Change is in the air

Summer break is almost over. Soon the kids will be back in school.  We got into a nice routine during the summer. I worked from home and the boys (now 12 and 10) choose not to go to a bunch of summer day camps.  Instead we worked out a daily routine.  I worked in the morning, we had lunch together, and then I finished up my work and we did something fun.  Some of the fun things we did were; a walk, a trip, time with friends, and time at the pool. 

While I worked- they worked on a "Summer Fun List", a daily check list we created at the beginning of the summer.  It included fun things, learning activities, and chores.  I was proud of how responsible and kind to each other they were.  The highlight?  My older son teaching my younger son to ride his bike!

I also did organizing and minimizing projects with both of the boys.  I'm focusing more lately on the minimizing. The less we have the more space we have and the easier it is to keep things neat.  It still takes constant work, but I am embracing the minimizing as a lifestyle I choose.  That seems to keep the never ending task from getting to me!    

Rethinking Family Movie Night

My kids are 9 and 11. They are focused on their friends, their interests (at the moment R.C. cars, hockey, reading, playing the drums, creating comics), and oh yeah, school. I want to raise them with an awareness that the life they have is pretty amazing. So, every so often, I try to push the boundaries of their world, just a bit. Just because of the life they happened to be born into, they are very lucky. I believe in the JFK quote...

"To those whom much is given, much is expected."

In our house the media time is limited. When I say "Hey guys, I want to show you something. Let's watch a documentary on Snow Monkeys!", they are pretty excited. Other topics have included; Jane Goodall, living on one dollar a day, Deers, Whales, birds, and the effect of plastic on our oceans and health. When the show is over we talk about what we learned and what was most interesting to us. There is some heavy stuff going on in the world around us. But I really think kids raised with an appropriate awareness of the issues facing us, will be better equipped to be part of the positive change in the future.

Green Mommy Thoughts... 5 years later

Where do I start? In 2007 I started this blog as a place for me and a few of my mom friends to share Eco-friendly tips and ideas. At the time we had babies and toddlers. We talked about how we could raise our families in a way that would be in harmony with nature. Our kids grew and we became less passionate about cloth diapers. Those early baby years passed and we became busy with school age kids. Some of us started focusing more on careers. In short, life pulled us in different directions.

Not keeping Green Mommy alive has been a regret of mine. One of the "Green Daddy's" even created an awesome website for us. I've often wondered what could have happened with that site if I'd have been more committed.

Well I can't go back in time... all I have is the present. I'd like to bring Green Mommy back. If others are open, I'd like to continue the conversation. Today is Earth Day... if ever there was a day to come back... today's the day!

My kids are 9 and 11 now. I have different concerns than I did when they were little. In the days to follow I will post green issues that are on my mind... and I invite you AGAIN to join the conversation.

2010 Top Green Living Blog Award

Our blog was proud to be recognized on the 2010 Top Green Living Blog Award!

Website

Have you had a chance to check out www.greenmommy.org yet? We've been working hard on the site and it's come a long way! UPDATE: www.greenmommy.org is no longer active. All the good stuff is HERE!

Water Conservation Classes

The City of Santa Rosa is offering water conservation classes in October. There are also two new rebate programs the city is offering as well as incentives for people to conserve more water.

Deciphering "organic" labels

The Press Democrat had an interesting article yesterday about how to decipher labels such as "organic", "free-range" and "free-roaming" , "all natural" etc. The article gave a crash course in understanding organic food labels from Consumer Reports.

I think as the organic food/product business has been growing and as more interest in it has developed, there have been some companies that are trying to cash in on consumers paying higher prices for their food with these labels by being deceptive in their marketing practices.