Popsicle Weather

 

The weather is heating up where we live and that means it's popsicle weather. I have resisted buying popsicle molds for many years because I didn't want to buy plastic ones, even if they were BPA-free. But I finally found a fabulous stainless steel one: the Freezycup™ Stainless Steel Ice Pop Molds made of high-quality food-grade stainless steel 18-8 (304). The Freezycup™ is made by Life Without Plastic, an amazing Canadian company I first read about on Beth Terry's blog My Plastic-free Life (use dropdown menu in left sidebar to switch from CAN$ to US$).

Each Freezycup™popsicle maker has 4 parts: the popsicle cup or mold, lid, silicone gasket (goes in center of lid and holds stick in place), and reusable bamboo stick. I love that the stick is reusable. We have used our sticks at least 10 times and they still look great. It can be tricky with small ones to keep track of all these parts. My children mostly eat their popsicles outside, so we have chosen a spot where they can set their sticks and lids (with gasket) when they are done. They know if these parts get lost, there will be no more popsicles, and so far that has been plenty of motivation.

Healthy-ish Chocolate Chip Cookies

  


I really hesitate to use the word "healthy" in conjunction with these cookies. Mostly because they have a lot of sugar. But also because I believe I have not compromised one bit on taste. I mean, if you are going to have a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, have a real cookie. One delicious cookie is so much better than two cookies that taste healthy, if you know what I mean. Perhaps these cookies would be best described as "less unhealthy chocolate chip cookies," but I thought that a very poor post title.

My kids love a little treat now and then, and to avoid having to resort to store-bought packaged treats, even if they are from Trader Joe's/ Whole Foods, I often make these homemade cookies in bulk and freeze them. One little cookie is dessert enough for my little ones.

How to Sell with Confidence on Craig's List




Last week I posted (Almost) Everything I've Ever Bought or Sold on Craig's List and How to Buy with Confidence on Craig's List. In today's post I'm sharing some tips that I hope will give you the confidence to try selling a used item on Craig's List. I've heard people say buying and selling on Craig's List seems creepy. Maybe you heard a sketchy story on the local news involving Craig's List once. Having sold tons of items on Craig's List, I can tell you that almost everyone buying something that you would sell on Craig's List is just an ordinary person like you. Take a few precautions, and you should never find yourself in an iffy situation.

Note that Craig's List is used for other things besides buying and selling (personals, services like tutoring and child care, job postings, rental housing). This post is about selling an item in the "For Sale" section. Go to the Craig's List site page, click on your nearest metropolitan area, then click on "my account" where you will be prompted to sign in or create an account. Once signed in and on your account page, click on the "New Posting" tab at the top of the page. You can also click on the "For Sale" heading and then "Post" in the top right corner.


 A few tips for selling safely and successfully on Craig's List


Deal locally with people you can meet in person, and you will avoid 99% of all scams according to Craig's List. As a general rule, you should hand over your item only when the payment is in your hand.

Always ask to be paid in cash. Put it right in your post: "CASH ONLY." I've had a few people want to pay me by check, especially for larger amounts, but I always insist on cash. I let them know where the nearest ATM is and wait for them to make a withdrawal.


Worth Saving for the Grandkids: Colorful Wooden Blocks by Grimms


My 18-month-old building with Grimm's Color Charts Rally Building Blocks Set
(wooden cars and people not included).

In Search of Colorful Wooden Blocks (not made in China)


A few months ago my husband suggested that it would be nice to have some colorful wooden blocks in addition to our numerous unfinished natural ones. I agreed, but quickly discovered that the choices were surprisingly slim. There were quite a few inexpensive sets of small blocks that were painted colorfully, but all were made in China.

I eventually started checking websites for individual brands I like (Plan Toys, Maple Landmark, Holgate Toys, Haba) as well as natural toy stores I've purchased from in the past. And what I found was that not one offered a large colorful set of basic building blocks. I was feeling rather defeated about the whole thing, when one day our Grimms stacking rainbow caught my eye. Of course, Grimms! I went to the Grimms website and immediately found gorgeous colorful sets of blocks. A little online comparative shopping landed me on Amazon where I found a wide variety of Grimms blocks sold by The Natural Family Shop (purchases are fulfilled by Amazon).

Grimm's Set of 100 Stepped Blocks

And then I hesitated. For several months in fact. Because, as is often the case, choosing to purchase high-quality, crafted by hand, ethically and sustainably-made products can result in a bit of sticker shock. But as is also often the case with such purchases, once I forked over the dough and received my item, I was so pleased with my choice. I say with the utmost confidence that you will not find colored blocks any where more attractive than those made by Grimms. What Makes Grimms Blocks Special?

