Of the 70 million US households owning dogs or cats as pets around 10% of the population are allergic to them. That is, approximately 7 million pet lovers who suffer from allergies at the paws of their canine companions and feline friends.

Pet allergies are an immune system reaction to animal proteins that trigger inflammation in the lining of the nasal passages. These allergies cause sneezing, runny nose and a stuffy head for some sufferers; however, others experience more serious symptoms including contraction of the airways resulting in hives, wheezing, shortness of breath and other breathing problems.

Any household animal with fur can cause allergies; however, cats and dogs are the most likely culprits with cats causing more allergic instances than dogs.

Typically speaking humans pick up these allergens through the animals’ dander. While saliva and urine can cause allergic reactions it is the dander that bothers most people the most. When cats and dogs shed they expel small skin cells known as dander. These can remain airborne for some time and can also accumulate on upholstered furniture, carpets and pet beds. Saliva also causes reactions and can be transmitted via clothing or after it has dried and become airborne. While there are several hairless or hypoallergenic breeds available it is important to remember that no dog or cat can be free of allergens to a pet allergy sufferer. There are; however, several steps you can take to alleviate the severity of your reaction:

1. Create a pet free zone. If you are allergic to your pet try making your bedroom a pet free zone. Let him sleep elsewhere and keep him out of your room with products like indoor dog fences. By keeping your pet out of this room and running a high powered HEPA air filter you can cut down dramatically on the amount of allergens in the air.

2. Keep other living areas clean. Dust and vacuum frequently and avoid using dust and dander-catching fabrics such as drapes and carpet. Also, cover couches and pillows with washable covers for easy cleaning. If wood floors are not an option, invest in a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner or use microfiber anti-allergen bags in your current vacuum cleaner. All of this combined with running additional HEPA air filters throughout the house will keep dander to a minimum.

3. Protect yourself. When cleaning, make sure to wear rubber gloves and a surgical mask. These items are available for purchase at your local drug store and will keep you from breathing or coming into physical contact with animal dander and saliva particles when cleaning. Cleaning stirs up these particles and can cause a particularly acute allergic reaction.

4. Keep your pet clean and groomed. If you perform grooming at home make sure to wear your gloves and mask when doing so. If your allergies are severe then take your pet for professional grooming frequently. Regular grooming keeps shedding to a minimum and will dramatically reduce allergic reactions.

5. Take your medication. Try visiting your doctor for weekly immunotherapy. These shots will expose the skin to animal proteins and will gradually desensitize the immune system to pet allergens. Injections are given weekly at first and then tapered down to one per month when the body begins to produce adequate antibodies. If your allergies are more easily controlled then you can try an over-the counter antihistamine or a prescription steroidal nose spray. Inhalers are also available for pet allergy sufferers.

If all of these tips fail, don’t get rid of the family pet just yet. Some people suffer from allergies that have nothing to do with their pets. Common culprits include pollen, mold or cigarette smoke allergies. Don’t assume that your allergies are attributed to your pet. Visit your doctor and have a skin test of a variety of common irritants to confirm what your particular triggers are. Even the most sensitive to animal allergies can achieve a happy balance in the home with proper medical treatment, a regular house cleaning regimen and frequent pet grooming.

When it comes time to feeding your baby solid foods, your initial vision might be dipping a spoon into a little jar of pureed peas, carrots or bananas. Did you know that your baby will eat about 600 of these cute little jars of baby food? And that the cost of all these jars can add up $400-$600?

If you are interested in making a HUGE dent in this baby budget line item, we recommend you make your own baby food. Now don’t laugh, roll your eyes or start trembling at the thought of cooking – most people find it surprisingly simple and quick to make baby food.

Homemade baby food will cost less than $100, saving your family up to a whopping $500! And before you ask ” but who has the time?”, think about using the tried n’ true ice cube tray method of making baby food. It will take only 30 minutes per week! There are not many things you can do in 30 minutes a week to save hundreds of dollars.

Here are the four basic steps to making baby food:

Step 1: Start with fresh fruits or vegetables. Depending on the type of food, you will need to wash, chop and peel the fruits and vegetables. If you are using frozen produce, simply open the package.

Step 2: Cook the food in the microwave or steam the food on the stove. Foods are done when the can be pierced or mashed easily with a fork.

Step 3: Pour the food and cooking juices into a food processor or a blender and puree to a soft and velvety texture. You may need to add water to get the right texture.

Step 4: Spoon the food puree into ice cube trays. Cover and place them in the freezer. When frozen, pop the baby food cubes out into a freezer storage bag. Baby food cubes stay fresh for up to two months in the freezer.

When it comes time to feed your baby, simply select baby food cubes from the freezer, defrost and the rest is YUM!

Apple Puree
6 medium golden delicious apples

Step 1: Prep – Wash, peel, core and cut apples into one-inch (3 cm) slices.

Step 2: Cook – Place apples in a microwave safe dish. Cover. Cook 5 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes. Cook an additional 5 minutes. The apples are done when they can be pierced easily with a fork.

Step 3: Puree – Place apples and cooking juices into a blender or a food processor. Puree to a smooth texture.

Step 4: Freeze – Spoon into So Easy Baby Food Trays or ice cube trays. Cover. Place in freezer eight to 10 hours or overnight. Remove cubes from trays, place in storage container or freezer bag, and return immediately to the freezer.
Makes 24 1-ounce servings. Stays fresh for two months in the freezer.
To serve, select frozen apple cubes from the freezer, defrost and warm, check the temperature and feed.

Age to introduce: About 6 months.

Sweet Potato Puree
2-3 medium to large sweet potatoes

Step 1: PREP – Wash, peel and chop sweet potatoes into one-inch (3 cm) cubes

Step 2: COOK – In a medium-size saucepan, pour ½ cup water. Set a steamer basket in the saucepan and place sweet potatoes cubes in the basket. Cover. Bring water to a boil and turn down the heat and simmer for about 12-15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. They are done if the sweet potatoes can be mashed easily with a fork. OR Place sweet potatoes and 2 Tablespoons (30ml) of water in a microwave-safe dish. Cover. Cook 8-10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. They are done if the sweet potatoes can be mashed easily with a fork.

Step 3: PUREE – Place sweet potatoes and cooking juices into a blender of food processor. Add ½ cup (60 ml) of water. Puree. Add additional ¼ to ½ cup (60 – 100 ml) of water, as needed, to develop of smooth texture.

Step 4: FREEZE – Spoon into So Easy Baby Food Trays or ice cube trays. Cover. Place in freezer 8-10 hours or overnight. Remove cubes from trays, place in storage container or freezer bag, and return immediately to the freezer.
Makes 24 one-ounce servings. Stays fresh for 2 months in the freezer.
To serve, select frozen sweet potato cubes from the freezer, defrost and warm, check the temperature and feed.

There are few more money saving secrets to making baby food:

1. Buy fresh produce that is on sale or in season
2. Use coupons for frozen fruits and vegetables
3. Make baby food in large quantities and freeze it in single servings

Of all the environmental hazards in houses, lead paint is potentially one of the most serious, because it can and does have the largest number of victims. Lead-poisoned children number in the tens of thousands and suffer from reduced learning skills, behavioral and nervous system disorders, and in the worse cases of poisoning, mental retardation. Lead can also affect unborn children.

Up until 1978, nearly all exterior paints and most interior wood trim paint contained lead pigment. In the Boston area where I live, 80% of the homes contain lead paint, because much of the building stock in the city is older. If you live in an older home, contact your local health department to see what you must do about lead paint.

Below are some things to keep in mind to help protect yourself and your children from lead exposure.

