Episode # 005 - Homeschooling (Part 1)

In this episode, the Barefoot Moms discuss the basics of homeschooling, how Nadine does it and why other parents may choose to homeschool their children.

Molly and Nadine

This is from 2001! Molly's in the tank top, I'm in the red. I've got some more, but those I'll have to scan. It's been awhile.....geesh. Maybe Molly should come to Florida to visit....???

Why are we never on time....?

So, we said we would have a podcast up every Saturday night. hahaha! That's not been the case. We officially nominate ourselves as procrastinators of the year. Molly had a super busy weekend, and with some stuff going on in my family and James having surgery today....we're behind. We're going to get at least the episode on homeschooling up tomorrow and maybe another this week. Sorry for the delay! Keep listening and sending us your input.

If you know any WAHMs please have them contact us, we'd LOVE to highlight them.

If you haven't left a review in iTunes please do, so we can get featured.

Have a great week everybodeeeeee. :)

Episode # 004 - Do You Really Need All That Paper?

In this episode the Barefoot Moms discuss alternatives to paper products used in your home and on your skin.

Nadine's zoo...

Oh boy! It has been a CRAZY time lately. I am in the middle of a yeast-cleanse. Just to get bad stuff out of my body. James is having a time of it at work, just stupid bs that SUCKS! I just ordered a Minky Blueberry diaper and heard some bad news about their customer service. We're trying to get back on the Dave Ramsey plan and get our snowball rolling. We were debt free last year...why oh why....did we go back. :( In the quest to oust bad chemicals in our house the dishwasher is the thing I'm having the most problems with. Seventh Generation detergent es muy caro! and I'm still finding food on some silverware. I am a rinser before I load but I just can't find a way to get it all off.
We had the whole house clean yesterday and today.......well....four kids and a mom who's been on the computer all day....=not clean

We so badly need to have a yard sale.

On a brighter note: I did clean the house well with vinegar and baking soda!!! It was so clean and shiny.....Loved using it on the floors. I actually put some vinegar and hot water in the mop bucket and added a drop or two of seventh generation dishsoap. It worked Excellent!

We have black widow issues in our backyard. Anyone know how to rid the area of them? I've killed as many as we find and brush off all the webs....those things are like cotton candy. I know you can't "spray" for them because you have to actually spray the stuff on them to kill them, so not only is that dangerous for the kids and surroundings...but doesn't do any good either.

oh yeah....I NEED GLASSES TOO! How is 26 old enough for glasses? lol...I'm having an almost thirty crisis. I can't see the optometrist for a few days...but I would like to stop feeling dizzy anyday now!

For those of you that pray, please pray for James, he has an extremely important meeting on Thursday morning at 0930.

Thanks!

We're sorry the podcasts have been coming out a little late, issues. We're getting them sorted out and we'll have some more listening enjoyment ready for you quite soon, and maybe more frequently.

Take care and have a great day ya'll!!!!!! :)

Sorry...

We should have had the new podcast up already. We've been running into some "life" issues for both of us. Moms with babies tend to be busy..... :) We'll try to have it up tonight! Thanks for listening.

For your continued patience we'll attempt a BONUS episode this week!
Thanks so much!!!!!!!

Nadine and Molly

Skin Deep Link ~Molly~

I was recently given this link:

Skin Deep

It allows you to type in the different products you use on yourself/children (shampoo, cosmetics, soap, powders, lotions, etc) and tells you how safe they are and they problems could arrise from using them.

I was SHOCKED by this site. My son was given a store's worth of Johnson & Johnson products at our baby showers. It's almost all I've used on him since birth and I had barely dented all we'd been given... I threw it ALL away tonight!

Check it out... better safe than sorry, right?

California Baby, here we come...

My "Clean Cleaning" Week ~Molly~

Well... I took the plunge and pitched everything... even my beloved Pinesol. The only cleaning product I kept (Method & 7th Gen products aside) was our Murphey's Oil Soap. The bottle didn't even have a caution on it, just a reminder to drink a large glass of water if it is consumed.

