Treating Scorpion Sting Holistically

 Before we moved to the scorpion territory, I did a lot of research about what to do if one of us got stung. Thankfully, for 2 years we never had to test any of the treatments personally, despite seeing a handful of scorpions every year. We'd just take them carefully outside where they belong. 

Now our family are more fully initiated to the low desert life. Not only have we survived summers where it is "cooling off" when it gets to the low hundreds, we've now experienced the sting of the Arizona Bark Scorpion. If you want to skip the story and background, I have a summary with a list of what we used at the bottom.

A Bit About Scorpions

First I want to dispel a few myths about scorpions. Scorpions aren't out to get humans. They eat insects (like cockroaches and grasshoppers) and would sooner run and hide from you than sting you. Of course, running and hiding can include inside the couch cushions or LEGO bin, which can get a little awkward. They have bad eyesight, and are usually hiding along edges of walls, shoes, piles of clothing and not in the middle of the floor. Coyote Petersen does a great job showing that scorpions don't want to hurt you unless pressured too and even freehandles a bark scorpion. They like to live in palm trees and are the only type of scorpion around here that can climb (so if you see one on your wall, it's easy to know what type you are dealing with).

Most scorpions in North America have a sting comparable to a bee sting. The exception is the Arizona Bark Scorpion. The antivenom is available at Arizona hospitals and the side effects can be serious and troubling. Some neighbors suggested that if a kid gets stung, it is best to just go over to the hospital just 3 minutes away just to be safe. Scorpions can choose how much venom to release, and every body will respond differently. Since kids are smaller, they are more likely to be effected worse by the venom.

Our Story

The Arizona Bark Scorpion that did the stinging...
after a night in the freezer

Let me start by saying I'm not making any medical recommendations, just telling our story of what happened to us. I had a hard time finding much info online when I was researching (probably in part to Google's filtering, which will still affect less biased search engines.) This is what tools I was grateful to know and chose to use for my kid. You do what is best for you and your family.

So, after our family movie night we were all doing a few things around the house and getting ready for bed. Suddenly, my 5 year old starts screaming. He was just walking across the room, no one else was near him and I couldn't see any thing around that could have hurt him. My first thought was that it much be some sort of bite or sting. He wasn't in a state to give me much feedback, but it was obvious that his leg was hurting so I pulled down his pants in case the culprit was inside and took him over to some remedies. 

I didn't even think about the hospital as an option. I was too busy trying to take care of the immediate problem and getting in the car wasn't on the list of potential solutions in my brain. Before I even knew the cause, I was going for the Apis Mellifica 200c homeopathic remedy. Before I was able to get to it, I happened to see the scorpion on the pants I'd pulled off and alerted my husband who immediately went to work capturing it. 

Now we knew for sure what we were dealing with. It was an experience I'd been dreading since before moving here and know my nightmare was reality. Through God's grace, I was able to stay calm and know what to do. Soon I had the dropper of Apis out and put a few drops near the area, knowing that getting him to hold still so I could do it on his tongue wasn't a viable option while he was screaming in pain. Unable to find the bentonite clay (good for pulling out toxins) at a glance in the cupboard, I grabbed the Apple Cider Vinegar and splashed it on, not caring about how much or how to get it on while he continued screaming. 

Still hoping to put some clay on it, I took him upstairs where I thought it might be. Still no luck, but there was more apple cider vinegar so I put more of that on for good measure. A friend had used ACV on her kids and found it to be the cure all in her situations, but we still needed something more. At this point he is still screaming and in a great deal of pain, but able to talk/cry about it in detail, which to me was a good sign. He described the pain as burning or worse than burning and hurting worse than a bee sting. While obviously still in intense pain, I knew that he needed more than TLC to get him through it so I left him for a few seconds to grab my essential oils. 

I remembered another friend when we first moved here recommended Frankincense Essential Oil so that is what I grabbed first. Again, not taking time to be careful with dilutions or application (and not even sure where the exact sting zone was) I just splashed a few drops in the area. This was this first thing that gave him noticeable relief . (Like I said before, I noticed positive effects from what we'd already been doing, but it wasn't noticeable from his perspective). 

