June Greetings

Yes, it is June 6 and I honestly don't remember the last time I posted.  Life, as usual, has been crazy and we haven't stopped since... well... we haven't stopped.

The kids finished up school two weeks ago and with that I also put a lock down on my advocacy schedule in order to focus on them through the summer.  Mostly.  I'll explain the "mostly" in a bit.

We put up a bathtub pool in the backyard so that the kids could get some swimming time in.  It's a 12 foot temporary thing that takes more time to maintain than we are able to spend enjoying it.  The kids do love it and it's a great way to wear them out late in the afternoon.

Of course, my kids insist on wearing water wings even though it's only 2.5' deep. 

In other news, The Husband has started running and we completed our first 5k together this weekend!  He did awesome and came in two minutes faster than I did.  He has been bitten by the running bug and wants to complete the Peachtree Road Race with me this year.  I'm very proud of him!!!

There's a lot of other fun things going on, but the kids are already demanding lunch so I have to cut this post short.  Before I go, here's the scoop on the "mostly" reference earlier.

I was invited to speak at a national conference in July!!! I will be presenting two sessions on "school issues" at the APFED 9th annual national conference in Greenville, SC.  I am so, so, excited!  APFED stands for the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders. I currently advocate for four kids affected by these related disorders and I feel strongly about helping these families so this is a big deal for me both personally and professionally.  

Last but not least, because of my work, I've had to restrict my blog access to only family members and close friends.  If someone you know would like to be added to my list or has been inadvertently left off, please send me a message and let me know.  

Love, hugs, and blessings,

The Mama

Wordy Wednesday

In my spare time (HA!), I am a volunteer education advocate for children with special needs.  You can read a little bit more about it on my other blog.  I urge you to check it out and tell your friends. 


I am having a hard time right now understanding why schools are so against parent advocates.  


I feel like in a lot of ways, I am unique and have a lot to offer in the special education planning process.  I do not have children with special needs for whom I am advocating.  I have no bankable interests in special education aside from my desire to help.  I was trained for what I do purely based on the fact that I wanted to help be a voice for those individuals who cannot speak for themselves.


A little background:  I came into education advocacy by chance.  Long story short, I was selected to be part of a special training through the Georgia Advocacy Office six years ago.  Soon after graduation I found out that I was pregnant with my first child.  Even when I was going through the training, I spent a lot of time wondering why I was exposing myself to the nasty Downtown Atlanta germs once a week (yes, I'm a tad on the OCD side) and to be perfectly honest, once I quit my "day job" and had that notch in my belt of having completed the training I didn't really give it much additional thought.  Life, diapers, and a seemingly endless flow of pregnancy and nursing followed.


Then about a year ago, a friend of mine expressed that she was having problems with the school with regards to her child who experiences Autism.  I told her I would find someone to help her.


As it turns out, I was that "someone".


Two dozen meetings, 10 active cases, and three Professional Ethics Complaints later, being an education advocate for children with special needs has become my secondary purpose in life.  My first is, of course, managing the zoo that is my day to day life of being a mom to three very young kids.


I always try to make one thing clear.  I am an advocate for CHILDREN.  So when a school tries to block me from participating or gives me unfounded rationale as to why I am not an integral part of the decision making team, I have a hard time not getting my feathers ruffled.  


I have recently been faced with "practices" intended to keep me, as an advocate, out of the decision making group.  I am irritated with the fact that schools lead parents to believe that practice equates policy, thus scaring them away from fighting for what they know is right for their children.  

As an advocate for the child, I believe that it is my responsibility to make sure that I am looking at all sides of the situation to ensure that the child's rights are being protected and that decisions are being made that are going to be in his/her best interest. This sometimes means that I may disagree with the parent; sometimes I may disagree with the school.  Sometimes, they may be saying the same things in two different ways and I need to figure out what the core issues are so that we can make sure we are staying on topic and making progress .  I thought this was the entire point in being an advocate for the child.  I am not on the side of the School or the Parents.  I am there as the child's voice.  

