5 Favorites #4

{Even though I sense that reblogging is kind of a faux pas for the profesh blogger, I’m not that profesh and I’VE GOT CHILDREN ON ME LEGS, ME HEARTIES! I didn’t even get my Friday Quick Takes written last week, for goodness sake. I wish to share this blog entry from Simcha Fisher, who briefs us about Jen Fulwiler’s health, the birth of her baby boy, and his unrelated health problems, especially because I have a grasp on how Jen must be feeling: wanting to be home snuggling the little boy she’s carried in her belly for so long, but she can’t yet.

For any mother, the hormones and emotions flowing from a separation from her newborn baby can send her in to a hysterical panic mode. It’s not natural to be apart, a mother’s basic chemistry senses it and screams in rebellion. Prayers for Jen, that she may be given the Graces to have Peace in Christ and faith in God’s will.}

Since it’s bedtime and my youngest is apparently more tired than normal (he usually refuses to sleep unless I am laying in bed with him) and has fallen asleep in my lap, here are my 5 Faves this week with Hallie from Moxie Wife, who has also given birth to her son.  Congratulations, Hallie!

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Dr. Bronner’s Magic soap. As I’m begrudgingly accepting the apparent truth that I am an earthy child, and I enjoy making and using my own household cleaners (laundry det, surface cleaner, etc), I have often puzzled over the sticker slapped on these bottles of concentrated soap: a purging of lunatic fringe words; speaking of a made-up, utopian religion, though with trippy, hippy, pot-head verbiage. The words cover every inch of this sticker in every direction.  A quick google-ing of the product lead me to believe my suspicions were not far from the real thing. (here’s a fairly brief, easy to read, albeit remarkable article about Emanuel Bronner, his family, and his company)
On any product I wish to use, my eyes usually shoot straight to the ingredients (which I then issue a Marcus Aurelius thumbs up or down), then on to the directions. But with this bottle, I found myself feeling like a panicked Hermione Granger, “WHERE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS?!”  Ah, Pinterest has a pin for that.

Forward to this Monday morning and my eyes, which usually are nearsighted, yet are gifted with the super human ability detect a small bug in a pitch black, dark room, caught sight of an insect creature scuttling from under the fridge. I think if I’ve ever experienced the emotion hate, it’s for the insects of the earth, when they are in my place of residence.

My 6 month old is now freely crawling into the kitchen so I’m not about to spray poison at the floorboards by which my little nugget scoots on the hands and feet he also puts in his mouth.
After an hour of scrubbing the floors and hose-vacuuming the cracks and crevices, I grabbed a book my mom-in-law gave me for Crhistmas filled with recipes for natural repellents for insects/pests. One of the many suggestions for this particular insect was to spray a diluted Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap around the floorboards.

And now I finally had an excuse to try the lunatic’s trippy product. (I use the word lunatic jokingly: his ravings are definitely of the well-intentioned, coexist-bumper-sticker mentality, but he misses the mark)
I further read about the many uses for this soap through Pinterest, and despite the original Bronner’s rantings and ravings about Spaceship Earth, the soap is a bingo, and my new favorite.  The Peppermint smells amazing, and has filled my house- a house with high ceilings which prove difficult to distribute any aroma short of a burning frozen pizza.  Bronner’s soap ingredients are safe to use and contain no mystery ingredients with mystery side affects which may be found out 15 years from now to be a cause of brain cancer or something like that; similar to aspartame, cigarettes, birth control pills, parabens, bpa, margarine, etc.
I’m very excited to try all the different uses for this soap- most of all, though, is the foot soak and facial mist!

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Since I’m talking about DIY (Do It Yourself) cleaners, I’ll mention the laundry detergent I’m currently using

I’m on my second batch. The blogger with the recipe actually gives great instructions depending on what kind of washer you have, who’s clothes you’re washing (for baby? Sensitive skin?), if you have a septic system, alternatives for stores which don’t carry certain products etc. I recommend really combing through the instructions and comments to determine if this DIY detergent good for you and yours.  I use white vinegar for a few purposes:  To keep the washer pipes clean, to brighten my brights, to strip towels of any soap build-up from previous detergents, and to remove any lingering mildewy smells that occur from stagnant wet towels sitting in the laundry room over time (guilty of stagnant laundry, here.)

I couldn’t use the detergent on our newborn for his first few months (had to do baby detergent) because I noticed a rash right away with his pre-washed clothes. 6 months later and he seems to tolerate the detergent now.  The scent is really light, so I add Downy Un-stopable to scent boost the wash.  Right now, I enjoy the blue scent but my mom is using the purple and my nose is envious of her linens.  I may try that in a month or two.

It’s shaved roughly $20 a month off of our grocery bill.  [Update: sorry guys, I forgot to include the link to the detergent]

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Dawn Dish Soap.  Mix it with white vinegar and h2o and you can conquer the world.

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Baby Sling. Every single time I wear my Collin in it, I am asked where I got my sling. I’m always surprised at the inquiry because I believe that slings are common knowledge among young mommas.  Perhaps the type of sling I have looks fancy or something?  It’s actually two years old and the white part is dyed blue from being washed with dark blue bathroom rugs.

The convo always startes out like this:
“Excuse me, where did you get your sling?”
“Um, have you heard of Dr. Sears?”
“…no…”

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The Doctor Sears family. Oh yeah, more than one of them.  There’s Dr. Bill Sears, Dr. Jim, Dr. Bob, Dr. Peter, and Martha Sears, Bill’s wife and a nurse. Dr. Jim might be the most familiar to some.  He appears on the television show, The Doctors.  I thought Dr. Sears was also another common knowledge among young mommas.

Their methods are fresh common sense which work with understanding our bodies, the natural way we are designed.  They have changed the way I understand the nature of pregnancy, newborns, and children. They debunk the stiff, tough-love teachings of our grandparents (even though Dr. Sears senior is our grandparent’s age) with nature, science, and a love that leaves me as a parent without anxiety or stress that I’ve got to let him “cry-it-out”, etc.

They are the ones who design my sling and I found it at Buy Buy Baby.  They also sell their products on their website: AskDrSears.

The website is a wonderful resource for anything involving pregnancy, birth, baby, child, and parenting health.  Their books are excellent and are found right next to books like What To Expect When Expecting, which I recommend  leaving on the shelf for the dust mites.