By this time, he'd calmed down enough that TLC and mommy hugs was one of the more powerful things I could be doing to continue his recovery so I was grateful for other family members that were able to grab books and look up things for further treatment. Someone brought the homeopathics upstairs to me and I gave him some Hypericum Perforatum 200c, this time he was calm enough to talk it orally. I also mixed up a bit of bentonite clay (it was exactly where it was supposed to be, just not where I looked) and started lathering that on. 

Looking over the list of homeopathics revealed I'd already chosen the best options (I'd done the research before, but wanted to double check in case I forgot something). The EO book led me to the Purifying Blend essential oil (We don't use the Essential oils often, but they were still powerful after years of storage) which also provided noticable relief.

After all this, he was starting to get tired. This was a really good sign. A common side effect of these type of stings is anxiety and intense pain, so I knew there were no concerns with sleeping, especially since it was late. Even though he was doing fine, I wanted to have something on him working through the night so I wouldn't have to. I didn't have any plantain on hand, but that would have been my herb of choice. Instead I mixed some dried comfrey with more bentonite clay and purify essential oil, put it all over his leg, wrapped the tatters of an old cloth diaper around it and saran wrap over that. As I was wrapping he complained that it was actually hurting when I touched it...further investigation revealed that what was hurting was the itchy comfrey leaves not the sting (if itchy leaves are your worst problem less than an hour after getting stung, I'd say you are in good shape!). He was tired enough we decided he could try sleeping through it and if it bothered him, he could wake me up and I'd take it off. 

After we put him in bed, he got a Priesthood Blessing from his dad. He was asleep shortly after laying down. It had been less than an hour from screaming from terrible pain to fast asleep. In the middle of the night, after he'd been asleep about 3 hours, he woke up and wanted the itchy bandage off. I took it off and rinsed off his leg. No pain from the sting and no signs of it. He slept through the night and got up just as usual. The next morning there was no pain or complications.

Summary

After being stung by an Arizona Bark Scorpion, our 5 year old was in intense pain. Less than an hour later, we'd administered remedies we had on hand and he had little to no pain and was sleeping peacefully. I don't make any guarantees about how effective these were individually or collectively. I don't know how many times he was stung(scorpions can sting more than once) or how much venom was used. 

Here is a list of what we used:

• Apis Mellifica 200c homeopathic (a few drops near the sting site)
  
• Hypericum Perforatum 200c homeopathic (on the tongue)
  
• Apple Cider Vinegar (poured near the sting site)
  
• Bentonite clay (near sting site. Left on for many hours)
• Frankincense Essential oil (near sting site. Very effective)
• Purify Essential oil (near sting site. very effective)
• blend of clay, comfrey and purify essential oil (applied near sting site and left on for many hours to continue drawing out any residual poison)
• Priesthood Blessing 
• Plantain (didn't actually use this, but if I had it, I would have)
  
  
  
   
  

I'm really grateful for all the resources and friends that helped me know what tools to turn to when I needed them. I'm grateful we were able to effectively take care of this at home and hope that this may be helpful to someone else too.

Cloth Dipaper Misconceptions

I've been cloth diapering for over 3 years now, and still enjoy it! I have a clothes line now too so I can use the super powers of the sun and wind. (Those super powers include removing stains while drying clothes without effecting my energy bill). You can check out some of my other posts about cloth here.

I'll agree that cloth diapers aren't for everyone. If you are as passionate about disposable diapers as some are about politics and religion, then cloth is not for you. But otherwise, its worth considering.

First, I want  to clear up a few misconceptions. Then I'll share some other details in another post.

"I don't want to deal with poop"

If poop grosses you out that much, you might want to reconsider having children. Unless you have a full time nanny or you are really good at elimination communication, you will be dealing with poop. And whether you cloth diaper or not, raising children will include a fair amount of various bodily fluids, including poop. Just accept the fact that there will be things like pee, poo and throw up on clothes, in beds, and on you. Or cover your house, furniture and floor in plastic and wear a rain coat all the time.

That being said, cloth diapering has not increased the amount of poop I have to handle (unless I'm doing the flats and handwashing challenge). Breast fed poop is water soluble so it goes straight from babies bum to the wet bag to the washing machine. And since EBF poop is also more prone to blow outs, I highly recommend cloth diapering for as long as the baby is breastfed, even if you don't want to after. As far as dealing with more solid poops, there is a multitude of ways to do that.