Over the course of this week, I cleaned my entire house with nothing but Baking Soda, Vinegar, Water, Lemon Juice, and a bit of Veggie Oil (for dusting). It went well! Better than I ever expected and my house felt even cleaner without all the scents leftover by cleaning products! The more I lesson smells in my life the more I notice how much they bother me.

While cleaning my floors w/ vinegar & water, my son came up to my bucket w/ a rag in his hand, stuck it in, and swished it around. Was I ever glad that what he was touching he could drink if he wanted to! (Well... it would be rather gross w/ all of the dirt and cat hair, but the vinegar and water would be just fine... lol).

I also feel so much better knowing there are no dangerous products in my home... no fumes to worry about!!

Just wanted to update that it went well... and that investingating things deeper in order to share with others is helping me, too!!! I am far far far from the "all-natural mommy" but I try hard when I have the energy!

Sorry about my ramblings on the last pod-cast... I was more than very tired after a day at my brother in law's grad party and helping my wonderful mother in law clean up. :)

We are planning our next episode to be about lessoning the use of paper products in our home. In this, we plan to dicsuss options including family cloth, mama cloth, utilizing cloth towels in the kitchen in place of paper towels, cloth wipes, cloth diapers... if you have any other ideas for paper products to cut out, please comment!!

After that... we would love to dive into schooling our children in our homes. This is a topic I would love to touch on more than once... and even interview some home schooling mamas later on. I do not home school, but the two girls I nanny for are home-schooled by a co-op teacher and I plan to home school my son, also. So this is definately a topic of interest to me, also!

Until next time...

Molly

Thanks to a few of the diaperswappers Mamas

We had asked some of the mamas at diaperswappers.com why they got rid of chemicals in their homes, how they did it, and what they use now.

We want to thank

mercy589
Namaste
velouria
lovemysmilingboys
angel0123

for all of your wonderful insight and suggestions. We also wanted to highlight GrahamBaby4's reasons for why she got rid of the chemicals and how it's improved her family's health:


"A few years ago my oldest son was having severe asthma attacks, and had been hospitalized several times because of them. While we were in the overnight section of the ER on one occasion someone (nurse, dr, someone) asked about "how clean is your home?" I told her it was very clean, no dust etc because I knew those things aggrivated him already. She then said, that may be his problem.
The chemicals I was using were causing a lot of his symptoms. The Lye, Ammonia, the Formaldehyde in the shampoos and other personal products, the registered pesticide I was using on a daily basis (lysol) to combat the other potential germs in the house. as well as the bleach I was using quite frequently on dh's socks as well as to clean my kitchen sink. I was SHOCKED when I found out about all of the harm I was causing by keeping my home so "clean" We then found Melaleuca products, Saferforyourhome.com these products, especially the laundry soap and their alternatives to over 300 items inour home have been a life saver. I say this because.... Last August my dear MIL came to my home while I went to a convention for 3 days. Over that 3 days she decided that TIDE was needed for my son's laundry. I came home to a child who had to spend 3 days in the hospital getting his blood oxygen level back to normal because she had washed his clothes in the laundry detergent that he had been allergic to since birth (not just noticing the problems since switching to mela products) but his oxygen level by the time we were in the er (after 2 trips to the regular pediatrician that resulted in him going home with a near normal blood oxygen level) was just over 70. Every time he got to a normal level (90 is good here in colorado for him on some occasions) they would take the Oxygen off of him and let him sit for about 20 minutes and it would be back down in the low 70's. Since we had switched our entire home over to these products a lot has changed, but the one that is most noticable is my oldest son.
Hope that helps!!"

Thanks again Mamas!!!

Remember if you LOVE the Barefoot Moms Podcast, be sure to leave a review in iTunes! Thanks! :)

Pesticides in Produce

Get a free guide to Pesticides in Produce from the Environmental Working Group

Episode # 003 - Toxic Chemicals in Your Cupboard

In this episode, the Barefoot Moms discuss the hazards of toxic cleaning products in your home; raising awareness, and offering safer alternatives to clean your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry.

Episode #003 Show Notes

Molly has already posted several links that we mentioned on this show.

