Confession: I Love Essential Oils

I'm almost embarrassed to post this...  For a number of reasons, really, but mainly because I was SUCH a skeptic for so many years.  I will even admit that I made fun of people who liked/used/sold essential oils.

My initial distaste for essential oils came from a number of places.  I am a nurse.  I believe in medications, and I believe they work.  A lot of people tout essential oils as a cure-all; I saw them as modern-day snake oil salesmen.  I even saw the mother of one of my dialysis patients crying one day because she said an acquaintance told her that her child wouldn't have been born with kidney disease if she had cleaned up her life and used essential oils. Grrrr!  I was infuriated.  The ignorance of that statement and the hurt that she inflicted on a wonderful mother made me even more resentful towards the idea of essential oils.

Then, my point of view started to change a bit.  Another patient's mother told me that she'd used lavender essential oil to clear up a terrible diaper rash on her baby.  We'd been trying to clear it up for a long time and nothing else had worked, but the lavender did.  I was impressed.  My chiropractor also diffused essential oils in her office and they smelled AMAZING.  Even if they didn't do anything else at all they smelled good, right?  I am frugal at heart.  I did some research into Young Living because they were the brand I'd heard people talk about the most.  When I saw the price of the Premium Starter Kit I balked.  I could buy a looootttt of Yankee Candles for the price of the starter kit and they smelled nice, too.

For some reason I was really drawn to the idea of essential oils.  I kept feeling like I was meant to use them.  I read about them.  I pinned essential oil DIY recipes on Pinterest.  I looked at them on Young Living's website and on Amazon.  Finally, I decided to try some oils on Amazon that were MUCH cheaper than Young Living's oils and had pretty good reviews.  I bought a variety pack of oils and a cheap-y diffuser.  I diffused them and they smelled pretty good to me, but that was it.  Max and Aidan got a bit of a cold and I decided I was going to make a chest rub for them with lavender to see if it helped.  I rubbed them down and waited.  Nothing happened except that they both broke out in a rash all over their chests where I'd put the oils.  I was discouraged.  What a waste of money.

I started talking to my friend Lisa about oils.  She had recently started as a distributor with Young Living and I asked for advice.  After a long talk about Young Living and how high-quality their oils are, I decided to take a leap and purchase the Premium Starter Kit with some leftover Christmas money.  The older I get, the more I'm realizing you get what you pay for.  Yes, Young Living oils are more expensive than the ones I bought on Amazon, but MAN that was for a reason.  Not only do the Young Living oils smell better, they actually WORK.

Let me stop here and say this: Yes, I'm still a nurse.  Yes, I still take medications as needed.  I don't even hesitate to give my kids Tylenol and/or Motrin if they're sick or teething and need it.  No, I don't think you need to throw away everything in your house and buy all Young Living products.  No, I don't plan to use essential oils in place of adequate healthcare.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Hand of Anchored by Oils

But, let me tell you what... I rarely feel the need to take dive into my medicine cabinet anymore.  I've had neck and shoulder problems from carrying around my kids and being a nurse for years.  If I feel pressure building up in my head, I have an oil blend for that.  If I'm feeling stressed, there's an oil for that.  Aidan struggled with chronic ear infections since infancy, and I'm so thankful that Max hasn't needed all the interventions that Aidan did.  If my kids are having trouble winding down and bedtime is approaching, I have oils to help them settle.  If they're a little "backed up" and need some digestive support, I have an oily solution before resorting to the prescription medication we were using on an almost daily basis before.  I was breaking out on rashes all over my hands from cleaning with bleach wipes before; now I use Thieves Cleaner and the rashes are gone (and my house smells like Christmas).

All of this to say, I LOVE MY OILS!  They've given me options to try before taking medications.  They've eliminated lots of different cleaning products from my house; now I just use one cleaner for EVERYTHING.  I use them to DIY all sorts of things - face serum, body wash, hand purifier, lash growth booster, air freshener, stove cleaner, bath salts, and on and on and on.  I even use them in cooking.  I've stopped buying lemon and lime juice; I just use a drop of oil in its place.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Hand of Anchored by Oils

If you've ever been interested in trying essential oils, I totally encourage you to try Young Living! Young Living products have become completely irreplaceable in our household.  If you live close by, I'd love to meet up so you can check out my YL products and maybe even sample some.  I'd love to use this post as a place to start a discussion.  Are you a skeptic or do you love oils like me?  What questions do you have about essential oils or Young Living? 

If you're interested in ordering a Starter Kit of becoming a member, click here.

Our Favorite Preschool Learning Tools

It’s back to school season.  The seasonal section at Target is full of school supplies.  Even though it’s still in the 90s outside, the stores at full of sweaters and sweatpants.  I’ve always had an interest in home schooling.  I love to see my kids’ brains working and mastering new concepts.  I’m not sure what our future holds as far as homeschooling.  Right now Aidan goes to preschool two mornings a week and genuinely loves it, so we’re happy continuing to send him there for now.  Since he only goes to school two mornings a week and loves to learn, we do lots of learning activities at home.  I figured today in honor of back to school I’d share a few of our favorite learning products.