In a time when our schools are strapped for resources, funding, time, etc., I am struggling to understand why advocates are the "bad guys" who take things off track.  Perhaps I am naive, but I think that looking at advocates as a benefit rather than as a burden offers the potential for a lot more good than harm.  If we can eliminate the need for long, unnecessary, and often contentious meetings by looking at the situation from an external perspective, then why shouldn't we, the advocates, be involved in the process without putting up additional barriers to communication? 

At the end of the day, it's the children who are suffering because of these ridiculous "practices" and they are the ones we should be protecting.

Just my Wordy thoughts for this Wednesday evening.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

FO Friday

Rotten Fruit

I know you probably can't tell what this is, but it is my FO for this week... it is one of the first finished objects that I can actually share in a long time!!!

Yes, this is a post about knitting... And??

The pattern is Citron and the yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in black(I think).  I have a bad habit of winding my yarn into neat little balls and misplacing the labels before I get them cataloged.

Anyway, Citron is a truly lovely pattern and I really, REALLY enjoyed knitting it.  It took me a little over two weeks of inconsistent knit time.  The picture is of it blocking.

I've been wanting a black shawl and this perfectly fits the bill!  I even wore it to an IEP meeting last week and felt quite proud that I had actually created something wearable.

In other news, I've been helping out at my favorite LYS (Local Yarn Shop), Cast on Cottage,  as they prepare for their big move.  It was nice to get out for a few hours each day this week and fondle smooshy, soft yarn in rich, amazing colors.  I have a few new favorites: Misti Alpaca (any-all-YUMMY), Malabrigo Twist in Indiecieta, and Lorna's Laces new Ysolda Red.

I'm working on finishing my beaded Saroyan and intend to have it ready to share with you guys next week!

My other fantastic FO for the week has been the addition of my Facebook Page for Right to Learn Education Advocacy and a facelift on my Other Blog.  If you have a spare second, please "LIKE" my page on Facebook and add Right to Learn to your blogroll!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Expect more from me next week...

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

Our Students Need You!

Did you know that any student in our public schools can be restrained and secluded for any reason, at anytime, by any employee of a school district, without telling the student's family?  That any student can be locked in cells in school for any length of time and no one know that it happened?  Do you want this to CHANGE?

The State Board of Education must hear from YOU!  ATTEND or WRITE THEM about how they must protect students and schools from these dangerous practices next Wednesday, June 9th in Atlanta at 1:00. The TIME IS NOW.  

Please help us fill the room on June 9, 2010.  If you can attend, please RSVP to Rashidah Ansari at GAO at 404-885-1234 or ransari@thegao.org. 

             

If you are not able to attend in person, please write to the Board of Education to voice your concerns. A sample template is here.

The Safe Schools Initiative is hosting a press conference following the public comment (at 2:15 p.m.).  Please stay and join the crowd to show the State that you support safe learning environments for all students.

Meeting details are as follows:

The public hearing is at 1 p.m. at the Department of Education (DOE), which is located at 2053 Twin Towers East, 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta 30334.  The DOE is on the 20th floor.  To access the public hearing space, turn right when you get off the elevator and you will be at the room.  Below are directions, parking information, as well as MARTA information.  Parking is $5 cash.

We recommend you arrive early if you plan to make public comment.  There will be a sign-up sheet as you exit the elevator to the right.  There is a food court located in the building.  We suggest you arrive early, sign up to speak, then have lunch and return to the meeting space. 

Please note that all speakers have only three minutes to speak.  For that reason, we suggest you make a script or have notes to help you stay on track and within the allotted time.

The Floyd building is located directly northeast of the State Capitol in the block between Piedmont Avenue and Butler Street, facing Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Parking is available in the Pete Hackney lot on Butler Street. To access the Floyd Building, there is a bridge on the 5th level of the parking deck. Once you cross the bridge, take the stairs or elevator to the 3rd level to enter the Building.

