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Posted: August 26, 2014 ...by Manda
Do you remember that time on the playground when you were little when Billy fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm? Or how much you hated when Jennifer would jump off the seesaw while you were up on top—but still you would let her ride with you again the next day. Or the...Read More »Read More
Posted: July 24, 2014 ...by Manda
Cloth diapers. It might be the thing that the parents in my Green Parenting 101 class are most curious about and have the most MIS-information about. As one student asked looking at my display table, "That cute thing is a CLOTH diaper?" Indeed, cloth diapers aren't the ugly, bulky things held together by safety pins that many of us grew up with. »Read More
Posted: March 24, 2014 ...by Manda
Toxins in carseats is frustrating. As our toxins in babybottles, babyfood, and infant formula. This is a question of perceived risk versus actual risk or imagined versus real dangers. Read the related blog on this. Are there real risks associated with the toxins found in carseats? According to research, the answer is yes. In large...Read More »Read More
Posted: February 10, 2014 ...by Manda
Traveling abroad with a family: keeping safe, having fun, and doing it "green". I have found that traveling and living in the developing world has been one of the greatest gifts of parenting for my family. While it was for the "greater good of my children," that I first decided to pack my little girls up and spend the winter in Guatemala, I quickly realized the most immediate benefits were my own happiness. »Read More
Posted: January 31, 2014 ...by Manda
What happens when two ordinary Canadians decide to make an extraodindary difference? Project Somos Children’s Village: A home. A family. A future. For the last few years, I have been involved with a very special project: an EcoVillage of sorts for Guatemalan children. My family and I have visited five times: their story and their project have inspired me and hundreds of others to make a difference. Thanks to EcoParent for originally publishing this article. »Read More
Posted: January 30, 2014 ...by Manda
I want my kids to know how good they’ve got it. Don’t we all?Like most Middle-Class parents in North America, I parent with a lot more: I obsess about their educational experiences, rush off to the doctor at the first sign of a rash, and worry about which summer camp will be the most enriching. »Read More
Posted: January 30, 2014 ...by Manda
I am back in Guatemala with my children for the third time. Thus, I have decided to republish and add to some of the previous blogs on my experiences.It all began in the fall of 2011 when I decided to take my young children (then 1 1/2 years and 5 years) and go to Guatemala for almost four months. Sin espouso. And, no, I didn't speak Spanish. »Read More
Posted: October 23, 2013 ...by Manda
I've been doing a lot of research recently on the profound effects that media has on children. I take getting my children into nature, limiting their media, and encouraging play seriously. These parenting techniques are backed by science and are proven to be some of the best ways to raise healthier, and smarter, children. Yet, a person needs to sleep in every so often (except not my children). Or survive long car rides, airplane trips to Gautemala, anyway.... you get the picture... »Read More
Posted: September 12, 2013 ...by Manda
All the kids were lined up in rows in the gym. It was the day the public health nurse came and combed through everyone’s heads looking for lice. That is the way it was done when I was young. Judging how often I am getting notes from my child's school, head lice is just as frequent now as then and just as frequent in North America as in Central and South America. »Read More
Posted: June 20, 2013 ...by Manda
Doing less may actually do more for children's celebrationsMy own child was still a baby when I got invited to the birthday of the little neighbour girl turning six. Until that day, I hadn’t thought much about this new generation of birthday parties. Like most parents, I didn’t go to kids’ birthday parties until I had kids. When I was little birthday parties were simple affairs: my brother, sister, and myself eating a cake that my mom made, with one present to open afterwards. »Read More
Posted: April 13, 2013 ...by Manda
Last year when I went to Guatemala with my baby and young daughter, I was horrified. Yes, at the spiders and scorpions and Giardia, but even more at the daily dilemma around diapering babies. »Read More
Posted: February 18, 2013 ...by Manda
I am back in Guatemala for the second year with my children. Last year we came for almost 4 months and my eldest daughter attended a special, multi-cultural, Waldorf school in a small Mayan village. From chicken pox to chickens, it was a life-altering experience that I wrote about in a series of articles on this site. I also published an article about our trip and the school we visited in EcoParent Magazine. »Read More
Posted: May 16, 2012 ...by Manda
Traveling (home from) Guatemala with children: Our goodbyes. Adios is used for comings and goings in Guatemala and means, literally, to God. If a picture says a thousand words, then this photo essay just about encapsulates everything I wish I could say.... (in Spanish). Leaving. Coming. Adios. »Read More
Posted: November 14, 2011 ...by Manda
THE GREEN MAMA’S CHEAT SHEET FOR SAFER, HEALTHIER CLEANING IN SCHOOLS You are a teacher or school administrator and you want to go green but aren’t sure where to start? The answer is probably right in front of your eyes: the soap next to the sink, the bottle of bleach for spraying down the tables, the window cleaner in the cabinet. »Read More
Posted: October 1, 2011 ...by Manda
It didn’t take long after I moved to Vancouver to start hearing about all of the issues parents have with childcare here. There isn’t enough of it, it is too expensive, and there is little diversity of options. »Read More
Posted: September 13, 2011 ...by Manda
Ideally every school setting would be green and healthy. After all, your child will spend 1/3 of his or her day there. Studies show that more than half of U.S. schools suffer from problems related to indoor air quality (which is typically more polluted than outdoor air even in the best situations). Indoor air quality issues can affect teacher retention, student performance, (and ultimately) school funding. »Read More
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