How to Buy with Confidence on Craig's List




Earlier this week I posted (Almost) Everything I've Ever Bought or Sold on Craig's List. In today's post I'm sharing some tips that I hope will give you the confidence to try buying a used item on Craig's List. I've heard people say buying on Craig's List seems creepy. Maybe you heard a sketchy story on the local news involving Craig's List once. Having purchased tons of items on Craig's List, I can tell you that almost everyone selling something that you would want to purchase on Craig's List is just an ordinary person like you. Take a few precautions, and you should never find yourself in an iffy situation.

Note that Craig's List is used for other things besides buying and selling (personals, services like tutoring and child care, job postings, rental housing). This post is about buying an item that is in the "For Sale" section. Go to the Craig's List site page, click on your nearest metropolitan area, then click on the heading "for sale" and you're ready to go. 

A few tips for buying safely and successfully on Craig's List


Deal locally with people you can meet in person, and you will avoid 99% of all scams according to Craig's List. As a general rule, you should hand over the payment only when the object in play is in your sights, ready to be loaded into your car. This is not eBay.

(Almost) Everything I've Ever Bought or Sold on Craig's List



The other day when I mentioned that I'd recently sold something on Craig's List, a friend asked me, "How does that work? I've never used Craig's List." I was shocked. SHOCKED. This frugal soul had neither purchased nor sold a single thing on Craig's List. Just in the past month I have purchased a TV stand, infant bucket swing, and kid's bicycle, and sold 2 portable air conditioners on Craig's List.

My conversation with my friend inspired me to try to catalog all the items I've ever bought or sold on Craig's List. It's not truly possible, because it's just been too many things over too many years (dating back to my single days in Los Angeles over 15 years ago), but I did look through my emails and walk around my house to try to remember what I've bought and sold on Craig's List. Here is what I came up with.

Green Changes that Save You Money

green changes to save money green sisterhood


Soon after I decided that I wanted to live a greener healthier lifestyle, I discovered that green changes and choices come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Some green changes are really challenging and may require perseverance despite repeated failures, like trying to find a natural deodorant that works for your husband. Or a natural cleaner that conquers mold. On the other hand, some green changes are downright easy. For example, opening your windows to improve indoor air quality or turning your thermostat up one or two degrees in the summer.

Certain green choices are expensive, like buying an all-natural bed free of flame retardant chemicals. Organic and natural food products also tend to cost more than their conventional counterparts. But many green choices are inexpensive and will save you lots of money.

Top Methods of Entertaining a Child on the Potty



How to get your child to sit on the potty and stay on the potty long enough to relax and do her business: this is one of the central dilemmas of potty training, whatever age your child may be. I'm currently potty training my third child. Since I've done early potty training with my 2nd and 3rd children, I've had a chance to hone my skills for entertaining a wide range of ages on the potty, from 3 years all the way down to 5 months. Whatever age your child may be, here are some ideas for getting them to take a seat and make a deposit.

Potty Time Entertainment


The list below is roughly in the order I have used them with my third child, who started sitting on the potty around 5 months and is now about 18 months. 


Board Books

Books are my most often used entertainment device in the potty department, regardless of age. The smallest ones love the board books of baby faces and nursery rhymes. As they get a little older, we might have to kick it up a notch to board books that are also songs. Once we hit the busy toddler age, I find the key is novelty. As soon as my 18-month-old loses interest in a book, I'm ready with another one to take its place. I recently got my 3-year-old to transition from a small potty to the toilet by giving her special books that she could look at by herself only while sitting on the toilet. Reading material is how my older children still choose (independently) to entertain themselves on the toilet, just like the adults. But sometimes, especially with my busy toddler, the board books don't cut it.

Finger Play
Rhymes with finger play such as pat-a-cake and itsy-bitsy spider were enough to keep my 6-month-old excited about sitting on the potty for many months.

Drawing
We got through one period of particularly reluctant potty use when I hit on the idea of letting my one-year-old draw with a pen. Because she regularly draws on the floor and walls, I normally do my best to keep pens out of my toddler's hands. Which made pens the perfect forbidden object to be used only in the bathroom under my supervision. I would carry her to the bathroom, let her turn on the light switch herself, take a notebook and pen out of the bathroom cupboard where I had stashed them, hand her the pen and then put her on the potty. The pen in hand was enough to overcome any resistance. Best of all, I could leave the room for short spurts while she kept herself entertained drawing in the notebook placed on top of a stool in front of her. Before the pen, we also used a magna-doodle for entertainment periodically.