For premium convenience, the Georgia State MARTA Station is located in the Floyd Building.

Traveling I-75/85 Southbound

Exit #248A Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive. Turn right onto Martin Luther King, turn right onto Butler Street, then right into the Pete Hackney parking lot.

Traveling I-75/85 Northbound

Exit #246 Fulton Street. Turn right onto Fulton, then left onto Capitol Avenue. Cross over Memorial Drive turn right onto Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Turn left onto Butler Street, then right into the Pete Hackney parking lot.

Traveling I-20 Westbound

Exit 258A Capital Avenue. Turn right onto Capital Avenue and follow to Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and turn right. Go to the first traffic light and turn left onto Butler Street. Parking deck is on the right.

Traveling I-20 Eastbound

Exit 256B Windsor/Spring Street follow straight on this street to Central Avenue (3rd traffic light). Turn left onto Central Avenue turn right on Memorial Drive. Go to second traffic light and turn left onto Capitol Avenue. Turn right onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Turn left onto Butler Street. Parking deck is on the right.

More information:

Parent to Parent: http://www.p2pga.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&catid=48&Itemid=66

Georgia Advocacy Office:

http://www.thegao.org/SafeSchools.htm

Thank you for taking the time to make a difference!

Love, hugs, and blessings,

The Mama

Quick Recommendation

I only have a minute to post right now.  I was gone all day and feel the germies calling my name so I'm going to be brief.

I heard the most amazing speaker today.  When I say amazing, I mean blown away, perspective changing, easy to understand but deep to the depths of the earth amazing.

David Pitonyak is humble, unassuming, knowledgeable, approachable, and relatable.  His talk today was hosted by the Georgia Advocacy Office and was intended to cover some of the advocacy topics I'm currently working on.

What made this conference so amazing is that he gave information that is relevant to not only my advocacy work, but also to my work as a mother, wife, sister, friend, daughter, human, etc.

I'm going to highlight some of what I learned on my Other Site in the next few days, but in the meantime, check out his site: Imagine for more information.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

Restored Faith In Our Future

Before I explain the title for this post, I have a few housekeeping things I would like to address.

1.  Thank you so much for your comments!!! They really do mean a lot to me.  Just a heads up though, if you leave your name as "I.P. Freely", you can be assured that your comment will likely not get published... no matter how funny it might be.  

2.  I've noticed that it's pretty hard to navigate my site.  If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.  I am going to work on condensing my labels/tags and am going to try and develop some easier search options.  You may notice these changes over the next few days.

3.  If there's anything you would like to see me cover, feel free to email me or leave me a comment!  I take time to read every email and comment, even if they don't all get published.

Now, onto the good stuff!!!

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was particularly concerned about the future of our nation.  You can find my rant here.

Today, my faith has been restored and I feel extremely confident that our future is in the hands of some movers and shakers that are thoughtful, well spoken, and both emotionally and intellectually intelligent.

Earlier this week, The Board of Regents announced that it would be making significant cuts in order to offset the budget crisis currently facing The University System of Georgia.  Details on the proposal can be found here.  

In short, the cuts not only negatively affect students, but also affect the community of Athens through the elimination of hundreds of jobs and the cross-cooperation of dozens of county organizations.  There is a lot more to it, and I strongly encourage you to browse the article so that you can form your own opinions.

Today, The University of Georgia's SGA President published an article in the AJC that gives a voice to the thousands of students and other interested individuals who will be affected by the hasty proposals.  All personal favoritism aside, the article is one of the best editorials that I have read in a long time.  It is well thought out, offers realistic solutions, and genuinely challenges the Board of Regents' proposals.  

