<3

After battling with Blogger over a sudden loss of image quality, I’ve found a way to fix it. At least for a while… (Anyone using Blogger suddenly experienced a significant loss in image quality when uploading?... What’s happened???)

Just a quick stoppin’ by to say hello, and show off my two beautiful princesses… T nursing her doll… and V just bein’ pretty cute with sugar on top…

Neglected

...that’s what this blog is at the moment. Between the breastfeeding, diaper changing (and washing…), and the craziness of renovating our house (one wall at the time…) and just living, it’s just not at the top of my priority list. I felt a strange urge to just delete this whole blog (and start another one…*sigh*), but I’m going to give it another chance. I have a long history of starting new projects and not finishing or keeping up, so maybe I’ll just accept that I cannot write a post every day or even weekly at the moment. It’s just how it is, but it still is. I also felt like writing in Norwegian again, because sometimes writing in English takes a bit longer and I catch my self using it as another excuse to neglect this blog…

But here we are. Or I am at least.

I just came back from the library with two books that I’m expecting quite a lot from. They are both in the category I ironically describe as “things I don’t want to know” – as in “ignorance is bliss”. One is written by a Norwegian educationalist, researcher and writer; Erik Sigsgaard and is called “Kjeft Mindre – Historier om oppdragelse”, or in English… something like Yell/scold Less – Stories about upbringing”. I have a 5yo and I have a bad temper. Nuf’ said. I need that book.

The other one is written by a Danish family who turned their life around completely after living many years on a bad diet and a life full of toxins and chemicals. They have raised quite a stir in Denmark and a bit of discussion in Norway as well with their books and advice about food. Basically they recommend a diet free of milk, gluten, sugar, “fast” carbohydrates and artificial stuff/E-numbers/food additives among other things. Their book is called “Kjernesunn Familie” in Norwegian. Kjerne = Core. Sunn = Healthy. Familie = Family. You get the picture. I need this book as well. We need it. Too much pasta, too much additives, sugar and stuff that really does no good to our health either physically or mentally.

Driving home with T. (the 5yo) this evening; “mama, I want ice cream”! Me – trying to explain why she cannot have ice cream every day. She – having a total breakdown in the backseat because of it; not giving a damn (pardon the French) about my logic explanations of course. So I stopped at the grocery store and bought some fruit and we went home and made our own ice cream. Version one – Black currants from the garden, a dash of organic soy milk and a teaspoon or two of xylitol ("Bjørkesøt" -instead of sugar; made from the birch tree). Version two – Banana and soy milk. Version three – mango. They are in the freezer at the moment. Quite an experiment. I hope she likes it – at least she enjoyed making them.

And I’m making “jam”;- soaking organic dried apricots. Tomorrow I’ll probably boil them for a few seconds, and then throw them in the blender. Voilá – organic apricot jam – no sugar. Did you know that most “conventional” dried apricots are treated with sulphur to keep the colour orange? Buy organic brown apricots. Apricots do not stay orange when they’re dried…



PS. I just love the library. What an amazing public service. Libraries make me happy, and proud and humble somehow.

After breastfeeding in the car on a very, very hot summer day.

Summer Solstice

Our summer solstice was nothing fancy, but still very nice. And the weather is great these days. To me, the summer solstice marks the beginning of summer. So I try my best not to pay attention to the fact that days will grow shorter and nights longer from now on.


We collected seven different kids of flowers and put them under our pillow. Seven or nine different kinds of flowers under the pillow on midsummer night is said to make you dream of your future spouse.


We did our very first attempt on making fairy houses. This one is for the forest fairies.


And this is one for the garden fairies. - Or angels as T. call them. We’ll make more of these. And T. is checking regularly for signs of anyone moving in or staying over. Maybe we’ll make a fairy bed and breakfast? I wonder what fairies like to eat… (something sweet maybe, like honey?)


And in the evening we went to a lake nearby. Not to take a bath (too cold yet – about 15 degrees celcius/60 degrees F). Too cold for me anyway…) T. was just testing the water… And (of course) she fell and got all her clothes soaking wet.


So she got her first bath of the year anyway, and was totally thrilled about it.


And baby V. was happy in the wrap with daddy.

