Kiddisms: Habitat is a BAD word!

Robert is reading information about geese. Then all the sudden he says:

Robert: “That’s a bad word…”

Me: “Which one?”

Robert: “HABITAT!”

Me: “WHAT! WHY?”

Robert: “Because people die from it!!!”

Me: “WHAT!”

Robert: “OHHHHHHHH Never mind! It’s HEART ATTACK… not HABITAT!!!”

NOW THAT I AM A MOM… MEMORIES I WANT TO SHARE.

Now that I am a mom I understand why my mom cherished all the small details when I was a kid. I remember great things related to Mother’s Day that always bring smiles to my face. So here I will share some memories and thoughts that might or might not touch your heart…

WHERE IS MY GIFT? I was told that one mother’s day celebration all my family got together, I was 3. Everyone very happy and excited exchanging gift for all the moms present. My grandma, mom, aunts, … me there, 3 year old, watching the gift openings… when It was done… with a tear in my face, looking that there were no more gifts I asked… “WHERE’S MY GIFT?” I could barely speak by then (I was a late speaker)… Who could stand that beautiful and disappointed face? Then one of my aunts went to her room, picked a piece of jewelry (a cameo) and wrapped it really fast for me… I WAS THE HAPPIEST BABY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

LAS MADRES SELVAS… “Las Madres Selvas” is the name of a flower and there is a song that I learned and always sang to my mom on Mother’s Day as long as I can remember… so here it is… You can translate it if you want… :)

Las Madres Selvas, son unas flores, que simbolizan, nuestros amores. Nuestros amores, en este dia, son de las madres, dulce alegria.

It always made my mom cry! and back then, I couldn’t understand why!

SPA AND BREAKFAST AT HOME… When I was 7 my brother and I decided to celebrate mother’s day in a special way for my mom. Ever since it became a ritual in my family. We cooked for her… a HUGE scrambled eggs.. with 5 eggs and pieces of shell included (eww) with burned bacon strips (like a whole package), a HUGE orange juice (yeah… one of those free cups from the fast foods that you can keep) and burned toasts… 3 slices of bread… Apparently we wanted to make sure that my mom knew how MUCH we loved her… After breakfast, I would apply a mud mask and then put makeup on her… of course she looked like a clown afterwards.. but she let me be and enjoyed it! Ever since, we did the same and now that I have a family on my own, I can say I miss that!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! My first mother’s day wasn’t as I expected. Why? Because I consider my first mother’s day when I was still pregnant. I consider someone who has not yet given birth to be a mom, because what makes you a mom is not giving birth, but all the love you give to that special being. That’s why many people say, “A mom is not who gave birth to you but the one who raised and took care of you”. And I totally agree. But many people didn’t agree but my husband and my parents in laws.  Of course, I was disappointed but I was grateful that someone recognized it. I have friends and family who have lost babies and never gave birth to them. Aren’t they considered moms? OFCOURSE THEY ARE! So I will always celebrate and congratulate a first time pregnant mom, like I would’ve like people to congratulate me. 

MOMMY I AM A MOMMY! I can’t say enough how important was for me that my mom was there when I gave birth. She was there all the time, holding my hand and kissing my forehead. I can’t imagine how she felt watching her daughter giving birth. But in the middle of all he excitement, the moment the doctor put my baby in my tummy all I could do is cry and look at my mom and say “MOMMY! I AM A MOMMY!” and repeat it like crazy… That’s definitely something I will remember!

Now that I am a mom, I understand many things from the past and cherish the present. Being a parent, period, is one of the most gratifying experience ever. That little thing, that eventually grows, trust you with all their being. They can hold your head and say I love you without worrying to be judged. And even though my great grandma said “Each son or daughter is a suffering”, I can’t agree with it literally, but I can understand what she meant. We love them so, that we never stop worrying about them. We take our jackets to keep them warm. We give them our food if they are hungry. We kiss them good night every night and make sure they are comfortable. We break nights and nights when they are sick. We try to make every single experience they have the most incredible one, so they can remember it for the rest of their lives. We dry their tears and say things we sometimes don’t even believe in, just to make them feel better. We teach them about right and wrong to make sure they can build a wonderful life for themselves and when we see they are not, we make sure we sweep the way in front of them so they can keep going on. We celebrate every single achievement and cheer every moment, even when they fall from the bicycle! All I can say is that whenever you get mad at your mom (we all do), remember those little things that you now do for your kids… You learned them from someone … YOUR SUPER MOM!

I love you mom and I want you to know that I love you, I admire you, I respect you, I miss you and I appreciate that you’ve always being there every step of the way. That I know you are and I know you always will be. And now that I am a mom, I know I am doing a good job when I see my son’s eyes when he holds my face to say… “I LOVE YOU MOM! YOU ARE THE BESTEST OF ALL!”

And here is my first picture… WITH MY MOM!

BPA IN CANS ?! WATCH OUT!!!