"Cloth is too much work"

That's completely a matter of perspective. Choose the system that's best for your needs. You have to deal with the diapers before and after the baby wears them either way. Would you rather have more trips to the store(or online orders) or a bigger up front purchase and more laundry? Would you rather have more stinky garbage or laundry? And if laundry is your nemesis, there are cloth diaper washing services available, and probably neighbors that would be willing to do your diaper laundry for some extra income.

"Cloth smells funny"

This may be true if the wash routine needs tweaked. Otherwise, I prefer the smell of cloth over plastic but that's personal preference.s

Mango Kefir Lassi

I saw that the Law of Attraction for Health posted a recipe for Mango Lassi and I thought I should post mine too!

I used to think lassi was one of those drinks that you needed to pay $5 a cup for at a nice Indian restaurant and that was the only way to get it. Come to find that, like most healthy food, its actually really easy and pretty inexpensive to make at home. And at home I can adjust the recipe to be that much healthier and better.

Empowered Enough For Ears

My family and I tend to stay pretty healthy. I can't say exactly why for sure, but I have my suppositions. Healthy eating, foot zone therapy, emotional and spiritual healing and other practices are part of our lifestyle and probably contribute to preventing illness. I don't normally have dramatic or exciting stories because things don't get bad enough for dramatic recoveries. We like to stay in the realm of "good", "better", "fantastic" and occasionally dip down to "not so good",

But we aren't perfect and neither are our mortal bodies, so this month we've had some illness in our household. It probably could have been prevented, and once we started feeling sick, we probably could have done something to help create a faster recovery and milder sickness(I have before). But we didn't put forth much effort when we caught a cold. It was pretty mild anyways.

I stayed home from church with kids, not because I didn't feel up for it, but because I knew that there are people that are terrified of germs, and some have good reason to be. It would be a ironic shame if my newborn's sniffles resulted in something horrendous for someone else. A disease that is just a slight inconvenience for me could be a lot worse for someone else. So out of respect for other people, I spiritually fed myself at home instead of church. We also had nap time at a reasonable hour. (church recently switched to 1-4 pm and so toddler falls asleep around 5 or 6).

I think I was subconsciously (and a bit consciously) enjoying the excuse to relax and not do much. And while it isn't fun to see your kids sick, it is easy to care for a usually busy kid when all they want to do is sleep and cuddle. I was content to let a mild cold just run its course without much intervention, especially since the baby was the healthiest among all of us with barely noticeable symptoms. (Say what you will, but I attribute it to breastfeeding).

But my perspective drastically changed when my toddler started complaining about his ear.

Recipe: Teething Biscuits

I got this recipe from my grandma, who got it from the Amish cook book. It was great when Critter was teething, then we threw some extra ones in the freezer. Now his teeth are all grown in, but he opened the freezer one day and decided he wanted to eat these "donuts". They are healthy, simple and effective.

I like to make the recipe extra healthy by using rapadura sugar and fresh ground flour. That is also all we have on hand so its easier. These are nice because they are hard enough to be good for teething, and sweet enough to keep their attention.

This recipe makes approximately 12 durable and relatively crumb proof teething biscuits. If you make them too thin, like I did the first time, it makes quite a few more but they still work.

TEETHING COOKIES
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2-2 1/2 cups sifted flour

Break eggs into a bowl and stir in one direction until creamy. Add sugar and continue stirring in the same direction. Gradually add flour into the mixture and continue stirring until mixture is stiff.

Roll out dough with a rolling pin, between 2 lightly floured sheets of wax paper, to a thickness of 3/4 inch.

Use a drinking glass and a salt shaker to cut out doughnut shaped. Place cookies on a lightly buttered cookie sheet. Let formed cookies stand overnight (10 – 12 hours).

Bake in preheated over at 325 degrees until lightly brown and hard.

An Open Letter To the Future Foot Zoners of Washington State

Dear Reader,

Is it you? Are you the one?

I’ve learned some amazing things over the past year, and for a few months I’ve felt strongly that I need to bring these things “home” to Washington. There is someone that needs these tools in their life and either knowingly or unknowingly is crying out for help.

