Radical Homemakers: A Review

Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes was a great read recommended by my friend Heidi. The book examines today's society and discusses how so many of us work our butts off to make money to buy the things that society (and corporations) tell us that we need. The book then asks us to look at what we are spending our money on and questioning how necessary all of that 'stuff' actually is.
One great example is to look at 2-income families. Sending the second parent off to work often results in a need to pay for a second car to get to work, childcare during the work day, work clothes to go to work in, and then a lot more convenience purchases (like lunches and dinners out) because both parents are so tired from working all of the time. When you subtract all of those expenses, how much extra money is actually going into the bank? For some families, it is probably a good chunk, but for most of us, we may not even be breaking even.
However, there is so much pressure from society to live up to certain ideals... driving nice cars, having lots of clothes, buying things for our home.... that it is hard for many Americans to imagine NOT having the cash flow to make those purchases. Radical Homemakers takes a look at many families and individuals who ARE making it work without succumbing to the standards of society. These people have decided to take a step back; to give up some (or most) of their monetary income to instead be able to provide for themselves. So instead of going to work to make money to buy food, they skip the middle-man and instead just grow the food themselves.
I think a lot of what this book talked about is what I aspire to do (and I think many of you likely have similar aspirations): to be able to be more self sufficient. Not completely self-sufficient, but the more skills that I have under my belt, the more I can take care of myself and my family and the less I have to fork out to our economic system to have done for me. Things like growing some of my own food, making some of my own clothes, being able to cook a healthy meal for my family... living a simpler life that is less focused on accumulating stuff and more focused on spending time nourishing myself and those that I care about.
I think for most of us, having a zero-income household and providing everything for ourselves is not a realistic possibility. Our society has just taken us too far away from that point and our culture drives us to be consumers. But, I think it is possible to take baby-steps towards this lifestyle. Going from a 2-income family to a 1-income family may leave us with less money to spend on clothes and entertainment, but it is likely we would have more time to spend with our families and our families would be happier and healthier as a result.
I aspire to accumulate the skills to be more self sufficient and I hope that some day (in the not too far off future) my husband and I can afford to buy a big plot of land not too far from the city that would allow us to produce much more of our own food. I do my best to fix and make what we need or to buy used before buying new, I make things from scratch when I can, and I try to reduce my consumerism whenever possible. However, I am part of a 2-income family and I LIKE my job. I will admit that as an instructor at a community college I do only work part time, with a lot of that work being done at home, which leaves me most of my week to spend with my kid as a stay at home mama. And it's true... once I pay my bus fare for commuting, for day care while I am gone... I don't bring home a whole lot (aside from health insurance for myself). But, I enjoy it. I feel like I am making a difference in the world. And, it helps me keep my sanity (by getting a couple of brief breaks from my son each week).  And my husband like his job as well. I know there are times when it drives him crazy, but I know that overall it is a positive force in his life.
So maybe the true solution isn't about dropping your entire life and not working, but finding a balance between the two. Is there a way for families in our society to still work, but not work as much? To spend that extra time doing things for themselves that they used to pay someone to do for them? To relinquish the extra cash and extra consumerism and to try and work with what they already have? I know that if more people lived like this, our Earth would certainly be a happier place. Americans would likely be healthier.  And probably happier as well.
So, this book is definitely worth a read. It got me thinking a lot about the little changes that could make a difference. I don't think Todd and I are quitting our jobs and moving to a tent in the National Forest (not yet anyways), but I think we are on the path to being more self sufficient. What can you learn to do for yourself? Pin It Now!

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soulemama 

photo by my hubby Todd

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Snow Day!

Our first real snow of the year (well, snow that stuck anyways!). Portland has totally shut down, even though the roads are clear, but it's a nice excuse to have a lazy day around the house. And maybe the snow will help to bring about labor......? please?
Until then, we will be tromping about in the half-inch of snow in our yard! Hooray! Pin It Now!