1. Be careful when you renovate. One husband and wife wanted to sell their home, and their real estate agent suggested they repaint the interior to freshen up the property. They had two young children and not a lot of money, so they decided to do the work themselves. They diligently sanded and scraped wall and wood surfaces to prepare them for a new coat of paint – all while living in the house. They accepted an offer, and the prospective buyers hired a lead inspector. The inspector drew everyone aside during his site visit and said that the house contained the highest levels of lead dust he’d ever seen. Even the infant’s crib and teddy bear were contaminated. He suggested that the family evacuate the home immediately.

2. If you live in an older home, and have a sandbox outside your house, or a dirt pile for your children to play in, buy new sand or dirt– don’t use dirt from your yard. Don’t grow fruits and vegetables in the soil around your house until you have that soil tested. Make people take off their shoes when they come into your home. The soil around older homes can contain high concentrations of lead compounds – perhaps because the siding contains lead paint that was scraped before surfaces were repainted. Some people also think that lead compounds in our environment came from gasoline, before the additive tetraethyl lead was banned from fuel. When this chemical was in fuel, lead ended up in the exhaust of cars and trucks, and entered the air at a rate of about the weight of a penny for every 5 miles traveled. These microscopic lead particles found their way into the soil around houses after being washed out of the air and off of roofs.

3. If you are thinking of moving into an older home, hire a professional to do a lead inspection. Don’t forget to have carpeting tested, because it may contain soil and dust that people carried into the house on their shoes and that contains lead dust. If the property has already been de-leaded, ask to see the final lead inspection report.

Lead paint chips are not sweet and children rarely eat them. Invisible lead dust is a more worrisome culprit.

(c) Jeffrey May

My husband and I read to our two daughters on a daily basis. We love sitting down with a big pile of books and sharing the stories. But in our increasingly busy lives the art of actual storytelling seems to be slipping away.

PlainTails recently launched several CD collections that focus on classic storytelling. PlainTails First Tales is geared towards toddlers and preschoolers. “The Gingerbread Boy and Other First Tales” had my daughters’ attention from the minute I put it in our car CD player. They usually spend our commute arguing and tattling on who stuck their tongue out last. For 48 blissful minutes they were lost in the world of The Gingerbread Boy and The Frog Prince.

The stories start out with a few bars of music and then begin. While I had planned on enjoying some quiet time in the front seat, I actually found myself listening to the stories. There are a total of four stories on the disc. I assumed my daughters would be done with it once we heard all four, but they surprised me by asking to listen to them again.

PlainTales Explorers has several CDs with themed stories on each. “Animal Tales: Raccoon, Bear, and Coyte” are fictional tales about these three animals, but include a lot of educational material within the story. “Johnny Appleseed and Other American Legends” is a great way to introduce your child to some classic American stories about famous figures like John Muir and Lewis and Clark.

The CDs are $12.95 each and will really encourage your child to starting spinning their own yarns. It helps them look at the world through different eyes and forces their imaginations to expand as they think about each story.

June officially kicks off summer, and it’s time to take the party outside!

The June/July issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray gives great tips on how to put a playful spin on a classic cookout.

Rachael Ray’s design buddy Evette Rios suggests:

• Use bandanas instead of napkins to add color and flare to table settings.
• Pin down craft paper for a tablecloth and lay out pens for drawing.
• Whip up sides that will fill you up without weighing you down. For example, a Grilled Corn and Red Potato Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette is a tasty light choice to mayonnaise.
• Pick up colorful nylon kites to decorate the overhanging trees for a whimsical background, as well as fun entertainment for kids.

Snag this month’s issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray for more summer entertaining tips. Don’t forget to check out the new www.RachaelRayMag.com and bring out your inner host.

There really is no right or wrong way to clean. Whatever works best for you is great. Be very careful that you do not get stuck in the details of these projects. Do what you can and then move on! Don’t spend this week cleaning and organizing your spice cabinet. We’ll spend some time down the road de-cluttering this room and you can focus on those areas at that time. Your main goal for this room is to spend the next seven days working towards a clean, functional, and easily maintainable kitchen.

I must admit that for me the kitchen is the area that requires the most work. If my kitchen looks clean I feel more relaxed and in control…and vice-versa. My family (myself included) can tend to use the kitchen as a dumping ground. Attempt to come up with clutter-busting solutions to fit your home. If you have an area that seems to accumulate clutter, try to come up with a system to get rid of it (or at least contain it).

Following is an example of how to break these tasks into 7 days.� � Each day you should plan to spend between 15-30 minutes. I do best if I set the timer.� Please keep in mind to break up your job into tasks however it suits you best

Day 57:
Grab a bag and purge! Set the timer for 15-30 minutes and purge what you can. If this is a project that requires more than the time permits, just write this down for a project to do when you have a chance. Don’t let yourself get stuck!

Day 58:
Clean ceiling fan, walls, doors, ceilings, and baseboards. If you have time left, try to tackle a bit more purging.

Day 59:
Clean your fridge. This means inside, outside, and on the top. Also clean your oven. If your oven is not a self-cleaning type, you may want to do this at a later date.

Day 60:
Take down curtains and wash
Clean the windowsills and trim
Windex windows, mirrors, and all glass surfaces
Hang the window treatments back up

Day 61:
Completely clear off your countertops and wash them down thoroughly. Clean small appliances and decorative accessories and make an effort to be very selective which items get placed back. Appliances which are not used much should be tucked away. If you are like me and seem to accumulate clutter in one area of the countertop, place a basket there! Old habits are really hard to break! If you have a table in the kitchen, wipe that down as well.

Day 62:
Wipe down all the cabinets and try to wipe inside as many cabinets as possible.
Sweep and mop floors
Treat yourself!� Decorate for summer; new tablecloth, placemats, fresh flowers, etc.

Day 63:
Free Day (or catch up)

Before you start any of the above projects, make sure you start with a straightened room.

Some of the tasks may need more time than what you have this week. An example of this would be if you really need a thorough de-cluttering of plastic ware, spices, freezer, etc. For larger tasks, skip it for now (or do what you can without making a larger mess for yourself) and make a to-do list. At the end of our 80 days (or during, when you have the time) you can go back to the list to see what needs to still be addressed. I don’t want you to get stuck and lose your momentum.

Enjoy the journey,

Betsy
�

Q.� � I really want to connect with the kids this Summer when we’re less busy. I would love some relaxed ‘down time’ with just the family but don’t want the kids to complain the whole time that they’re bored. What do you suggest?

What do you remember of the lazy days of summer when you were a child? What were the best times? What did you look forward to all year long? What new experiences did you have that taught you new things about the world, your talents, and yourself?

For parents in two-job and three-job households, the anticipation of the fun of summer is lost in the pressured rush of figuring out child care, camps, and whether or not a vacation is financially possible this year. But it’s important to think, for a moment, about what opportunities summer does bring, both conventional, and unconventional!

There are chances to play more fully

The chance to play all day, every day is wonderful for children. They need those long days and weeks with no pressure to perform, pass tests, or prove themselves, except by their own choosing.� Play is the natural habitat of children. At play, they are using all their minds and their hearts to learn and grow.

We can relax some of the rules and worries we usually live by to let fuller play happen. Having water fights in the yard, playing hide and seek at dusk in the neighborhood, staying at the park until it’s really dark, making a mud hole and some really thick “chocolate” cakes in it, making a tent from a sheet in the back yard as a hideout, spitting watermelon seeds as far as you can—these are the kinds of play that don’t require electricity, don’t require any purchases. They just take imagination and a “Sure, that sounds great!” attitude from a parent.

Any play that includes laughter (and doesn’t include tickling or making fun of someone) is play that helps children grow strong. They gain confidence in the goodness of others as they laugh. They feel like there’s genius in the air when they laugh. And, chuckle by chuckle, they shake loose from their fears and worries.