IRL

JardarMama (beautiful blog!) had a blogpost about the good life a while back. - And about not having/taking the time to blog about it regularly. I can relate.

But here are a few things from my good life.


A new diaper soaker is in the making. This time in some crazy purple sock yarn.


More yarn goodness: Mirasol Hacho. This is serious eyecandy; hand dyed multi coloured merino (so beautiful that I considered just placing it in a bowl or something for decoration…), and so soft and luscious. By buying it you can support The Mirasol Project.

"The philosophy behind the Mirasol Project is very simple, the Mirasol Project supports local communities in Peru through the sales of the Mirasol Yarn Collection.

Peru’s heritage and culture of textile artistry is rich and ancient. The Mirasol Yarn Collection includes yarn made from the animals tended by these communities for generations in the Peruvian highlands. Without them we would not have this beautiful yarn."


Fresh flowers almost every day from my 5yo… These are one of my favourites – lily of the valley.


And some “knitting” in progress also by the 5yo… Rumour has it that this is becoming a sweater for her baby sister. I cannot wait.

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."
-- Anonymous

Yes, she's here

She is here – finally. 16 days past my edd, and a birth experience that turned out very different from what I wished for. But that doesn’t matter now. It’s all about getting to know each other, sleeping, carrying, folding and changing diapers, cuddling and nursing.

And hopefully some time to get into blogging again… :)

Did I mention the cuddling?

A gift

A gift for my big girl when the baby arrives - Ostheimer figurines representing our “new” family. And yes – I finally went for the toddler to represent her baby sister instead of the baby in a crib. So I’m hoping T. will accept the fact that the figurine representing her has a green, and not a pink dress… If not, I guess I’ll just have to order the baby as well. And I’m thinking of a couple of dogs, some rabbits and maybe some hens… You know – to represent the rest of the family… And maybe some fairytale figures…. Maybe some lions (T. loves lions – whenever she gets scared or insecure, she pretends to be a lion. They represent ultimate power and strength to her), and a family of moose/elk maybe…. And and…. :)

March

It’s March already. March is kind of the first month of spring, isn’t it? Well, it definitely doesn’t seem like it. So much snow – I’ll bet some of it will stick around till the summer solstice or something.

But I finished the diaper cover. Pictures coming soon; I’m waiting for some pinkish ribbon to arrive in my mailbox to make it a little cuter. I also ordered a bias trim “maker”. You see, I’m dreaming of getting the sewing machine out of its dusty corner, but it’s not possible to get enough room here now for more stuff. But the storage room/office in the basement is slowly getting closer to finished. Yey for that and yey for not having to live amongst cables and computers and office supplies anymore. Yey!

Three Ostheimer figurines have arrived; a mother, a father and a toddler. Now I just have to order a baby – I just can’t seem to figure out which. Do I order the baby in the crib? (Is it removable for play?) Or do I order an older sister figurine? You see – the problem with the latter is that this figurine has a green dress. Green. And T. will most likely be really upset if “she” had a green dress and her baby sister had a pink one. Major crisis alert.
But I got to order it soon, wrap it up nicely, make a card, and maybe something else to celebrate her transition into siblinghood.

I took another photo of her rainbow playsilk – thinking of writing more about toys. And I will – just not right now. But the playsilks are her favourite toys of all times. She uses them for everything and they are always involved in her play in one way or another (together with all kinds of ropes and string).



Right now I’m going to make a humongous amount of fruit salad with some walnuts and raisins. Yey for that too.

Speaking of food; who said vegan meant boring and difficult? Check out this food blog and be inspired.

I need sleep

I struggle with sleep these days. I guess it’s because of the pregnancy, feeling/being like a stranded whale and everything. So I go to bed, lie there staring at the ceiling for an hour and a half or so (or actually I stare at the walls – lying on my back is not an option now), listening to hubby and T. snoring, the dogs having a sip of water, raindrops and icicles falling from the roof outside now and then.

So I get up and settle down in my cosy chair in the living room. Still no energy to really do anything other then sitting still and being quiet. My brain and body craves rest. So I keep knitting on the diaper cover, I play Civilization on Xbox (you know; Waldorf inspired and natural family living mama as I am ;). I check my mail, facebook, and different forums. And I sit there in the darkness of my living room; me and the baby. She kicks me in the ribs, and I can feel little feet and hands trying to stretch and make more room in there. But there is no more room now. We’re both at our limits.

