Free Mozart Music Downloads for Babies and Toddlers

Image by SantaRosa OLD SKOOL

The good people over at Munchkin.com have generously put together free Mozart Musical Soup downloads for all of us.

You can either download the entire albums (Wombsong Collection and Mozart for Toddlers) or you can choose individual songs.  They also have the songs broken out by: Wake Up, Play Time and Sleepy Time.

No sign up is required, simply visit the Munchkin website and click on the links to download!

Choose the Safest Personal Care Products for your Children

Image from Flickr by kali

It is such an uphill battle to keep up with the safest products to buy for your children.  I am always amazed with how deceiving some of the marketing language can be.  I love it when the packaging says “All Natural” only to find that the product contains some of the worst chemicals around.

That’s why I was thrilled to find that the Cosmetic Database had published “The Parent’s Buying Guide: Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products”.

It outlines which ingredients to always avoid and which you should avoid when possible.   The guide also gives some specific product suggestions by brand.

Check it out!

Pesticides Linked to ADHD

Image by santiago nicolau

As a mom, I have been encountering more and more parents whose children have recently been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder).   Parents are feeling pretty helpless when they receive the diagnosis and often wonder, “Why my kid?”

Interestingly, a new study was just published in the Pediatrics Journal that links pesticides to ADHD in children ages 8-15.  The study tested urine samples of 1139 children and found children with “higher than the median of detectable concentrations had twice the odds of ADHD.”

We are finding more reasons to avoid pesticides and we recently published a list of the foods with the most pesticides (foods to always buy organic) and the foods with the lowest level of pesticides.

Find more information on the study in the Pediatrics Journal website and seriously consider avoiding pesticides in your household!

Mommy Meditations – Meditate Postpartum

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of Mommy Meditations: Life After Birth, a CD developed for new moms that encourages them to meditate and refocus on their own well-being.

The creator of Mommy Meditations is Dr. Kerri Parks, an ObGyn and a mother to four children.  Dr. Parks had battled postpartum after losing her husband in a car accident just days before having her 4th child.  With a combination of medical help and meditative practices, she was able to overcome her depression and is now trying to help other women with Mommy Meditations.

Personally, I think this is a fabulous idea.  It is so hard for new moms to recenter themselves after birth.  Life simply does not stop.  Setting aside the time to listen to something like this CD is probably one of the best things I could have done to help in my own recovery.  So many moms don’t allow themselves the time to relax, even when baby is finally napping.  There is just always something to do!

I plan on buying this for my next pregnancy in an effort to get myself to slow down and have some moments of clarity!  Wouldn’t that be nice?

You can check it out on the Mommy Meditations website and read more about Dr. Parks’ story.

Thanks Lindsay!

Mother’s Day Giveaway – Win an ECOSYSTEM Set!

Aren’t they just pretty?

Lately, when I have been asked by my husband what I want for Mother’s Day, I have been thinking the same thing over and over: I need to be more organized.

No more taking notes on the nearest scrap of paper while my son is yanking on my pant leg.  Only to lose those vital scraps of paper in 2 minutes flat.  No more jotting down important appointments on the backs of receipts, only to get quickly swept into the trash.  One word: Please.

That is why I was pretty psyched about my new little set of ecosystem books.  They come in 4 types – Artist (blank), Author (lined), Architect (grid), and Advisor (calendar).   You can also choose the color and size.  They current colors they offer are Kiwi, Clementine, Lagoon, Watermelon, and Onyx.  Soon to be added: Grape.  In addition, all ecosystem books are made from 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper using low-impact processes that are environmentally savvy and responsible

But here is what really sold me – each notebook has a unique ID, which you enter on the ecosystem website when you receive your book.  If, per chance, like any mom out there, you get forgetful and lose your book, the finder can go to the website and enter in the code.  A lost and found system!  If only every stuffed animal had that feature!

And here is the fun news – for Mother’s Day, ecosystem is going to give one very lucky reader a set of books!  The set includes the large watermelon 12-month weekly planner, a medium clementine author (lined) and a small kiwi artist (blank).

Here’s how to enter: Just leave a comment below by midnight, May 13th.  If you would like extra entries, each of the following will count as one entry: Like us on Facebook, subscribe to our emails, or tweet this giveaway!

In the meantime, check out the other ecosystem notebooks and like their awesome Facebook page. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Go All-Natural With Your Toothpaste (Giveaway)

After tackling your deodorant and your nail polishes, we are moving on to your toothpaste.  That’s right, I know you love me.

We are right in the middle of the great toothpaste debate in our household.  The question?  Whether or not to use toothpaste while brushing our 2 year old’s teeth.  There is a lot of conflicting research out there on toothpaste for children.  Not only does traditional toothpaste contain a ton of chemicals I usually stay far away from, but they also have some potentially poisonous ingredients.

Enter Dr. Sharp’s fluoride free toothpaste: the only eco-friendly toothpaste developed by a dentist.  Why fluoride free you ask? Well, to put it lightly, this toothpaste does not require an FDA warning label since fluoride has some potential health risks for you and me.  And, they make a fantastic strawberry cream flavored kid’s toothpaste that my son loves!  We can now brush his teeth and not worry about the toothpaste!

