Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Brain Rules for Baby, by John Medina


I know that most new parents barely have the time to take a quick shower, much less read an entire book, but I would strongly, strongly encourage expecting parents and new parents to read this book. A lot of the information overlaps with another book I recommended, NurtureShock, but there's enough new information in here that can really change the way you parent your child. Medina's a scientist, first and foremost, but he makes the science incredibly accessible, and he's funny to boot. But instead of writing a tome here, I'll just let you read the product description on Amazon. Hope it proves titillating enough that you purchase (and read) the book ASAP!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Hold the Lipstick


If I were ever to categorize my blog entries (which I really should, I know), this one would be filed under a "WTF?" tab.

So I think I'm a conscientious mama who tries my best to navigate a middle ground between neurotic obsession and complete laissez-faire, especially when it comes to steering C clear of toxins. For example, while I read all food packages religiously to avoid products with ingredients whose names I don't recognize, I cede control when it comes to C's diet at day care (thankfully, C's day care providers are usually very good about feeding the kids wholesome meals).

Another example: I spent a while researching all-natural nail polishes (yay, Piggy Paint!) to paint on C's precious little piggies, but when C decided a couple of days ago that she just had to try on some L'Oreal Infallible Plumping Lip Gloss, I thought, "Eh, what the heck?" And so I gave her the bright red lips she wanted. She was tickled silly and looked adorable with the lipstick smeared beyond the contours of her little lips, and I thought we had had a wonderful bonding moment...until a couple of hours later, when we removed the lipstick. "Owwie," she said, and I was stunned to see what looked like a burn along the right side of her mouth. The damn lipstick had given my baby a chemical burn! WTF? Since then, the burn has scabbed over, and it doesn't seem to bother her, but the whole incident has just freaked the bejesus out of me. How toxic is this makeup that we mommies have been applying on ourselves? I've since looked up the list of ingredients for this lipstick and other fine makeup products in my kit, and, suffice to say, I'm ready to chuck most of my conventional makeup and replace with organic makeup products. Better for mommy and a better example for C (eventually).

In the meantime, for playing grown-up with C, Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer will do just fine, thank you very much.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sweet, Sweet Honey


I was reminded of this potential issue when another mommy in C's daycare told me that she had fed her 6-month old baby some honey. Normally, I'm one to flout restrictions on babies' diets (C was eating eggs and peanuts and shrimp early on in life), but, for some reason, not feeding C honey until she turned 1 was the one dietary rule I followed (perhaps so as to tempt fate or something?). So, if you're the parent of a baby and you didn't know about this rule and the reason for it, here it is:
You can now make an informed decision on whether or not this issue is overblown! Bon appetit, babies!