Most of these products are actually from the Dollar Spot at Target!  Since it's Back to School season they have a huge display of workbooks, flashcards, and other learning tools.  Another great place to shop for inexpensive learning tools for your kids is Dollar Tree.  They have a surprisingly well stocked kids' section with stickers, workbooks, and school supplies.  Last but not least, Amazon Prime.  I get everything from Amazon!  I especially love to order toys for cheaper than I can find them in most stores.

Workbooks/Worksheets: Aidan loves to sit down and "do school."  He especially enjoys it when he gets my undivided attention during Max's nap time.  I recently got an awesome workbook for only $4.99 at Aldi.  All of the smaller books pictured below were only $1 each from Dollar General.  My favorite website for FREE worksheets is The Measured Mom.  She has tons of worksheets and free learning activities here.

Flash Cards: Get yourself to the Target Dollar Spot!  They have these awesome flash cards for $1 each.  We started with the colors and shapes and progressed to numbers and letters, and now we're starting on phonics!  They even have lots of choices for older kids - even flags from different countries around the world.

Notepad, Beginner Pencil, Dry Erase Books: We're working on pen/pencil control and starting to work on writing letters.  Aidan especially loves tracing things I've written and tracing the dotted lines in his dry erase book.  The beginner pencils are easier for his little hands to grip and he likes having a notepad that's all his own.

Puzzles: Aidan loves to put together puzzles.  We found these awesome opposites and alphabet puzzles in the Dollar Spot at Target.  Aidan can do these independently (yay! maybe I can accomplish something productive).  

Toys: These three really count as toys, but they help with fine motor skills and spatial perception.  I can use the MagnaDoodle to practice shapes, writing letter and numbers, and recognizing sight words.  We can practice shapes and colors with the MagnaTiles and even talk about how magnets work or how to create a tower with a strong foundation so it won't fall.  We can practice lacing and even learn how to tie shoes with the lacing tool.  I always look for toys with more than one purpose/use and these definitely fit the bill.  They can be played with AND used for learning activities.

Letter Magnets: Target has these letter magnets in their kitchen section for around $1.  I bought 3 sets so we could make words with more than one of each letter in them.  We use an old baking sheets to stick them to.  I wrote out several words on popsicle sticks that he can practice spelling with the magnets.  This is an awesome activity for him to do independently during quiet time.

Books: I am of the opinion that you can never have enough books.  We love going to the library and checking out books, but I also make sure that we have a great home library with lots of fiction and non-fiction selections.  Some of my favorite deals on books are anthologies.  We have two Curious George anthologies, Frog and Toad, Little Critter, some Disney 5-Minute story anthologies, one with children's classics like Madeline, Ferdinand, Corduroy, and a couple of Usborne Book anthologies as well.  You can get these for a STEAL on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble or from Usborne.

Alphabet Cards: I got these alphabet cards last week in the Dollar Spot at Target and used them to make a super cheap alphabet poster for the wall in our play area.  The cards were $1 and I got a standard sized poster board for $0.54.  Less than $2 in total!  It hangs in our wall, but I also take it down and we play games as well.  I'll tell Aidan, "Find me the F" and I give him a chopstick or straw to point.  I like that these cards have the upper and lower case letter as well as a picture.  Go grab some!

Whether you're planning on homeschooling or just augmenting the learning your kids are already doing at school, I hope you check out some of these items.  Happy learning!

An Unpopular Opinion on Potty Training

Generally you hear parents bragging about how young their kid was potty trained, but I always said I was going to wait a while to potty train Aidan.  You may be asking, why in the world would you put off potty training?  More butt wiping, more diaper money, what are you thinking?!  Well, to understand why we need a physiology lesson.

When a child is in diapers, they’re free to pee and poop whenever they have to, and their bladder is free to grow as they grow.  The earlier you potty train your child, the earlier this growth stops.  Potty training is essentially teaching your child to hold their pee and poop (until they stop to use the toilet).  Kids – all kids – prefer to keep playing rather than stop frequently to use the bathroom.  When a child holds pee or poop it exercises the bladder and can cause thickening of the bladder wall (which decreases the available space inside for urine). Holding poop leads to constipation; constipation and held urine create the perfect environment for urinary tract infections.  Eventually the muscles in the bladder can become so strong from constantly holding urine that they’ll start to spasm and can cause children to have accidents.  This is called dysfunctional voiding.

So how does this normally go down?  A child that’s potty trained early will appear to be fine, but may eventually start having accidents (pee and poop) or getting recurrent UTIs.  They see their pediatrician and may eventually be referred to a pediatric urologist or nephrologist (kidney doctor).  Does this happen in every instance of early potty training? No, of course not.  Does it happen a lot?  Actually, yes.  None of this is meant to scare; it’s mean to bring to light an often unpopular opinion.  Waiting to potty train isn’t exactly something that most parents brag about to one another, but it might be something that could be in your child’s best interest.