Consumer Law Page: Household Chemicals
Care2: Non toxic cleaning; courtesy of Christy from diaperswappers.com
EnviroSense: Fact Sheet: Safe Substitutes at Home: Non-toxic Household Products

Healthy Life Kitchen: by Marilu Henner

Please feel free to review us in iTunes and leave your feedback here or through barefootmoms@gmail.com, as well.

Thanks!!

Listen, Enjoy, Learn, Change!

Cleaning your home... naturally. ~Molly~

Tonight, Nadine and I are recording our podcast on natural cleaning alternatives and the dangers of cleaning your home with chemical products.

As I have been researching this topic further, I have come accross some wonderful articles and would like to share them.

Discusses the dangers of chemical cleaners (for humans and the environments): http://www.envirosafehealth.com/biogreen/report_cleaning_prod.html

Mentions symtoms of over-exposure to chemical products: https://shop.sixwise.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=73

Explains how chemicals affect the human body: http://www.mamashealth.com/doc/cleanprod.asp

Report on where cleaners are found in the home, what they are used for, and what dangers each holds: http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/safe-fs.html

Great explanation about lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda as cleaners. Where and how to use them and the benefits of them: http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm

Hope that helps!!

Directly from a diposable diaper package

We had someone comment that they had never seen the "warning" to shake the poo into the toilet. This is a picture I took this morning from a pack of White Cloud


Molly is going to check her packs when she gets home. We just wanted to let you all know we're not crazy...it's there. :)
More important than just following the directions on the package is the safety of our water. If the poopoo dipe gets thrown into let's say a dumpster and the rain washes the poo out and down and into wherever it may go. If the poo is put in the toilet or washed out of a cloth diaper, it is sent to a waste management facility. Sounds better than...wherever all those tons of diapers have gone and are washing out......I'm guilty......I didn't even know about this until recently. Yikes!

Episode # 002 - Cloth Diapers Have Come A Long Way Baby

In this episode we discuss why we love using cloth diapers! They're healthy, cute, and easy on your wallet and the earth. We cover the different diapers you can use, how to "store" and launder them.

Episode #002 Show Notes

We talked a bit about the chemicals used in disposables. In researching, we found some great articles about the goodness of cloth and the chemicals in sposies.

• Diaper Safari: Why Cloth Diapers?
• Ecobaby: Diapers! Disposable or Cotton?
• Mothering: The Joy of Cloth Diapers

Here are a few about wool:

• Diaper Pin: Why Use Wool for Diaper Covers?
• Danish Woolen Delight: The Story Behind Woolen Diaper Covers!

Great sites for cloth diapering basics and laundry care:

• Pinstripes and Polkadots: Diapering Basics
• Sunshine Diapers: Cloth Diaper University

And general good forums to get your questions answered or to look for dipes to try:

• DiaperPin

Here's a picture of Malachi when he was a little guy in one of his Fuzzibunz:

Chatting up about CDing ~Molly~

Well... last night Nadine and I recorded our podcast about CDing. As usual, we couldn't shut up about it. Literally, it comes up as a topic between us more than anything else. Wonder why this is... ??

We discussed the basics: why we do it, how we started, what the different kinds of diapers are, which ones each of us use, how we care for our diapers, what we do at night and what we do during outings.

One thing we forgot to mention that is one of my favorite things about cloth diapering is that the options are endless. There are hundreds of types of diapers out there... and I would almost guarantee you that with a little commitment to trying different things, and asking a lot of questions, you will be able to find something that works for your baby. And when you do--that is a really good feeling. :)

As always, if you have any questions about our podcast or the topic we discussed, feel free to contact us!! There are two of us, so we usually have no problem responding to all of our e-mails or any comments that include a return e-mail.

I hope you all enjoy the show on cloth diapers. We are looking forward to recording our bonus episode for the week on Natural Cleaning Products and the dangers of chemical products in our homes. We are also excited about the WAHM (Work at Home Mom) review show coming up in a couple weeks. We have quite a few moms interested in sharing their products with us so that we can review them for you and get the word out about these hard-working mommas!! Please help us support our WAHMs!

Loved Nadine's idea of posting a pic of her little guy in a cloth dipe. Here are a few pics of my son Asa at home in his cloth.

