Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Eating Healthy, Food, Going Green, Health, Safety, Toxins on Jan 13th, 2011
Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA — an omega-3 fatty acid — has been in the news a lot in recent years. Getting enough omega-3 fatty acid has been linked to protecting the brain from Alzheimer’s and improving memory overall. It’s also been looked at for its antidepressant properties. One study found that men who don’t have [...]
Posted in Friendship, Pop Culture, Safety on Jan 11th, 2011
Yesterday I got a friend request from someone I was already friends with — a junior high school friend. Since I have had Facebook friends create more than one account or have an old account get accidentally deleted, I accepted the request. This morning, I got a suspicious email. Forget suspicious — it was outright [...]
The past few Sundays — as her sister naps — Big Girl and I have been going for bike rides. We travel a half mile east, another half mile north, and then head east, north, and east again until we get to a local park. Inside, we slip onto the bike-only track. I won’t lie: [...]
Posted in Environment, Health, Safety, Toxins on Nov 11th, 2010
A few years ago I wrote a story about lead poisoning for Parents Magazine. After my month of interviews I can tell you that almost half of the homes in the U.S. contain lead. Also, that most instances of lead poisoning go undetected. And that the most common age to become affected is between ages [...]
Posted in Safety on Oct 27th, 2010
Lenore Skenazy, the author of Free Range Kids, wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today. In the story — ‘Stranger Danger’ and the Decline of Halloween — she laments parental fear. How we all worry too much. In fact, she says that Halloween has become a testing ground for new parental fears. [...]
Posted in Health, Illness, Safety, Vaccines on Oct 21st, 2010
I was at a mommy and me class today when a woman cornered me. “I know you’re so into this stuff. I have to ask you. Did you know that this year’s flu shot contains the H1N1 virus? I asked if there was a version without it and there isn’t!” This girl, who gave her [...]
Posted in Friendship, Safety, School and education on Oct 20th, 2010
The notebook lay open on the counter. I didn’t recognize Big Girl’s scrawl so I picked it up for a closer look. There, on the page, was the following: “Bring it tomorrow and you said if you don’t I could punch you thank you good night.” WTF?!? I called Big Girl into the kitchen. What [...]
Posted in Education, Food, Safety, School and education on Oct 6th, 2010
I wasn’t surprised when I heard that birthdays are food-free celebrations at Big Girl’s new school. I had run into the mom who I suspect is behind the policy, and figured something like that was in the works. We were at the park and recognized each other. The kids had been in nursery school together. [...]
We went to the park today. It is absolutely gorgeous here in New York. Sunny, crisp, not too hot. The perfect park weather. We got there at 5. We almost had the place to ourselves except for a dad and his 3-year-old, a mom and dad with what looked like an 18-month-old, and a toddler [...]
Posted in Consumer Packaged Goods, Environment, Going Green, Health, Safety, Toxins on Jul 27th, 2010
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) isn’t going to take it anymore. The environmental action group today filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for, “failing to issue a final rule regulating the chemicals triclosan and triclocarban, which are commonly found in antibacterial soaps.” I’ve written about the topic many times before, [...]