Busy Mom’s “Go Green” in 2012

When each New Year comes around, we resolve to change our habits. Typically, how many months, weeks, days, does your resolution last? For the busy mom, it can be especially difficult.

This time around, rather than setting unachievable expectations, opt to make adjustments in your daily life. Think of Earth Day as every day and start with these ideas from Playful Planet:

5 Key Lifestyle Adjustments: keep your wallet full, your body trim, and your kids creative, all while pleasing the planet in 2012.

Everybody Stand Up

Here are some words associated with sitting: sedentary, stationary, still, stiff. How many hours a day do you think you spend in this position? If your calculation shocks you, think of all times in your daily life where you can afford to stand up and move rather than sit down. Watching TV, spending time on the computer, driving your car to then continue sitting at a restaurant; these are a few examples.  It’s time to treat your body with respect and stand up!

Bring your own bag or basket and peruse the outdoor produce promenade with your child.  Use this opportunity to engage your child about seasonal fruits and vegetables picked straight from the vine, and sustainable farming. If you don’t know the answers, just ask your friendly farmer. By purchasing locally, not only will you be saving money and stimulating your local economy, you will be voting with your dollars to reduce the use of fossil fuels used in shipping.

Another perk: the farmers offer samples of their products so you get a taste of what you are getting!

Bring the basket of seasonal, freshly picked Farmer’s Market vegetables to your home kitchen. Let your child choose one of these healthy family recipes, and start creating. This is a chance to let your child have responsibility and to have fun cooking together. You’ll know exactly what ingredients are being used, keep the restaurant server’s tip for yourself, and have freedom to move about!

Send your child to school with the leftovers she created the night before in Bento Lunch Boxes! These colorful lunch packing options for the family are free of lead, BPA, phthalates or PVC. They are reusable and recyclable, pay for themselves in three weeks, and made in the USA.  Skip the plastic baggies for the sake of the environment, your wallet, and your health, and let your child choose his bento box style at www.laptoplunches.com.

It’s time we associate packaged food with what’s behind the scenes: unhealthy additives, lower nutritional value, high consumption of fossil fuels in production and shipment, waste. By shopping in bulk at a whole foods market for items such as grains, legumes, pastas, and cereals, you will be doing your part in cutting back on packaging. Engage your child at the market by letting him weigh the food items and find out the cost. At home, allow her to be crafty and decorate or label the mason jars for the food staples.

Views

Our daughter, Lily had a "Daddy & Me" day recently. She was very clear about finding "views" and the importance of finding just the right view.

We rode our bikes to the local cafe, then Lily had a special rock where we sat to look at the view.

After our muffins, we walked along the beach to a pier to see another view.  Views are so special where we live and open her mind to so much possibility. She loves showing me new 'views' that she's discovered by taking me through bushes or up a sand dune or out a pier to find just the right spot to view the scenery.

4 Back-to-School Sustainable Lunch Box Alternatives

With Labor Day past us, school for everyone should now be in session. While you may like to pack your child's lunch every day so that he or she has access to healthier and greener food  items (not to mention it's more budget-friendly) the container you place your child's lunch in can be as equally as important as what you actually pack—especially in terms of the environment. To paint a better picture for you, according to statistics more than 20 million sandwich baggies are sent to the landfill every year—and if you weren't aware it takes a 1,000 plus years for plastic to degrade. And using small brown paper bags are an automatic no-no for obvious reasons: the killing of trees. Even some "reusable" lunch kits can be just as bad —some of the ones made from plastic can actually jeopardize your child's health. Thankfully there are some eco-friendly alternatives you can look into to make sure your child and the environment are properly protected. To check out the top 4 choices, continue reading below.

Disclaimer:  We have no affiliation with the products listed below and were not given samples. The products were recommended through word-of-mouth and were tested for efficiency/reliability.

1. Lunch Skins by 3GreenMoms. These ultra-chic and colorful bags made of "a thick cotton fabric" and "coated with a food safe-polyurethane" are the ultimate solution for toxic plastic zipper and folding baggies. With three sizes available, they're perfect for any snack, traditionally sized-sandwich, or sub sandwich. All you need to do is wash them after each use (they're dishwasher safe) and you're all set. Baggies are durable enough to withstand 1,000 washes. Price: $7.85 to $10.95

2. Kids Healthy Lunch Kit by Fit and Fresh. This eco-friendly 13-piece "kit" includes all the essentials your child needs to pack everything from soups, salads, fruits, dips and yes of course sandwiches—the best part? They're BPA free and meet FDA regulations for food-grade plastic. Price: $16.99

3. Planet Box. Not only is this nifty lunch box a safer alternative to plastic lunch boxes (it's BPA free and is made of 400 series food grade non-toxic stainless steel) but it also serves as a major organizational tool. It looks like your typical lunch box from the outside, but in the inside it has convenient containers engraved in the tray. It almost looks like a bento box, which leads us to our last option—

Price: $34.95-$59.95

4. Bento Lunch Boxes by Lap Top Lunches. Originally Bento boxes are of Japanese origin, but these bento boxes are made in the U.S. Like the other lunch boxes that made the list, these line of bento boxes are contain no lead, are BPA free, contain no phthalates and are made of recycled materials—and as a bonus they can in-turn be recycled too. The separate containers come out for easy cleaning and the actually lunch boxes themselves come in an array of colors and designs. Price: $24.99

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Back To School Already?

It is so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that school started up this week!  Wow.  It feels just like it did when I was a kid and the last week of summer was clouded a bit by disbelief.  These days, however, I look forward to the consistency that the school year brings.  I like the free-flow of summer, but I am ready to have a little more structure come back in.

I was thinking of ways that I can help Lily to regain some focus and think that using our yoga-play time might help. So here are the Top 5 ways to improve your child's focus and social behavior through 'story yoga':

1.  Pair Actions with Story- 'Story Yoga' works best when you introduce body action moves that pair with the story. For example, by engaging a child's imagination in a story to help endangered species, they learn the yoga poses by imitating animals and gain interest in the planet --- an award winning approach offered in the Storyland Yoga DVD.

2.  Stay with Your Calm Energy- When your child is acting out or they get chatty when you are trying to show them yoga or tell them a story, just let most of the chatter go by, and keep teaching, staying with your energy. Children will often model calm behavior if they see it is consistent and safe. This is a great way for them to learn how to keep themselves calm in social situations.

3.  Routine Brings Security- security also can mean more focus for a child when they know what to expect with their day to day routine. If they know that it will be time for 'Story Yoga' at a certain time every day or even a few consistent days each week, they will not only come to expect it but the thought of it can bring them to a calm space when they think about it.

4. Involve them in the Story- get the child to come up with the next pose or piece to the story you are sharing. This will help them develop better communication skills as well as teach them to become comfortable and confident with their body. They can create their own character, name them and be them, and of course you can pose along with the fun. This is an excellent confidence builder.

5. Create the Image- After you do the 'Story Yoga' with your child, have them color or draw the story to bring it to life. They can then share this with family and friends as they show them the poses that go with the story. It is important to not correct them in this creation process, just let them flow with the crayons and pose them on the paper however they would like so that they can tell the story from their view and experience.

Tips provided by Playful Planet, creators of the Award Winning- Storyland Yoga DVD