Food
Yep, food. Especially right after she wakes up dry, when I know she needs to go, but she's still a little grumpy and resists me taking her to the bathroom. Sometimes a little bowl of cereal, a pita chip, or even one chocolate chip is enough to get her to stop fighting me and take a seat.

Older Siblings
With my very busy, very energetic toddler, this is currently my ace-in-the-hole. When I cannot convince her on my own to come sit on the potty, I enlist one or both of her older siblings to come to the bathroom with us. Sometimes they will sit next to her while I read them both a book, or sometimes I can get the older sibling to read her a story or do a finger play with her.

Company
Some little potty users love company. For a long time, me using the toilet while I set my little one on the potty across from me was a sure-fire way to get her to use the potty. But now Mom isn't special enough anymore and I have to enlist an older sibling or Daddy to use the toilet so that the youngest will sit on the potty and go too. My favorite is when my 3-year-old and toddler need to go #2 at the same time, and I can leave them both in there together unsupervised for a long stretch while they do their business.

Other Methods I've Used


I haven't had to resort to any of these methods with my third child, but I did find them useful with my first two.

Stickers
I don't use this one with my third, because she mostly just tries to eat stickers, particularly little ones, but stickers were a great way for me to get my 2nd child to sit on the potty long enough to go #2. I would give her a sheet of little stickers and let her put them in her special sticker notebook which we stashed in the bathroom.

Blowing Bubbles
The truth is, I don't really enjoy blowing bubbles because it's just plain messy. You end up with bubble solution all over your hands and also the floor from drips as well as popped bubbles. But my first child, who I potty trained the latest and who was my most challenging, loved bubbles. So for months I blew bubbles for long stretches to get him to sit on the potty long enough to go.

Annoying Electronic Toys
You know those annoying electronic toys that other people give your children that you hate to listen to? Use them only in the potty and they become a great source of novel entertainment. Also, it's not that tragic if they accidentally get ruined in the bathroom. I haven't relied on this method much with my third child, but a play cell phone's beeping often kept my second child happy on the potty when we she was 9-months-old, and often allowed me to do something else (like brush my teeth) as long as I stayed near her. A pretend laptop often kept my 2-year-old alone in the bathroom and seated on the potty for 30 minutes at a time.

Favorite Toy
I've never used this one much, because honestly I don't really want to encourage bringing regular toys into the bathroom, but if you are having trouble luring your child to the potty and she is very busy with a particular stuffed friend/ puppet/ toy animal/ doll/ toy car, consider just bringing that toy with you and maybe even having the toy use the potty first.

DVD
When it comes to potty training, I don't really consider anything to be off limits. Whatever it takes to get the job done. With my second child, there was a period of time where the only way we could convince her to sit long enough to go #2 was to let her watch a 20-minute show. This was partly the case because we were often too busy with her older brother or a new baby to sit with her long enough for her to do her business. The only trick was to set up the portable DVD player in the bathroom so as to minimize the chances that she would play with the buttons or drop it and break it.

For more tips, tricks, and tales from our potty training adventures, including the very best times to put your child on the potty, visit my Potty Training Page.


What is your best trick for getting your child to sit and stay on the potty?

New Loves Discovered on the Green Path




This week, as I wrote my umpteenth post about how much I love the farmers market, I realized how many wonderful things I have discovered only because of my permanent detour onto a greener path.


Farmers Markets

For me, one of the greatest benefits of living greener has been becoming connected to my local food economy and developing a greater appreciation for where our food comes from. Since I don't really garden, the farmers market for me is the shortest path of production available. Food has such far-reaching implications for our family's health, how land is used and the health of the planet. It is also a large and recurring expense. I view changing how I buy my food as one of the most important green changes I have made. In addition to feeling great about giving my family the healthiest and tastiest produce available, I feel good about consciously choosing to support small local sustainable farming. I like handing my money straight to the farmer. I have always said that I don't like shopping, but I have discovered that what I actually don't like is shopping in conventional grocery stores and mega-stores and especially malls. Thanks to our local farmers markets, now I often go more than a month without setting foot in a regular grocery store, which means no cheapy toys or salacious magazines at my kids' eye levels, no wandering through a dozen aisles to find the one thing I actually want, no processed foods beckoning, no checkout line. Love that.



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