There are chances to learn in unusual ways

When you have a toddler nearly ready to use the toilet, you can allow him or her to roam the back yard naked, learning to master bodily functions in a place where there can be no “accident.” You can pee with him in the bushes, and laugh together as the leaves dance. When you have a child afraid of the dark, you can sleep outside with her when the moon is full, to see what it’s like to have it be light all night long without a night light. When you have a child afraid of the water at the pool, you can try to stick your toe in, and then run playfully away, “afraid” of the water, so he can laugh while you “borrow” his difficulty for a half hour or so. When you’ve got a child who chews her fingernails, you can grab a puppet, and let the puppet want a nibble, getting some laughter going as your child denies the poor puppet a taste. Summer means that fresh new things can happen, usual boundaries can flex, and parents can relax a bit more around play that one wouldn’t allow when life has to be more structured.

There are chances to learn to help children with the feeling of boredom.�

Some summer days can lose their sparkle. Children feel listless, and say they are bored. You’ll notice that there actually are things they could do, and people they could play with, but they are missing that sense of adventure that can turn a simple piece of paper and a scissors into an experiment with hat making, or airplane crafting, or cut out design. The feeling inside of them is actually the problem, not any lack of things to do.

As far as I can tell, when children say they’re bored, they really are telling you that they don’t feel connected enough to feel hopeful. So rather than become irritated that they don’t appreciate all the things they have, or all the time you’ve spent trying to make them happy, move in close. Lie down with them, or next to them, where they languish. Don’t try to solve the problem of what to do. But do look pleased to be with them. Do cuddle. Do just stay there with them, until they can absorb your presence and your attention. If you want, after several moments of just lying with your child, paying attention but not prodding, you can begin musing about stuff they could do. But be silly in your suggestions. Say things like, “Well, we could start a booger collection and pick all our noses and see how much we can get, and figure out where to store it!” “We could try to give Bowser an airplane ride like you get on my feet!” or “We could hide under the bed when Daddy gets home, and see how long it would take for him to find us.” or “I could lick your toes and see how they taste!” or “I could shake you upside down, and see if that gives you any ideas at all,” or “We could put a cotton ball on the overhead fan, and then turn it on, and see what happens!”�

Any silly idea will do. You’re not trying to solve the problem of what to do. You’re trying to get a bit of laughter going, and then a bit more, and then even more. While children are laughing, the bridge between you and them rebuilds. Your silly ideas, and the release of laughter, jumpstarts their minds. Soon, they know what they want to do again. If not, they become irritated with you, and your presence becomes more and more of a bother. They work themselves into a good cry, which is the other way children clear their minds of emotional sludge, and regain their enthusiasm for life. Stay. Listen to what a dumb day they are having, and how you are a stupid parent because you won’t let them x, y or z. To really get the awful feelings out, they need someone safe as their target. That would be you! You don’t have to believe that this is their full and final evaluation of your parenting. It’s not. It’s just what they need to do to get the tears going strong, so they can come back to you and feel their love for you again when they have finished.

Vacations provide the chance to help children over big behavioral humps.

For children, the best thing about vacations is that their parents aren’t so busy. The prolonged contact (which often starts in the car or on a plane) gives children’s emotional minds a sense of greater safety. This, in turn, translates into children trying to set up chances to heal from the harder times they’ve had. Any times of forced separation, strict boundaries, or tense parent preoccupation with adult issues leave an emotional burden sitting heavily in children’s emotional memory.

When the family comes together and spends extended time, a child’s limbic system, the seat of her emotions, gets the signal that all is better than usual. Feelings that don’t correspond to the closeness, the ease, or the sense of relaxation pop up, ready to be released. Those feelings, held in storage for days or months or years, don’t match the present circumstances. It’s as if the limbic system says, “Hey, we have a wad of xyz upset in here that is old and taking up lots of space. The world isn’t xyz any longer. Let’s heave it on out!” and up comes the upset, right at the time when the parents are trying to relax and enjoy their children.

If you’re not ready for your children’s emotional cleansing sessions, you’ll be irritated for sure. You’ll think, “This ungrateful kid can’t tell that we’ve practically stood on our heads to get her to Jungle World. And now she’s crying because we won’t buy her a second stuffed animal! What have I done wrong to raise such a child!?”�

If you have remembered that, when conditions are extra good, children then cry about when they weren’t wonderful, so they can leave the emotional debris of that past incident behind, you’ll think, “Well, this is a hassle for sure. But here we are, we don’t have anywhere we have to be. We can sit here and listen to her cry about wanting a second stuffed animal. We can just keep saying ‘No,’ and loving her. That’s what she needs, and that’s what we’ve got. Time and love. The rest of the people here we’ll never see again. If they are bothered by us, they can find another gift shop.”

Here’s how it works:

One of our Hand in Hand moms went with her husband and her two sons on vacation in Hawaii. It was a very special trip. The whole family went through a three-hour time change, and this upset sleep and family rhythms for the first day or two. They used Playlistening—wild wrestling and pillowfights in the morning—to help relax her children, who were tense with the changes and the early rising. They also took care to give their boys Special Time—each of them took one son, and did Special Time each day, trading boys back and forth day by day. The boys were also getting unusual treats: special foods, lots of fun in the water, and even a video or two, usually forbidden at home.

By the third day, their older son, who has been an edgy, tightly wound child from the beginning, launched into a big cry. The pretext was small, but the theme was, “You never take me anywhere!” He went on for very long time. His next upset was, “You never buy me anything,” launched right after he’d been allowed to have a new toy. He was clearing out old feelings that the new and relaxed situation had shoved up for healing. The parents guess that, over the next week, he cried a total of 4 or 5 hours, hard! They listened and didn’t hurry him. Yes, it was disappointing at times, but they decided to trust his sense of what he needed to do at any one time. His little brother also had some really big cries, the most obvious of which was one sitting on the jetway on the way home, refusing to walk because the airline attendant had handed his brother a boarding pass after scanning it, but not him.

The parents were feeling a bit badly done to, as they had imagined an idyllic time, full of play and enjoyment, but finding at least one big long cry each day was being chosen by one or the other or both of their sons.

When they returned, they noticed a huge payoff in the behavior of their oldest. He was one who refused to touch a vegetable. He began showing off, eating every vegetable at dinner, and salad for breakfast! He would never clear his plate from the table. “It’s too heavy,” was his usual excuse. After vacation, he has been showing his parents how many plates he can carry at once—he is up to five at a time! He would never allow his mom to help him with spelling or other homework. Any suggestion was rebuffed, or taken as a criticism. After vacation, presto! He was easy to work with, interested in suggestions, open to help. The boys’ mom says that they have a neighbor who gives very few compliments, and who has known her son since infancy. A week after they came home, he said to her, “Your son has become so flexible, so easygoing! I’ve never seen him like this.”

She is sure that what allowed this progress to happen was the close family time, and the Special Time, Playlistening, and Staylistening they did. They hadn’t planned to create an emotional “spa” for their children. But children know when an opportunity is at hand, and they’ll go for healing and a better connection any chance they have.

May your vacation offer such chances. May you remember that your children’s upsets are the beginning of a summer growth spurt, a healthy sign that they love you and trust you to care.

For more stories of how parents use the tools of Parenting by Connection with their children, visit our new blog at http://superprotectivefactor.wordpress.com/

Hand in Hand is a parent education non-profit that has been helping families to build the super-protective factor of parent-child connectedness for twenty years.� You can learn more by reading the Listening to Children booklet series by Patty Wipfler or by signing up for our free monthly newsletter, Connecting! or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ListenToKids� .