After a few hours I give the bed another try, and sometimes it works. If I can just manage to fall asleep it’s ok. Then I can sleep for many hours – too many. So I wake up as if I’ve slept for a hundred years like Cinderella. No prince kissing me though. The prince has gone with T. to the kindergarten – probably a few hours ago already. So the zombie like Cinderella gets up and feels just like she did when she went to sleep. And so it goes on.


But today I’m still hoping to;

Find the photos I took of T. playsilks. They turned out so vibrant and beautiful, and I was going to publish them here and write something more about toys and stuff. Maybe I need to take new ones.

Fold and put away a huge amount of baby clothes hanging to dry. My mother has bought a lot at flea markets and Goodwill, and I don’t really have any idea of what it all is yet.

Get some decluttering done and stop ignoring the stuff and build up of dishes in the kitchen.

Finish the meal plan for the next two weeks. (Write an update on the food waste reduction challenge maybe? Another thing being ignored these days. I’m really good at ignoring and postponing things – I should get a freakin’ medal.)

Today

I made brownie cupcakes. They didn’t turn out like they were supposed to, but still tasted great. And it was fast and easy. Hubby had to go to the neighbours to get some eggs (very pregnant woman craving brownies now), but they only had ducks eggs – maybe that had something to do with how the cupcakes turned out.

I’ve started another knitting project – a wool diaper soaker (pattern and yarn from Nøstebarn). It’s coming along pretty fast and easy – even for a novice like me.

I’ve bought some cute baby clothes at Goodwill.

I’m wondering about ordering some Ostheimer toys and other goodies for T. We have none, and I’ve been drooling around all kinds of Waldorf webshops for months now. Quite expensive though. But maybe I’m the one wanting them – not the four and a half year old… It's not too late to start a wooden toy collection at the age of 28, is it?

I’m really looking forward to getting our office ready in the basement. Right now our living room is stashed full of computers, cables, monitors and AV equipment…

I’m in love with this one – and feeling kind of sentimental because soon, very soon she will have a baby sister and our family enters a new era. Three becomes four and everything changes.

Diaper stash

My recently arrived diapering stash. We used the plastic disposable stuff when T was a baby, but hopefully we’ll get a hang on some of these cloth diapers this time around. I don’t know what’s happened in-between, but cloth diapers didn’t even occur to me the last time I was pregnant. Or after she was born for that matter. I guess I was into bein’ green and everything back then also, but (thankfully) a lot has happened since then – I’ve changed, learned more about being green, thinking more about our choices and how it affects us and the planet. So – we’re definitely moving forward.

I have kind of mixed feelings about the diapering right now. First of all – the more I think of and read about the disposables; the enormous amount of mostly plastic landfill – literally a ton of diapers pr. child – that takes about 500 years to decompose... The thought of wrapping your kids reproductive organs in non breathable plastic for 2-3-4-5 years, all the chemicals involved to make the diapers feel “dry” even after hours and hours… Well, the list goes on. Right now I cannot believe that this didn’t hit me with T. Or with myself a little earlier (I’ve used cloth pads for a few years now, and I love it).

But I have no idea if it is going to work for us. Is it going to be a lot more work? Are they going to leak all over the place? Can we adjust to the thought of doing laundry on a more regular basis instead of collecting huge amounts and then having to wear different coloured socks because nothing else is clean? (Get the idea?) Yes, we’re that kind of people. But I guess it has to change now or else this cloth diaper idea will be a very short lived and smelly business. I’ve bought three bamboo (so much better than cotton in so many ways) fitted diapers, one all-in-one organic cotton, twenty organic cotton flat fold diapers and some other “stash” to try out. And I just love the wetbags from Planet Wise. Pretty pretty. I’ll have to knit and buy some wool soakers as well.

