Update

Saturday I had one of the most productive days of this fall. I managed to:
1. hem my jeans that have been waiting for over 2 months and I used this cool method I'd never heard of, but worked quite well.
2. make two pans of spanikopita for Thanksgiving.
3. Nora and I decorated hand turkeys and construction paper leaves to decorate the table on Thursday (I even traced real leaves - pin oak, tulip and maple - I feel so Martha)
4. sorted and resold a stack of Nora's clothes back to Kangaroo Kids where I got $30 in store credit, which I promptly spent. The rest of her old clothes went to Alana, my cousin's little girl.
5. We went to see Todd and Natascha and had a wonderful time catching up and planning for a crafty girls day.

I cannot believe I got that all done. Of course I've done nothing since then, although we did see my Aunt & Uncle and Nora went horseback riding again with Ellen. Maybe next time I'll get up on a horse too.

In other news, we took Nora to the allergist this morning. We got good news and bad news. On the good front, Nora was able to get a flu shot and it looks like she is non-reactive to peanuts, so we get to do an oral test with those. On the bad front, she is still very reactive and shows no progress towards outgrowing her egg and milk allergies. She is also allergic to almonds which sort of rules out all other tree nuts since they are usually processed together. We plan to do an oral test with her this weekend with peanut butter and I'm really hoping all goes well. It is very daunting to give your child something to eat that has the potential to make her very sick. Wish us luck.

My World Is Changing

I've been hearing about Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods for a while now, and I finally got around to buying it this summer when we were in Arkansas. But it wasn't until I committed to go to a book discussion about it for work that i finally got around to reading it. I cracked the book yesterday and I'm almost finished - unheard of for me and non-fiction, which usually takes me weeks to finish - and now I can't stop talking about it. This book broke something open in me, and now I'm so emotional about it, I'm a mess, which is sort of a problem since I have to speak about it rationally tomorrow. Anyway to organize my thoughts, this is why I like it:

1. Louv could have gone a completely different way with the tone of this book, when I first started reading, I immediately bristled wondering if I was going to feel like a miserable parent for not taking Nora backwoods camping at the age of two. But he didn't. Yes, he clearly does stuff like this with his kids, but really what he's advocating is for parents to ensure that kids get out of the house and into a natural setting everyday. This could mean trips to the park, but it can also mean growing a seed in a dixie cup or watching the birds land on the railing. In one of the best passages of the book, Louv reassures us that making the reconnection is possible, that it doesn't have to be a giant task, and he gives us permission to have fun and to learn things too:

" But before I take you on this hike, let me say something about the pressures that parents endure. Simply put, many of us must overcome the belief that something isn't worth doing with our kids unless we do it right. If getting our kids out into nature is a search for perfection, or is one more chore, then the belief in perfection and the chore defeats the joy. It's a good thing to learn more about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun."

2. He makes a really strong case for our need for Nature for a. mental health b. cognitive learning c. physical health d. the creative process. Our disconnect from nature is really messing us up on all four of these fronts and ruining the earth for everything else on top of it. Really that's it in a nutshell, but this book is so much more.

3. This book should be required reading for parents, educators and policy makers for Chapter 8 - the section on ADHD and the benefits of being in nature to combat it- alone. If you don't read any other part of this book, read that chapter, it is incredibly powerful.

4. He puts the responsibility for making our re-connection to nature on a multiple shoulders (well actually everyone) but he doesn't hang parents or teachers out to dry by saying its all their fault or that they are the ones who can fix this. He takes on universities, environmental groups, government, corporations,educators, parents and everyday folks and gives extremely sound advice about how to make this work. i.e.: this book doesn't just tell you there's this huge society wide problem that is destroying us, but it also gives ideas on how to fix it and points to places where folks are doing it right. Louv also cites lots of research to back up his claims but he also tells us where no one is doing any research, or not enough research, or the research is faulty to support his arguments to encourage more work to be done.

5. This book is readable. It doesn't overwhelm you with statistics (although there are plenty), it doesn't feel like you are being lectured, it's well set up and most of all it is extremely interesting, not just for parents and not just for educators and not just for green folks (although I am all three of those).

So, please check the book out. You can borrow it from me or buy your own copy or go to the library. Whatever it takes. If you want the readers condensed version check out the link to the Orion magazine article he wrote (it's where you will go if you click on his name above). Maybe you won't have the epiphany-revealing, earth-shattering, emotional reaction to it that I have, but maybe you'll like it anyway and maybe it will convince you to go take a walk in the woods. I hope so.

