crunchy parenting

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• Don’t pack anything they won’t let you bring on board.
• Don’t carry wrapped presents. They may unwrap them, and even if not, your wrapping will look fresher if you do it when you arrive at your destination. (Or “wrap” them in an eco-friendly, sewn bag!)
• Carry TSA-friendly kid snacks. One staffer actually had me open every SEALED squeeze pouch of applesauce and eat a little. You never know what they’re going ask you.
• Pack an empty water bottle to fill up from the water fountains on the other side.
• Empty your pockets. Take off your shoes. Take off your belt and sunglasses. Hold your ID/passport and ticket in your hand. Get these things ready before you get to the conveyor.
• If there’s a family line and you have kids, pick that lane. Both TSA and other passengers will be thanking you under their breath.
• Carry your child through the metal detector and opt out of the AIT scanners. Know your rights about pat-downs.
• Load your items on the conveyor in this order: shoes in bin, belts/sweaters/extra items in next bin, laptop in next bin, carry-on bag. If they want to rescan your bag, this won’t hold you up on getting dressed on the other side.
• Double, triple, quadruple -check you have everything with you before you leave the checkpoint. On the plane is too late to realized you’ve left behind a loved toy or your cellphone.

How do you get your kids comfortable in the kitchen? Start when they’re young.

Fennel, cumin, cloves, white pepper & mustard seeds

There are so many adults I run into that claim that they don’t know how to cook. I often politely try to hide my astonishment and then marvel later on as to how that works. Cooking is something I just do now, but I vaguely remember a time in my late teens when I had poor confidence about the whole thing. Then I set out to fix that on my next trip to my grandmother’s house, armed with a camera and notebook, but that’s another story.

I do know that I want my children to be comfortable in the kitchen, just as they’re comfortable in a classroom, or around cars. Eating healthily is a lifestyle and the best way to set the groundwork for them eating well as adults is to understand how good food is made and consumed. Here’s some things you can do today. Read the rest of this entry »

Two weeks ago, I posted a pic of our living-room-in-despair. Here’s the updated version, thanks to the efforts of my mother and the spouse-unit’s wonderful cousin, C.

There are still some tweaks to be made, like figuring out how to get all the pictures back on the wall and re-organizing Spice’s toy corner. But for the most part, it’s habitable. They also stacked all the candles in the fireplace (which we don’t use) so it looks really pretty and cozy at night when they’re lit.

There’s been so much going on this past week that I’ve been a little lax in posting, but I’ve been skimming my favorite blogs and am reassured to see that everyone else is still being more productive than me!

• Why not just make them wear a sandwich board instead of a costume? // Julie of the Mom Slant talks about dragging kids and holidays into the political fray, this time over the Boo Nestle boycott.
• Nutmeg Microdermabrasion and Exfoliator // Just in time for the holidays, a facial treatment from Crunchy Betty that will have you dreaming of sugar plums and eggnog.
• Why I Said Good-Bye to My Microwave // Michelle of Green Earth Bazaar writes about the little box in the corner of your kitchen. We recently got an ultra-compact one after being without for a few years, but still barely use it, for all the excellent reasons Michelle points out.
• Trying to Become Organized // I loved Sarah’s recent post on One Starry Night about trying to get on board with organizing chores and meal planning. Sometimes I read so much promotional and instructional articles on how to get organized from all these already-organized people that I forget the slew of moms out there just like me try to get started and not fall off the wagon every day.

A month left to go of pregnancy and I realize that this blog is going to turn a little more personal and a little less informational. This week has been grueling hauling around the belly and I’ve been sleeping through the afternoons with Spice, time I usually reserve for blogging. I’ll still post lots of link love posts about the neat things I find to solve things around the house, but there will probably be more pics, podcast tidbits(!), and personal thoughts in the coming months.

(The pic above is of a few dozen unbleached cotton flat diapers, prewashed and being hung to dry. After our success with flats in Malaysia last summer, I’ll be retiring our prefolds into embellished burp cloths and such.)

I’ve been making Christmas stockings out of some red velvet Ikea curtains. I have a bunch of them, so I’m thinking of doing some pillow covers for December, too. Strangely, they cost a lot less than an equivalent amount of red velvet from Joanns would have been.

I also dug out these log cabin blocks from the bottom of my fabric stash pile. I think I’d started a quilt for someone and stalled. Turns out that stitched together end-to-end, it’ll make an awesome table runner for Thanksgiving. This was my first time machine quilting and all I can say is I HATE INVISIBLE THREAD!

Somewhere in-between, I’m going to do another batch of baby legwarmers for the new baby. The ones I did two years ago for Spice are a little worn, but were indispensable and held up great. New Baby deserves some new ones though, even if Spice gets to wear these Halloween ones first.

Photo by vahnee / crunchyparenting.com

It’s a grey day out today. I can barely see across the canyon for the faint mist and the drizzle. Spice thinks the rain is wow-worthy. I think it’s the first time she’s really recognizing rain, which is neat. I need to get her some boots and make a raincoat of some kind. Yes, I know it hardly rains here, even in the winter, but we can use it when we go skiing later in the season, too.

Too bad I scorched her newly finished sweater! There was too much stuff on the table and way too close to the candles and some paper on the sweater smoldered. :-/ I just thank my lucky stars that it was only the sweater damaged and not our dining table, or anything worse. (I’m still twitchy now about lighting anything more than some tea lights on the kitchen windowsill.)

There were some awesome things happening online last week that I’d love to share. So grab yourself a coffee, add some pumpkin spice and some whipped cream and settle in.

• Helping Your Kids Learn with Blocks // Most of us have (or have had) those charming alphabet blocks at one parenting stage or another, but how much do our kids really play with them? Steady Mom‘s contributer, Melitsa, has some great tips on how to set up block play for maximum baby & toddler enjoyment.
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• Baked Kale Chips, Easy Pie Crust & Grilled Radishes // I made these three recipes this past week and they were all a hit. Spice gobbled up the kale chips faster than I could make them and the spouse-unit thought the pie crust was perfect for the red chard and radish quiche I made. (I followed the commenters’ notes on sauteing the radishes rather than grilling them.)
• How to Make Your Own Biscuit Mix // I’m the kind that would rather make my own quick mixes than buy the store bought ones that have more preservatives and anti-caking agents thrown in, so I’m itching to make this biscuit mix recipe. Just need some organic shortening – I get mine at Whole Foods.
• Speaking of Tomboys // I LOVED this pic from Kim of The Mommy Machine of her daughter. The caption says it all: “He drives. She rides. I pray.”
• Wordless Wednesday: Then & Now // Also warming the pants off me were these before & after pics from Melissa over at Adventuroo of her and her family. I love the bit about “mom hair – always up”!
• Cross It Off Your List // As I try to keep up with my mad holiday planning and watch the rain fall on our half-finished deck, I can totally relate to Adriel’s post at the Mommyhood Memos about making lists, putting things off and finally getting around to long-postponed items.
• Fallin Up with Cottage and Vine! // I’ve always loved the movie, Hanging Up, for Meg Ryan’s gorgeous seasonal house. So when I saw Kim of My Domestic Bliss post about her fall decor touches, I’m both inspired and envious – the latter because I desperately need to declutter and clean before I can get to the oh-so-fun decorating. Still, love-love-love the spray-painted door pocket – what a great idea!
• 5 Foods You Have In Your Kitchen That Should Be In Your Hair // Some will be familiar to you, but eggs and molasses were totally new to me.