And to take this even a little bit further (some say a little bit too far), I’m thinking of trying “family cloth”. Yes, that’s apparently what it’s called and I don’t know why. Let me explain. Basically it is wiping your behind with cloth instead of paper after doing your business. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but now seem like a good time to try it out, since we have to wash diapers anyway. The main thing about using cloth instead of toilet paper is of course to use less paper – less disposables. And it is better for our skin. Another good thing for us is significantly reducing the amount of paper in our compost toilet. Most of the stuff in there is actually paper, and it takes quite a while to decompose. And it makes the process slower… Well, nuf’ details about that. We’re doing cloth for pee and paper for poo. And paper for guests of course.

Ideally I’d make the wipes myself (cutting old t-shirts or cotton flannel into squares and hemming…). Ideally I’d even make the diapers myself, but I’m not quite there at the moment. Maybe one day…

Or maybe I’ll make those wipes anyway. I mean, seriously…

Status quo

It’s winter. Right now it’s the kind of winter that has us locked inside, or at least stuck up here. Where we live this happens some times. Not very often though. But right now, with me looking (at least feeling) like a stranded whale, a car that desperately needs an update in so many ways… Well, it was safer to stay at home. To drive anywhere I’ll have to put chains on the car (ehm the tyres that is), and then maybe we’ll get down and up again. Sigh…

So we’re here, me and the little one, trying to survive without driving each other crazy. Mostly being inside the house because of the slippery, icy, wet, windy and grey happening outside. Today was cupcake baking day. Blueberry cupcakes with so much blueberries they were really blueberries with a little cupcake added to them. Yum.

And since the husband has our camera at work, I can’t take photos of them. But I have this one… Kind of related.





Two of my cake tins, both thrifted. Old cake tins are something I always look for on flea markets and thrift shops. I just love them, and of course they can store almost anything (like needles and thread and bias tape, or stamps, postcards, the little ones beads…) – not just blueberries with a little cupcake added :).

Toys and "stuff" - part I

When you have children, you get a whole new perspective on “stuff” and how it comes into your home. Maybe you were already into simple living, decluttering, organizing and living green before you had children, or maybe having children awakened this “interest” or need to do so. One thing is for sure – the amount and flow of stuff changes when you have children, whether you want it to or not.

The toys. Oh, the toys. And the baby stuff. The baby “toys”, the automatic rocking chairs with the animal sounds and annoying, repetitive music, the flashing and beeping and moving toys with batteries, the walking chairs, the baby carriages with all kinds of “entertainment” installed, the potty that plays a tune when you go pee pee, the small computers made for pre-toddlers, every kind of pedagogically correct toy and gadget that you just got to have if your baby is to develop properly and fast enough. Or the kind of stuff you just got to have because “everyone” else got it or tells you that you simply cannot live without. Your family will give you all kinds of “good” advice, your friends will tell you, and the producers and manufacturers will undoubtedly tell you. It's good for the baby they say. You need this to be a good parent. Or you need this to be hot and trendy. And lets not forget – it makes your life so much easier. What a treat.

Kids and especially babies don’t need all this stuff. It’s all bogus. As first time mothers most of us bought and got loads of things and toys that we didn’t need. And the baby certainly didn’t need it! But we end up with lots of it no matter what. And many of us have rooms and even houses full of it years after the baby is born. There it lies forgotten or just put away so we don’t have to look at it and deal with it. Gathering dust in the basement or in the garage, or piling up with the vast (and always growing) amount of toys in the kids’ playroom.

No wonder some people say it’s expensive, loud and exhausting to have kids.

It really isn’t. Children don’t need to learn how to play. They don’t even need toys to do so. Toys (and especially baby gadgets) are usually something made up by adults to keep children busy when we’re off to do other things. These days it’s mostly made of plastic, many of them contain harmful chemicals, most of them are made in China by underpaid workers in dangerous environments, many of them are made to do one thing and don’t really stimulate fantasy, creativity or playfulness at all, but might keep your child busy for a couple of hours before they lose interest. And – most of them ends up as toxic, non-recyclable items in the landfill, or if they’re lucky – at Goodwill.

I’m painting a black picture here. Many (more and more) parents are fully aware of this, and buy safe products for their children; focusing on quality, safety and the environment - not quantity. Many parents quickly realise that having lots of fancy stuff has nothing to do with being a good parent, or having a happy childhood or developing properly. I’m not saying we should stop buying toys altogether. I’m not saying you should not buy anything for your new baby. I’m saying you don’t need to buy all this stuff.

