or was nice to. So I told her that "God says we should love everyone.''
Her response was, "Well, I don't.''

Ever since then she is constantly checking the level of mommy's Love for Complete Strangers. It's a concept she cannot accept.

I took her to T.Y. Park in Hollywood Saturday for her birthday. She wanted to know if I loved everyone there at the park that day, and if so, how much, compared to my love for her.

I've tried to explain the concept of loving people as friends, but she doesn't understand it. Ditto for the idea that people are capable of infinite amounts of love, and giving my love to someone else does not require subtracting any from her.

Still, my rule of thumb is if your child is seeking affirmation of your love, you give it, even if it's wrapped in an annoying interrogation where you are the Betrayer for calling another child "Sweetie.''

I'm beginning to conclude, though, that some people are born with insecurities and they're not all the product of experience, as I had once thought.

Yesterday she even found herself struggling over the idea that before she was born, I did not love her! This is an idea she came up with, of course.

And she was talking it out with me, trying to come to grips with a world in which her older brother, Creed, was the sole object of momma's affection.

"But you didn't even exist, Lily!'' I told her in my own defense.

She frowned and I could see her trying to accept this explanation. She's probably still mulling it over.

As Clayton Cornell wrote on gas2.0, new research has shown that diesel fuel, besides being a hazard for lungs, is also hazardous for growing brains.

This is bad news for an especially susceptible population—children—who spend significant amounts of time in diesel buses. Twenty-four million children ride in diesel school buses each day, amounting to about one half-hour per child. Research has also shown that the level of diesel exhaust inside school buses is substantially higher than outside.

Read more »

Win FREE Baby Stuff at Baby-to-Bee! Free Diapers, Coupons, Samples, Free Subscriptions to Top Baby Magazines, Gift Vouchers, Health Advice, and Other FREE Offers!

Growing Family Club wants to provide you with discounts, coupons and samples on the things you and your baby need. Your free membership also entitles you to receive several “milestone gifts”. These age-specific gifts are useful and relevant items designed to make your parenting experience ever more rewarding.