So, when IS the correct time to potty train?  Of course it’ll vary child to child, but here are some signs your child may be ready:

• Asking to have their diaper changed after they soil it
• Expressing interest in others using the bathroom
• Having a dry diaper for longer than usual
• Waking up from a nap with a dry diaper
• Telling you that they have to pee or poop (or that they just did)

Most kids will start to show these signs sometime between ages 2 and 3 years.  The more ready your child is, the smoother the potty training process will go.  Want to know more?  You don’t have to take my word for it!  Here are a couple good resources:

Maybe a little scare tactic-y, but still good information from a pediatric urologist: Here

Another pediatric Urologist’s Point of View: Here

Dysfunctional Voiding, from Boston Children’s Hospital: Here

So, what do you think?  Being a nurse is weird and makes me opinionated about the strangest things…  Do you have any unpopular parenting opinions?

PS – Be sure to read my disclaimer about health care related posts on the blog.  I’ll link it here, but you can also view it any time under the Disclaimer section on the blog’s main navigation bar.

There's a Wrap for That (Totally not an It Works plug)

If you’ve ever seen my Instagram or seen me out in public with my kids, you’ve likely seen me wearing at least one of them.  I have all kids of different baby carriers, but by far I get the most questions about my wraps.  So what are they?

Our first carrier - a Baby K'tan stretchy wrap

If you’ve heard anything about babywearing, it’s likely you’ll be familiar with the Moby Wrap.  The Moby Wrap is a long (5.5 meters) piece of stretchy fabric that can be used to wrap your baby.  There are actually lots of different brands of stretchy wraps available for purchase in addition to the Moby wrap.  Stretchy wraps are AWESOME with younger babies.  Very snuggly for caregiver and baby.  They can also easily be pre-tied so that the wrap is ready to pop baby in and out of easily.  The downside?  Once baby gets a little bigger, stretchy wraps can become less comfy; they don’t support baby’s increasing weight as well as they did when baby was smaller.  Another downside - some stretchy wraps can be bulky and hot for the caregiver and baby in warmer weather.  Finally, stretch wraps (with the exception of hybrid stretchy wraps) can’t be used safely for back carries, and are only safe to use in multi-layer carries.

How was Aidan ever this small?

Enter the woven wrap.  How are they different?  Woven wraps are long, narrow pieces of cloth like a stretchy wrap, but they don’t have horizontal stretch like a stretchy wrap does.  They come in many different sizes (lengths), fabric blends (cotton, linen, bamboo, hemp, silk, Tencel, and on and on and on), weave structures (the weave of a wrap can really influence how it performs), and a myriad of designs/colorways.

Pavo Zebra Soir

My woven wraps are the most versatile baby product I own.  Period.  They can be used with a newborn all the way up to big kids.  They can be worn in front, back, and hip carries.  There are an infinite amount of ways to wrap and tie off your carries.  Forgot a blanket for your kid, car seat cover, nursing cover (if that’s your thing), burp cloth?  No worries! Your wrap can help with that.  I’ve even used a wrap to help secure my kid in a chair at a restaurant when a highchair wasn’t available.

Max Max - Yaro Basket Black

So why do you need more than one, you may ask?  Well, you could certainly have one wrap and get by just fine.  Babywearing can (and should be) accessible to ANY caregiver that wants to snuggle a baby.  But, if you really want an explanation (like my husband), I like to compare my wraps to shoes.  You could totally get by with one pair of shoes if you needed to, but different shoes serve different purposes.  You wouldn’t want to wear your best pair of heels on a hike through the mountains   , just like you wouldn’t want to wear hiking boots to dinner with friends at a fancy restaurant.  I have wraps to fit a couple different purposes in my life.  They range all the way from a wrap I made for myself out of a tablecloth all the way up to a wrap that my favorite weaver custom made for me.  I’ve had wraps designed with the molecular makeup of oxytocin, (quite a few) Harry Potter themed wraps, plain wraps, polka dotted, striped, intricately patterned wraps, and even one with zebra stripes.

Our custom wrap - Legacy of Love by Handwoven Honey

My wraps are even more to me than practical and pretty, they’ve allowed me to snuggle my babies close when they weren’t feeling well.  They’ve helped me reconnect with my kids after being away at work.  They’ve comforted my kids in new places where they were afraid or overwhelmed, or just overstimulated.  My mother-in-law and mom both chipped in to buy me the first wrap I ever had shortly after Aidan was born, so it’s very special to me.  I’ve made friends with amazing caregivers because of a shared interest.  They served as a hobby/something new to learn about when I was rediscovering myself after becoming a mom.  They’ve even served as props in Max’s newborn photo shoot.

LOL at Max's face - Ravenclaw by Handwoven Honey

So, are you interested in wearing your kids?  Are you already into babywearing like me?  What’s your carrier of choice?