Our four year old has quite an “impressive” amount of toys. And yes, she has some of the above mentioned plastic from China. But this is an ongoing (never ending?) process of refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle for us. The refuse part is definitely one of the hardest ones. The reduce part is not always easy, but she’s in on it from time to time. Even she can see the need to reduce the amount because it doesn’t get played with and ends up as clutter and even more stuff to clean up. And the things she loves and plays with the most - is the simple, creative, open ended toys and everyday items and art supplies. Who would know? ;)


So – what do babies need then? And how to recognize what is a good and high quality toy? More on that later.

Note to self

Twelve Excercises for Mindful Parenting

1. Try to imagine the world from your child's point of view, purposefully letting go of your own. Do this every day for at least a few moments to remind you of who this child is and what he or she faces in the world.

2. Imagine how you appear and sound from your child's point of view; imagine having you as a parent today, in this moment. How might this modify how you carry yourself in your body and in space, how you speak, what you say? How do you want to relate to your child in this moment?

3. Practice seeing your children as perfect just the way they are. Work at accepting them as they are when it is hardest for you to do so.

4. Be mindful of your expectations of your children, and consider whether they are truly in your children's best interests. Also, be aware of how you communicate those expectations and how they affect your children.

5. Practice altruism, putting the needs of your children above your own whenever possible. Then see if there isn't some common ground where your needs can also be met. You may be surprised at how much overlap is possible, especially if you are patient and strive for balance.

6. When you feel lost, or at a loss, remember to stand still. Meditate on the whole by bringing your full attention to the situation, to your child, to yourself, to the family. In doing so, you may go beyond thinking and perceive intuitively, with the whole of your being, what really needs to be done.

7. Try embodying silent presence. Listen carefully.

8. Learn to live with tension without losing your own balance. Practice moving into any moment, however difficult, without trying to change anything and without having to have a particular outcome occur. See what is “workable” if you are willing to trust your intuition and best instincts.

9. Apologize to your child when you have betrayed a trust in even a little way. Apologies are healing, and they demonstrate that you see a situation more clearly, or more from your child's point of view. But “I'm sorry” loses its meaning if we are always saying it, or if we make regret a habit.

10. Every child is special, and every child has special needs. Each sees in an entirely unique way. Hold an image of each child in your heart. Drink in their being, wishing them well.

11. There are very important times when we need to practice being clear and strong and unequivocal with our children. Let this come as much as possible out of awareness and generosity and discernment, rather than out of fear, self-righteousness, or the desire to control. Mindful parenting does not mean being overindulgent, neglectful, or weak; nor does it mean being rigid and controlling.

12. The greatest gift you can give your child is your self. This means that part of your work as a parent is to keep growing in self-knowledge and in awareness. We have to be grounded in the present moment to share what is deepest and best in ourselves.

Source: Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn, the authors of Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting

2009

Happy new year :)

Not so much happening here during Christmas – we all got the flu and sinus infections and ended up with antibiotics and painkillers, herbal remedies, cough syrup and the lot.

Most of us are better now – my husband is still on antibiotics, but is feeling better.

I just hate the thought of antibiotics in the first place, but this time it felt like the only way to survive Christmas. Luckily our four year old was really sick for a couple of days, but quickly got better with a lot of TLC – sleep/rest, smoothies and too much television… It’s wonderful to see how her body works and heals itself from illness in a whole other way then ours. When she gets sick – she really gets sick, but usually it lasts for a few days and then its over. With us it’s another story. Often we’re walking around feeling sick-ish for days or even weeks – low energy, cranky, body hurting in different places… Why can’t I just get sick and then start the healing process? I’m thinking it’s because her four year old body is so much healthier than ours in terms of (for example) – getting a lot more exercise, eating (and drinking) a healthier diet than us (a paradox isn’t it), not being vaccinated, not usually taking any kind of medicines, not been exposed to so many years of pollution and toxins…

So – after these last few weeks of feeling sickish my body desperately started craving fruits and vegetables. I don’t know if it’s a psychological or physical kind of craving, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s a cliché, but it feels real – my body needs fruits and veg and healthy green stuff right now. At the moment I have aversions against almost all kinds of meat.

And lucky us – we got a juicer for Christmas from some very nice friends.