When a couple moves in together or gets married they are busy combining two households into one, picking out new dishes or arguing over what color to paint the living room. Chances are the last thing on their mind is outlining an ownership agreement of their dog; however, it can be very important to outline who’s dog the dog will be in the event of a split.

If there are two dogs belonging to two different people then the situation is more clear cut; however, if one member of the couple owns the dog prior to the relationship they need to protect their rights as the dog’s owner. Another situation to consider is if the couple gets a dog together during the course of the cohabitating relationship.

Couples must agree on who owns the dog, who will take responsibility for daily walks and feedings and perhaps most importantly, who bears the financial responsibility for caretaking. These situations are not always clearly defined between partners in attempts to avoid awkward conversations, but they should be to make things easier in the event of a split. If possible the couple should consider drawing up a contract to outline these details to avoid hurt feelings later.

The person owning the dog, caring for the dog and providing financial support for the dog are not always the same person. Responsibilities are often shared and this is where the dispute can sometimes arise. People often feel like they put effort into raising the dog and are left in the cold when the split arises. If you already have a dog when you go into a relationship you need to make it clear that the dog will be yours when the relationship ends. This often means that you will need to provide the financial support in addition to being the primary caregiver. If you expect that this will be the case you need to make sure that your name is on the Veterinary records and you will need to take responsibility for registering your dog in your name with the County Animal Control office.

If you elect to get a dog while in the relationship you will need to make sure to specify who will take ownership and responsibility. If the dog belongs to both and other responsibilities are split then there will likely be a custody dispute at the end of the relationship. The cost of owning a dog can also become a burden and splitting the expense of the dog bed, hidden fence and other pet supplies is highly recommended to keep things fair. This is fine if you are prepared to set aside your differences to create an amicable custody arrangement if necessary. Dog custody arrangements are on the rise in a society in love with their dogs and have become common place amongst divorcing or separating couples. This arrangement can have benefits and drawbacks; however, it should be discussed upon getting the dog rather than waiting for the separation to occur.

Regardless of your situation an agreement can and should be discussed sooner rather than later to avoid inaccurate assumptions on the part of either member of the couple. One member of the couple could feel that because they buy the dog food and pay for the Veterinary visits they are the entitled owner. On the other hand, the other partner could feel that because they do the daily walking, and feeding that they are the entitled owner. Both sides have a good argument so it is best to discuss before hand to prevent unnecessary hard feelings during a difficult time. In the end your dog could be lucky enough to have two caring parents and the best of both worlds, but this will likely not be the case when resentments are involved.

Soups are a terrific way to introduce your toddler to vegetables and fruits. There are many types of soups. The best place to start with your toddler is with pureed soups. They have a pleasing smooth texture. If your child’s “spoon” skills are not refined enough for soup, pour it in a cup and sip away.

Pureed soups, such as cream of asparagus may sound exotic, but they are quite simple to make. Even a novice in the kitchen can be successful. A hand held immersion blender is a good appliance to invest in for making pureed soups hassle-free. This appliance is placed right into the soup pot, move it around, and viola – pureed soup!
Don’t overlook fruit soups. They are sweet, healthy and refreshing. Most fruit soups require no cooking. You simply put ingredients in a blender and whirl away. Fruits soups are a huge hit with toddlers.

Toddler Treat: Creamy Asparagus Soup

Teething toddler? Frozen, cooked asparagus spears make a soothing teether.
Even some of the pickiest of toddlers will eat their veggies when they are in soup. This soup is a creamy puree, so it if you child’s “spoon” skills are not refined enough for soup, pour it in a cup and they can sip away. Always check the temperature of soup before serving it to small children.

Ingredients:
1 pound of asparagus, cleaned and chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence (optional)
1 cup milk (dairy or soy) OR 1 cup coconut milk
3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Directions: Over medium heat, add oil, celery, and onions to a large soup pot. Saute until soft. Add asparagus, potato, herbs de Provence, and soup stock. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Puree soup until smooth with a hand blender, food processor or blender. Stir in milk (dairy, soy or coconut). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Leftovers can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Create a “Soup Bar” to make it family fun! Prepare a simple soup recipe and spoon it into bowls or cups. Line up a series of topping choices and let the kids sprinkle their own toppings on the soup! Here are some suggestions:
• Thinly sliced green onions
• Chopped cilantro
• Cubes of avocado
• Wedges of lemon or lime
• Sour cream
• Bacon bits
• Diced Ham or chicken
• Shredded cheese
• Croutons or broiled cheese toasts

When you look around your home are you often overwhelmed by all that you have to complete?� � So many projects, so little time; these once good intentioned tasks have become stressors in your world. � It is time to get real.�

List all the unfinished projects that you are working on; big and small.� Which of these projects simply cannot be finished by you?� Create a plan on how you can finish this; whether it is by hosting a workday at your home or by creating a weekly savings plan so you can afford to hire someone.�

Be critical when you analyze your unfinished projects to-do list.� When prioritizing what needs to be done, you need to not only think of the condition of where the project currently stands, but rather what the effect the unfinished project creates in your life.� In addition, now is the time to toss out any projects that simply do not belong on the list; now or possibly ever.�

Following is a guideline for completing these tasks, but please adjust these suggestions to best suit your needs.

Day 50
Make one large master list of all the unfinished projects; inside and outside of our home.� Asterisk the projects that you cannot do on your own, and start working on a plan for completion; budget and time-line.� From the list, pick 5 different simple projects that you would like to complete this week, or choose one larger job that can be completed when it is broken into 5 simple tasks.� Be realistic with the amount of time you have to work on this.� If you only have 15 minutes a day, do not give yourself more than what can be completed in that timeframe.

Days 51-55
Each day work towards either finishing a project from your list, or take the time to complete a task towards a larger goal.�

Day 56
Begin breaking down other projects from your master list into smaller achievable projects that you can tackle throughout the summer.

Enjoy the journey,
Betsy

Parents and child care providers work hard to provide a loving, stimulating environment that is safe for even the smallest children. One element of a healthy child care environment that is often overlooked is pest control. Pests may be harmful to children’s health, and pesticides used to control them may also be very harmful. Pest control in child care should be 100% kid-safe: it should effectively manage pests without exposing children or staff members to potentially harmful pesticides.

A new report out this week from Toxic Free North Carolina, Avoiding Big Risks for Small Kids, takes a look at what child care providers in our state are doing about pests like ants, weeds, cockroaches and such. Toxic Free NC talked to 89 child care providers all around the state last year and asked them all kinds of questions about pests and pesticides. The survey results paint a distressing picture of overuse of pesticides in child care, which potentially exposes children and staff to pesticides that can trigger asthma attacks, harm growing brains, and even increases their risk of developing some types of cancer.

* For 53% of child care providers who took the pest control survey, old fashioned high-risk pest control methods like baseboard spraying are used at their child care. Some do this spraying themselves, but more are contracting with a professional pest control company who does it. Broadcast spraying creates a high risk that children and staff will be exposed to those potentially harmful chemicals. Because little kids are growing quickly, and spend a lot of time crawling around on the floor and putting things in their mouths, they are more vulnerable than adults to health damage from pesticides and other toxic chemicals in their environments.

* The survey also found very limited adoption of least-toxic pest control, known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The US EPA recommends IPM for schools, child care centers and other areas where children spend time because it drastically reduces health risks from pesticides. IPM uses pro-active monitoring, sanitation, and maintenance to prevent pest problems before they start, and uses least-toxic pesticides sparingly if at all, and only with very targeted application methods. Fewer than 24% of child care providers reported using practices that qualify as IPM – but those who did also reported fewer serious pest problems, indicating that it may be working better.

Compared with public schools, which are rapidly adopting IPM in North Carolina, child care centers are lagging way behind. NC public schools are all required to switch to least-toxic IPM by 2011 thanks to a state law adopted in 2006.

