Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Pardon the dust!
I have to apologize for a minute as we make some transitions on Connected Mom. First, we're adding new writers! Yay! Second, I'm in the process of moving to a new state, so things are a little crazy around these parts. I just wanted to take a minute and let you know that we'll be back on track for regularly scheduled reading group and posts by next week! Thanks for your patience!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Drum Roll: Connected Mom Welcomes New Contributors!
I am thrilled to announce that Connected Mom is making the transition from personal blog to a multi-authored site. My goal has always been to connect with other parents through encouragement and inspiration, and I can't think of a better way to do that than to welcome others to join the mission! We will still be posting daily readings Monday-Friday, but now there will be fresh content Monday-Friday as well. On Sundays, we will be hosting a Sunday surf page of the best links we've found from blogs and websites.
On the first of every month our Connected Mom magazine issue will go live. The topic calendar can be found above!
Please join me in welcoming the new authors!
CONNECTED MOMS
Tammy: I live in western Canada with my American husband. We have been married for 3.5 years. He is my love, my supporter and my best friend. Together we are raising two, busy and incredible little boys. Tolliver is 2, and Holliday just turned 6 months *sniff* My boys define the person I am today, and I couldn't be more proud of the little people they are. I am lucky enough to be a SAHM and witness each and every moment of discovery and accomplishments. I take great pride in providing a loving, healthy, happy home for my family, and I think I am doing a pretty great job of it.
Kayce: I am a homebirth midwifery apprentice and doula in Southern Utah. As of right now, my life revolves around learning about pregnancy, birth, raising my three year old daughter and the baby growing in my womb.
Julian: I am an aspiring writer and proud new mom to Oliver born September, 2009. With the birth of my son came a new found motivation to live a more thoughtful, mindful, and harmonious life. You can find more of my musings on life and parenthood on my personal blog, Pocket.Buddha. (pocketbuddha.ca)
Amanda: I'm passionate about green living, especially making the switch to ALL cloth. I have a B.A from MSSU, I am a mom to 6. I work online as a professional SEO and content provider for businesses and in my spare time I love sewing, scrapbooking, and blogging.
On the first of every month our Connected Mom magazine issue will go live. The topic calendar can be found above!
Please join me in welcoming the new authors!
CONNECTED MOMS
Tammy: I live in western Canada with my American husband. We have been married for 3.5 years. He is my love, my supporter and my best friend. Together we are raising two, busy and incredible little boys. Tolliver is 2, and Holliday just turned 6 months *sniff* My boys define the person I am today, and I couldn't be more proud of the little people they are. I am lucky enough to be a SAHM and witness each and every moment of discovery and accomplishments. I take great pride in providing a loving, healthy, happy home for my family, and I think I am doing a pretty great job of it.
Kayce: I am a homebirth midwifery apprentice and doula in Southern Utah. As of right now, my life revolves around learning about pregnancy, birth, raising my three year old daughter and the baby growing in my womb.
Julian: I am an aspiring writer and proud new mom to Oliver born September, 2009. With the birth of my son came a new found motivation to live a more thoughtful, mindful, and harmonious life. You can find more of my musings on life and parenthood on my personal blog, Pocket.Buddha. (pocketbuddha.ca)
Amanda: I'm passionate about green living, especially making the switch to ALL cloth. I have a B.A from MSSU, I am a mom to 6. I work online as a professional SEO and content provider for businesses and in my spare time I love sewing, scrapbooking, and blogging.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Win a set of Bummas Cloth Wipes!
Have you checked out my review of Bummas wipes yet? Read here!
You can win your own set by leaving your best green living tip to our facebook page. Best tip wins! And we'll be featuring your best tips in the September Eco-friendly Family issue!
To share your best tip, visit our page: Connected Mom on Facebook
You can win your own set by leaving your best green living tip to our facebook page. Best tip wins! And we'll be featuring your best tips in the September Eco-friendly Family issue!
