"She Did It on the First Try..."

The whole world has been clambering to get a glimpse at Kate and Williams baby. Every magazine, newspaper and blog has at least had some mention of the Royal Birth. I try to keep up with the news, and although this 'news' required very little "keeping up with," I was  totally dumbfounded by a report I saw on, yes, that's right, the Jon Stewart Show. It was a hilarious montage of brief clips of different news agencies and how they had been falling all over themselves to be the first to air the news of the Royal Delivery ( not sure why I'm using caps here...guess it's the whole "Royal" thing...gah, I did it again!). The bit was funny...laugh out loud funny. Until one line from a British reporter stopped me DEAD in my tracks and all I could do was stare at the screen. It was something to the effect of:

" So many of the royal ladies have tried and tried, but here Kate is, she did it on the first try with a BOY!"

I could feel it in the pit of my stomach, that "oh my God, she didn't just say that" kind of feeling, that feeling you get right before you know you are about get really bad news. It was like that.  As the jovial anchor lady giggled with glee, my mind reeled with all of the questions that came to me almost instantly.

"Tell me again why boys are better?"
"Kate's a girl, we all seem to appreciate her...right?"
"They have a queen now, things seem to be working out ok"

Quips and silliness aside, I was initially shocked to hear the reporter, then almost immediately sort of like, well DUH, they wanted a boy, then shocked again by my reaction to my initial reaction.

There is a pervasive sense that boys are better, more valuable, and inherently more desirable than girls. And apparently, it's everywhere. As I read through Unnatural Selection  by Mara Hvistendahl, I'm learning that the phenomenon of gender selection practices is NOT found in poor, third world nations, but rather, crops up in developing countries on their way to economic prosperity. Weird. Not that it makes more sense for ANY particular economic demographic to be more inclined to these practices, but it seems particularly strange that as countries approach industrialization ( which typically comes with a supposed equality for women, etc) they  are spiraling into a world where girls are exponentially losing their "value."

That reporter's comment was loaded...LOADED. And I bet it went over the heads of most viewers. Maybe because people are unaware that such a strange practice exists and is taking hold in many countries, maybe because it's a pervasive ideology that folks don't spend much time pondering, maybe because everyone had Royal Baby fever. I don't know. What I do know is that it wigged me out something fierce. A woman talking about another woman, explaining--to the world-- how lucky she was that her offspring wasn't well..a  woman..albeit a little one.

Let's shift the paradigm, here. How can we help the world remember the worth and beauty of women and girls? How can we resurrect the awe and respect for the power of the feminine mystique? What will it take for the world to look at women and girls with honor and dignity? Forgive me while I climb down off my soapbox, but these are questions I need answered.

Eyes Wide Open

Some time ago I came across GIVE HER LIFE, and organization on a mission to educate the world about the  gender selections practices  going on throughout the world. I was excited to help, excited to be a part of something big, to change the world, to leave my mark. I was invited to do research, to share what I'd learned through the gift of gab in the form of a blog...

Well, it's been a while. Hasn't it? Life gets you busy, and with having a new daughter of my own, it's busy and full of constant little adjustments...she changes and grows everyday.

But if I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say it's more than that. It's more than everyday life getting in the way of what I thought would be my grand entrance into the cause to irradiate gender selection practices on a global scale. How heroic of me, right? Not exactly.

Here's what's actually going on: I'm overwhelmed. I. Am. Overwhelmed. By the problem. By the HUGE-ness of it, by the heartbreaking reality of it, by the future that lay ahead for this generation of children. And now, most difficult of all, as a mom, when I gaze into the absolute perfection I find in my daughter's eyes I am spellbound, and then I think 200 million smiles, 200 millions little hearts full of love...missing.

And then I stop.

I stop reading. I stop writing. I stop researching. Because it's hard. I don't want to believe it. I want to shut my eyes, but I can't.

I think whenever we are faced with a problem so big, or a tragedy so intense that we become overwhelmed, it's important for us to remember that "Rome wasn't built in a day." Cliche, yes. But I'm gonna run with it.

I will keep reading. I will keep writing. I will keep researching. I will take breaks to cry, to collect myself, and refuel.I'll take baby step. Small changes can add up to a world of difference. If I write about what I read, then you read what I write, then we both DO something, even something small, maybe our children and our children's children will look back as adults and say, "Remember when the world was a scary place? No...no, I don't remember."

I'm in it to win it, folks. I don't know where this will lead, but I'm going down the rabbit hole. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. Won't you join me?

My All Natural Tub Scrub Can Beat Up Your Synthetic Scrub!!!