So what can parents & child care providers do about this? Be an advocate for kid-safe pest management! I recommend asking lots of questions to get more information about pest control and safety at your child care. We’ve made a quick and dirty guide for parents and providers, that lists the top questions people should be asking to ensure they’re getting the safest pest control at their child care.

For parents, asking questions like these can tell you a lot:

Are baseboard spraying or fogging ever used here?
Are pesticides ever used while children are present?
Do you have a pest control contract, and if so, does it call for least-toxic IPM?
Do you have records of pest control activities that I can look at?

The littlest kids are the most vulnerable to health harm from pesticides, but pests are no treat either, and some, like cockroaches, can also harm children’s health. So, the safest approach is one that takes care of pests with minimum use of pesticides. If public schools can do it, so can child care centers. Avoiding Big Risks for Small Kids shows that child care providers aren’t informed enough about this issue to get the safest pest control they can. Parents can make a huge difference by simply asking the right questions!

Looking for more information?
Here’s that quick and dirty guide to Avoiding Big Risks for Small Kids for parents and providers.
Here are Toxic Free NC’s resources for child care providers, which include a guide to contracting for safer pest control.
Here’s more information about the NC School Children’s Health Act, which requires IPM for NC public schools.
And here’s the link one more time for the new report – Avoiding Big Risks for Small Kids.

May is Women’s Health Month.� It is a good reminder for all of us to pamper the ones we love.� The next few days we are going to focus on taking care of ourselves; because if we don’t love ourselves – who will?�

The cost of clutter is such a problem these days.� Loss of income, stretched budgets, overwhelmed schedules, late bills, broken relationships, depression, and lost dreams are just a few costs that some of my clients have experienced.� During the next seven days I ask you to try a few simple things, none lasting more than 15 minutes, but each can create a big impact.� Gaining control over your life does not have to be looked at as a monumental task; rather it can be dealt with in small bite-size steps.

Day 43:�

Set the timer for 5 minutes and purge a small space.� Don’t try and do an entire closet, rather one� small drawer.� Try the four box method: put away, give away, throw away, and keep.� Notice how amazing you feel, and the impact you see, from accomplishing a simple task.� If you have time, set the timer for another 5 minutes and recapture another small cluttered space.

Day 44:� Grab a bag and set the timer for 15 minutes and attack your car.� Once de-cluttered, wipe down all surfaces.� The next time you get in your car you will feel so much better sitting in a clean and organized space.

Grab a bag and set the timer for 15 minutes and attack your car.� Once de-cluttered, wipe down all surfaces.� The next time you get in your car you will feel so much better sitting in a clean and organized space.Day 45:

Write down a goal for yourself.� Share your goal with a friend, and start working towards it.� Encourage your friend to also share a goal with you.� Be each other’s cheerleader!

Day 46:

Is there a book you have been meaning to start but the clutter in your life (material and time) has prevented it?� Your mission today is to set the timer for 15 minutes and start your book.� Remember, if you don’t take care of yourself, who will?�

Day 47:

It’s time for another 5 minute purge.� Set the timer for 5 minutes and purge a small space and repeat the process if you have enough time.

Day 48:

Pamper someone else today.� Share with a friend, relative, or neighbor some of your best de-cluttering techniques.� Offer to drop off someone’s donation bags to your local thrift store.� See how taking care of others, gives you back.

Day 49:�

Set your timer and breathe.� Either in the morning or night, set the timer for 5 minutes, give yourself a quiet space, and breathe; meditate, pray, or simply allow your body and mind to relax.�

Enjoy the journey,

Betsy

My daughter is becoming a pre-teen, and I’m worried! She has big emotional upsets now and then, but is fine with us other times. How do I ride this roller coaster with her, rather than be upset with her for being on it. I know this is a hard time for kids!
�

Dear Parent:

Good for you for thinking ahead! Adolescence is a stage that gets very bad press, which is unfortunate for teens, and for parents as well. It is a growth stage that is full of promise! The perils get much more attention than the excitement of seeing your child grow, learn, and explore her expanding world.

The fact that your daughter has occasional passionate emotional upsets is a good sign, not a bad one. Children who feel safest with their parents are the ones who tend to have open upsets. Your daughter’s explosions are a sign that she is using her instinct to offload emotional tension, whenever she feels overloaded and can’t march forward one more step.

Here are some ideas about building a safe, secure relationship with a child who is entering adolescence. There’s not room here to cover everything, but these ideas may be helpful.

Find a listener! Parenting an adolescent is a big deal!

First, find a good listener (not someone who will judge you, analyze you, tell you what to do, or tell every story about their life that they feel relates to yours). After ten or so years of parenting, you will benefit from a chance to look at the background noise in your mind that will be accompanying you and your child from here on in. The things to talk about are, “What happened to you when you were ten, eleven, and twelve years old (or the exact age of your child)?” “Who did you feel close to then? Did you feel safe and valued?” “What did you love to do? Hate to do?” “How was school for you during these years?” “What did you worry about then? What helped?”

We parents may already have a dim awareness of how heavily our own history tints our experience with our child. Memories of adolescence, both the good and the hard, send up emotional smoke that has a strong effect on our relationships with our children. For instance, if you felt lonely and out of place during those years, then when you look at your child’s unhappy face, you’re sure that your child feels that very same way. This projection from the past blurs your ability to understand your child, who may indeed be unhappy, but for entirely different reasons. Having a chance to talk at length about your own adolescence with someone who will be interested but not judgmental will help you see what emotional landmines were planted in you as you grew. It will help you tiptoe around them as you try to support your fresh new teen.

The second set of things to talk about has to do with your ten- to twelve-year relationship with your child. By now, there are things that go well in that relationship, and interactions that always follow the same unfruitful pattern. With a listener, ask yourself these questions; “What do you remember thinking and feeling when you realized that you would be having this child?” “How was pregnancy? How was birth?” (These are important questions for fathers, too!) Often, dynamics get set up in a relationship between parent and child in the first days or weeks of the baby’s life, if not before. It’s good to remember back to those early days, and to go over your history with your child in detail. We all have memories of times we wish hadn’t happened, and of times we wish we could have had more often. Talk about them. Notice what feelings you have about them. And if your feelings happen to spill out into tears or laughter, that’s wonderful. Your story as a parent is important, and it’s right and good that your feelings are close by. You love. You care. You have worked so hard. Of course you have feelings. Let them show!�

Often, a parents’ patience for and “feel” for his or her teen is vastly improved by talking about the above subjects, and by the emotional release that can come with telling your story to a good listener.

Nurture the good times by offering Special Time
�
The second initiative I think makes a big difference is to begin to do Special Time with your child. Offer an amount of time you can manage, set it up ahead of time, and tell your child that you’ll do whatever he or she wants to do during that time, short of things that are illegal or unsafe. And you’ll need to put monetary restrictions out there on the table. “Yes, we can spend up to $4,” or “No, we won’t have any spending money, but you can figure out what else would be fun to do.” Then, give your delighted and undivided attention to your child. Be pleased with him or her, no matter what. Use whatever activity he or she chooses as a vehicle for your delight in your child. Offer more eye contact, more affection, more energy and more closeness. And do not bring up even one sore subject. Not one!

Set up a tradition of doing Special Time now, so that it can carry through adolescence. Make it a priority. Make it happen. It’s going to be the recurring place that your child can count on for feeling your approval and your efforts to listen and to love. Don’t tie it to doing chores or to getting homework finished: this is a parent/child given, like brushing teeth every day is a given. It helps keep your relationship with your child healthy.

Your pre-teen might want to have you listen to his favorite music. Or to show you his skateboard moves. He might want to teach you a video game, and then win over and over again, while you lose badly. She might want to bake. She might want a backrub. She might want to be taken somewhere special. Let your child experiment with what to do.