I have to say that I am extremely proud of Ms. Barlow's willingness to publicly and articulately stand up to the legislature.  She has shown that the SGA President truly IS the voice of the students.  All too often, students are silenced by administrations who seek to quiet the masses through intimidation, and the old "smoke and mirror" tricks.  What has often been seen as a figurehead position actually does have a purpose.  While Ms. Barlow's name may be the one on the article, she is the voice of over 36,000 students.  The president of the university and administration needs to listen to their students.  The University and the students who are critical to it's survival need to be able to engage in open dialogue.

I am quite certain that the students have an uphill battle ahead of them.  I have no doubt, however, that if Ms. Barlow and the other 36,000 students she is representing can remain steadfast in their demand for open dialogue and revisions to the proposal, change is possible.  

This issue is bigger than Snookie's hair.  This deserves our attention.  And these young people definitely get a fist pump of support from me.

Love, hugs, and blessings,

The Mama

Edited to add:  11 Alive News covered the story yesterday.  You can click on the link below to view the video.  As my Mini-Me stated when she saw the video, "Katie and Stephen Rocked the Casbah!!!"
http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=70076674001

Giggles and Boobs

I've been giggling to myself all day long.  Not about boobs though... I'll get to that later.

My mowhawk clad half-pint reminded me once again this morning that I need to censor what comes out of my mouth.

As he struggled to put his jacket on, the little one hissed something to the likes of, "I'm so freakin' cold!"

Wait... WHAT???

I really didn't think that "freaking" or "freakin'" was that bad, until it came out of the mouth of my two year old!

To make sure he really said the PG13 version, I asked him to repeat it.  Again, in a slightly sharper weren't-you-listening-the-first-time tone, he hissed, "I'm SO FREAKIN' cold!!"

Note to self: Censor. Censor. Censor.  Freedom of speech (A.K.A. freedom of foul language) should not be allowed in front of impressionable preschooler ears.  There is a time and place for everything after all!

In other news and on a totally unrelated note, some of you may know that I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total boob-nazi.  If it works for you, great.  If not, then so be it.  It has to work for both BABY AND MOMMY!  But at the end of the day, breastmilk IS nature's perfect food for babies.  It just is what it is.

Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, a flood of Facebook messages lit up my news feed with information about breastmilk donation for the babies who had been affected by the disaster.  If you read my post the other day, you know what  a hard time I've been having processing the devastation.  I immediately contacted the numbers to get more information and find out if it was a legitimate call for help.  I am still nursing our youngest child and figured that it might be small, but that donating milk would be an easy way that I could help the littlest victims.

I was disappointed to find out that the calls for donations are not legitimate.  Unfortunately, because of the highly perishable nature of breastmilk and the immense difficulties that crews are facing getting supplies to victims of the quake, there are no donation banks accepting milk for Haitian babies affected by the disaster.  Furthermore, I learned that if the potential donor is nursing a child who is over the age of twelve months, her milk is not eligible for donation.  Boo.

And while we're here, let's take this moment as an opportunity for some education.  The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends breastfeeding for the first six months and up through two years of age.

Over the past decades, evidence for the health advantages of breastfeeding and recommendations for practice have continued to increase. WHO can now say with full confidence that breastfeeding reduces child mortality and has health benefits that extend into adulthood. On a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is the recommended way of feeding infants, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

Source: http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/topics/prevention_care/child/nutrition/breastfeeding/en/index.html

Furthermore, evidence suggests that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer - which unless you are new to this blog, you know that I am also a huge advocate of breast cancer awareness.  This fact has not been a deciding factor in whether or not to breastfeed my children, but it is an added bonus.

After pregnancy, breastfeeding for a long period of time (for example, a year or longer) further reduces breast cancer risk by a small amount. Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/pregnancy 

So yes, I am still nursing my 15 month old.  And yes, I would be more than happy and willing to donate milk to a child in need.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

Helping Haiti Made Easy

I'll be updating in the next day or so with some additional Haiti relief links.