Well, I got the message, and I’ve realized that this cry for help is from more than just one person. I know there are many people that will benefit from the knowledge and skills I have to share. But even if it were just one person, it would still be completely worth it.

Gratitude for Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2014

Well, I did the Flats and Handwashing Challenge again this year, this being the 3rd year in a row. I obviously haven't been good about blogging about it, but I was really good last year! So, this is my final (and only) post for the challenge this year. I've been enjoying lots of other stuff like learning more about things related to Foot Zoning so blogging hasn't been a big priority.

Helping Your Ears Through Reflexology

Basics of Reflexology

I will officially be licensed and certified as a reflexologist in less than a month! (As long as I pass my final tests). If you don't already know, you have lots of nerve endings in your foot. These nerve endings are able to send messages to other parts of your body that help stimulate the natural healing process. Another cool thing about foot zone therapy and reflexology is that you can help identify where problems are so you can get to the cause of your sickness instead of just treating symptoms (I've had a hard time finding doctors that are good at doing more than identifying the symptoms and how to treat them, my mom can do a better job over the phone from hundreds of miles away, but that is another story). You can also identify problems before they become a big enough issue to notice elsewhere in your body, and thus prevent potential illnesses before they are manifested in the form of a disease or discomfort.

I took a two day boot camp and have been enjoying a 6 month certification course to get certified in reflexology, but you don't have to pay a lot of money or take a class to learn a few basic tricks that can help you in the home. You will get a lot more out of a whole session of foot zone therapy (an elaborate foot massage and more that takes about an hour) than just using a few points, but a few points is better than nothing. Besides, it only takes a few seconds and doesn't cost any money so you have nothing to lose by trying.

Since ear troubles are common among children, I want to show you how to do the ear reflexology point. The right foot corresponds to the right side of the body, and the left foot corresponds to the left side of the body. So you can do both feet, or just the one that is having the problem. Make sure you go in the right direction, or you may cause more blockage instead of draining it.

I Brush My Teeth With Mud

Yesterday, I mixed up a batch of toothpaste in my kitchen. Most people's response is one of three things:

1. Why would you do a thing like that? It is much better to trust the chemists that have come up with a careful formula to make sure our teeth our clean and healthy

2. That is intriguing. It sounds frugal, how and why do you do it?

3. I hate commercial toothpaste for many reasons. I want to make my own too!

Why I Make Toothpaste

 

I Have A Toddler

Once upon a time, when Critter was still little, barely starting solid foods and not getting into stuff as much as he does now, he was on the changing table while I prepared his diaper. I wasn't watching carefully for a split second and then I saw him with an open lotion container squeezing it into his mouth happily.

Working With Whole Grains

We hear the importance of eating whole grains, and labels tell us how many different grains and enriched grains they have. Meanwhile, grains are being blamed as one of the causes of obesity and digestive issues. What does it all mean? Besides reading the ingredients on the label, how can we incorporate more healthy grains into our diet?

What Are Grains?

My Not So Extreme Hippie Prepper Ways

My family lives in a small basement apartment. We don't have room (or a desire) for a TV because the drum set, piano and computer desk take up most of the living room space. So why would I even consider having an extra three month supply of food encroaching into our living space? What possessed me to fill five gallon buckets and stash them in every conceivable place I can?

Recipe: Gluten Steaks

As I look for interesting recipes with whole food ingredients, I often come across recipes that go with a certain diet. While I don't follow any of those diets, I have enjoyed many meals that were paleo, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other variations. This week we tried a dish that is usually vegan (but I did a non-vegan version). It was a great find, really easy to make and tasted a lot better than I expected.

Why I Like Vegetarian Meals

While I am not a vegetarian, a lot of our meals are. The trick is to try and get enough of the nutrients that we miss by not eating meat at every meal. But there are a lot of things I don't miss when we aren't eating meat:

• I find the texture of raw meat rather icky
• There are a lot more health hazards in raw meat and it takes a bit of work to make sure it is cooked properly (especially with a helpful toddler around).
• Meat is usually more expensive than alternatives
• I often have to wonder where my meat came from and what went into it before and after it died, especially if it is on the cheaper side
• Since I still have a lot to learn when it comes to cooking, I occasionally have a bit of guilt when I make a meal and think "An animal gave it's life so it could become that?"