As I move along in my journey to a cleaner, healthier, more natural life, I'm finding that it's not as hard as I thought it would be to start transitioning to all natural EVERYTHING. Even though I'm a do-it-all-in-one-shot kind of gal, I have given myself permission to chill the hell out and just take it one step at a time.

Last week our bathroom really started to bug me. It's a small space and we only have one, which means all our toiletries, cleaning supplies, and personal care items make their home there. In piles. Huge, chemically piles. Our tiny medicine cabinet was over-run with old prescriptions my husband never needs now that he's a non-smoker. The door barely shut most days, as the facial creams, eye-shadows, and blackhead remover strips peeked around the corner to remind me just how cluttered our bathroom really was. (By the way...have you ever read the label on those blackhead remover strips? It's pretty much a paraben party. I'd rather be ugly.)

I finally got to a point where I literally thought out loud, " When do we ever use this junk? It's not even GOOD for us!" And that's when everything in the medicine cabinet found a new home: the trash. After that I cleared out the shelf above the toilet and the wicker basket on the floor. Pretty  much everything went. WHEW...ok.

Now what?

I'd not only thrown away all our chemical-laden personal care products, but virtually all of the bathroom cleaning products as well. As I surveyed the landscape of my freshly de-cluttered bathroom one thing became painfully clear: this place was funky. Annnnd now I have nothing to clean it with.

Google search. (Can I just say that mom blogs are the bomb? I have discovered more useful parenting tips, home remedies and all natural personal care and cleaning recipes from these sites than any other place on the web. Women are awesome. We're runnin' this.)

I came across keeperofthehome.org ,which led me to liverenewed.com ,which introduced me to the a Tub Scrub recipe that I tweaked a bit and then put to the test....hardcore. As I said, the bathroom was a raunchy mess (see the picture below for proof), but this super simple to make, incredibly easy to use scrub knocked the job out in less than 10 minutes.

Check it out:

Tub Scrub Recipe
3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup castile soap ( I used Dr. Bronner's liquid peppermint soap)
1tbsp water ( I just used good ol' tap water)
10 drops of Tea Tree Oil (Verefina of course)

Put the baking soda, castile soap, and water in a bowl and mix well with a fork. Add the tea tree oil in one drop at a time while folding the mixture with said fork. Place in airtight container. Use within a few days because it sounds like the mixture can dry out quickly.

I used the entire batch on my gnarly bath tub/shower, it seemed like just enough to me. Take a looksy at the fabulous results!

Sadly, the "before" doesn't give you the full impact of how bad the tub had gotten... It's really quite sad, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am SOLD on this scrub. It was easy to  make and use, super effective and so safe and natural I was scooping it out of the container with my bare hands. It  left the bathroom smelling fantabulous and I was pretty dern proud of myself for takin' care of business with a totally natural, 100% safe scrub.

Try it. You won't regret it! It's easy, super cheap to make and ( especially if you've got kids) will put your mind at ease knowing that it's all natural.

You can grab the Dr. Bronners and the baking soda from a place like Trader Joes, but be sure to get your essential oils from a high quality, reputable source ( like Verefina) to ensure that you are getting true, 100% pure essential Tea Tree Oil. Go ahead and click on the link above to order your essential oils online. And, if you haven't already, read my blog on Tea  Tree Oil and take note of the tips for purchasing high quality oils.

Try it and let me know how you like it in the comment section below!

There will be plenty more experimenting like this as the summer unfolds, so be sure to follow me on Blogger so we can test out these crunchy mom recipes together!

Until next time :)

Tea Tree Oil: Your New BFF

Most of us who have ever set foot inside a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's have, at least, heard of tea tree oil.  It's in TJ's all natural shampoo and I can't imagine that Whole Foods doesn't just sell the straight essential oil.

With homeopathic medicines and do-it-yourself remedies gaining popularity ( and for good reason if you ask me), this once unknown wonder oil is quickly becoming a household name.

Because of its incredible anti-fungal, antibacterial and even antiviral properties, tea tree oil has a plethora of uses. It has proven effective on everything from acne, to controlling mold, athlete's foot and head lice. You can even use it as an all purpose cleaner. It's really quite amazing. And the best part is, a little goes a long way: one or two drops on a cotton ball for acne, one drop and one tea spoon of olive oil for earaches, 15 drops in a quart of water for bug repellent...you get the idea!

The reason essential oils are so powerful is due to the way they are processed. Tea tree oil, for example, packs it's hard-core punch thanks to a process called steam distillation, which enables the super powers of the Melaleuca alternifolia plant to come shining through. A tiny bottle of the stuff can last for ages, because essential oils are the "Mighty Mouse" of the natural remedies world.