In the meantime, donating to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts could not possibly be any easier!  In fact, I believe that this may very well be the EASIEST thing the government has done in a long time (well, aside from that whole taking taxes straight from our paycheck thing).

This is directly from the US Department of State Official Blog:

For those interested in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

For more information, you can go to: US Dept. of State Blog - Haiti Relief

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

Feel Your Boobies Friday!!!

Early detection is the best defense in the fight against Breast Cancer. Every day, thousands of lives are saved thanks to self breast exams that find masses otherwise undetected on a mammogram.

Recently, a mama friend of mine was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Fortunately she performed routine self breast checks and identified a lump that was not detected on a mammogram. Jess has a young daughter the same age as my son and is gearing up for the fight of her life. She is young, strong, and does not have the genetic markers that predispose her to this undiscriminating disease.

Breast Cancer doesn't care about your race, age, social status, or economic background. It doesn't care if you have kids. It chooses it's victims randomly and attacks often without warning. You are your best defense against this disease.

How to examine your breasts

• Lie down and place your right arm behind your head. The exam is done while lying down, not standing up. This is because when lying down the breast tissue spreads evenly over the chest wall and is as thin as possible, making it much easier to feel all the breast tissue.

• Use the finger pads of the 3 middle fingers on your left hand to feel for lumps in the right breast. Use overlapping dime-sized circular motions of the finger pads to feel the breast tissue.

• Use 3 different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue. Light pressure is needed to feel the tissue closest to the skin; medium pressure to feel a little deeper; and firm pressure to feel the tissue closest to the chest and ribs. It is normal to feel a firm ridge in the lower curve of each breast, but you should tell your doctor if you feel anything else out of the ordinary. If you're not sure how hard to press, talk with your doctor or nurse. Use each pressure level to feel the breast tissue before moving on to the next spot.

• Move around the breast in an up and down pattern starting at an imaginary line drawn straight down your side from the underarm and moving across the breast to the middle of the chest bone (sternum or breastbone). Be sure to check the entire breast area going down until you feel only ribs and up to the neck or collar bone (clavicle).

• There is some evidence to suggest that the up-and-down pattern (sometimes called the vertical pattern) is the most effective pattern for covering the entire breast, without missing any breast tissue.

• Repeat the exam on your left breast, putting your left arm behind your head and using the finger pads of your right hand to do the exam.

• While standing in front of a mirror with your hands pressing firmly down on your hips, look at your breasts for any changes of size, shape, contour, or dimpling, or redness or scaliness of the nipple or breast skin. (The pressing down on the hips position contracts the chest wall muscles and enhances any breast changes.)

• Examine each underarm while sitting up or standing and with your arm only slightly raised so you can easily feel in this area. Raising your arm straight up tightens the tissue in this area and makes it harder to examine.

This procedure for doing breast self exam is different from previous recommendations. These changes represent an extensive review of the medical literature and input from an expert advisory group. There is evidence that this position (lying down), the area felt, pattern of coverage of the breast, and use of different amounts of pressure increase a woman's ability to find abnormal areas.

Source: http://www.cancer.org

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

Support My Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk!

What person doesn't love to get a little gift?

For every gift you give to me, I will give right back to you!

I've designed these mini key-fobs just for YOU! Just donate a minimum of $10.00, and I will send you a free embroidered and handmade Breast Cancer Awareness Key-fob.

Use the form below to donate. Be sure to include all of your information so I can get your fob in the mail ASAP!

Breast Cancer 3-Day Ambassador

You may have noticed a beautiful pink and black Ambassador logo on the right side of my page. While this went up a few weeks ago, it has taken me some time to get it together to let you know what it is all about.

In October, I will be participating in my first ever Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. In order to follow my journey, I have started another blog that you can follow here. I will be updating both blogs with miscellaneous information but will try to not be redundant on both. I'm going to keep the Mama Milk Maker blog strictly to 3-Day information.