1.) On the morning of his 1st birthday in a Patchwork Pixie fitted. 2.) Hanging out in a Celtic Cloth pocket. 3.) Playing in a prefold.

And some wool pics. :) Sorry so many... I couldn't help it. It's so cute. :)

1.) The first pair of longies I knit him. 2.) In a Peenut Shell. 3.) A pair of Thumbelina interlock shorts 4.) One of his Luxe soakers 5.) our Royal Bums interlock soaker.

Until next time...
-Molly

In the news...

So, we're going to highlight some of the articles that we find in the news. Please feel free to research and leave feedback. We're all here to learn.

Vaccines:

• MSNBC Article: Parents blaming autism on vaccines go to court
• The Post Chronicle: HPV Vaccine Gardasil Kills 3 Girls: Report Is "Catalog Of Horrors"

Homeschooling:

• Melrose Free Press: Learning at home: Homeschooling another option for parents, children
• HSLDA: Air Force Looking for Homeschool Graduates

Breastfeeding:

• ABC Radio: Ban milk formula ads: breastfeeding advocates

Check back soon! We're working on our favorite links.

Nadine: I stand corrected!

Well, I got a phone call last night, from a disgruntled listener.....my mother. She said, "that's about as natural as we got???!!! I cloth diapered your butt, breastfed you and ground all your babyfood. We killed our own free range chickens and you helped clean them."

So, I stand corrected. We were a little more natural than I thought, but geesh, I was a kid. With the four I have now it's a wonder I remember my name or dh's last four (we're military:)


This week will be a special week for Barefoot Moms!!! We're going to record two episodes. New future episodes will be uploaded on Saturday night or Sunday. So don't forget to start your week with the Barefoot Moms! :)

Episode # 001 - Pilot/Introductions

This episode is our introduction episode. Learn more about Nadine and Molly and the direction the show is going if you have a few minutes.

Nadine: Episode 1

Oh ho ho! Episode one was recorded tonight.

Bear with us as we learn how to podcast and get through introductions. I think you'll find it much more interesting when we actually move on to our topics instead of getting stuck behind an outline about ourselves! lol...

I had really a lot of fun recording this, hope you all enjoy it.

Please send us your WAHM wares...we really want to feature YOU on a future podcast.

I think Molly and I decided that Episode 2 is going to be "Cloth Diapers Have Come a Long Way Baby!"

Stay tuned for more fun with the Barefoot Moms!

Molly's Introduction

Our family on my first non-pregnant Mother's Day

Alrighty... my name is Molly. And I was raised by two Christian, vegetarian, hippies who cloth diapered my brother and I and didn't feed us meat for 13 years. My mom was creative, growing most of our own food, making innovative carne-less meals, and sewing large percentages of our wardrobes, until my little brother and I reached that special age where we didn't want things hand-made by mommy anymore. I am dreading the day my son reaches that age. :(

I am a work-at-someone else's home-barefoot mom. I have been a nanny for four and a half years for two gorgeous little girls that are now 7 & 9. I love them like my own and have, in many ways, grown with them. I was 22 when I started working as their care-taker, and I had not even met my husband.

Now, I continue in this work I love and take my little boy with me. What a blessing!!

I have been been married for two years to my best friend and love of my life... my silly, penny-pinching, handsome Mr. Matthew. Three months after we were married, we conceived our first child and on May 26, 2006 I gave birth to our baby boy Asa Matthew.

He is an active, silly, sweet, sharing, opinionated little boy with a huge obsession with basket ball (yes, already!) and one almost as big for balloons. (Watch out, future clowns of America!!) Every day, I swear I could never love him more, yet every day I do...

He was the reason I went back to my hippie roots. I went back to the roots, but I have to admit: I still really love my Diet Coke and Monolos... and have quite the Gymboree Addiction, too.

He was/is breastfed. He has been cloth diapered almost exclusively since 3 months of age. We only eat organic hormone-free eggs, dairy, and meet. We co-slept for quite awhile, until he didn't want to anymore around 4 months. Asa has also been born in one type of sling or another almost constantly. We have tons of them. ;)

So that's more than a little about my family and myself. Now for a bit about why I want to do this podcast.

