Change Becomes Change

Saying goodbye - it's been a tragic day

As I write this, I've got Dateline NBC's special around Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett on the TV. It's still unbelievable that these two icons have passed away. I grew up listening to my favorites, like Billy Jean, while teasing my hair before school, then performing the entire Thriller routine at practically every dance team competition in high school. I moonwalked and went through my own one-glove phase (thankfully a really short one!). And I later watched the star get tainted as his years of emotional and mental troubles came to surface. I hope that Michael is always remembered for the unbelievably talented king of pop that made young girls around the world cry and scream - not for the hurt that overcame his life. 

A friend posted this on Facebook tonight - it gave me goosebumps, so I had to share. This is part of the MJ I'll always remember. Like me, I'm sure you have special memories around the first time you heard "I wanna be startin' somethin'" or "Beat it", and the first time you saw the long version of Thriller. When we hear his music now, the memories will mean so much more.

And then there's Farrah Fawcett. Oh, how I wanted to be one of Charlie's Angels. And Farrah had the most fabulous hair! I even had her "styling head" - a gigantic Farrah Fawcett doll head with hair that you could style with the perfect feather and apply some makeup. Baby blue eyeshadow, of course. I practiced with that head of hair until I had it perfected so that I could move on to my own mane.

But recently I got a little closer to another side of Farrah Fawcett - the courageous, brave woman fighting a daily battle against cancer. While I cannot even begin to understand all that she went through and felt, I'm so very touched that she wanted to share her journey with me. And she shared it all in Farrah's Story - the good, the bad and the sometimes very ugly side of her cancer and it's impact on her body.

What I really enjoyed was witnessing the growing love and respect between Farrah and her long-time partner, Ryan O'Neal. Over the many years of their love affair, Ryan proposed to her multiple times and it wasn't until earlier this week that she said yes - as soon as she was strong enough to say "I do". My heart breaks for them both.

 

Farrah- you have touched my life. I'd like to think of you as my very own Angel. Thank you

If Farrah has touched your life, or if someone that you love has fought this battle too - click here and donate a gift in memory of them to the American Cancer Society so that critical research will find a cure someday. Our own lives, or our children, might depend on it someday. Thank you

3 Reasons to stop using antibacterial wipes or soaps

 

When my first baby was born, I was often called a germaphobe - for very good reasons that I won‘t even attempt to deny. Before we even brought him home from the hospital, every sink in the house was outfitted with some sweet-smelling antibacterial soap from Bath n’ Body Works. Our diaper bag was filled with antibacterial wipes, along with both cars, all purses and the nursery. We encouraged the use of a bink at indoor play places like our children’s museum so that he couldn’t put germ covered toys or fingers in his mouth. And as he got older, we had our own little mats to put down at restaurants (after scrubbing the high chair, table and other surfaces with the wipes!).

We didn’t do half of those things with my second baby, and we rarely use an antibacterial wipe now. Why? What’s changed? A couple things.

1. He still got sick. Our primary goal was to protect him from evil germs but they found their way thru our protective barriers. Funny thing is, antibacterial ingredients don’t kill viruses that lead to colds and flu. Great. We didn’t know.

2. We learned about the potential danger of “super bugs” - bacteria that becomes resistant to drugs from overuse of antibacterial soaps. We certainly didn’t want to help those kinds of bugs.

3. All of those products labeled “antibacterial” contain a harmful chemical called triclosan that has been linked to cancer, liver and inhalation toxicity, and thyroid issues.  Now, I’m no scientist, but these are critical development years for my kids and chemicals can’t be good for growing strong, healthy bodies.

So now we wash our hands with good old fashioned soap. There’s not much in our soap and we look for the kind without dyes, perfumes and other chemicals that we and the earth are sensitive to. The key is to wash our hands for 26 seconds to really kill the germs so the kids know to sing the alphabet while they scrub. For our youngest, she loves to show us how well she sings her ABC’s so this is almost a game (hurray).

I’ve learned to let go of most of my germ fears knowing that we’re armed with soap and water - but I know they still lurk in school, at restaurants and other indoor places where children gather. I haven’t figured out how to win the battle there yet since I know it‘s not something that always happens when I‘m not around. And I continue to look forward to the day when my youngest doesn’t lick her finger after dragging it along the escalator rail.

Will you friend, fan or follow the chemicals industry? They want you to.

Are you concerned about exposing your children to harmful chemicals? Would you consider being a spokesperson for the chemicals industry by exposing your unborn child to potentially harmful products in order to help their cause?

Even if that job requires you to sign a release form protecting the chemicals industry from any liability should your child develop birth defects or other harm later in life. Nice, huh?

If you’re not aware of the harmful effects of the chemical BPA (bisphenol A), I strongly urge you to read more here about where it’s found (you’ll be surprised) and the potential harm it exposes our children to.

Parents have had success so far in getting BPA out of most baby bottles, along with some counties, cities and states, and are providing the support and momentum to push legislative that will ban a host of known harmful chemicals in children’s products. It's been a long, hard battle, but we're making progress with the collective help of each other.