A High Protein Food

 

This meal is not gluten-free. In fact, it is about as far as you can get from a gluten free meal (I manage to take a food that is naturally gluten free and substitute it for one that isn't). The main ingredient is vital wheat gluten.

Once upon a time, I decided I wanted to make homemade bread on a regular basis. After deciding I was really committed and could do this, I decided to save by buying things in bulk for a great deal at Azure Standard. So I got a few 5 gallon buckets and gamma lids. It was exciting to feel like I was really getting on top of my food storage goals. It was a great feeling as I brought in those big bags of beans, oats, rice, wheat and vital wheat gluten. While there was a lot of cost up front, I knew I was saving a ton of money in the long run. If we will eat it before it goes bad, why not buy lots at a time?

Apparently my math skills are somewhat lacking. 50 lbs of vital wheat gluten is about two 5-gallon buckets. That isn't a problem, except I use less than 1/4 cup every time I make bread. So now we are eating all our oats, beans and using up the wheat. Meanwhilst, we are barely making a dent in the vital wheat gluten (by the way, if anyone ever wants some, come on over, I have plenty!). I realized that I probably have a few life time supplies if all I ever use it for is bread.

Thankfully, on the site I bought from, there are often recipes accompanying the product description. So as weird as it sounded, I decided to give it a try. Since it is packed with protein (that's what gluten is) and iron, it was worth a shot. Besides, it still only used 1 cup of flour, so it was a lot cheaper than some of my other cooking experiments.

The verdict: It was good and filling. pThe texture reminded me of dumplings, but chewier. It was soft enough that my toddler devoured it without needing to break it in pieces. In the future we will experiment with frying, baking, breading and other common meat methods since the part that got slightly burnt to the bottom of the pan tasted best.

Basic Gluten Steak (adapted from Azure standard)

1 cup vital wheat gluten (gluten flour)
3/4 cup water
beef broth (you could use another type)

1. mix flour and water together. Break or slice into pieces
2. Put slices in broth, cover, and boil for an hour
3. Prepare and serve as desired (we just put ours on a plate with a side of caramelized carrots)

Be aware that the "steaks" expand A LOT. I thought I had plenty of room in the pan I was using, but they filled it (but weren't stuck together). I separated it into 2 pans and they expanded to fill both of them. I think they just fill whatever space they are in and shrink down after they are done (they still end up bigger than they started though).

If the broth all boils away and the dough is stuck to the bottom, just add a little water and it comes right off.

That is all there is to it! Sure is easy and a lot less messy than preparing real meat!

Have you ever tried gluten steaks? Do you have any ideas or suggestions to enhance the basic recipe?

The Trouble With Food Labels

Labels simplify things. If I know a person is a jock, preppy, geeky, band nerd, orchestra dork, or in the drama club, I don't need to get to know them because I already know exactly what they are like. Right? If I've already learned what Mormons, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and followers of Jedi-ism believe and how the respond to certain situations, I have no need to ask them about religion or clarify my understanding because I already know everything about them. Right? If I know how many children are in your family, how old you are, or what shape your nose is or any number of other things, I can automatically assume everything else about you. Right? What about a label or title you earned? If you are a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a PhD, high school or college graduate, registered nurse, violist, drummer, or some other label you worked hard to obtain? Surely it is safe for me to assume I know all about you then, right?

Wrong.

Now that I have managed to offend everyone who will read this, I want to explain why I feel food labels are just as ridiculous and insufficient as labeling people.

The label on my crock-pot : "Madame Carla's Psychic Sauce 'Just a drop gives you teh power to see deep into the future. And tastes great on chicken!'"

Labels Can Be Misleading

Freedom is Slavery (for other references to 1984, go here and here)
Going down the isle of the supermarket, I can find lots of food labeled "fat-free", "sugar-free", "gluten-free", "sodium-free","calorie-free" and many other variations. I'm not saying that all of these foods are bad (I've seen many of them on bananas), but the labels are misleading. Clearly, it is more desirable for food to be free of fat, sugar, salt, gluten, calories and other things otherwise they wouldn't advertise that, right? Wrong.

All of these things have a purpose, and if used properly, are usually good for you. I hope my water is free of all of these things, but not my dinner! I care more about what is in my food than what isn't in it. If there isn't any sugar in my cookies, what artificial sweetner was put there instead? What else did you remove when you stripped my milk of it's fat and goodness?

