Health

A good night sleep

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Most all of us like to cuddle, whether we are 3 months, 3 years, 30 years. The art of the cuddle is the security of connectedness, closeness, and feeling safe. Sleep is always the necessary commodity for both babies, toddlers, and their parents. Either you have a sleeper or you do not, or the child ebbs and flows from one extreme to the other. With my sister and good friend both having babies in the last 3 months, it seems to be a current topic. Co-sleeping, cribs, naps while laying on you, not sleeping unless you are near them. There are so many different philosophies to what we should and should not do, how we treat sleep schedules, whether we should co-sleep with our babies.

I honestly do not know what I will do, or how I will handle whatever situation I am in, all I do know is that every child and every situation is different. I might have selected how I want to handle sleeping, only to find out that it will not work for my child. I obviously do not have to worry about it for the moment. However, when I saw this video of this father who goes much farther than I would to get his daughter to go to sleep, I laughed. You have to watch it entirely. It is comical, and yet you can probably relate. He is probably thinking my back is going to be fun to stretch out tomorrow.

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What do you think? Would you go that far to get your baby to stop crying and go to sleep? It does show how sometimes we just want to be close to another, safe in their arms. She goes right to sleep if she is laying on him. I can relate. Sometimes just snuggled up next to Chris on the couch I can fall right to sleep. Comfort + Safety + Trust = A good night sleep.

 

Don’t sweat it.

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Oh how we always sweat the small stuff. At times we are drenched. We are soaked with all the little things we have to do. Like a marathon, we have so many details to keep track of each day. Whether it is shuttling a kid from school to events each day, to all the work details, to our home repairs and upkeep, it all adds up and it is all a lot to sweat. As a runner I sweat profusely. You know I will have come back from a long run, because I am dripping. There is not a part of my running clothes that are not drenched in my sweat. I also stink like no one can imagine (well Chris can because he OFTEN mentions how bad I reek.)

I also often sweat the small stuff. It is hard not to as all the small stuff rolls up into the big stuff. I care about it all. I care about how someone is treated. I care about project outcomes. I care about how individuals feel. I care about how I make others feel. I care about being blunt, transparent, and real. I care too much. I sweat it all, and yet, there are so many things that I do not care about one bit.

So – how do I differentiate what to sweat and not to sweat? I do not have a formula. I trust my intuition. I think about my audience. I talk to myself. I talk to Chris. I fail. I succeed. I work too hard. I lose sleep. I try to do too much. I care. Is that a strength or a weakness? I am passionate about each and every aspect. How individuals are treated. How a project is tracking. How things could be improved. It all matters. It is all important.

Yet, so often the very issue that we are sweating is not what we should focus on at all. Maybe we care too much about one individual and they are not even paying attention at all. Maybe our focus should be more on our own world, life, and needs and yet we neglect them completely. Maybe we are completely ignoring what we should truly be focusing on it, but we cannot see it because we have blinders on. We are sweating in all the wrong places.

Do you sweat at all? Or is life cool and chill for you?

Think Dirty

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I have a newfound interest in the products that I put on my body. Are they worth touching my skin? What are their ingredients? Would I eat what I put on my hair or skin? With my recent venture into “no poo” I have continued to explore other natural options for skin care and even found something the other day for brushing your teeth with coconut oil. (I have not tried it, but will let you know how it works out).

Have you ever thought about the fact that your skin is the largest organ on your body, and yet we feed it with harmful chemicals every day? Between your hair shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, and styling products, to your body wash, lotion, your toothpaste, and, if you are a woman, the makeup you put on your face, you are potentially adding chemicals to your body and you might not even know it.

Bring on “Think Dirty.” An app I found last weekend that allows you to scan a product in your bathroom, at the store, your friend’s house, what have you and find out from their “Dirty Meter” how toxic the product is for you. I love this idea. I am always trying to remember which sulfates are bad (most are horrible) and which are okay. Sulfates. Parabens. The list goes on for all the ingredients you should watch for when purchasing a product. What I find more complex is that so often the ingredient list can only be understood if you can decipher the periodic table of elements. They are in another language, with names so long it is hard to really know what is good and what is bad for you.

Think Dirty is free and even has a modern and sleek interface. Just scan the barcode on the product with the scanner within the app. You can then save products to a “Dirty List” or a “Clean List” so you can remember where specific products fall when you go back to the store. There is even some wit within the app. To get you to sign up, they say, “Is your bathroom Kardashian-filthy?” Clever. I spent a bit of time scanning my products, and even my Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s “organic” products resulted in 8-10 (7-10 is considered Dirty) on their Dirty Meter. Yikes.

Be safe, clean yourself responsibly, and take the pulse of what you put on your body.

Want to laugh today?

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Oh man. I am cracking up. This would be so fun. A Facebook friend shared this video for: “Bubble Football.” It is where soccer players play inside inflatable bouncy suits. Watch a bit of the video and you will be laughing so hard. I want to try it! It looks like it would be so freeing and fun to move around in a bubble (isn’t that what so many folks do anyway)? HA! After a few Internet searches, I was not able to find any local facilities that allow me to embark on such fun! It looks like it is mostly available in the UK and Europe. Maybe this will be a side venture at World Cup this summer?

Seriously, it was like watching a video of a baby that cannot stop laughing. Each time I watch them chase the ball, and then knock into each other, I giggled a bit, and thought I WANT TO DO THAT!

 

Someone bring Bubble Football to Portland please!

Share your hair?

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Emily is my new hero. At 3 she might still be too young to understand cancer, but she already understands what it means to help another individual. When she got her first haircut, she decided (after her parents explained what she could do with her hair) to donate her hair for wigs for those with cancer. Emily agreed to it, as long as her Uncle (a hair stylist) cut her Dolly’s hair first. I love this, I love her, I love listening to her talk. Her parents own FlyPress Films, and decided to film the entire process.

You will love her, her uncle, and her sweet voice as she tells you what she is doing. The background music is also perfect to get you in the mood and maybe, like me, leave little pools in your eyes.

Click here to read more of her story.