If you are interested in "getting into" essential oils there are a few things to consider before diving head first into a tiny bottle of nature's finest.

1) Be on the look out for essential oils in DARK BOTTLES. They are your friends. Oils in lightly tinted, or clear bottles tend not to be pure essential oils. The pure stuff does best in a cozy, dark bottle, no light peeking in. This helps maintain the quality of the oil and keeps its potency longer.

2) Avoid purchasing oils that market themselves as "fragrance" or "perfume" oils...not the same as ESSENTIAL OILS. You want the pure natural stuff that doesn't have any chemical additives (which is what you'll get with a "fragrance oil").

3) Do your research: read up on how to use an essential oil ( tea tree or otherwise) and learn if they require  dilution in carrier oils ( such as fractionated coconut oil ) for use. Check out The Directory of Essential Oils by Wanda Seller.

There's a lot more to learn, not only about tea tree oil, but  about essential oils in general and I have only scratched the surface of the top layer of the surface, but I think it's important for each of us to know what healing remedies are available to use courtesy of Mother Nature.

As I learn more I will share it with you, of course, but in the meantime, do your research and I'll continue to do mine.

I am happy to be in a position to be using a few essential oils in our home now for cleaning as well as skincare. I recommend Verefina's line of essential oils available at my website below. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at back2naturekate@gmail.com.

Until next time, my dears!


Get your essential oils here: katew.verefina.net

So Much for Sadie Hawkins...

I remember being in grade school and learning what a "Sadie Hawkins Dance" was: ladies' choice. Girls picked the guys. I thought this was a totally rad concept ( mostly because I had more than a few bad haircuts in grade school) and couldn't wait for the chance to be the asker rather than waiting to be the ask-ee. The trouble with most of my years as a grade school student, waiting for my moment in the sun at the Sadie Hawkins dance, was the fact that in a class of 13, there were only 5 boys. And two of them were named David. Slim pickin's. We never did have a Sadie Hawkins dance but if we had, many of us gals would have gone dateless. So much for Sadie Hawkins.

It was just by unfortunate chance that my class was tipping the scales when it came to girl power, but the imbalance was obvious to all of us. I doubt if any of us put much thought into it, we just went about our school day, the 13 of us for almost our entire grammer school experience without really questioning it.

Well, in other parts of the world, nearly 20 years later people are starting to notice that the scales are tipping in the opposite direction . In schools in countries like China, India and others, a Sadie Hawkins dance is out of the question; a pipe dream. But this time the reason isn't too few boys, it's too few girls. WAY too few.

There's this thing called the sex ratio. It's important. Super important. The sex ratio is number of males to females in a population ( thank you Wikipedia ). A good, healthy sex ratio for us humans is 105:100, that's 105 boys for every 100 girls. A ratio Sadie Hawkins would be happy to support.

Unfortunately, what we are seeing --on a global scale-- is a shift away from nature's preferred ratio to something a little less...balanced. Many countries are experiencing a major tip of the scales when it comes to sex ratio, this is almost exclusively the result of gender selection practices that tend to crop up when countries begin to experience economic prosperity.

According to Mara Hvistendahl, author of  Unnatural Selection (stop what you are doing and get your copy now...I'll wait), in 2011 India's ratio was 112:100 while China was a whopping 121:100. That's a huge discrepency. SO big, as a matter of fact, that the ENTIRE WORLD is now experiencing a tipping of the sex ratio scales. This is officially everyone's problem. Hvistendahl notes that China and India account for 1/3 of the entire global population, and with all the missing girls, have shifted the ratio from "105 to a biologically impossible 107." She calls the growing gap between the number of males and females "unrivaled in human history."

The problem isn't just in India and China, its spreading to other countries as well...

Why does this matter? Because too few females leads to problems like bride-buying, sex trafficking and other grave human injustices.

I'm still reading Hvistendahl's book. I'm going down the rabbit hole, uncovering the sad truth about a huge global problem that will effect the world's children...my children. I've said it before, as I learn more I will share it with you. In the mean time visit www.giveherlife.org to learn more about the problem, and to find out how to become part of the solution.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is not Your Friend

A quick note to my dear readers. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is NOT your friend.

Never heard of it? You are better acquainted than you realize. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is found in almost all personal care products that foam. Think SHAMPOO!!  FOAMING HANDSOAP! TOOTHPASTE!! Etc.