Frontline: The Vaccine War: A Review

Vaccines are a hotly debated subject, particularly where I live, in Portland, Oregon. There is a fine balance between the clear benefits of the vaccines in disease prevention and the potential risks of the vaccines for our children. After giving birth to our son, Todd and I spent a lot of time researching vaccinations... and it seemed like the more I learned, the more confused I was. If you don't vaccinate, and your child gets sick and dies from a preventable disease, then you spend the rest of your life feeling guilty. If you do vaccinate, and they have a terrible reaction, then you spend the rest of your life feeling guilty about that.... either way, it felt like we were playing Russian Roulette.
We eventually decided in favor of vaccination (for most vaccines), but on our own schedule. This means that we will never give 5 or 6 vaccines at a time, like is routinely done in doctor's offices around the country. Instead, we will get one shot at a time (sometimes this will include up to 3 vaccinations, however, as many vaccines are bundled and nearly impossible to get when separated). We also decided to delay some of our vaccinations a bit and chose to start them a little later in life when his immune system was a bit more built up. Now, this may not work for some families, especially those whose children go to a large daycare at a young age, but for us it has worked just fine. We have also opted out of some of the traditional vaccines... like getting a Hepatitis B vaccine (Hep B is a sexually transmitted disease) at birth. I can assure you that my son will not be having sex for many years still, and so I can worry about that one later. Same with chicken pox. Sure, you can die from chicken pox, but you could much more easily die from eating undercooked chicken. So, there are some risks that we have decided are not worth vaccinating against and others that we decided are.
I have read many articles and books about the subject, but I just watched a pretty good video that sums up some of the pros and cons in less than an hour. Frontline: The Vaccine War is currently available as an instant play on Netflix or you can watch it for free on the pbs website, and is a good place to start if you are beginning to research vaccinating your children. The Vaccine War is a somewhat unbiased video, and presents both sides of the debate. However, I got the feeling from the way that each side was presented that the producers were more on the pro-vaccine side, and at times those who were against vaccinations were portrayed as very shelfish or ignorant.
Anyways, here is a summary of some of the information from the film:
Since vaccinations have been around, our lifespan has increased by 30 years and lots of pain and suffering has been prevented form the management of 16 diseases that are now preventable via immunization. Vaccinations typically have minimal side effects, with most patients reporting swelling and tenderness as the worst of what happens.
On the other side of the coin are the folks who don't think vaccines are always the correct decision. When our children get sick, it isn't such a bad thing.. it builds their immunity and makes their bodies stronger. Some of the disease we vaccinate for, like chickenpox (as I mentioned above) or rotovirus are diseases that will make you sick, but very rarely (in our country) cause fatalities. Rotovirus is basically a really bad bout of diarrhea. In less developed countries where folks don't have medical access, this disease is a major killer. In the US, where we have medications and IV fluids, almost no one dies from this disease (even when they do contract it). So, is it really necessary to vaccinate for it?
There has also been an anecdotal connection between vaccinations and children having major personality changes, with a lot of hype about a link between vaccines and autism (yup, the Jenny McCarthy bandwagon). Several scientific studies were run looking at MMR vaccinations and rates of autism, as well as mercury exposure from the thimerosal preservative found in some vaccines and rates of autism. All of these studies found no correlation between MMR and autism or mercury exposure and autism. However, thousands of parents have reported that after a round of immunizations their child regressed (either mentally and/or physically) and was later diagnosed with autism, ADHD, or another disorder. So, do we believe these parents even though science tells us not to? Or is there maybe a correlation that we haven't yet found? Hopefully more research will be done, but as for now, nothing seems to be 100% conclusive.
The biggest problem that the pro-vaccine folks have with the no-vaccine folks is the idea of herd immunity... if enough of a population is vaccinated against a disease, it will eventually be eradicated because there won't be enough people for it to spread to. This is how we got rid of smallpox. However, when some communities (like Ashland, Oregon, San Diego, and here in Portland) have a relatively high percentage of folks either not vaccinating or under-vaccinating, than this herd effect could fall short. This could harm those who haven't been vaccinated-- which is not only the ones who aren't vaccinated by choice, but also those who aren't vaccinated due to weakened immune systems. So do parents chose based on the safety of their own child, or based on the best choice for their community as a whole even if it may not be the best choice for their child personally?
Vaccines are a confusing issue with a lot to be said on both sides, and when you are a new mom already trying to figure everything out, deciding on vaccinations may be the last thing on your to-do list. In most areas of the country, vaccinating your child may not even seem like a decision, as doctors normally just tell you what you are supposed to do instead of asking what you want. But you do have a choice if and how you vaccinate your child, and at least if you have made an informed choice, you will know that you haven't let the system dictate how you raise your child.
So, this film is a good starting point for vaccine research and beneficial to watch even if you have already decided how to vaccinate your child. If you are just starting to make decisions about vaccinations, you will likely find yourself reading several books and doing lots of internet research. I hope that I haven't offended anyone on either side of this argument.... as I said, this issue was horribly confusing for me to work out for my own family, and the decision we did come to took months (and honestly, I'm still not 100% sure that we decided correctly!). Pin It Now!