This kind of time ensures that your child will see you as a resource, as someone who is interested in them, someone who wants them to have fun. And whatever other difficulties the two of you might face, they’ll be able to count on Special Time, during which you don’t try to tackle those difficulties directly. You’ll see that Special Time can play a big role in resolving difficulties, simple as it is. It gives parent and child a time for things to go well, so that when you make your appointment with your child to discuss her falling grades or her rising cell phone charges, she can remember that you love her. The hard things will go better.

Find the “grooves” for closeness that you and your child have developed.
�
There are things you and your child have done together that were lots of fun in childhood. Maybe it was letting her jump on the beds when she was three and four. Maybe it was making cookies together. Maybe it was playing catch in the park. Maybe it was romping together with the dog.

Never let go of one of these grooves. If you have had the habit of spending some time lying with your child before sleep, don’t stop because he or she has become ten or eleven or twelve years old! School is getting tougher. Adult attention there is becoming more dilute. The chances to play are being stolen away year by year. Keep that cuddling going!

If you have let the children cuddle in bed with you on Saturday mornings, call for them, or wait until they finally wake up, and pile into their beds instead!

If you have a child who loves his back rubbed or scratched, spend time doing this whenever you can.

If you have had sock fights, with “warring” camps on either side of the living room sofa as a family when the children were small, get them started again. Gather all those big-sized socks. Have another family “battle.” Lose, but not too quickly.

If your child now wants to talk with you at midnight on Saturday night, arrange for a nap on Saturday, so you can listen well while he or she pours out thoughts and experiences that are important to hear.

Here’s one mother’s experience of keeping a groove of play and closeness open into teen years.

“My son is 15 now, and he’s much bigger than I am. When he was younger, he used to chase me, and get me down and tickle me. And he just loves that, absolutely loves that. He laughs and laughs. Now, he’ll take a stinky shoe or a stinky sock, and chase me around, or pick his toenails and try to gross me out with what he found. Of course, I am VERY grossed out, playfully! My yelping and running gets him laughing and playing hard. This kind of play is really good, because he’s so big and strong; it’s a way we can have fun without me being too overpowered.”
�

Don’t worry that other families don’t seem to be doing what you are doing. It’s your family. It’s your relationship with your child. And every relationship, like a thumbprint, is different, lovely in its intricacy, and reflective of just you, and just your child. You’re not supposed to be like anyone else! Neither is your child!

And finally,

When your child begins to cry or rage, listen. Don’t argue or teach. Just listen.
�
We’ll say the least about this, but it might be the most important idea. Crying and being angry and upset are signs that your child is doing the healthiest thing possible to get rid of bad feelings and tension. They are our natural safety valve for an overload of feelings. If you’ve set a limit and this is what set your child off, relax and just stick with your limit, or your expectation. Your child will be totally unreasonable for the period of time that he or she is scrubbing out the upset. Then, sweet reason will return, especially if you don’t get angry or insulted in return. Just listen. It’s pain coming out. It’s pain your child doesn’t want to hold in any longer. It’s a messy, hot-button process. But it works to clear your child’s mind and heart of sadness, anger, and distance. If you listen, you’ll be helping in a way that most of us never experienced.

I wish you well in your journey into this exciting stage of parenting! Hold on to your hat, and expect to learn a lot from and with your child.

Hand in Hand is a parent education non-profit that has been helping families to build the super-protective factor of parent-child connectedness for twenty years.� You can learn more by reading the Listening to Children booklet series by Patty Wipfler or by signing up for our free monthly newsletter, Connecting!
�

At Operation Shower, we could not continue to give amazing showers to military moms-to-be whose husbands are currently deployed overseas without your help.

In addition to our annual Mother’s Day unit-wide and multi-unit wide celebrations, we also send individual “Showers in a Box” throughout the year. Here’s how you can help.

When you visit the Operation Shower website at www.operationshower.org there are multiple ways to contribute to the cause. By clicking Contribute on the Operation Shower website you will see a number of different ways you can help.

One option is to donate a specific monetary amount. Dollars that are donated to Operation Shower go directly to the moms we are showering. For our annual Mother’s Day celebrations when we bring groups of moms-to-be for a big baby shower, funds help provide items like food and refreshments. Funds are also used to purchase things like boxes, tape, packing material, to pay for shipping individual boxes throughout the year, and to buy gifts like toys, blankets and books that help “round out” each shower in a box to make it unique and special.

Another option on the Operation Shower website is to earmark your donation to go toward a specific type of purchase. For instance, you can choose to give $20 towards baby bath items or $25 to buy a pair of Vincent Shoes.

Finally, we love for people to help by hosting a fundraiser to help raise money or collect product. Please contact me at kris @ cleverparents (dot) com to learn more!

To learn more about corporate sponsorships, please contact me at kris @ cleverparents (dot) com.

CLAYTON, MO (April 24, 2009) Sixty-five new moms and moms-to-be from four branches of the military in 15 states across the nation will be showered with gifts between now and Mother’s Day as a part of the latest efforts of Operation Shower. Operation Shower, a non-profit organization run by two stay-at-home moms, produces and coordinates baby showers for pregnant and expecting military personnel and their families.

This Mother’s Day, Operation Shower has teamed up with Cloud B and thirty-three more sponsors to host green baby showers for expectant women whose husbands are currently deployed overseas. Thanks to many generous donations, Operation Shower will put smiles on 65 women’s faces when they open their special eco-friendly “Showers in a Box” containing gifts and surprises valued at several hundred dollars each; all donated by generous companies and people from across the nation.

“Becoming a parent is challenging enough when you have the hands-on support of your spouse, friends and family, doing that with a husband fighting in a war is something you can’t imagine unless you are in those shoes,” said Operation Shower co-founder Lena Morrissey.

“Putting on these showers is one small way that we hope gives the moms a special memory and shows our support for the sacrifices these dedicated women and their families make for our country.” added Operation Shower co-founder Kris Jackson.

Military moms-to-be in Fort Hood, Texas and Scott Air Force Base, Illinois will be celebrated at unit-wide and multi-unit eco-friendly baby showers on May 2nd and May 9th respectively. In addition to all of the amazing “green” gifts the moms will receive, Operation Shower is making sure the showers are as green as possible by using recycled paper goods and celebrating with real dishes, flatware, glasses and linens; creating centerpieces and décor items from gifts that will be used as giveaways; and sending keepsake invitations from Tiny Prints on recycled cardstock. Even the boxes and limited packaging materials for each of the boxes used recycled material and Operation Shower will be planting a tree via the Arbor Foundation in every baby’s honor.

Each mom will receive stylish, eco-friendly items from shower sponsor Cloud B as well as wonderful products and services from the following sponsors: Baby Blend Tees, Care.com, Childish Clothing, Cozy Cocoon, Flower Duet, Hug A Monkey, ImagiPLAY, Julian & Co, Kirby Ink, Moms on Call, MyBabyPlace, PeaceLoveMom, Resa Design, Sage Creek Organics, Sprig Toys, Sofia Bean, The Safe Sippy, The Ultimate Green Store, Tiny Tales and Vincent Shoes.

“Cloud B is excited to participate with Operation Shower to help provide these wonderful ladies with a baby shower that they deserve. Our products are designed to help children and their parents get a better night’s rest, and we are delighted to make bed time routines more relaxing and easier for these families. Cloud B truly appreciates the sacrifice that these men and women have made to serve our country, and we hope our contribution will help bring extra joy to this happy occasion,” says Nader Hamda, co-founder and COO of Cloud B.