Advertising for the Niche
There are some people who are horribly allergic to gluten, peanuts or some other common food product. They should certainly check labels carefully to make sure they aren't getting food contanimated with allergens.

Then there are a lot of people that have decided gluten is the root of all evil without being quite sure of what it is. All they know is that it is found in lots of food and is slowly poisoning them and should be avoided at all costs.

I've seen bananas, water, and more labeled as gluten free. So I had better make sure to buy the gluten free brands right? Or maybe I should find out what gluten is. It is a protien found in wheat and some other grains. So I'm most likely to run into it in baked goods. Even then, if I'm not allergic, it may be worth investigating some alternative methods of preparing grains if I feel I have an insensitivity to it-sprouting or soaking the grains and avoiding commercial yeasts are good starting points.

Scare Tactics
If something contains 20% more or less of an ingredient than another variety of the same product, you don't need to think that the original had a dangerously high (or low) level and this version is so much safer. Soy sauce is a great example. They all have tons of salt, and most are not made in the traditional fermentation method, not to mention there are reasons to be suspicious about soy beans....

What about aluminum free baking soda? We don't want to be using the type with aluminum in it, best to buy the one labeled aluminum free. Right? Well, while it is true we want to avoid ingesting aluminum, there aren't any varieties that include aluminum, baking powder is the one you need to watch out for. The baking soda marketers realized people could get confused and stuck a label on it to scare you away from the other brands.

Label on my microwave: "BETTER not eat this, we warned you"

False Sense Of Security

It may be up for debate whether calories, fat, sugar, and salt are good or bad, but what about things that are definitely bad for you? No one wants to be eating chemicals, hormones, antibiotics or pesticides in their food. So to be safe you should only buy organic or natural, right?

While this sounds good, it isn't always the answer.

A quick look at the list of substances allowed and prohibited for certified organic food makes it clear that there are synthetic as well as natural substances. Having talked to farmers, it is obvious that there are many non-organic options that are healthier and safer than the organic variety.

But, organic food sells. People are worried about what they eat, so they trust that if they buy organic they are eating healthier. Meanwhilst, the food companies are doing their best to produce what sells. If that means abiding by a long list of stipulations, and filling out lots of paperwork, so be it.

Big companies can afford that sort of stuff. In a corrupt system, wealthy businesses can often afford to change the rules too. Did you know that a USDA certified version of Round Up is in the making? Did you know that Monsanto, a large producer of GMO foods owns Round Up?

The labels "organic", "natural", "certified theraputic grade", and many others don't mean anything. They can be put on anything, or could be a term and certification that was made up by the company to make it sound good. That doesn't mean products with these labels are necessarily bad, just that they may not always be as good as you think.

The label "USDA Certified Organic" does mean something. It means that the farm had to do a lot of paperwork and follow some rules to get a fancy label on their food. It can't be genetically modified (although GMO could have slipped in accidentally), but it can have certain pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals on it.

Leaving Things Unsaid

I think that many companies know exactly what we want to hear and what we have been told to beware of. That is why baby products are labeled as BPA free, when they just replaced the BPA with another chemical that may be worse. Milk is labeled as not containing certain hormones, but what about others?

Just because a product doesn't contain one or two harmful things, doesn't mean it is safe. When buying from a big business, how do I know that some soap didn't slip into the milk container because the lid wasn't on before the workers started cleaning up at the dairy? The FDA seems to focus their efforts and testing in areas that are not always the most beneficial for you and I.

If You Want Something Done Right...

The more I learn about food and other products, the less I trust the system, and the more I lean on what I know I can trust. 

1. I can trust my Heavenly Father. I pray to be able to take care of my family the very best I can. I pray for guidance in my decisions and to be able to discern truth and error.
2. I can trust myself. If I grow my own food, I know exactly what went into it and what didn't go into it. If I can it myself, I know what is in it and what isn't. I don't gain anything by lying to myself.
3. I can trust my family and investigate sources to judge them by their ethics rather than their certification. 
4. In the end, some things matter more than others. I would rather spend my money in local businesses and other things I believe in than a big business. I would rather spend my time enjoying my family than worrying about every little detail of our food.