A Little Bit Ironic.....

OK, has anyone else ever gone out to eat and had their child's water come in one of these plastic cups (see above)? This cup is cute and since it has a lid and a straw, it is practical, and Finn loves them because he can take them home with him. Well, here is my problem..... The restaurant, which is washing and reusing the rest of their dishes is now giving my child a disposable cup. I understand they may want to serve him in something spill-proof and non-breakable, but couldn't they invest in plastic cups with lids that THEY could wash and reuse? Now I get stuck with this flimsy plastic cup that I don't really want to wash and reuse because I have no idea what harmful chemicals may be leaching from it into my son's body. But, I feel guilty NOT reusing it, and simply throwing it away, so I try to reuse it for awhile for things like water for painting.... but we don't need it, and I get annoyed that it is cluttering up the house, and eventually it goes into the recycling.
And the worst part about these things is that they all seem to have these environmental messages on them (again, see above). I mean, I guess a message about being good to the earth is better than one about buying more stuff you don't need, but I just find it a little bit ironic that my 3 year old is served water in a disposable plastic cup (which requires fossil fuels to make and transport and is meant to be thrown away) and the message on that cup is to be good to our Earth. Hmmmm..... I just don't get it.
OK, thanks for letting me vent. Pin It Now!

Last Child in the Woods: A Review

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children form Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv is an important book for today's families and teachers. The author makes some great points about how important nature is to children, and how today's children just aren't getting enough of nature. Instead, our children have replaced nature with video games and tv, and many youngsters no longer have a clue about what lies beyond their front door.
When I was a child, I would spend hours in the woods beyond my house or the empty lots next to my friends houses. There were no cell phones, and our parents didn't know exactly where we were.... just that we were somewhere in the neighborhood and would (hopefully) be back before dark. And, Louv argues, for most of today's children, they don't have that luxury. Many children don't have woods beyond their homes anymore because they have since been filled up with more and more development. And those who do aren't always allowed the freedom to roam through those spaces as the world isn't (or at least isn't deemed to be) as safe anymore. In Portland, where I am raising my son, we don't have any woods next door for him to roam in, and if we did, I certainly might be leery of just letting him go explore, so I can see already that nature for him will be different than it was for me.
Our family does make a point of doing a lot of hiking and camping (things I didn't do much of as a child) as well as spending time in our garden and wandering our neighborhood. Louv makes the point that "nature" doesn't have to be a never-ending stretch of wilderness.. it just has to be a non man-made place that kids can explore and watch change. And I think that we can manage that within our city life. I think that everyone, everywhere can manage that.
The end of the book has some great stories about people who are trying to bring children back to the land. Wilderness outings as a type of behavioral reform, adventure parks for young children, and communities that are more focused around introducing their children to nature. Louv makes some great points that if we don't save some space now for our children to play unstructured in, they will never have that bond with nature, and will not pass that bond on to their children... so, in essence, our connection with nature, this deep tie that has been there through the ages, could be lost within a generation.
Sadly, it took me ages to get through this book. Well, just to get through the first half. It's not that it isn't well-written, it is. And, I agreed with most of what he was saying.... and I think that is what the problem was. I already understood his point, and felt the same way, so I didn't need to be convinced. The latter part of the book was full of new (to me) information and ideas, so I was able to breeze through the end. However, despite this being a long read for me, I think this is a book that should be read by families everywhere, by school administrators everywhere, and by everyone that has, works with, or influences children. We need to give our children a chance to get to know the natural world in which they live, allow them to become connected to it, discover a love for it, and pass that love down to their children. It's the only fighting chance we have at stopping ourselves from destroying this planet on which we live. So get your children outside. Let them explore, imagine and notice that world that surrounds them. Maybe you will learn a little something as well.... I know I always do. Pin It Now!

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soulemama 
PS- 9 more days until my due date. Hoping to share a "this moment" of the new one soon!

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