To share your best tip, visit our page: Connected Mom on Facebook
Friday, July 9, 2010
Clothesline Advocacy
As a cloth diapering mom, unless I change a diaper in public, people don't know I'm cloth diapering. I'm sure my neighbors don't know or many of my family or friends. It's just not the kind of thing that comes up all that often and finding organic ways to bring it up can be hard.
One of the reasons reusable bags have taken off is visibility. People see others using them. It works in three ways: 1) it's cool 2) public shaming - sort of like the whole Scarlet Letter thing 3) people become aware it's an option
So here's a great way to gain cloth diaper visibility - put up a clothesline. Is there anything cuter than a bunch of cleans dipes swaying in the wind on a sunny afternoon? This is a great way to say "ask me about cloth diapering!" Don't cloth diaper anymore? Well, I'm sure you wash clothes and hang drying doesn't just advocate for cloth diapering, it also promotes greener living. How much energy are you saving by not running your dryer? Drying in your machine can account for 10 percent of your energy use each year. Sun light is environmentally-friendly, free, and readily available (sorry to those of you living in Forks).
But won't it be an eyesore? You ask. From the number of people I know who's Homeowner's Association has banned clothesline, I guess this is a common complaint. Personally, I take real issue with anyone telling someone else how to use their land. As far as an eyesore, sure if you put clothes and leave them for days on end, it might be. A couple hours of clothes flapping in the sun isn't hard on anyone's eyes. Personally, I think disposable diapers in a landfill, cigarettes littering sidewalks, and smog are much more of an eyesore, don't you?
So, come on, Connected Moms, imagine if we got everyone out there using reusable bags to hang dry their clothes - what a remarkable environmental impact!
Reading Group: Nurturing Environments II with Pam Leo
Today's reading: http://www.connectionparenting.com/parenting_articles/environments2.html
What do you think?
What do you think?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Reading Group: Nurturing Environments I with Pam Leo
Today's reading: http://www.connectionparenting.com/parenting_articles/environments1.html
What do you think?
What do you think?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Oh, what a Beautiful Sight: Nursing in Public
Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public
This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public ("NIP"). See the bottom of this post for more information.
Everyday I hear stories about women discriminated against for nursing in public. It makes my blood boil. These stories remind me of everything wrong with our society.
These stories are not my stories though.
Sometimes I wonder what sort of strange cosmic joke it is that someone so geared up to be confronted while nursing in public is never confronted. Not only am I not confronted, I'm praised.
I should clarify something. I generally don't "cover-up" when I nurse in public. I may throw the tail of my sling up to encourage Connected Daughter to sleep or place a blanket over her body, but I don't own a cover. That said I don't let it all hang out, but that's mostly in an effort to hide my stretch marks, or as I prefer to call them mommy stripes. I just nurse in the easiest way possible for whatever I'm wearing.
So what has my experience nursing in public been? A really, really positive one. People help me out, smile at me, offer kind words. Apart from flabbergasting a teenage waitress once and confusing a 4 year-old at the mall, no one has ever said anything negative. I was stopped three times in one week while nursing Connected Daughter in her sling by women wanting to tell me that they were proud of me. Complete strangers are proud of me. It's sort of mind-blowing.
My favorite nursing in public experience involved a woman at the grocery store. She stopped me to tell me it was awesome to see me nursing, adding in a hushed voice that she would have never had the guts when she was nursing her children and she's so proud of women who do. Then she asked if I would ever participate in one of those nurse-in's. When I responded yes, she agreed that she would at this point in her life too.
I walked away from this encounter and realized something. She'd given me something she hadn't been given, Support. A stranger had taken the time to be encouraging so that I could have a good experience nursing in public.
I don't have anything provocative to say here. It took me several days to write this and in that time I had several more positive public experiences. A woman smiled as we took the picture in the park above. Families and children continued playing in the spraygrounds. People walked their dogs. We were all there just living our lives and enjoying ourselves. I happened to be nursing. My point is pretty simple. It's easy not to appreciate all the wonderful, supportive people there are out there. If you never nurse in public, you'll never know. If you do, look around, make eye contact, and see what happens. People might surprise you. And if you see a nursing mom out and about, take the time to smile and share a kind word. Share your positive nursing stories. Together we can make it the norm to have good breastfeeding experiences.