Last year there was a local U-pick that was not certified organic, but they didn't need pesticides because quails would eat all the bugs. This year that U-pick is gone :( but I intend to investigate the farmer's markets and roadside stands to buy local as much as possible this year. I can get home grown beef from my parents (more about that later). I like to buy things from Azure Standard, because I trust their principles and ethics, not just their good labels.

Labels can be deceptive on lots of levels. For me, that means I won't believe something is good for me or not just because of the labels. It also means I will be hesitant to spend lots of extra money on organic food. I want to eat healthy, and I will go out of my way to do it, but some things are worth spending lots of time and money on, and some just aren't.

What do you look for when you are buying food? Where do you draw the line?

Flats and Handwashing 2013: What Did I Learn?

Even though I already use flats all the time and did this event last year, I still learned from it. The Flats and Handwashing Challenge has been a great experience and I'm glad I participated.

I learned (in no particular order):

•  that I can do hard things
• to be grateful for the resources I have
• that while it really isn't that difficult to hand wash diapers, it can still be one more thing that is just too much. Many times this week, my diapers have been clean but my house has not.
• that children deserve clean diapers, and there are plenty of alternatives to what is considered "the norm"
• I would rather use cloth diapers and hand wash than use disposables
• that I have a great deal of respect for moms and caretakers that do this full time
• I am extremely grateful for a supportive and helpful husband
• to appreciate my own parents more. Caring of children is hard work, regardless of the resources you do or don't have available.
• washing by hand is quicker than a machine
• drying in the house is a lot slower than a macine
• planning ahead and staying on top of things makes everything much easier
• the simplicity of going back to basics can be refreshing, even if it is also challenging
• I am most effective when I'm rotating through about a dozen diapers
• I'm grateful to have spare diapers available when I get behind on washing or want to take a trip or a day off
• I'm grateful for the "splurges" I have of a bamboo flat and nice covers (although the covers were more important last year)

I'm taking a day of rest from washing my diapers, so here is the pile I get to tackle tomorrow.

Other posts from the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2013: 

Monday:  Why I decided to take the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 
Tuesday:  How did I Prepare?  Including a detailed list of supplies
Wednesday: Cloth Diapers Can Save the World! 

Thursday: Thoughts on Handwashing- How am I doing?
Friday- What is working for me?  What isn’t? 
Saturday- Baby vs. Toddler
Sunday- What did I learn/ How did it go?

Flats & Handwashing 2013: Baby vs. Toddler

I enjoyed doing the Flats and Handwashing Challenge last year too. Of course the experience was very similar in a lot of ways, but there are a lot of differences too. There were some differences in our overall situation too. We lived at a different place last year, and we have a cooler showerhead this year.

Baby

Baby

Of course, there are plenty of obvious differences in babies and toddlers. I was just getting used to  taking care of a baby and the whole diaper thing last year and this year I know what I'm doing. Here are the highlights of last year:

• Little babies are squirmy, but not as wiggly as a toddler
• Flats are still trim, but bulkier on a little baby
• Lots of diaper changes
• I could usually just fold the flat in quarters and wrap it around
• Breastfed poop is water soluable
• Don't need to pre rinse
• Lots more (and messier) poop to deal with

Toddler

 

I mentioned yesterday how Critter likes to "help" more this year. It is nice I can have him entertained nearby, but sometimes not so convenient. Here are other high lights.

• Less diaper changes! 
• More potty time
• Less frequency, more in the diapers
• Wiggly baby, but at least he is used to it. Sometimes he is half way across the room by the time the diaper is folded.
• I'm using different folds, ones with wings seem to work best
• Poop goes in the toilet now - hopefully his toilet :)

Either way, we are still enjoying the flats, and it is fun to see baby playing with the flats too :)

Other posts from the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2013: 

Monday:  Why I decided to take the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 
Tuesday:  How did I Prepare?  Including a detailed list of supplies
Wednesday: Cloth Diapers Can Save the World! 

Thursday: Thoughts on Handwashing- How am I doing?
Friday- What is working for me?  What isn’t? 
Saturday- Baby vs. Toddler
Sunday- What did I learn/ How did it go?

Flats & Handwashing Day 5: How Goes It?

