We are all mothers

I've become very disheartened and saddened recently by the mothering community. Every time I turn around some one is bad mouthing some one else for their choices as a mother because what they choose to do is different. Friendships are being dissolved over different opinions on co-sleeping or breast feeding. Mothers at each others throats for the mer fact that one chooses to let a baby cry to sleep while the other choose to not too. It seems that we have all forgotten that we are all in this journey of motherhood together.

There is no set guidelines telling us as mothers that we must parent our children a certain way. When we have our children they don't come with instruction manuals. We as mothers rely on our own instincts to raise our children and not every mother will have the same. For one mom her instinct may be nurse a baby every time it cries while another mothers instinct tells her to sooth the crying in other ways. Some mothers choose to breast feed until their children are toddlers others choose not to. some believe in letting the child wean them selves from breast or bottle while others help the weaning along. We choose different paths as mothers because we are different and what works for one might not work well for the other.

To often we condemn each other for our choices as mothers with out really looking at the situations of others. Just because a mother doesn't breast feed her baby doesn't necessarily mean she didn't want too. In some cases that is what happens but it's her right as that childs parent to make the decisions she feels are best for both the child and for her. In other cases there are underlying issues that have happened to cause breast feeding to be impossible. Either way it is wrong and judgmental of any one to condemn a mother for her choice as a parent. Her choice is not your own and doesn't effect your parenting so why fight over it.

It seems like we become so blinded by trying to do the best thing for our own children that we start becoming snobbish towards women who mother differently. We wonder why people don't want to hear our opinions on cloth diapering, co-sleeping or breast feeding. Would you want to listen to some one talk if all they did was ridicule the way you parent and act as though they are so much better than you? Our intentions maybe right but our means of doing so come across as harsh accusations.

Mothering is hard enough with out the judgments of others. We need each other for support and friendship. Even if we don't agree with differences of opinions doesn't mean that we can't support a mother just for being a mother. We all have at least one common goal and that's to raise the best children that we can and to watch them grow into the adults they are meant to be, disposable using or cloth wearing, crib sleeping or co-sleeping, bottle feeding or breast feeding, we all try to raise our babies the best we know how so they can be the best that they can be.

Super easy homemade deodorant

Seriously it is super easy! I started thinking about going more natural with the products I'm using on my body and my kids as well and be a little more frugal. I was kinda scared that the deodorant would be to hard to make or just wouldn't work then I ran across a super easy recipe that the author swore by! So I thought I'd give it a try!

Todays my first day wearing and I'm fairly impressed! I am a sweater....shhhh don't tell anyone....I mean any kind of hot will make me sweat at some point so I was worried that this stuff would come off and I'd be stinky. Now I'm not saying I didn't sweat cause I did but I didn't get stinky!

So here is what you will need to make it -

5-6 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/4 cup of baking soda
1/4 cup of corn starch
A bowl
A spoon

That's it :) seriously easy!

Add the baking soda and corn starch in the bowl and mix it together. Slowly add the coconut oil into the baking soda and corn starch. I added it one tablespoon at a time mixing it in well. Repeat that and stir and mash it in well. When your done your mixture should be the consistency of store bought deodorant. You can either scoop it into an old deodorant container or use a small rubber maid container. I used a small container.

You don't need a lot of it either. I get a small dab on my finger and rub it on. Now it will be a little grainy feeling but after you get it on you really don't feel it any more. If you have some left on your finger you can use it as lotion...gross, not really lol, I have done it today and my hands actually feel a little smoother. I just rub it in and what grainy stuff is left I wipe off with a towel.

This should last for about 3 months with 2 people using it :)

For Mom's Everywhere :)

"A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it."

I read the above passage today and it defiantly put a little smile on my face so I thought I would share! I'm sure most of us would love, and possible even have done the same thing before!

Prairie wifing it .... sort of

I've decided to becoming a "prairie" wife of sorts. Now I'm not talking all out, no power, no tv, no air conditioner. I'm not that insane...just slightly nuts ;). I've made this choice to cut back a little more on the power we use and to be a little more green. There's just something about hand washing and line drying that makes you feel good...really good, like you're actually doing something that could save the planet while your taking care of your family.

Today was my first day in my "prairie" wife adventures. It's been an interesting day, I've learned a bit today that I plan to you use as I go along my journey. I plan to do this for at least a month so I can get a good idea of how much we'll actual save and to also see how hard it really is to do with 4 kids running around! I love a good challenge :)

Here's how today went! I got 2 loads of laundry done. Yes that rights only 2 but here is why. It's very important that your clothes and/or diapers get wrung out probably or they will seriously take ALL DAY to dry! Hand wringing is not the best way to get this done and today I was hand wringing! To get enough water our for them to dry fast you either need some super human arm strength, a old school hand wringer or the spin cycle of a washing machine! Now all I have is my hands and the spin cycle on my washer, which has nothing prairie like going on for it but I'm going to use it! If you can afford a wringer then by all means hop on that, but they are very expensive and until I can afford one spin cycle it is.

A wash board would probably be a good idea as well but it's not totally necessary. Either way you're going to be working your arms out. A wash board probably makes it a little easier to get stains off. Hand washing it's slightly more difficult but you can use stain removers and if your doing whites toss in some bleach. Also you can rub the stained spot on another portion of clothing or use a scrub brush.

I washed mine by filling up the bath tub with water (hot or cold depending on what was needed) and added soap to the water. It's important to make sure that you get the soap mixed in well with the water. The I added the clothes and got them all under the water and swirled around a bit then I kneaded then like you do bread dough. On a small load it takes about 5 minutes of kneeding the clothes, a large load takes about 10. Then I drain the water then refill it and swish and kneed again to rinse the clothes off. If there seems to be a lot of soap or even some remaining dirt in the water I would do the "rinse cycle" again. I then hand wrung the clothing out and then hung them out to dry.

It wasn't that bad besides trying to wring and dry the clothes. So there for the spin cycle I'll be using. I know, I know, it's not as green or money saving but it's better than using the washer to do it all!

So if you feel like hoping on the crazy train with me feel free or just keep on eye on this blog to see how the ride is going :)