Kid Clothes Hand-Me-Downs

I feel like buying new baby clothes is the biggest racket out there. Like everyone else, preparing for a new baby means preparing your home with supplies, supplies, supplies. I have a baby girl due in just under 5 weeks. With that comes the need to clothe said child appropriately across all 4 seasons, for a body that grows like no other time in it’s life (outside the womb, that is). That calls for a lot of different sized clothes, in different weights and combinations. It is a daunting thing to try to amass such a wardrobe with little cash, and with an eye on the environment. Sure, there is an abundance of “organic” clothing on the market these days, but, as you may have seen, a lot of it is very expensive. Sure, I can purchase organic cotton onesies for twice the price, but I am not quite convinced that this is the most earth-friendly way to spend my money. I’d rather invest that extra dough in green detergents to wash those clothes.

So in the spirit of my cheap-and-green-ness, and at the heart of this blog, I am sticking with one of the 3 R’s for baby clothes as much as possible: REUSE. Now I will admit, shopping for new baby clothes online and with my mother was SUPER fun and I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the frilly beautiful things we were able to score, but for the bulk of her clothing, we are relying on hand-me-downs. This all started with my first child; a couple dear friends gave us TRASH BAGS FULL of their children’s lightly used clothing. One loaned it all to us, another few people outright gave it to us. There were some new clothes that never even got used through his infancy (did I mention how FAST babies grow??), so I was able to return them for other much needed supplies. As he grew out of things, I was able to wash and label and store everything, and that whole wardrobe is being cycled through by another friend, to whom I was able to pass along just about the whole kit and caboodle. Now, with this baby, I still have my son’s old clothes coming back from that loan as a base to start, and in no way am I above dressing my little gal in blue. Great! Combine that with even MORE generous friends who were willing to part with their super cute pink clothes, and now we’re talking.

Sure, this is a “cheap” way to go about clothing a new baby, but it is also incredibly good for the earth. Anyone with kids knows that sometimes new baby clothes are puked or pooped on beyond recognition, and therefore rendered useless for another generation, but for the most part, when cared for, baby clothes get worn just a few times and then are too small. This makes for plenty of opportunity for clothes to be loved and cherished all over again. If you can get your mind past using “used” baby clothes, do it! This is one of the single best traditions we are carrying on with this babe. And when she grows out of it all, it will be passed on yet again.

Now, I realized I focused on talking only about clothing loans in this post, but certainly there are a number of children’s trift stores that sell beautiful used clothes for a fraction of the new price. I’ve heard great things about Children’s Orchard, but have yet to visit them myself. Anyone have leads on some great places to shop for used kids clothes? Please leave a comment and let us know about it!

Beauty Mama’s morning skin tips

So you wish you got more sleep. Or you skipped that glass of wine. Either way, it’s a new day and you’ve got the puffy skin. Especially under your eyes. Not to worry. I’ve got a few skin care tips that will de-puff, awaken your skin and start the day with a glow. First thing is to take a wash cloth soaked in warm water and gently circle it around the skin. This exfoliates dead skin. Next run your sink water until it is ice cold. Splash your face ten times with this cold water. Towel dry. Drink a glass of room temperature water with lemon and cucumber. In less than thirty minutes your skin will look great. For stubborn under eye circles try Bag Lady, de-puffing eye gel-it comes with a freeze and roll pen to massage away unwanted bags.

Mothers Supporting Mothers

Hi!  Jeanette here…welcome to the mocoMAMA blog!   I’m a birth junkie.  Have you heard that expression before?  Although I love chocolate like the next mother, I’m not a junk food junkie, I’m a birth junkie.  I’m fascinated by birth (and breastfeeding, too).   So, I became a childbirth educator, birth doula and breastfeeding counselor, and co-founded Mothers & Company (a.k.a. “MoCo”), a cool place in Boylston for moms and dads to come for support, information and great stuff more on that later).  I have two daughters (Sophie, 8 and Miriam, 5) whose births transformed me, each in their own way.  I’m also married to the love of my life, Dave, who keeps me grounded and giggling.  And when I’m not with my kids, my husband, at MoCo or at a birth, you can usually find me rockin’ at Duran Duran concert (yes, even recently).