I don’t know where but sometime ago, somewhere, I read about this topic. Given that every month I buy canned goods like: tuna, pasta sauce, tomato sauce, veggies, soups, beans, fruits, this topic caught my attention. Recently I stumbled upon a webpage that explains about this. Not only plastics labeled #7 contains BPA but some canned food too! The thing is that some companies, simply use BPA in the can liners and even some in the jar’s lids’ sealer. So beware if you buy jarred baby food!

Organic Grace, provides a list (I wish it was more organized) of companies responses to their inquiry on whether they use BPA in their can linings or not. Some companies accepted it and even defended it! (SHAME ON THEM).

But just a hint, even Mur Glen DO USE BPA!!!! And who is defending using BPA in their can linings? COCA-COLA! So, take that into account when buying from them! But there is light at the end of the tunnel! At least companies, like Whole Food with their 365 brand, are looking for ways for packing alternatives.

So take your time to stop by the Organic Grace website and look for familiar brands. This way you make an educated purchase. I really appreciate that this person is taking the time to call the companies and ask about it.

Now, are there are options? Yes, but it might not be available to everyone (as usual).  From Tree Hugger (a website that I LOVE), there are 7 companies you can trust not using BPA in their can liners. These are: Eden, Vital Choice, Oregon’s Choice, Wild Planet, Eco Fish, Trader Joe’s and Native Forest (for more details visit Tree Hugger’s article) . At least there are alternatives if you want to go for canned food. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to prepare and can my own pasta and tomato sauce (from my garden’s produce), buy frozen veggies instead of canned ones and have a tuna fish tank to get my tuna fresh every time! JUST A JOKE!  :)

Other things I used to buy canned was evaporated and condensed milk (now I prepare them with powdered milk; not the instant one type), beans (now I buy them dried and prepare them from scratch) and mushrooms (now I buy them fresh all the time). So there are ways to consume what you usually do but in a healthier way. Meanwhile, HAPPY BPA FREE CANNED FOOD SHOPPING!

WHEN FEVERS ARE REALLY ANNOYING YOU AND YOUR KID – TIPS AND TRICKS

Some friends that read my blog know that Robert has been sick since last Friday night. Fever was his major symptom and we had no idea what he had. Fever Fever and more Fever. We managed sometimes to get it to 38.5 but not less than that. Poor little guy we was annoyed and it annoyed us too!

He was sick of being sick and drinking liquid fever reducers. Here I just wanted to share what we do when he has fever and things I have learned from other parents and doctors too. Hope they help someone out there!

1. Focus on controlling. Fever is a way of the body fight back something that is not supposed to be there. My husband for instance thinks that we need to get rid of the fever once and for all. While for some this might sound fever is a good sign that the body is doing its job, so I always remind him that the important thing is to control the fever not to get too high higher than (39.5-40) rather than getting desperate because it doesn’t go away.

2. Switching medicines! Acetaminophen (Tylenol ) is the #1 option to reduce fever among parents and doctors. But sometimes is not enough. One thing I have learned is that if the fever does not goes down with Tylenol alone, switch to Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) every 2 hours (using the same dosage as every 4 hours) until the fever reacts to it by going down (usually one degrees). Then go back to the Acetaminophen routine. We have tried this with Robert since he was a baby and it works like a charm. This time though we noticed that every 3 hours did the work.

3. Suppositories. HAVE THEM ALWAYS HANDY! I have the Acetaminophen ones. He uses the 325mg ones. Yesterday night my son wasn’t tolerating anything by mouth, so by applying suppositories we controlled the fever plus delivered faster relieve. He now prefers the suppositories over the mouth bubble gum flavored liquid!

4. Compresses. Old school way to attack the fever… I have used fresh (NOT COLD) water compresses and fresh water with Eucalyptus Oil compresses. Both work great! I prefer to use the eucalyptus oil in baths though…  BUT HERE IS THE TRICK… Arm pits and genitals (at least in boys)! When applying compresses to these areas the fever goes down faster. Believe me I have tried… now my son knows about it, even though he hates it, he even reminds me that it makes his fever go away faster. Try it and get back to me!

Also so the torture is more tolerable, we count. Every time I place the compress in some parts of his body (like neck, forehead, ears, tummy, back,  arms, and legs) we count to TEN and switch. When placing in his arm pits and genitals we count to TWENTY. Is psychological for him but it helps to make it more manageable and makes him cooperate instead of screaming, complaining and pushing out.

5. Water baths. As I said before, I prefer to add Eucalyptus Oil (say 2 drops and swirl). I leaves the body with a freshness impregnated from the oil. The same as compresses if they just sit there for a few minutes covering their genitals, it will do the trick. The thing is how to convince them to stay there! So be creative, use bubbles, count, talk, sing…

6. Cold food. If your kid tolerates food, keep feeding cool food like popsicles, Jell-O, ice-cream, juice, water, fruits… anything that is light to their stomach and cools it! You will definitely see the difference in their faces. It lights them up!

All I can say is that to this point Robert is tired of the liquid medicine, so now that he is in antibiotics (he has the Strep) we expect his fever to go away once and for all. Meanwhile a combination of these methods will make it easier and less annoying!

Hope it helps somebody! If you have any more tricks LET US KNOW! :) PLEASE! SHARE!!!! :D