Before breakfast today:

1 green/yellow apple
A big handful of fresh spinach
A slice of lime
Another apple

Throw it all in the juicer and enjoy. Both the four year old and I love it. And no, you cannot taste the spinach. At all.

The journey

Photos taken on holiday this autumn. I stumbled upon these while searching my computer for something entirely different. Soon, at least soonish, these photos will fade into a wage (but good) memory, and the doll will be substituted with a baby. Another person. A real person. I need to tell myself this quite often. Although I’m well into the second trimester and the baby moves around in there like crazy sometimes, even though my energy levels are at an all time low, my back hurts already and I have the occasional attack of heartburn. Still – I need to remind myself – I need to try and get the idea of having another person in our life – our family. It’s very strange and hard to get used to. I guess it’s something I/we cannot prepare ourselves to – it happens, and we’ll have to take it from there.

It has been, and still is occasionally, a bit hard. This pregnancy is so different from the first one, but still so similar. I’m pregnant at another time of the year, and that has definitely made the first trimester (with the extreme nausea) even harder – especially emotionally. It was a tough ride for all of us as a family.

It’s better now – so much better without the nausea. I can feel happiness again, I can feel the rollercoaster ride of emotions linked to (I guess) every pregnancy. Butterflies and shooting stars. Euphoria and anxiety. The waiting, the preparing, the getting ready, the reading of articles and books (all the things you forget in just a few years!), the internet surfing on forums and web shops (all the things you’re told you need… well, that’s a good thing about the second time around – you know you don’t need much), the talks with friends and family about their experiences and expectations, the choice making…



But here I am, and soon here she/he is, and we’re all waiting and trying to get used to the idea in our own way. What an adventure, and what a spiritual journey it is. For all of us. Motherhood, fatherhood, becoming a sister. That’s what I’m hoping and aspiring to write more about; the spiritual journey of pregnancy and birth. And what a blessing to be pregnant now – when the sun is soon to be “born” on the winter solstice.

A very, very long post about the ups and downs of being green

It's not always easy being green... OR is it? We're trying to convert to "greener" solutions in every aspect of our lives. One of the major contributors to our co2 footprint is chemicals. Our lives are full of different kinds of toxins and stuff that's really not good for us or the environment. Its in our cleaning supplies, detergents, in our makeup, all kinds of hair and body products, in our furniture, in the paint on our walls and even in our food. Its not an easy job to avoid it, to educate oneself about it or even to reduce our use of harmful chemicals.

Let's begin with the cleaning supplies. I used to clean with both chlorine ("Klor") and sal ammoniac ("Salmiakk"). I actually used to love the smell of chlorine in the bathroom (ehm... no - not the smell of napalm in the morning, but not far from it actually :D) - it didn't feel clean until it smelled like the community swimming pool. And of course I used to buy the ready made chemical mixes - "allround" bathroom cleansers, kitchen-, window-, toilet and all kinds of sprays. Not to mention the anti-bacterial stuff, and the dish soap... Well, we're much better off now. No chlorine or ready made anti-bacterial sprays comes into this house any more.

So this is how I clean now; I use mainly two ingredients in all kinds of cleaning around the house. And it is the wonderful, magical vinegar and baking soda.

And believe me - I wish that I discovered this years ago. It's so easy, useful and effective. I really wonder why people bother using all this time, energy and lots of money on the store bought stuff! I'm not writing a long post about the wonders of vinegar and baking soda right now - but I really, really encourage you to check it out. Google it, buy a book about it or check the library.

Except the vinegar and baking soda, I also use washing soda, pure, natural soap and a couple of essential oils. For dishes I use Ecover dish soap. But this is where our problem areas starts showing up. We have a dishwasher. Yep. We have. And I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. We've used Ecover dishwasher tablets earlier, but after a while the machine doesn't clean very well, and soap and other "stuff" builds up in the machine and on the dishes. Rinsing with vinegar helps, but not enough in the long run. So we've bought mainstream dishwashing powder now and then (labelled by the swan/Nordic ecolabel - but still).

Over to the laundry. Same problem here. "Stuff" or residue builds up in the machine and on clothes after awhile and the clothes are not as clean as I would like. We've used Ecover here as well (insanely expensive - we cannot afford to buy it continually). I recently switched to Ecover liquid instead of powder - and so far so good. Rinsing with vinegar instead of fabric softener - works wonders.