Mostly: because I was looking for a podcast about natural parenting. And was stunned to find there wasn't one. When Nadine brought up the idea of doing one ourselves, it seemed right, as we basically do one on the phone to each other every day.

A major personal goal of mine is to give other mommas that feeling of "kinship" while listening. I know that not all areas give great support to families that was to swim away from the "mainstream." I live in one of them. And I think it would be wonderful for other mommas to have a place to come and listen, and know they are not alone. It is so important to think for yourself--and truly do what you believe it best for your family. And it is so wonderful to have support while doing so.

This blog is also also planned to be a place for support. A place to ask questions or share opinions or to inform us--as we are simply mommies trying to do our best, too.

All in all, I hope that this podcast will unite mommies of similar views. And give us a place to feel we are not alone... no matter how crazy our in-laws think we are. :)

Nadine's Intro

Hi! I'm Nadine and I'm a stay at home barefoot mom to Lydia 6, Asher 4, Nineveh 3, and Baby Malachi 18 months. I am married to one of the handsomest sailors in the whole US Navy, James.We most definitely enjoy living in the sunshine state!

I grew up in rural Ohio, living on a farm for a good deal of my childhood. Mom raised us on food from our garden and deer from our woods. We spent long days in the woods and fields playing! That's about as natural as we got though.

I am a doula, I homeschool and I try to keep my house.....as clean and orderly as I can. I need some help in this area.

James and I have been married for 6 and a half years. I had all of my babies in the hospital. All natural, the last two I had pitocin and magnesium sulfate because of preeclampsia, but no pain meds. Malachi was supposed to be a homebirth, but alas....it was better for me to have him in the hospital. I breastfed all of them at least a little bit, the last two were exclusive. I wore Malachi until he grew to gargantuan proportions. We cosleep more than I'd like...sometimes I'd like to snuggle with James instead of four squirmy babes. But I love it and know they'll be grown soon. :( Too fast. I've been cloth diapering since Nineveh, but just recently started using cloth wipes and mama cloth. James has had a hard time transitioning but now he'll talk openly about the benefits of natural birth and breastfeeding to other guys! What a sweetheart! That's just the tip of the iceberg...but it gives you an idea.

Now a little bit about my babies:

Lydia is going into second grade soon. We use the A Beka dvd program. We LOVE it. It's easier than traditional homeschool, for me and Lydia enjoys learning along with all of the other kids in her class. She is very smart and a great helper. She is reading the Magic Tree House books this summer and really has gotten into them. She's probably the biggest natural family living advocate besides me in our home! :)

Asher is my tenderhearted soul. He's sweet as can be and is very easy going. He did a little preschool this year but soon he'll start full time. He does like to play the Wii a little more than mommy likes, but we make a little time for it.

Nineveh is me. She talks and talks and talks and is really a loud person. However, she is quite the sweetheart and charmer. She's got her daddy wrapped around her finger. She was exclusively breastfed and partially cloth diapered. She loves to wear Lydia's clothes and thinks she's about twelve! She enjoys making her brothers and sisters laugh too; she's our little clown.

Malachi is the baby of the family and he knows it. He's spoiled rotten...in a good way. He was also exclusively breastfed and is still cloth diapered. He is hilarious. He thinks that if he can't see you than you can't see him. He loves to play Malachi tag and he's a big fan of balls and balloons. Two recent words to his vocabulary are BIBLE! and apple.

So that's a little bit about me and my family.

I'm really looking forward to this podcast and I'm excited about learning more about you.

Testing Testing One Two THREE

Asa is sleeping in his Baby Beehinds. These are our sleeping diapers. They're freakishly absorbant. Amazing.

His new Royal Rumps soaker came in the mail today. It is beautiful! I hope it fits. Looks like it might be a little small.

That's about the extent of my exciting Natural Parenting day. :)

We did garage sale this morning and we bought a bed rail for Asa as he seems to want to co-sleep more and more now... he used to hate it. Now that I think it's fantastic to have him in his crib and spread out a little myself... he wants to be with us.

Ever notice your kids want exactly what you don't want? lol.

Is this the kind of thing we can write about if we want to? Just our daily lives in natural living?