Babies are little bundles of energy! They don’t want to lie still to have their diapers changed. They cry, fuss, or even crawl away. A simple issue can turn into a major tug-of-war between parent and baby.

Diaper changing as a ritual

The position of parent and baby during a diaper change is perfect for creating a bonding experience between you. You are leaning over your baby, and your face is at the perfect arms-length distance for engaging eye contact and communication. What’s more, this golden opportunity presents itself many times during each day; no matter how busy you both get, you have a few moments of quiet connection. It’s too valuable a ritual to treat it as simply maintenance.

Owner, Green Bliss Eco Spa

Did you know the average woman who wears lipstick on a regular basis will end up swallowing about 10 pounds of petroleum by-product (in the form of common lipstick ingredients mineral oil and petroleum jelly) during her lifetime?

That’s because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate what goes into our beauty products.  So it’s up to you, as an informed consumer, to read the labels on EVERY skin care and cosmetic product that you purchase – just as you do with food labels.

A college friend, now a newspaper photographer, recently visited from Boston. When we first met, she smoked several packs of cigarettes a day and thrived on fast food. Today, as mom to a 7-year-old, she’s a role model for organic living, and the family dines strictly on organic vegetarian cuisine.

When we set a lunch date, she chose her favorite restaurant on Los Angeles’ trendy “Restaurant Row”: Real Food Daily, an organic, vegan haven in West Hollywood, where celebrity sightings are de rigueur and the wait staff goes out of its way to ensure customers leave happy and replenished.

By Charlie Nardozzi

Summertime is thunderstorm time across the country. All that water rushing off roofs, driveways and walkways is loaded with oil and other pollutants, and it all ends up in our sewer systems. Since municipal storm water treatment plants often can’t handle the deluge, the untreated water dumps into our natural waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as much as 70% of the pollution in our streams, rivers and lakes is carried there by storm water.

We can help stem the flow of polluted storm water into our streams by planting a garden—a rain garden. Rain gardens are specially constructed to collect storm water instead of letting it run off your property. These gardens are shallow depressions located at low points in your lawn that are planted with native plants and wildflowers, so they’re both functional and attractive. Storm water is funneled naturally to the garden, where it’s stored and allowed to slowly absorb back into the soil.

Pass by any magazine rack this month, and the hard-to-miss cover lines will seem all too familiar: “Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days,” “Amazing Summer Wonder Workouts” and “Are You Ready for Bikini Season?” Consider it a seasonal publishing rite, when thoughts of bathing suits and waistlines dance in our heads.

But healthful organic eating and regular physical exercise are a year-round commitment, not a brief summer whim. That said, because we like to look and feel fit, I’d like to share some sane and effective summer shape-up tips that mesh well with the basics of organic living. No fad diets. No outrageously over-the-top exercise extravaganzas. Just some simple, commonsense strategies for taking care of your body and nurturing your organic spirit as temperatures soar and you decide to get physical.

By Elizabeth Yarnell

www.GloriousOnePotMeals.com

 
The other day I went to buy some of the individual bags of flavored waters for my kids. I was thinking that they would be preferable to the no-sugar-added juice boxes I normally offer to hydrate them in the car. Water, I reasoned, is always a healthier choice than juice.

What a surprise, then, to see that one of the most popular brands of these water bags listed high fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient and sucralose as the fourth!

Some believe our current epidemic of obesity and skyrocketing health problems including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer can be directly traced to the abundance of high fructose corn syrup in our packaged foods. It is a highly processed sweetener, one of the many synthetic sweeteners available that fool the body into secreting extra hormones and packing on the pounds.

By Sally Sacks

www.sallysacks.com

As a mother and a professional therapist, my heart has been broken many times listening to the tales of life in the fast lane of 5^th and 6^th grade girls. I have likened the experiences to that of prisoners trying to get through their day unharmed, by knowing the right people and keeping their mouths shut. Apparently there is and will always be a social order, of who is best and who is not, andthe who is not will always suffer.

The ‘popular kids’ are always the same. I was in school 40 years ago, and it was the same as kids describe now. The kids that wear the expensive clothes, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Hollister are the big ones now, and play sports, and can do school well, be cheery and outgoing , (and a big huge home helps), become popular. The kids who are not the straight cookie cutter variety, often are left out, misunderstood, or considered weird . The popular kids either deliberately or inadvertently make life hell for the others.

By Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers

www.FreshBaby.com

We all know buying fresh is best, but when it comes to shopping for fresh produce, it is not always easiest. In fact, it is a little tricky and can be time consuming. Here are a few of our secrets to shopping smart for the fresh stuff in the produce aisle.

By Linda Spangle, RN, MA

www.FoodisEasy.com

The words slip out so easily. "If I eat something, maybe I’ll feel better." When you’re tired, stressed or physically ill, food is often the first thing that comes to mind. It provides an appealing cure for everything from a cold or the flu to exhaustion after a long day.

If you’re tired because your body is needing fuel, eating probably will make you feel better. But having an energy drop doesn’t always mean it’s time to eat. Make sure that you can recognize the difference between your fuel needs and wanting an emotional fix.

www.LosetheBackPain.com

Try An Anti-Inflammatory Diet: It Could Be The Answer To Eliminating Your Pain

When I say “Inflammation,” thoughts of painful joints, muscles, swelling and loss of mobility probably comes to mind. But did you know that recent research shows that chronic inflammation in your body can lead to serious disease such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few?

The amount of inflammation in our body varies and is dependent on may circumstances like activity level, amount of sleep or stress in our lives and even the foods we eat. Now what you have to realize is that these factors are all accumulative and as the levels increase, the risk for disease increases.