Welcome to the Carnival of Nursing in Public
Please join us all week, July 5-9, as we celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. And visit NursingFreedom.org any time to connect with other breastfeeding supporters, learn more about your legal right to nurse in public, and read (and contribute!) articles about breastfeeding and N.I.P.
Do you support breastfeeding in public? Grab this badge for your blog or website to show your support and encourage others to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and the rights of breastfeeding mothers and children.
This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts - new articles will be posted on the following days:
July 5 - Making Breastfeeding the Norm: Creating a Culture of Breastfeeding in a Hyper-Sexualized World
July 6 – Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers: the New, the Experienced, and the Mothers of More Than One Nursing Child
July 7 – Creating a Supportive Network: Your Stories and Celebrations of N.I.P.
July 8 – Breastfeeding: International and Religious Perspectives
July 9 – Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It
This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public ("NIP"). See the bottom of this post for more information.
These stories are not my stories though.
Sometimes I wonder what sort of strange cosmic joke it is that someone so geared up to be confronted while nursing in public is never confronted. Not only am I not confronted, I'm praised.
I should clarify something. I generally don't "cover-up" when I nurse in public. I may throw the tail of my sling up to encourage Connected Daughter to sleep or place a blanket over her body, but I don't own a cover. That said I don't let it all hang out, but that's mostly in an effort to hide my stretch marks, or as I prefer to call them mommy stripes. I just nurse in the easiest way possible for whatever I'm wearing.
So what has my experience nursing in public been? A really, really positive one. People help me out, smile at me, offer kind words. Apart from flabbergasting a teenage waitress once and confusing a 4 year-old at the mall, no one has ever said anything negative. I was stopped three times in one week while nursing Connected Daughter in her sling by women wanting to tell me that they were proud of me. Complete strangers are proud of me. It's sort of mind-blowing.
My favorite nursing in public experience involved a woman at the grocery store. She stopped me to tell me it was awesome to see me nursing, adding in a hushed voice that she would have never had the guts when she was nursing her children and she's so proud of women who do. Then she asked if I would ever participate in one of those nurse-in's. When I responded yes, she agreed that she would at this point in her life too.
I walked away from this encounter and realized something. She'd given me something she hadn't been given, Support. A stranger had taken the time to be encouraging so that I could have a good experience nursing in public.
I don't have anything provocative to say here. It took me several days to write this and in that time I had several more positive public experiences. A woman smiled as we took the picture in the park above. Families and children continued playing in the spraygrounds. People walked their dogs. We were all there just living our lives and enjoying ourselves. I happened to be nursing. My point is pretty simple. It's easy not to appreciate all the wonderful, supportive people there are out there. If you never nurse in public, you'll never know. If you do, look around, make eye contact, and see what happens. People might surprise you. And if you see a nursing mom out and about, take the time to smile and share a kind word. Share your positive nursing stories. Together we can make it the norm to have good breastfeeding experiences.
Welcome to the Carnival of Nursing in Public
Please join us all week, July 5-9, as we celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. And visit NursingFreedom.org any time to connect with other breastfeeding supporters, learn more about your legal right to nurse in public, and read (and contribute!) articles about breastfeeding and N.I.P.
Do you support breastfeeding in public? Grab this badge for your blog or website to show your support and encourage others to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and the rights of breastfeeding mothers and children.
This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts - new articles will be posted on the following days:
July 5 - Making Breastfeeding the Norm: Creating a Culture of Breastfeeding in a Hyper-Sexualized World
July 6 – Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers: the New, the Experienced, and the Mothers of More Than One Nursing Child
July 7 – Creating a Supportive Network: Your Stories and Celebrations of N.I.P.
July 8 – Breastfeeding: International and Religious Perspectives
July 9 – Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It
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