Indoors and Outdoors

Environmental Educator David Soule is coming to Webster in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I won't be able to hear him speak, due to other plans, but I have been motivated to take a look at some of his writings. I recommend reading his essay Beyond Ecophobia, which takes a look at what most schools are doing around environmental education and whether it's actually effective. I think his arguments make a lot of sense and he and Richard Louv (Last Child In the Woods) have been making me think about our lack of connection to our natural world and how I can make sure Nora has more time in it. Interestingly, their writings are bringing me closer to Waldorf education, despite some of my concerns about it. And I am ever more wishful that we could afford to send Nora to an Reggio Emilio school, but that is sort of out the question right now. Actually, I wish every child could to to an Reggio school, but unfortunately, no one is asking me about education policy (at least no one who has power to change education policy). In some ways, Nora, thanks to my parents and extended family, gets much more time in nature than many children do, but I also think that her parents are not always the best models for appreciating the out of doors. Mainly because Jason and I are much more likely to go read a book than we are to go on a hike. While I think reading books are a great idea, I sort of wish we were a little, teensy, bit more outdoorsy than we are. I'm not suggesting we suddenly decide to take up kayaking any time soon, but maybe we'll take Nora on her first camping trip this spring.

Notes From The Trip

We're on day 6 of our trip to South Texas and we've learned a few things along the way. 

1. Portable DVD players are a wonderful invention. 

2. One of the most unpleasant things in the world is waking up because a toddler is vomiting on you in a hotel room.  And we were so excited about that king size bed....

3.  The only thing worse about waking up with a toddler vomiting on you at 4 am, is when she continues to vomit throughout the morning,  We felt so bad for her, and it really sucks when you can't make it go away so she'll feel better. 

4.  While considerably less worse than the above, dealing with an explosive diaper blow out in a hot, dirty truck stop parking lot is pretty bad too.  Ganado, you are not my favorite Texas town.  Also bad is calling your friend from the night before and letting him know that you've exposed him to a nasty stomach bug.  Sorry, Bob. 

5.  Despite the unpleasantness above, the look on Grant's face when we finally arrived made it all worth it.  We all had a great time on the ranch, and Nora got to ride in the truck without a carseat, call the cows, and chase the dog, Bonnie, all over.  

6.  Rattlesnakes are really freaking big and really freaking scary.  I'm still freaking out that Nora was within yards of one.

6 a.  We really need to teach Nora some sense of proportion - rattlesnakes are really freaking big and really freaking scary and butterflies are not. 

7.  Texas history can be very interesting and it's worth driving down here to check out the historic sites even if you don't have family here.  Be sure to make a stop in Goliad for the presidio and mission. 

8.  South Texas really needs some rain.  It hasn't rained since August, and then it wasn't much.  When we were taking off it started to rain, but I'm not sure that it kept doing it. 

9.  One of the best things in the whole world is standing on the shore, letting the waves crash into you while a 3 year old giggles and giggles and giggles.  We might have been hungry and sleepy, but really, isn't this what what we came to the beach for?  It's pretty awesome.  

I'm really glad we got that in yesterday, because today is much cooler (okay it's the 70's instead of 84 degrees), overcast and rainy.  While we'll probably go back to the beach today (Nora will be really sad if we don't) I don't think we'll be getting into the water.  Also on the agenda today are the aquariums at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.  We leave tomorrow morning to start the three day journey back home, although I'm wondering how feasible it is to do it in two days.  Wish us luck on the journey home!

CPSIA Goes Into Effect Today, RIP Handmade Toys

It is ironic that the same day the Senate is poised to sign the Economic Stimulus Bill is the same day that the day the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act takes effect. While I'm very much in favor of the intent behind this legislation, this act is unfortunately shutting down independent US (and Canadian) made children's toys and clothing manufactures as we speak. We’ll still have Mattel and all that crap from China but we won’t have handcrafted toys, like my daughter’s wooden play kitchen, which was made in New Hampshire by a honest-to-God cabinet-maker and sealed with a hand-rubbed all-natural beeswax finish, because apparently we can’t write a bill that offers exemptions to these types of toy manufacturers. You know, the toys that have stood the test of time, the toys that we all claim we wish kids still played with, well there has been an explosion of these types of toy producers on the internet through websites like Etsy and Hyena Cart and other handmade sites over the last 5 years. Unfortunately, these sellers tend to be small (like one employee small) and in business both because they love to make things with their hands and also because they need to make ends meet. Sometimes they work other jobs, sometimes they are lucky enough to make a product that has captured the attention of enough people to support themselves and their families from their efforts. These are the same folks who can’t afford to pay the thousands of dollars worth of lead testing that the act requires. However they are also the same manufactures who do the research to make sure the products they use are safe and since they are making them in their homes primarily from natural, non-toxic raw materials, they are safe. While there was a last minute dispensation for libraries and used clothing stores to give Congress a year to figure out if the act should apply to them (and I don’t think it should), Congress did not make that same dispensation cover the thousands of small business people who use non-toxic, natural materials to make quality children's toys and clothes. The big toy importers who pay sweatshop rates to impoverished adults and children over seas will be able to pay for the testing of all the plastic junk they import, but already, shops are closing on the handmade sites and the rest of us are struggling to find the black market where we can continue to buy the toys and clothes we love or we’ll have to make it ourselves. When are we going to get something right in this country?

Girl Scouts Grown Up

I'm loving these Mommy Merit Badges for the of trials and tribulations of parenthood. Jason deserves several of them as well. The past week we've been trying to night ween which is giving me the idea that I really deserve the Tantrum badge as well as the Breastfeeding Badge. Maybe I'll get some for the diaper bag.