The foam that makes me feel like my shampoo is working or that I'm doing a particularly good job brushing my teeth has a major dark side. The foam in my personal care product is almost always produced with the help of the chemical criminal called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, a compond that has links from everything from skin irritation to cancer. Ummm...yikes.

I am speculating here, but if I am washing my hair several times a week, brushing my teeth several times a day and washing my hands sometimes multiple times an hour (I have an infant at home), how much exposure do I have to something that dangerous? A LOT. Of course I'm not saying that this creepy toxin in my personal care items is going to make me sick over night, but the thought of letting 10, 20 or more years pass using the same shampoo or toothpaste suddenly doesn't seem like a good idea.

So what's a mama to do?

Research. Find alternatives. Share the good news.

We make the market. If we don't buy it, they won't sell it.

Read your labels. And put the crap back on the shelf. Our husbands and our kids deserve better.

WE deserve better.

It irritates me beyond all telling that we are constantly being sold products that do more harm than good, that are loaded with chemicals that harm rather than heal. We are literally paying for poison.

If we spend our money on products and foods that are pure, whole and REAL we can literally change the market for the better.

Here is a link to an interesting article about SLS. I like it because it is honest, not sensationalized or too far "off the deep end." Read it, share it, comment below.

Dr. Mercola & SLS 

Get natural personal care products with NO SLS here: katew.verefina.net

It's worth it. You deserve it.

My Revolution: How the Loss of My Father Changed My Life Forever

In October of 2011 I said goodbye to my father. I remember the night before he died my sister and her infant son arrived from the West Coast. Everyone was at the house to greet them and my father, who had been too weak to speak for at a least month, mutter the words, "YEAH BOY!" when his beloved grandson came into view. That night he was desperately trying to speak to us all; he was down-right chatty. It was devastating though, because he couldn't speak clearly enough or strong enough to be understood.The next morning he was gone.

Cancer is terrible and it took from me the greatest hero I have ever know. I worshiped the ground the Ol' Boy walked on. My father's death rocked me to the core, and as a result I began to take a hard look at how I live, eat, and take care of my body.

In the time since his death I have been on a journey that has proven both challenging, and revolutionary. Revolutionary in the sense that I have had to make hard choices that have radically changed my life and the lives of those closest to me. Namely my husband and daughter. We are working to eat cleaner, spend more time together, spend more time outdoors, slow the pace of our lives down and make changes in everything from the deodorant we wear to what we scrub the toilet with.

I'm discovering that we are surrounded by toxins: chemicals in our food, our clothes, our furniture, our personal care products. No one knows for sure what causes cancer or why certain people struck with it, but the more I learn the more I can't help but think that all these chemicals are not helping in the fight against cancer and other diseases that plague the priceless treasures we call loved ones.

Part of my  personal life revolution included "going natural" when it came to the birth of my daughter. She was born in a birth center, and brought into the world without the assistance of any narcotics or anesthetics. It was beautiful and spiritual and natural. Not just natural, as in "drug free," but natural as in it came naturally. Birthing came naturally. It was after that experience that I was even more certain that I wanted to stay home with her; be with her as much as possible.

As my personal revolution marched on, and I was now a "stay at home mom," I came across a company called Verefina. These fine folks offer ALL NATURAL personal care products that contain NONE of the harsh chemicals and toxins that we find in most all of the items that  line the shelves of our favorite grocery stores. Founded by a young mom on her own revolutionary journey, Verefina was birthed out of Jennifer Lugo's desire to create safe, non-toxic soaps and lotions for her little ones. The company now offers everything from soaps to first aid ointments to essential oils.

Let me tell you something, the stuff is great. I've switched out so many of our "usuals" for Verefina's products I'm pretty sure I've lost track. It feels good. It feels good to make my home a haven, to offer my husband and daughter something pure. It feels good to know that even though I lost my dad, I can help the people who I still have to lead healthier, happier lives.

I'm going all out. I'm going big. As I learn more about natural remedies, essential oils and replacements for toxic household items I will share it with you. In the meantime, I've gotten on board with Verefina as a consultant. If you are interested in making changes for a healthier home, take a look at my webpage below and choose one item to try. You won't regret it.

I have to believe that if my dad was still here he would be proud of the choices I am making for my family. I know that if he could have, he would have made different choices too. I miss him...everyday. It's brutal.  I guess, in a way, I am fueled by the loss, fueled by a desire to make the lives of my family better. To keep them healthy. To give them the best.

To anyone out there who has been thinking about changing your lifestyle and making a move toward more natural and organic living: DO IT. There is no day but today and no time like the present.  

You deserve it.


Visit me at katew.verefina.net or email me at back2naturekate@gmail.com