Speaking of rockin’, you know that having a baby rocks your world, but what I love is when we, as women, take our confidence and power and use it (or gain it) through our births.  That doesn’t always mean having a “natural childbirth”, but it does mean getting lots of information from varied sources and choosing what is right for us and our babies and making our wishes and demands known.  As the proverbial “they” say, we’re going to be advocating for our children for the rest of their lives (ok, maybe 20 years?), so we should start in pregnancy!  Your baby’s birth-day will be one of the most important days in your life–make it a good one.  Not just because it’s the day of your baby’s birth, but because you ENJOYed it!  Is that even possible, you might ask?  YES!

Whether you choose to birth in a hospital (like most do), a birth center or at home (yes, it’s a safe option for low-risk women), my wish for you is that you be supported by caregivers who know what is important to you and that you have an environment in which you feel safe, comfortable and joyful.

And in case you’re wondering what mocoMAMA means…  “MoCo” is short for Mothers & Company.  I’m the Executive Momma of MoCo, which provides classes and essentials for maternity and parenting in Central Massachusetts.  We’re located in Boylston…a cozy studio on the second floor of Cyprian Keyes Golf Club.  Come and shop, we have the largest selection of nursing bras, largest selection of cloth diapers and largest selection of slings/wraps/baby carriers you’ve probably ever seen in one place!  Plus, we have lots of other great stuff for moms and babies and our stock is always growing.  Or, come for Mom & Baby Yoga (a workout for mom), Sitters & Scootchers Playgroup, New Moms Group (free!), Breastfeeding Support Group (free!), Baby Signing class, in-depth and fun Natural Childbirth classes, Cloth Diaper Workshops and more!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you on this blog, and I hope I can share with you some of the rich wisdom that I have learned from many other women about pregnancy, birth and mothering!

Fitness and Motherhood…the Balancing Act

My name is Jen. This is my first post on my new fitnessMAMA blog! I’m very excited to share my insight and with you all. I am Stroller Strides franchise owner and instructor and a Nationally Certified Personal Trainer. I am a mom of 3 great kids, Hayden 7, Justin 5, and Isabella 3. I am married to a fabulous husband is almost to good to be true (he does laundry, dishes, and most of the housework… but my terrible housekeeping is another story!).

It sounds like I have the perfect life, right? Here’s the thing…there is no such thing! I am not perfect, my husband is not perfect and my kids are not (and never will be) perfect. Although I am a personal trainer and a fitness instructor, I am not a size 2 and I am not in perfect shape (although I am in pretty darn good shape). I do not always make the best food choices, or life choices for that matter. But here is the thing, I try to make the best choices I can, when I can. I try to take every day one day at a time, and hope for the best.

So here is what I believe about fitness. You should/can still be fit when you have kids, in fact you almost have to be. Think about words that would describe a mother, “flexible (breastfeeding while typing and talking on the phone), strong (able to lift to kids up a flight of stairs), quick (sprinting to catch your 2 year old before they run into a parking lot), you must have endurance (hello… labor and delivery), and patient (waiting for your child to go to sleep). All of these same words could also be used to describe the world’s best athletes. Stroller Strides has a great tagline “I am a mother, therefore I am an athlete.” I believe this to be true.

I look forward to posting in the future and hearing more about what struggles you face when it comes to motherhood and fitness! I hope that I can give you insight to how I (and others that I work with) find that balance between motherhood and fitness.

WELCOME from the cheapandgreenMAMA

I just wanted to introduce myself as the cheapandgreenMAMA. Mostly because I wanted to make sure you had the right expectations of what I’ll be blogging about.

Anyone see that episode of the Simpsons where Lisa fell head-over-heels in love with the environmentalist? She and this newfound love were comparing notes as far as what they believed in. Lisa proudly proclaimed that she was a vegetarian, and the guy simply waved it off like it was nothing. He said “I’ve a Level 5 Vegan. I don’t eat anything that casts a shadow.”