Surprises will continue at the showers when the moms have the chance to win amazing raffle items from Anka, Angela Breckenridge Photography, City Sprouts, Jane Marvel, lillebaby and Micralite. W.N. Epstein & CO. donated shipping services for the showers and media sponsors include Clever Parents, Integrity, Lena’s Notebook, Stem, teensygreen and The Cradle.

May 2nd will be even more meaningful for the founders of Operation Shower. After showering more than 200 military moms-to-be since 2007, Lena Morrissey and Kris Jackson will meet for the first time at Fort Hood, Texas.

ABOUT OPERATION SHOWER: Operation Shower is a non-profit organization (pending 501(c)(3) status) created by the founders of Lena’s Notebook (www.lenasnotebook.com) and Clever Parents (www.cleverparents.com), two websites focused on parents and parenting, to recognize and honor the sacrifices military families make by producing and coordinating baby showers for pregnant and expecting military personnel and their families. For more information about the showers and to donate, visit the Operation Shower website at www.operationshower.org. In addition to the unit and multi-unit wide showers given in honor of Mother’s Day, Operation Shower sends “showers in a box” to expecting military wives throughout the year. Moms-to-be can submit themselves or be nominated to receive a box online at www.operationshower.org.

ABOUT CLOUD B: Cloud B is dedicated to helping children of all ages sleep better. Our philosophy is that every child deserves a sound night’s sleep for healthy development, Cloud B has become a trusted name with parents worldwide. Our award-winning products are developed in consultation with an Advisory Board of pediatricians and specialists with a single focus: to achieve a better, safer sleep for your child. Our devotion to innovation is matched by our passion for design and style. Cloud B uses only the finest materials to ensure the quality and elegance that your child deserves. Cloud B is also dedicated to providing less fortunate children the quality sleep they deserve through product donations and financial contributions to charitable organizations nationwide.� (www.cloudb.com)

# # #

It seems everywhere you turn these days, someone or something is “Going Green.” Sure, some may say it’s just a huge trend or the latest fad, but I ask, how can becoming more conscious of the impact on the environment be anything but good? Consuming less and reusing more sounds like a win for everyone!

With the increase in awareness it only makes sense that this new found sense of responsibility would make its way into our not only our daily lives but our special occasions as well. Throwing an Eco-Conscious Baby Shower doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style or serve your guests wheat grass punch. There are a lot of ways that you can make
your next Shower Baby-, Guest- and Earth-friendly.

Décor and Food

• Make sure your décor items can do double duty. For example, display unwrapped gifts in creative ways for centerpieces.
• Use locally-grown flowers from your farmer’s market.
• Shop the farmer’s market or organic aisles at the grocery store for your food. If using a caterer, try to use one that does the same.

No Paper Goods

• If an online invitation is out of the question, then look for invitations printed on recycled card stock.
• Use linen napkins and real dishes. If you don’t have enough of either, check out local rental companies. Plain white dishes and napkins are extremely affordable to rent.
• Don’t be afraid to try local discount or dollar stores either. A simple set of plain white or clear dishes and napkins will go with any theme and is something you can use over and over.
• Want to do it without spending money? Call your friends and see what fun, mix and match combo you can come up with for a fun and festive look.

Favors
Give favors that will actually be used by the guests later.

• A flower in a simple bud vase is something that will make your table look great and just as easily brighten up a desk or kitchen window at
  your guests’ home.
• Hang a reusable shopping bag on the back of each chair as a favor.
• In lieu of favors, go to the Arbor Foundation or another online source and plant a tree in each guests’ name.

Gifts

• There are hundreds of amazing eco-friendly products for baby on the market now. With just a little research you can find products that
  will surely elicit the requisite “oooooo’s and “awwwww’s” from your guests.
• Think of new ways to wrap presents. Use baby blankets or towels in lieu of wrapping paper. Present gifts in reusable shopping bags in
  lieu of paper gift bags.
• If you just can’t imagine the mom not having any traditional presents to unwrap, then use some of the many adorable recycled gift wraps on
  the market and be sure to recycle the wrap when the party is over.

Finally, designate a bin for recycling any gift wrap or paper goods other guests may bring.

Most importantly, be creative! Look at throwing an Eco-Conscious event as a fun challenge to see how many ways you can reuse and
re-purpose things you already own. When you see how little waste you have after the event, you’ll be so glad you did.

Following are the steps in de-cluttering anything you use to contain your clothes: drawers, closet, or storage bins.� The first step I normally recommend is to empty out the space entirely.� Make four piles (or have bins) and as your emptying place each item in the following categories:

Keep

Sell

Donate/Give Away

Throw out

What to Keep:

I have heard all different strategies on how to decide what to keep.� My system is quite simple.� If I would not buy the item TODAY it gets tossed.� Try to not think about how much (or how little) you paid for the item.� It’s time to take the emotions out of the things around you!� Also, do not keep items that no longer fit you.� I clearly remember hanging onto a dream size wardrobe.� What I discovered is when I hit my dream size, the clothes were not as spectacular as I had envisioned.� If you are trying to fit into a certain dream size, tear out a picture of an outfit from a catalog.� When you reach your goal, try the outfit on before you buy it.� This is especially true if you are a woman holding onto clothes that fit you before children…5 + years ago!

What to Sell:

Prior to trying to sell your item(s), it is best to research what is the current market price.� I sell all my items on ebay. Once you have an amount of what similar items have sold for in the recent past, you need to decide if you want to sell it or donate it. One thing to keep in mind when selling your item(s) on ebay is that there are no guaranties your item will sell at the price you would like it to, or will sell at all

What to Donate/Give Away:

Because I have been very blessed by hand-me-downs for my children, I try to pass things right along when at all possible.� Make sure that your good deed is not cluttering up someone else’s closet.� Ask if your items would are needed first.� If you plan on donating your items to a non-profit charity make sure you keep a good record of what was donated and have the charitable organization sign your receipt. For specific instructions, please check out here:� http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf

What to Throw Away:�

Throw away overly used and damaged shoes and clothing.

�

Now that your closet is completely empty it is time to give it a good cleaning top to bottom.� Before you start loading the closet back with only the items you have in your “Keep” pile, it’s time to evaluate what areas of your closet were the most cluttered.� If it was your shoes, place a shoe shelf to place in the bottom.� Perhaps it was the shelf above the coats that was overwhelmed with stuff.� Measure the area and place bins or baskets and designate each; purses, belts, etc.� Before you run right out to your nearest “mart” store to get bins, baskets, etc. make sure that you don’t already have something in your home that would work just fine.� Try to design a no-fail system for yourself and spouse.�

�

Daily Challenge for Days 36-42:

Since this is such a huge undertaking, I am going to suggest you take it at your own pace.� Be realistic with how much time you have, set your timer, and attack your clutter.� If you have 15 minutes, empty out a drawer at a time.� If you have 2 hours challenge yourselves to a small closet, and if you have an afternoon, attack a larger closet.� It is so worth the effort!

Enjoy the journey,

Betsy

The reality of the situation is this; puppies are going to make messes and chew on stuff. They are going to get into things they shouldn’t and explore areas they have no business in. This is what puppies do until they are taught right from wrong. While puppies can not rationalize as humans can, they can recognize what is acceptable and non-acceptable behavior from your responses. Puppies will be conditioned to stay off the furniture, chew on the correct objects and go to the bathroom in the same spot when consistently praised for doing so. It is up to you to shape your puppies behavior over time. Here are 10 tips for puppy proofing your home to set your dog up for success:

1. Put up your shoes. Puppies need to chew to ease teething pain as well as maintain their dental health over their lifetime. Proper chew toys are essential for any dog owner. Until your puppy has learned that shoes are not appropriate chew toys you should always keep them put away. While this might sound obvious, many people leave them lying about the house and are surprised and angry when their pup destroys their favorite pair of kicks. Thankfully, closets have doors that will keep your curious puppy at paws length from this seasons’ must have peep toe pumps.

