Ask The Green Mama

Real vs Plastic Christmas Tree?

Is it better for the environment to get a real tree or a fake tree? If the fake tree lasts many years I wonder if in the long run that’s better?

Do I lie about Santa Claus and what about the other holiday myths?

What do I do about the Santa Claus thing? I’m inclined to have Santa Claus, a tree, and the whole thing. My husband believes in science and wants only the truth, but will follow my lead. In our confusion we’ve left things off and sort of made no commitment to the holiday at all, which feels really bad. My son is still young and we have another on the way, so I’d like to figure this out soon.

Baby potty training help for a 19-month-old

Hey, quick green mama advice? Our cloth diaper service is $36/week. That’s a lot. Abe is now 19 mos, we do a lot of “nekkins” time at home, during which he pees on the floor and points to it and says “Pee pee!” He’s also beginning to say “poop” when he either needs to or has already. But he will not sit on the potty, and has not sat on it since he started walking. I caught him trying to sit on it the other day when he was playing by himself in his room, but other than that, nada.

I’m trying to tighten up the budget and about this close to cancelling diaper service. Would you try to convince me otherwise, that the cost is worth it, or will it not make much of a difference in terms of EC at this point? (I know the enviro factor is better, but when we’ve traveled and used 7th gen I can leave 1 diaper on for hours, way longer than with cloth, so I only use a few per day).

Recommendations for Vitamin D supplementation for women & for pregnancy

I’m a doula that works with pregnant and postpartum women. I get a lot of questions about Vitamin D and I have started taking Vitamin D and notice how good it feels. What does your research say about Vitamin D supplementation?

Are fairy tales still relevant today?

I read my son Thumbelina tonight—our first foray into the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales—and I found that I kept skipping sentences that I felt were sexist, exclusionary, not age-appropriate or not resonant. And this one is pretty benign….  How can we sustain the wonder and the spell of fairy tales for our children while still being aware of gendered stereotyping, exclusion and other negativities in the fairytale trope. How did you deal with fairy tales?