Yeah… I’m not that kind of person. I see myself as an environmentalist-in-the-works. I still eat meat, use disposable diapers, and drive my car everywhere. However, I truly do CARE about our world, and my impact on it. It has taken a while to develop these habits; it will take a while to break them.

The reason for this is fairly simple. When I gave birth to my son almost 2 ½ years ago, I really didn’t know how to be a parent, and put my heart and soul into that and that alone. If anything remotely political, controversial, or debate-worthy came up in conversation or on the news, I would tune out immediately. It was (and still is) hard for me to hear all the bad things that happen daily. It is scary and overwhelming. I want to change everything, but feel powerless to do anything. The paralyzing fear that took over my life and mind for the first year and a half of my son’s life was what directed me to act as I did. I ignored the earth and my impact in it, even though before children, I would have listed the environment as one of my primary concerns.

Finally… enough. By doing nothing, I was actually acting against those things that in which I believed very strongly. Dumb! Just like going on a diet, or making New Years Resolutions, I also think that small and slow changes are the ones that most people will stick with over the long term. Proclaiming, “That’s IT! From this day on, I will no longer allow plastics in my family’s life,” is a sainthood-worthy goal, but not one that very many people can strictly adhere to. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that even small amounts of “good,” when added up over time and across many individuals doing a little, can create significant change. I hope that the tid-bits of information that I have picked up along the way in trying to change my life will be able to help you in your life, too.

However, I am cheap. REALLY cheap. I hate to spend money and when I do I have massive regret. What is a young mom to do? I have a VERY limited budget, but “green” things tend to cost a lot of money. From going all-organic in our food, to transferring our electrical output to alternative sources of energy, “green” things have the potential to cost me, and if I can’t afford it, it isn’t going to happen.

Sigh.

So, I began blogging on the topic of being Cheap & Green with the effort to track my progress in greening-up my life and the life of my family, and assessing the very real costs to do so. I BELIEVE that it is doable, but there are going to have to be some big changes at home. What I love about blogs is that people can respond to what you say; you can share ideas back and forth about what works and what doesn’t. So, there it is readers! As this blog continues I hope that you will keep up with ALL the posts, but also leave comments for us bloggers so that we can learn from one another. I look forward to “meeting” you.

 

BeautyMama’s New Years Tip

Want to quickly flush away some excess bloat from holiday leftovers? Follow my home spa remedies.

1) Breakfast: Start your mornimg with a warm water flush. To one cup of hot water add a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a half tsp of honey or black strap molasses. Drink before breakfast. Cut back on coffee-if you have a cup then take a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and add to a glass of warm water.  Helps add alkaline to the body to combad the acidity from coffee. Next, drink a fruit and veggie juice for breakfast. My favorite-one small apple, a slice of ginger (or use tsp. of ginger powder) one carrot, two stalks of celery, a few generous slices of cucumber, and a slice of beet.  Blend through a juicer or a blender.

Starting the day right leads to ending the day on a good note. Continue choosing healthy food throughout the day-lots of lean proteins, colorful vegetables and fruits.

2) Invigorating Shower: Contrast therapy awakens the body. The use of hot and cold temperatures has been used for centuries and is a well known therapy in spas. You can do this at home by taking a hot shower and following with a cool rinse. Then dry off and use your towel to exfoliate your body and awaken your circulatory system. Take opposite ends of the towel with both hands and put towel on your back and briskly move it side to side to massage skin. Continue on the rest of the body.

These simple tips will help the lymphatic system to work better and the extra water retention will quickly be flushed away.

Welcome to metroMAMAs know!

Welcome to metroMAMA’s new blog “metroMAMAs know”. We have taken some local experts in different fields that moms are interested in and put them in one blog because we know you are busy moms.  They will post about topics from pregnancy and breastfeeding to how to look and feel your best. Please be sure to stop by often and add in your two sense!

Welcome

This is our first post!