2. Cover up your cords and wires. If you have excessive audio and visual equipment with speaker wires and cords strewn about, your puppy is likely to chew on them. Tuck those wires away whenever possible. Tie them up with inexpensive plastic zip ties or feed them through special tubes designed to house wires of this type. This will help you avoid the expense of replacing your expensive components.

3. Put up hazardous chemicals in your garage or basement. Puppies will get into things they are not supposed to if they are within his reach. Purchase a shelving unit from your local hardware store and put up those jugs of oil, antifreeze and gasoline as they can cause unnecessary illnesses and death in some cases.

4. Store medications in upper cabinets. Make sure that even the most harmless of medications are stored in upper cabinets out of your pups’ reach. Your puppy can chew through those plastic prescription bottles and ingest harmful quantities of medication in the process.

5. Tie up the cords of your blinds. When mini-blinds are open their cords dangle temptingly in front of your pup. He may just want to play, but these dangling strings can hang him up, literally. Your pup could become injured or strangled in blind cords so make sure to tie a knot in the string keeping the cords high out of his reach.

6. Lock up the cleaning products. If you keep cleaning products below the kitchen or bathroom sinks like most people then you should always put baby locks on your cabinets to keep nosey puppies from sniffing out your cleaning products. Bleach, ammonia, comet, drain cleaner and many others can be deadly to your pooch if ingested. Curious puppies can open cabinet doors when not locked properly.

7. Store dog food in airtight plastic containers. Do not leave a bag of dog food sitting out for your puppy to get into. Some dogs will eat until they become sick if given the opportunity. Solve this problem by storing dog food in large plastic containers. You can purchase a $5 plastic bin from a hardware store of opt for a fancier version from a pet superstore.

8. Keep toxic plants out of reach. Aloe Vera, Lilies, Baby’s Breath, Daffodils and many others can be toxic to your pet. While it depends on the size of the dog, puppies should not be around plants like this because their immune systems are still developing they are more susceptible to illness.

9. Put the chocolate away. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is toxic to dogs. Dogs are drawn to chocolate as people are and will eat it wrappers and all in some cases. If you have candy dishes out on coffee tables or in bowls on the kitchen table or counters, put them away. When properly motivated by these open bowls he will find a way to get to the tempting treats.

10. Purchase covered trash containers for every room in your house. Puppies can be quite the little scavengers when tempted by items left in trash cans. Make sure that all trash cans in the house are covered to avoid unnecessary messes. Do not overlook the bathroom trash bins. Small bathroom trash cans with domed lids keep nosey puppies from dragging your used tissues and other sanitary items about your house. Covered trash cans will eliminate this messy and potentially embarrassing situation.

While some owners avoid indoor problems by keeping their pets outside with dog fences others stay are secured indoors with a dog crate, but remember both require consistency to be effective. If you use either of these methods, you should always look for ways to keep your valuables safely out of reach.

Soot particles are small enough to be breathed deeply into the lung and even pass directly through capillary walls into the blood stream. The particles may contain carcinogens – such as benzo[a]pyrene – and can also act as “surrogate allergens.” The medical community recognizes that the cornstarch powder in latex gloves (used to keep the rubber from sticking to itself) can acquire latex allergens. When the powdery granules become airborne and are inhaled by someone who has latex allergy, that person can experience an allergic reaction – sometimes severe. Similarly, the microscopic particles of soot that settle on surfaces that contain mold or pet dander can become contaminated with allergenic substances. The particles can then become airborne again and be inhaled when surfaces are cleaned or otherwise disturbed in some way.

Now I have to talk a little bit about chemistry (ugh, groan, I hear you say….but chemistry is one of my favorite subjects!). Complete combustion inside a gas furnace or boiler results in the formation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) vapor. In other words, one atom of carbon (C) from methane (CH4) combines with two atoms of oxygen (O) from the air to produce CO2 (one carbon atom, two oxygen atoms). Four hydrogen atoms combine with two oxygen atoms to form two water molecules (H2O). If the combustion is incomplete, however, some of the carbon combines with only one atom of oxygen, resulting in carbon monoxide, or CO (one carbon atom, one oxygen atom). When there isn’t enough oxygen, combustion is incomplete. Then some carbon atoms combine with oxygen to create carbon monoxide, other carbon atoms combine with oxygen to create carbon dioxide, and still other carbon atoms do not combine with any oxygen but rather they combine with each other to produce soot (“C”).

What creates soot in our indoor environments?

A gas furnace or boiler that is not firing properly or that does not have sufficient make-up air can produce soot. And even though the furnace or boiler may be located in the basement, if the combustion products are getting into the basement air, airflows carry the soot up into habitable rooms above.

Gas fireplaces can produce soot. When soot particles are heated in a flame, the particles become incandescent (glow) and give off a yellow light. The gas in gas fireplaces is not premixed with enough air, so the flames are yellow due to inadequate oxygen (otherwise they’d be blue, like the flames coming from a gas cooking stove – not exactly what people expect to see in a fireplace!). If there is inadequate draft for a gas fireplace that is producing soot, the particles can leak into the house and stain the walls and ceilings black.

People love jar candles, because of their pleasant scents and yellow, flickering flames; but jar candles also produce a lot of soot, even if burned for only a few hours. As the air moves in and out of the jar, it disturbs the flame structure and causes incomplete combustion. If you burn jar candles, look at the jar rim. Is it black with soot? Imagine the soot that candle released into the air that you and those you love then inhale.

Soot staining in older homes can be fairly uniform, sometimes visible only when pictures are removed, revealing whiter surfaces beneath where soot has not deposited – though in some Victorians, the soot pattern mimics the horizontal “stripes” of underlying plaster/lath, darkest at the plaster “keys.” In newer, better-insulated homes, soot stains on exterior walls and on ceilings near exterior walls look like vertical stripes on studs, with darker black dots at the nail heads. Wherever air moves more turbulently due to temperature differentials, the air will impact surfaces that much more frequently and deposit the soot particles it carries in its flows. (Dark spots develop in bathrooms above vanity fixtures for the same reason: increased deposition rate due to hot air rising above the bulbs.)

I know of one homeowner whose insurance company spent $5,000 to have all the rooms in his house repainted. The man continued to burn jar candles, however, and had to repaint the house all over again. So protect the value of your property by choosing tapered candles over jar candles (just don’t burn the candles near a window or door, where airflows may disturb the flame). Better yet, choose the battery-operated, fake candles that look like the real thing.

Of course, money is important, especially in these lean times. But your health and the health of those you love – including your children – are paramount. So stop burning jar candles. If you don’t burn candles and you still see soot stains on your walls or ceilings, have a professional evaluate your furnace or boiler and undertake necessary maintenance or repairs.

Here are 5 simple ways to boost your metabolism!

1. Calcium- Speeds up basal metabolism. Get it through food vs. calcium supplements. Calcium rich foods include: milk, yogurt, and cheese. Non-diary options include tofu, calcium fortified soymilk, and salmon.

2. Fiber- Increases calorie consumption. Find it in beans, fresh fruit, veggies, and whole-grain breads.

3. Green Tea- Increases calorie consumption plus it has other health benefits. Green tea is loaded with anti-oxidants which can help reduce your risk for cancer and lower cholesterol!

4. Water- Aids in the digestion of food. Drink a minimum of 8-10 glasses per day.

5. Breakfast- Keeps your metabolism going so you’re less likely to eat too much at your next meal. My personal favorite is a combo of cereals- Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Autumn Wheat with 1% organic lowfat milk.

For more tips visit: www.fitbysara.com.