I feel like committing to this walk is a HUGE undertaking. It seems like everywhere I turn, someone else's life is being dramatically affected by breast cancer. Both of my grandmother's had it. There are amazingly inspirational women whom I have never met who are battling it. There are young mothers that I was blessed to briefly know who have lost their lives to this disease.

I'm doing the walk for all of these women and the millions who are bravely fighting this disease every day. I'm participating for the mothers of young children who want to live to see their babies graduate from high school. I am walking to remember the valiant battle that my grandmother's both fought and won. I'm raising money for my own daughters that they may never have to face the devastation of the disease in themselves.

I volunteered to be an ambassador because I am hoping that I can continue to not only motivate myself through the information that I will be sharing, but also to motivate you to educate yourself about the disease, and urge others to help support the search for a cure.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

What Kind of Person Will You Be?

I have made a conscious effort to keep this blog light and fun, exploring the trials and triumphs of motherhood... and life in general. My preference is to try to be as honest and entertaining as possible, avoiding things that might make you squirm in your seat.

Every once in a while, however, I come across something that shakes me to the core... that rocks my world so substantially that I feel like I've been given a gift that I cannot keep to myself.

Clearly, I am pro life. Just in case there's any confusion, I'm also anti-firearms, anti-death penalty, and anti-abortion. (I'm also anti-octomom, but that has nothing to do with my pro-life stance; it's just a personal pet peeve I have with anyone who decides to use government assistance to get a regular nail fill-in every 10 days... and to clarify, I don't wish her any ill-will, I just wish she would shut up and take care of her children instead of making the media rounds, spending time on plastic surgery, and asking for handouts. But, I digress.). I've run my car off the side of the road and into a mailbox to avoid hitting a squirrel. No lie. I figure that I'm not the one who made another living creature's heart beat, so why should I have any role in making that beating heart stand still. If this makes you uncomfortable, you should probably step away now. I'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

For those of you who are still reading, thank you.

I'm surrounded by a lot of selfishness. It's a fact of life... we all are; there is just a lot of self-centric thought in the world. "I, I, I... me, me, me..."; "How will this affect me", and "how will I be impacted'" is the prevalent theme of today. If you're thinking, "that's not me" or "my situation is different", maybe it's time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. This isn't a judgment; just a suggestion.

At any rate, I came across this video when it was shared on Facebook by an old elementary school classmate of mine. It's powerful, heartbreaking, thought provoking, controversial, and beautiful. It may make you squirm. It might make you angry. It will make you think.

If you're not uncomfortable by this post so far, I encourage you to take fifteen minutes of your day to Gianna's speech. And if you are, I encourage you to challenge yourself and watch anyway.

Part One:


Part Two:


Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

More on the CPSIA

The Wall Street Journal has a good editorial that I found via jcarolinecreative.com's blog. You can find a link to it here.

She also notes that Target has started their sales on toys. She poses a brilliant question:

"Let me make sure I understand-- I can get a great deal on various children's products right now. But do they become dangerous on February 10?"

I couldn't have asked it better myself.

Finally, here are two products that reflect the inflated costs necessary to cover the expenses resulting from the CPSIA legislation. A two thousand dollar felt fortune cookie and a three thousand dollar sock doll... need I say more?

Fortune Cookie

Yes, these cookies do cost $2,274.00. Thanks to the new law that goes into effect Feb. 10, 2009, the CPSIA will require that I test each product in my shop for lead. Each component will cost $70 and since these cookies have 4 components (felt, thread, ribbon and polyfil), that will bring the total to $280. Add in the additional $350 per component for phthalates testing for a total of $1400. (And increased overhead for Etsy and Paypal final value fees). This makes my once $6 cookies $2,274.00.