Today, for the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper laundry, I get to write about what is working and what isn't. 

Like I mentioned yesterday, there are certainly things I would change if I were doing this long term, but overall, I think things are going well. It takes some time, but that is OK. In fact, this week it has been good because then my baby can breath in the steam to help his congestion.

Rinsing in the tub (free toys included with toddler help!)

Handwashing (Flats Challenge 2013, day 4)

Handwashing diapers is definitely the biggest change to my normal routine since I already use flats. Like I said yesterday, the simplicity and back to basics approach is kind of a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the world. Even so, I think I would make some changes if I were to do this long term instead of just for a week.

Cloth Diapers Can Save The World! (Flats and Handwashing: Day 3)

What do George Orwell (author of 1984, Animal Farm and other satires) and I have in common? We both like to write (although in completely different styles) and we both believe that cloth diapers can save the world!

Ok, I know that sounds like a pretty grandiose claim (but I caught your attention, didn't I?). Let me explain how I believe this is all possible. Today's post for the Flats and Handwashing Challenge is going to take a step away from the logistics of it and talk about the beauty of cloth diapering!

Flats and Handwashing 2013: Day 2

For this weeks Flats and Handwashing Challenge, I have a variety of diapers and other tools I'm using. The diapers are ones I already use full time.

• 21 osocozy flats (we keep 3 in emergency storage) = less than $60
• 3 Walmart flour sack towels = less than $5
• 1 bamboo terry flat = about $13
• 4 covers = less than $40 
• 20 wipes = about $20
• Snappis = less than $5

Diaper & wipe total: less than $145
 

This is my stash. In case you were wondering, that is a BUM-ble bee on top. Tee-hee.

The bamboo flat is new, but I've been using everything else for quite some time. Most of the flats were used for the challenge last year too. We have a handful of prefolds we often incorporate, especially for nights.

I could get by with less if I wanted, but it is pretty awesome to realize that ALL my diapers from birth to potty training (and we can use them again on the next kid) cost just over $100. And I use the diapers and wipes as burp cloths, snot rags, nursing covers and whatever else is convenient at the time!

If I had sewing skills or really wanted to save more, I could easily save more money, but I think this is still a pretty good deal! My son is over 14 months old now, and we have only spent a little over $100 on diapers (I often found better deals than the prices listed above) and about $26 on wipes (I keep some dollar store disposable wipes on hand for traveling).

Usually I use a wetbag as well, but this week I'm just tossing stuff directly in the tub. There are also a few other items I'm using for hand washing that I use more than just this week, or for more than diaper purposes. You can see some pictures of them in action in yesterday's post.

• A super awesome showerhead that doubles as a diaper sprayer
• Mini plastic washboard = about $7
• Small green pail = $3
• Froggy Potty for conserving diapers a few times a day (and when we are lucky, making #2 easier to clean up)
• Clothes drying rack
• spray bottle with water + Essential Oils
• Country Save detergent

Even with splurges like a nice cover (I have the "Hoot" pattern), or a bamboo flat, I still feel like we are saving a lot of money compared to disposable diapers, plus I love that I don't need to ever go to the store to get diapers.

Airplane fold (just learned it on facebook) for our night time diaper!

Other posts from the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2013:

Other posts from the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2013: 

Monday:  Why I decided to take the Flats and Handwashing Challenge 
Tuesday:  How did I Prepare?  Including a detailed list of supplies
Wednesday: Cloth Diapers Can Save the World! 

Thursday: Thoughts on Handwashing- How am I doing?
Friday- What is working for me?  What isn’t? 
Saturday- Baby vs. Toddler
Sunday- What did I learn/ How did it go?

Flats And Handwashing Challenge 2013: Day 1

Part of what I love about cloth diapering is the community aspect. I can be surrounded by total strangers and some random mom sees a diaper peeking out of my son's pants and says "Oh! You do cloth! What type of diapers do you use?" We make a special trip to go and buy diapers and I'm friends with the person I buy from. How many parents do you know that look forward to buying diapers?

Then of course there are big events like the Great Cloth Diaper Change (So far I haven't been able to go because of scheduling, but I want to!) and the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. These sort of events make diapering a fun activity instead of just a drudgery to be endured. This year I'm excited to be participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and to be blogging about it!