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Posted: August 10, 2011 ...by Manda
I’ve had a slew of Ask the Green Mama questions recently that boil down to this: What are real dangers and what are the imagined dangers of parenting? This is at the heart of most questions, isn’t it? What will really kill my baby and what is actually not worth the stress of the worry. Of course, much of this we just don’t know. Parenting is risky, because life is full of unknowns. Today’s science, however, is telling us much about where our worry line should be. Here’s what we do know. »Read More
Posted: August 2, 2011 ...by Manda
The New York Times warns that your child's playground might be boring them to death (or at least into a phobia).It’s summer time and parents everywhere are crowding onto playgrounds with their children. Me included. And I am shocked at just how boring they have gotten. Gone are the days when playgrounds were thrilling places: climbing to the top of a huge jungle gym, teetering 5 feet off the ground and screaming at my little brother not to drop me, or hurdling around on a tire swing until getting sick. »Read More
Posted: June 30, 2011 ...by Manda
Did you know this weekend is when both the U.S. and Canada celebrate some version of a national birthday party? All this talk about birth of nations and lots of tidbits on birth in general has got me thinking about, well, birth. So, in one of the strangest Canada Day/Independence Day blogs ever, this is a look at the state of birth in North America. »Read More
Posted: October 26, 2010 ...by Manda
THE GREEN MAMA’S CHEAT SHEET FOR SAFER, HEALTHIER CLEANING IN CHILDCARE FACILITIES You are a childcare provider 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: August 4, 2010 ...by Manda
My first baby was born in Chicago. At home. When I would mention home birth in that city it was akin to saying: "I like to fly stunt planes--wanna set yourself on fire and take a ride with me?" Mothers were aghast. I must be nuts, or at least horribly anti-establishment. »Read More
Posted: July 23, 2010 ...by Manda
"All that counts is that the baby is healthy" is what many women are told and believe. The research says something different: a woman's experience matters. A healthy woman experiencing vaginal birth is more likely to come out with a healthy baby and healthy self. »Read More
Posted: February 18, 2010 ...by Manda
It is a once in a lifetime experience, being a spectator at the Olympic games: a green mama spectator at the green Olympic Games. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is being billed as the greenest games ever, and that is in the eco sense of the word. »Read More
Posted: July 6, 2009 ...by Manda
It’s summer. Even now that I am all grown-up, I long for the days of summer camp. Something I can share with my whole family: get me into a canoe, sitting around a campfire, and where someone else cooked (preferably no “bug juice” though). I grew up poor, yet I still got to go to summer camp growing up. I went to a YMCA summer camp, another focused around “creative expression.” I went to Girl Scout camp and horse-riding camp. I grew up in the city and spending a week in the woods was like magic. »Read More
Posted: May 5, 2009 ...by Manda
My child will wake up from her nap in a moment and my good intentions to write my Mother’s Day blog will become yet more ominously close to NOT happening (at least until after the actual day). »Read More
Posted: March 27, 2009 ...by Manda
Chicago will turn its lights out tomorrow for one hour. Last year Chicago participated in Earth Hour for the first time. I watched from the pier in Rogers Park as the entire city went dim (except for the Trump Tower--one phallic hold out). It was dramatic and beautiful and it saved a reported 7% of electricity. That is the carbon emissions equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road for one hour. »Read More
Posted: February 16, 2009 ...by Manda
I feel sorry for kids like I was: ones whose parents dress them from the Salvation Army. Being hip on a resale budget won’t be possible for awhile, as resale retailers like the Salvation Army have responded to the CPSIA by pulling children’s clothes off the shelves that contain zippers, buttons, and the like. »Read More
Posted: December 22, 2008 ...by Manda
Toys have become a nightmare for many parents: 80% of the toys in this country are made in China and the toy recalls have shown how very little oversight ever goes into toys imported into this country. »Read More
Posted: September 2, 2008 ...by Manda
Small, green businesses that make children's products are facing their doom. The Consumer Product Safety Imporvement Act will go into effect on February 10, 2009. This act provides an important service regulating lead and phthalates in children's products. However, the law will unecessarily punish small, green businesses and put an end to many of the healthiest, safest chi »Read More
Posted: June 17, 2008 ...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: April 22, 2008 ...by Manda
Today, Earth Day turns 38. (Not the Earth, but the day itself). One of my favorite parenting websites (okay, this website is like a frenemy — love to hate it and hate to love it.) Anyway, they didn’t even mention Earthday on their daily email, they mentioned the new really expensive stroller I should buy. »Read More
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