For more info please read http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-deadline-for-changeorg-vote-cnn-article-3247/

Sock Doll

Yep, you read the price right. This price reflects the added cost of $70/component for lead and $350/component for phthalate testing that will be required once the CPSIA goes into effect.
For more info please read http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-deadline-for-changeorg-vote-cnn-article-3247/ or http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html.

I guess my writer's block is gone after all.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama

CPSIA Outrage

I find it ironic that just as I was posting pictures from the children's goods I made today, my inbox was filling up with emails asking for my opinions regarding the new CPSIA legislation.

In a time when American families are struggling to make ends meet, the government NOW decides to step in and do something about the tainted toys that have been pushed across the checkout lines of mass market retailers. Bravo?

See, the problem here lies in the fact that this hurts the very individuals that it is supposedly intended to protect: Families. Children.

I am a work at home mom. When I sell some of my products - which are, by the way, largely for children, I take about half of what I make (which is marginal) and put it back into purchasing supplies, and half to buy groceries. Yes, you read correctly. My small income from making burp cloths, boutique wipe cases, and lovie blankets covers a portion of the cost of our groceries.

Our legislative body passed a 700 billion dollar bill to bail out big businesses who made poor financial decisions in an effort to help boost the economy of our country. Did anyone ever stop to think about the HARM that the CPSIA legislation will cause?

I find it difficult to think that a WAHM (translate: Work At Home Mom) who is trying to support her family, her children, would sell a product knowing that it is harmful to children. Furthermore, I find it even more difficult to believe that a conscientious parent would give a product to a child without personally checking to make sure it would not harm their child first.

Maybe I'm way out in left field here, but this size XL non-waterproof bandaid approach to fixing a problem that should have been address long ago seems to be more of an infection breeder than an injury preventor.

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, suggesting that there should not be legislation to protect our children from irresponsible manufacturing of harmful products that can cause injury or even death. However, I am outraged that the single mother who is posting handmade onesies, burp cloths, soft blocks, and blankets on Etsy to support her children is being held to the same strict regulations as mass market toymakers like Mattel and Fisher Price.

I am appalled at the number of small businesses and private shops that are now going out of business as a result of this legislation. How is this going to help our economy, our trust in our government, and the progress of our country?

I encourage you to go to www.change.org to learn more and contact your local and state representatives to push for revision of this bill.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The (very angry and frustrated) Mama

Thank You For Not Smoking

There are many things I wish I didn't have to teach my kids about. Discrimination, hate, drugs, war, the bad touch, and smoking, just to name a few.

I certainly never expected to be faced with the necessity of having the no smoking conversation with my three year old.

Yes, I said three.

While leaving the mall this fine Friday afternoon, we passed by a group of younger adults who were smoking next to the entrance. While I was thinking how I wish of was illegal, I glanced down to see my precious, innocent first born imitating the act. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I want to be like those girls."

I was stunned. Then nauseated. Then undeniably, irrevocably sad.

I took a moment to compose myself and proceeded to explain that smoking is rude (a concept she can grasp), germy, gross, and can make you very, very sick. Yet as the words sternly and confidently came out of my mouth, I knew in my heart that she didn't get it. The first of what would undoubtedly be the first of many (though hopefully not too soon) chips away at her innocence had occured. I felt completely helpless.

I wished I could have shaken the smokers. I wished that the hideous habit was illegal, like pot. I wished that we had gone into The Gap or stopped by Gymboree before heading to our car. But I didn't. It isn't. And we headed straight for the car without hesitation.

What breaks my heart is that I know my little girl will be faced with tough choices. I know that she is living in a world that forces the end of innocence at an all-too-early age. And as her mom, I'm faced with the challenging task of protecting her from the bad for as long as I can, and preparing her for the inevitible day when she will have to make her own way.

In the meantime, remember that an innocent little girl or boy may be watching you, idolizing you, emulating you. And as you keep that thought tucked in the back of your memory, I kindly thank you for not smoking.

Love, hugs, and blessings.
The Mama

Posted with LifeCast