Against the voice of the consumers, the chemicals industry and lobbyists are fighting back using scare tactics. Instead of investing in safe alternatives for BPA, the industry recently met to construct a $500,000 PR plan using an expecting mom (who signs that release form, of course) to convince moms across the country that we shouldn’t be afraid of BPA. They want us to ignore the facts presented by every reputable 3rd party and listen to them, the chemicals industry - they have our best interests in mind. Right?

This outrages me. Because, like the Corn Refiners Association with their “high fructose corn syrup is natural“ campaign, I fear that these folks will convince some parents that BPA is ok. And it’s clearly not. Many other governments support that and ours will too when the FDA reviews the information under unbiased leadership.

If you're not convinced, check out the meeting minutes from the chemicals industry meeting mentioned above. It's all there, with the highlights pointed out.

So, for now it’s up to us parents. We need to stand up and protect the rights of our children to a safe childhood, free of harmful chemicals. We need to share this information with friends and family that have children, grandchildren or take care of them. BPA lurks in many unsuspecting places like the liners of canned foods, beverage bottles, even reusable plastic bottles and many toys.

What can we do?

Use your dollars to advocate by avoiding can foods - buy fresh (always best!), frozen, or look for glass packaging.

See how Coke and Del Monte are involved to plot against mothers here and what we can do about it.

Learn more about the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act at the Environmental Working Group's website.

Join EWG's Facebook group by clicking here to get updates on the issues and have an opportunity to get involved.

Host a Healthy Child Healthy World Home Party with some friends who are pregnant  or have young children to share some of this information with. It’s a fun, light way to spread the word. Healthy Child Healthy World will send you everything you need for just $20, along with great samples from their sponsors. You can learn more about hosting a party right here.

I’m passionate about keeping my kids chemical-free (if you couldn’t tell already). And I’d love to help you keep yours safe too. We’ve made a lot of really simple changes in our life to avoid them - call or write me if you want help or suggestions to do this in your home too. 

A visit to the White House

Did you watch last night's visit with MSNBC at the White House? I've not had much interest in year's past to something like this but I'm curious...so I did.

Overall, I found it interesting and enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the day to day workings of the presidency. Here's some points that struck me as pretty unique to President Obama:

It's so refreshing to see a good amount of youths working at the White House! The perception has always been that the office staff was a much older age group. What a great opportunity for these young people to learn and play a role in change, so early in their career!

When did the press corp go casual? They're probably people behind the scenes, like cameramen, but still...this is the White House and you're not on the tourist tour. Leave the Tommy Bahamas and shorts for Five Guys Burgers.

Did you see that they have music piping through the offices? And it wasn't elevator music! I got the definite impression that this job isn't all stress and hair-pulling pressure. There appeared to be some fun and laughter going on. They even had M&M stashes everywhere which is a must-have for any highly productive office environment.

Is it just me, or do you feel that we have more insights into the life and business of this president? Have Americans demanded it? Is it his presence in social media? Is it just his personality? Are we tuning in for anything Obama related because we admire the family, the marriage and Michelle Obama's killer arms and wardrobe?

How do you deal with the news these days?

The news these days are filled with so much hardship and violence – heck, the reality is that our country has some scary things going on and the media is just reporting it.

We each have our own worries and fears in today’s economy, but for young children, this could be a frightening or stressful time for them. In our family, we don’t expose our kids to the news, but instead share real-world realities with them so that we can monitor what they’re absorbing and talk about it - in an age-appropriate way.

When we see homeless folks near my office downtown, on our SOLV clean up or just around town, the children tend to inquire. We talk about why they’re not sleeping in a warm, cozy home like we do, and what challenges they’re likely faced with, like lack of food, shelter and warmth. It’s hard for them to understand since those basic needs are unconditionally provided for themselves.

It’s wonderful that children are naturally so compassionate and they want to help. I’ve shared here before that we’ve given food to folks on the street, but the kids always want to do more. They gave a man that they frequently see by the mall, a rain suit one very wet day and were so touched when they saw him wearing it the next rainy day.

I’m curious how other families are dealing with today’s realities – what are you exposing your children to? How are you handling these tough issues in your home?

For us, it’s been an opportunity to count our blessings and a reminder of all that we are so appreciative for.

Have you signed the Declaration of Service?

Have you even heard about it? I hadn't until this afternoon when I read a twitter post from @BeTheChangeInc and one thing led to another. So, I've now signed the Declaration of Service and committed to 50 hours of service, and I feel so proud. Like I've done something really heroic - even though I haven't (at least, not yet!).

The site is rich with inspiration and ideas from others who have made the pledge - even Stephen Colbert signed up! Oh, and other important people like our President, and Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch. I can't do the site or program justice so please visit the site when you have a few minutes and maybe you'll find your own inspiration.

So now the big question that I know you're thinking (because I am too): how will we serve during those 50 hours? The analytic in me also wonders what the excel spreadsheet will look like that we'll use to track all those hours - tabs, sheets & formulas, oh how my number-crunching son will love that task! 

Back to the BIG question. For Thursday, we're going to gather more things we can donate to others in need and will make a drop off to our local Goodwill shop. We'll put the box of berry and nut bars we bought at Costco in the car for those in need on our journeys. And, finally, we'll discuss this more over dinner so we can continue the momentum and keep new ideas flowing.