So - to the real problem areas. Hair and body products. Products for our daughter are OK environmentally speaking. She uses Urtekram Calendula shampoo (also for bodywash) and Urtekram toothpaste. I love the shampoo, but it's expensive (in my opinion). If the both of us are to use this - I guess we'll have to buy three or four bottles a month or something. Shampoo and hairproducts are a big problem area for me. I've tried many different "green" and organic/natural shampoos, but most of them are disappointing - or they don't do it for me. Even other Urtekram shampoos does not work for my hair. I don't feel clean, or I have to wash it twice or thrice and use a lot of shampoo to get it clean. My husband doesn't need shampoo :)

I have short hair. (I've tried long many many times - it just does not look god on me). And that's definitely not the smartest thing when it comes to being green. I need some kind of styling product. OR at least I feel that I need it, and I cannot see myself without it. So I need to find the right one(s). Right now I'm using a stylingpaste from the hairdresser. And cheap hairspray from the grocery shop... I know - bad. But to my defense I do not "do" my hair every day. But I need this. Help? Any ideas? I've bought hairspray at the healthfood store once, but they don't have it anymore. And it was expensive. Again - my opinion, but I guess it's OK to pay more to be green and to get a high quality product. But when you don't have much money to spend - you don't.

And then to the coloring. Another one of my not-so-green luxuries. I'm 28 and I have grays. Lots of'em. Yep. Not really a problem, but I like to color it once in a while. I have not been brave enough to try henna, and the local healthfood store has one brand of "natural" hair color. I must admit I don't know much about it, but I guess it's not very good environmentally speaking - not matter how you do it. It's a luxury with a cost. Like most luxuries...

Bodywash. We use Jäson. I don't know how "green" it is, but I'm hoping it's better than the cheap stuff from the grocery store. At least it's not tested on animals, has no animal byproducts, no parabens or other known nasties. It's also at least partially organic. We also use Jäson body lotion and we love both. (I have the shampoo as well, but still thinks the Urtekram childrens shampoo is better. For me anyway.)

I've tried different kinds of bar soaps in the past (are they greener or not? I wonder), but can't seem to get used to it. I don't know why, but there is something with bar soap that groses me out... :/

For my face I use baking soda mixed with honey to cleanse in the shower once in a while. It's really great and my skin loves this. Just don't do it every day - it's very exfoliating. To moisturize I use Dr. Hauschka Day Cream and I'm quite happy with it. Especially in the winter when my skin is quite dry.

We both use Kingfisher Natural toothpaste and are very happy with it.

And then there's the deodorants. Right now I'm going back and forth between the mainstream antiperspirant (yuk...!) and the Thai Crystal deodorant stone - sometimes mixed with some baking soda patted on afterwords. Some days it works perfectly and some days.... Well, I smell. I guess it takes some time getting used to as well. We're so used to perfuming away all that reminds us of natural body odor. Many people starts perfuming their babies almost from birth. No wonder we think it's strange and unhygienic not to smell like blossoms all the time! I've tried different kinds of natural/organic deodorants and this is the best one. Most of the other ones I've tried... I ended up smelling really bad - it would be better not to use anything.

Shaving cream. Well, I'm not the expert here. There was an article in Norwegian media recently on the health and environmental risks of commercial shaving cream. It was not good. But what to use instead? I've heard of oil (olive, almond etc.), but my husband was not very keen on the idea. He hasn't tried it yet though. Bar soap? This is something we have to check out.

And then.... What's left. Oh. Makeup. I don't use much makeup, but one of the things I need is mascara. I sometimes use more, but this is the one I need to find a greener alternative to. I've just tried one brand when it comes to organic/natural mascara, and it was not... well, lets say as good as I'd hoped. It smudged, left my lashes sticky, short and never dried. But maybe I'll give it a another try.

This is just some of the chemicals we use in our daily lives. What about you? What do you use and why? I'd love to hear your experiences - good and bad :)

I needed this

Snitched from a discussion on Mothering.com forum:

"Remember it's about raising a wonderful, emotionally healthy adult not having a perfectly behaved child."