Now, your and my dentist may have an issue with fluoride free, so I asked Dr. Sharp for his thoughts on the issue and he pointed out that there is already fluoride in the water and the ingestion of it from the water is already assisting in preventing the tooth decay and therefore do not need the excess in the toothpaste.  Works for me!

Not only do I totally dig the packaging, but this stuff is great.  It is naturally sweetened with stevia, vegan, has sustainable packaging that is printed with soy ink, contains certified organic botanicals, and the adult versions (green tea and fresh mint) even whiten teeth.

Now for the great news!  Dr. Sharp is giving one of you a full family set of the toothpaste (an almost $50 value)!

The set contains:

1 Fresh Mint Whitening Toothpaste

1 Green Tea Whitening Toothpaste

1 Strawberry Cream Kids Toothpaste

1 Fresh Mint Mouthwash

Just leave a comment before midnight, May 6th, to be entered!

Check out the rest of Dr. Sharp’s amazing line of green dental products here.  And, for the Month of May, to celebrate Mother’s Day, they will be running a special on one fresh mint mouthwash and one fresh mint toothpaste for $20.00!

TravelKiddy BusyKiddy Giveaway!

I have talked about how much I love TravelKiddy before.  They have tons of  great products to keep your darling children occupied during road trips, airplane rides and even in restaurants.

Check out BusyKiddy:

The BusyKiddy contains an assortment of small toys and activities to keep kids busy, plus wipes, tissues, and bandages all packaged in a lunch bag with a mesh side pocket for storing a bottle of water or sippy cup.

A view of the super-cool lunch bag:

This bag is truly perfect to have on stand-by in the car for those times when you need fun activities to keep your kids busy and happy!  Great for the impromptu coffee meeting, dinner out, etc.  I have needed this on multiple occasions – giving my son candy to keep him busy tends to backfire!

The BusyKiddy includes:

• Lime green insulated lunch bag
• 3 hand wipes
• Bandages
• Tissues
• Jumbo activity pad
• Wikki Stix
• Eversharp pencil
• 16 count Crayola crayons in a durable container
• 6 sheets of stickers
• 4 sheets of create a scene stickers
• 2 small animals
• Die cast stock car
• Stuffed animal – reptile

And you good news: you can WIN one! Just leave a comment below before midnight on Monday, May 3rd.

Want extra entries?

• Fan us on Facebook and let us know here
• Subscribe to this blog

Of course, if you already are a fan or subscriber, let us know!

Check out the other amazing TravelKiddy products here.

Planet Pals – Great Resource for Learning About Earth Day

I’ve been searching around the web for free websites that offer activities and games for kids to learn about Earth Day.  And, I’ve found it: PlanetPals.com.  While they do sell some things, this site is loaded with free downloads, education, games and activities – all to help kids (and parents!) learn more about being earth friendly.

I’m in love with the craft section.  They have an entire craft areas dedicated to Recycle crafts and Recycle gardening crafts.  There are so many great ideas in there and what kid doesn’t love creating something?

There is also an area dedicated to learning common eco-phrases, learning eco-signs and symbols, and even a Pig Latin converter!

Enjoy!

Go Local! Buy Your Food Locally.

Image by NatalieMaynor

As we draw nearer to summer and farmer’s markets begin to open everywhere, we should all try to buy more food that is grown locally.  There are so many great reasons to go local:

1. The food tastes better
2. It helps preserve genetic diversity
3. The food is better for you – when food is fresher, it is more nutrient
4. Local supports and builds community
5. It is clearly better for the environment – less transportation + less packaging = less impact

Not only is it healthier and better for the environment, but after speaking with a childhood dietitian, I learned that many children will eat a wider variety of foods if they see where it comes from.  Whether it be the back yard or from a local farmer.  You can actually get out a map and point to the location of the farm.  How fun is that?

Wondering how to find local co-ops, farmer’s markets and more?  Check out this amazing free resource to help you go local: http://www.localharvest.org/

Celebrate Green! Great Book for the Eco-Conscious

I’ve been here many a time, I am throwing a holiday get together and in the middle of the party, I glance around and realize how much waste is happening. And then I heard about Celebrate Green!, a fabulous book that is full of resources for easy, quick, affordable ways to turn every celebration from birthday parties to Christmas, into a more meaningful, eco-event.

This book has it all: tips, strategies, activities, gift ideas, and recipes that are eco-friendly. Most importantly, once you incorporate some (or all!) of these fantastic ideas, you bet your children will catch on. This is a way of life, and as you make some small steps, others will fall into place easily.

Celebrate Green! is packed with useful information. It also includes a “The Greensmart Glossary”, which explains some of the new eco-terms we all struggle to understand, and an extensive list of resources, including websites for hundreds of green businesses.

Great news for you! If you want your own copy of Celebrate Green!, The Mother List readers get 40% off! Just visit Celebrate Green! and use promo code: MotherList1

Trust me, this is a wonderful book!