Montessori Planning Breakthrough!

As you know, I'm a mother of two beautiful toddlers. I'm also a full time (meaning 48+ hours a week) Critical Care level Paramedic. Oh, and I'm running my own business (http://bodymoresimply.itworks.net) (and if you aren't already one of our distributors, get a hold of me and I'll help you get going for free). Needless to say, I'm BUSY!

One of the things that I will NOT allow my business to intrude upon, though, is the quality of childhood my children get. They will still have quality time with their mama and papa, go on family adventures, know they are loved, experience the world, and have an awesome education. If you've been following my recent posts, you know that we've decided to do Montessori 3-6 Homeschooling with our oldest (her brother will soon follow in July, 2013). With this decision comes the need for a bunch of materials...which happen to be rather expensive to buy!

Today though, I discovered something wonderful. First, a blog that has a lot of beautiful and inspiring DIY Montessori material posts. I think this woman is amazing, and I love that she has built these wooden manipulatives herself. ;-) Check out her post on making the Numerical Rods on her blog, A Hand Made Childhood.

The next thing, which her blog led me to, is going to save me BOAT LOADS of time as I try to figure out what materials I can make and what I really need to buy. It's called Montessori Homeschool. The opening page is a bit confusing, but if you click on the links ("sensorial", etc.) across the top, you will see how she has charted with photos and titles what materials you can make and what you should just buy...as well as links for buying! Brilliant, I tell you.

Please link up your own Montessori DIY themed projects below!

(note, photo above taken from http://ahandmadechildhood.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-make-montessori-number-rods.html)

Dangers Of Disposable Diapers

You may have heard by now that one of the factories which produces " about 20 percent of the world's SAP and 10 percent of global output of acrylic acid" had some pretty major explosions two days ago (ABC news). Acrylic acid is an ingredient in the making of Sodium Polyacrylate (or "SAP"), a resin which absorbs a ton of liquid (you know, that gel stuff in diapers and sanitary napkins which is linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome and so has been banned from use in tampons?)...What this means, is that the production of disposable diapers worldwide is taking a hit right now. What this also means, is that, hopefully, people will start paying attention to the dangers of disposable diapers and also will start considering the cost savings of switching to cloth diapers.

Before I go any further though, I think it's worth mentioning that one firefighter died as a result of the explosion, and 30 other people were injured. While I imagine that the world is going to focus on the "diaper crisis" momentarily, there are families that will be feeling the effects of this a lot stronger than just their pocketbook or their baby's bum. 

So what is the deal with disposable diapers? We know that they're much more expensive to use overall, and that the price of them is now going to increase. 

If something is on the shelves, marketed for use on babies, though, doesn't that mean it's safe? Sadly, not always. LiveStrong writes this about SAP:

 "Sodium polycarbonate is a super absorbent chemical compound that is used in the fillers of many disposable diapers. It is composed of cellulose processed from trees that is mixed with crystals of polyacrylate. This chemical absorbs fluids and creates surface tension in the lining of the diaper to bind fluids and prevent leakage. Sodium polyacrylate is often visible as small gel-like crystals on the skin of babies and is thought to be linked to skin irritations and respiratory problems. This chemical was removed from tampons due to toxic shock syndrome concerns. As it has only been used in diapers for the last two decades, there is not yet research on the long-term health effects of sodium polyacrylate on babies."

Check out some of the other ingredients in disposable diapers (all information copied from LiveStrong):

• Dioxin: "According to the World Health Organization, exposure to dioxins may cause skin reactions and altered liver function, as well as impairments to the immune system, nervous system, endocrine system and reproductive functions."
• Tributyl-Tin (TBT): According to the EPA, this toxic pollutant is extremely harmful to aquatic (water) life and causes endocrine (hormonal) disruptions in aquatic organisms. TBT is a polluting chemical that does not degrade but remains in the environment and in our food chain. TBT is also an ingredient used in biocides to kill infecting organisms. Additionally, according to research published by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, tributyl-tin can trigger genes that promote the growth of fat cells, causing obesity in humans.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCS): According to the EPA, VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system as well as cancers

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...not including the fragrances, dyes, plastics, and petrolatums, adhesives, and everything else that they can contain!

So the question is: what is on your baby's bum?

Signs of Domestic Abuse

It's October 1st, the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month...I'm sitting with my husband as I type this, thinking back to a time when I could have never mentioned domestic abuse, and even a time when I didn't realize that's what I was living in. It's been one year and 8 months to the day of me leaving the abusive situation I was in. I call February 1, 2010, the day we left, Freedom Day. Not because it was happy, or because I wanted it to happen (just the opposite, it was terrifying and I hate divorce and families falling apart!). I call it Freedom Day because it was the first step in me being able to feel alive and like I was breathing again.

Domestic Abuse causes you to feel dead, but you don't even realize you feel that way until something changes and you all of the sudden realize you're breathing again. In fact, very often, you don't even realize you're in an abusive situation. It's easy if you're punched, stabbed, or thrown out of a moving car. It's not so easy if your keys are taken away, you aren't allowed to have friends, you have to be careful about what you say, or if you're "just" called names. In fact, it makes it even harder to realize what's going on when you consider the fact that most people being abused are really, really good at loving...which means we can forgive easily, be happy easily, and we are "fixers", so we are always thinking about the other person and how we can help them rather than focusing on ourselves.

I looked back today and read through my Facebook timeline of statuses in the months surrounding the day we left my now ex-husband...and I realized how important it is for people to recognize abuse so that their families can be healed, and also so that people can be prevented from getting into abusive relationships to begin with. A relationship with abuse can't last forever. It will end, either the abuse, or the relationship. Abusive relationships aren't sustainable, and the first step to preventing or healing a family affected by this is to realize it's going on. If you don't know it's going on, you can't stop it.

Here are some signs that you may be in an abusive relationship...

• You secretly pack needed belongings in case you need to escape. I don't know why it never occurred to me that there might be a problem with my life when I was sneaking underwear and socks into the bottom of the diaper bag before we left the house!  

• You have to tell coworkers to not call or text you while you are home. Especially those of another gender!  

• You overcompensate in taking care of the kids, house, making money, etc. so that your spouse doesn't get angry. 

• You are called names, derogatory comments are made to you, your worth is devalued. 

• You place breakable or valuable objects in "safer" locations so they won't be as easily broken. 

• You don't watch movies, etc. with your spouse that have a theme of domestic abuse or of a spouse leaving or divorce, etc..

...there is always hope. <3 p="p">