I try to give myself a break on Saturdays and instead of coding web pages or marketing or writing new articles or book chapters, just explore what others are writing and doing out there on the Internet. Here are five sites that I found today that were new to me and that I thoroughly enjoyed. Hope you like them too:
Comment to Win – Sinupret for Kids Giveaway!
Just comment on any Organically Inclined article – or any article over at Large Families Today – and you’ll be entered to win:
- A sample of Sinupret for Kids
- A copy of Dr. Bob Sears book, “The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood”
- A Sinupret activity book, stickers and bear
- Cute little kids’ binoculars
Sinupret for Kids is a plant-based, natural cold remedy that works by supporting the immune, sinus and respiratory functions of the body – rather than just treating symptoms. It helps children by getting them healthier – rather than just treating the symptoms of the cold.
Sinupret has been the subject of a number of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. In one of the largest clinical trials in children testing sinus remedies, Sinupret was evaluated retrospectively in more than 3,000 children by approximately 1,000 physicians. 88% of the physicians found Sinupret effective. A majority of the children who used Sinupret experienced healthy sinus functions.
For more on how to keep kids healthy naturally, read this article by Dr. Bob Sears.
FYI: I (Michelle Kennedy Hogan) don’t often accept review work for OI because I like to keep the information from the site as objective as possible, so I will let you know that I was given a copy of Bob Sears book and a sample of Sinupret for Kids for my family. I am a big fan of the Sears family and their positions on natural living and attachment parenting – otherwise I would not advocate them on Organically Inclined or Large Families Today (they also have a large family, by the way!). I really like the book offered here and I thought some OI readers might enjoy it and the sample too – so I hope you’ll participate!
Thanks!
How to Keep Your Kids Healthy…Naturally!
A quick note from Michelle: I have always appreciated the advice of the Sears family as they are wonderful advocates of attachment parenting. I don’t do a lot of reviews and freebies here at OI because I like to keep the information as “pure” as possible, however because I like the Sears family so much I accepted a sample of Sinupret as well as a copy of “The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood” by William, Martha, James and Robert Sears to read and offer as a prize here on Organically Inclined. It’s a great book – and I hope you’ll appreciate the information about cold remedies offered in the following article.
I also hope you’ll enter for a chance to win the Sinupret giveaway pack by sending me an email with your name and address!
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Winter season is here and once again my office is filled with coughs and runny noses. As a pediatrician I expect to be busier than ever for the next few months. And while having a busy office can be a good thing for any self-employed physician, to be honest, this isn’t the kind of extra business I like to see. Parents bring in their sick kids, hoping that nothing is seriously wrong, yet wanting me to at least offer some type of relief. I don’t know who I feel sorrier for – the child who has to suffer through the symptoms or the parent who has to stay awake all night listening to those symptoms night after night. Well, at least parents can give their child a nice dose of nighttime cold and cough medicine so that the parents can get a good night’s sleep . . . oh, and also so the child can feel better, right? Wrong.
Last year the FDA decided that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should no longer be used for infants and toddlers under 2 years of age because of possible severe side effects and a lack of evidence that they actually work. Just this week, in response to the FDA’s ongoing investigation which has found little evidence that these drugs work, manufacturers have voluntarily decided to change their labeling and advice for children, and state that the drugs should not be given to children under 4.
How to Make Your Own Laundry Soap
I recently got an excellent deal on a brand new HE (high efficiency), front-loader washing machine. It’s awesome. It spins the clothes so well, that they hardly take any time to dry. It’s an energy and water-efficient machine and it makes my still old dryer that much more efficient (especially when I can’t hang laundry). That said, I received a lecture upon buying the machine from the salesman about using only HE-approved laundry soap. Needless to say, my five-gallon bucket full of powdered stuff from B.J.’s didn’t qualify. I must admit, as a newbie to the HE world – and the world of new appliances – I was very susceptible to the lecture. So, I purchased, much to my chagrin a name-brand laundry detergent that was for HE machines. It was $10 for a gallon. Now, granted…I can make a gallon last quite a while. I do 2 loads of laundry per day and we still have more than half the jug (after a few weeks). However, the fact that this gallon of soap cost me so much was infuriating. There had to be another way. I knew I could make my own laundry soap and save myself money.
After a bit of research, I found several recipes. These two seem, so far, to work the best.
Writing and Publishing an E-Book
I often get asked questions about how to get a book published. The hardest part about getting a book published is not the publishing part – it’s the writing part! Sitting down everyday and working on a book takes an extraordinary amount of discipline. But it’s the most important part of the process. There are many excellent resources on writing a book and one of my favorites is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. I’m not a huge fan of King’s fiction, but this was one of the most complete books I ever read on the topic of becoming a better writer.
Are You Poor?
When we moved back to Vermont in 2003, I was terrified. Without a steady job, I didn’t know exactly from where our money would come. We were always on what I believed to be the edge of poverty. But then I started to think about it. Were we truly poor?
Everywhere I look “books, radio, television” there is someone telling me how to “eliminate debt” or “build wealth.” And the majority of these programs are geared for people who have high-paying jobs, huge homes and new cars and are feeling the “burden” of too much debt. What I don”t see a lot of are books or shows dedicated to helping people live ” and live well – off $10 an hour. In order to be on a “debt diet” one needs to be able to acquire debt. I dare say that most financial experts would argue that you can”t live well off $10 an hour. Those families who make $10 an hour are impoverished and should be educated as to how to make more money. And that”s where the help ends: “Get a better job, get some debt and then I can help you.”
So what is poverty?
Is it families who try and exist on Mom’s salary of $10 an hour? Or is it not having food in the house? Or is it not having the house? Is it not having electricity? Running water? Heat? (more…)
The Obama’s Kitchen Garden
It’s nice to see that our Presidential family has a frugal side…
The New York Times has reported that Sam Kass, an assistant White House chef who prepared meals for the Obamas in Chicago and is an advocate of local food, will oversee the First Family’s new kitchen garden. Here is a picture of the layout as well as video of the space:
5 Ways to Save Money and Find Happiness in Everyday Things
My father always used to tell me that “work was work, if it was fun, they’d call it fun, but it’s not – it’s work. It’s not supposed to be fun.”
I used to argue with him. I would rant and tell him that you could most certainly do something with your life that you loved (or at least liked) and still be paid for it. He dismissed me out of hand. He told me that my thinking was irresponsible (as was having a bunch of kids!) and that I had to wait for the weekends to have fun.
I’m much older now. Twenty years older, in fact. And I’ve had a lot of jobs – not all of them fun. I’ve learned, through the years, to work very hard, but I have to say that I have been able to find elements of fun to each of my jobs. Although, I would probably amend my argument to say that work can be fun some of the time – or that you can find joy in hard work if you like doing it.
I did not, for example, always enjoy waiting tables. But I like people and I always enjoyed talking with customers and joking with the cooks in the kitchen. I found waiting tables to be enjoyable work – even if my feet ached and I sometimes got a lousy tip from a grouchy customer.
Being a newspaper reporter was hard work (no, not as hard as say, construction work, but still…), and it was often frustrating and intimidating. I frequently faced angry people who didn’t want to answer my phone calls, but I enjoyed the learning process and I thoroughly enjoyed investigating a story. It was, in the end, a very fun job.
Through the years, I have cultivated two careers – one as a writer and one as a mother. Both are equally frustrating in their own way and one pays only marginally better than the other (I’ll leave you to guess which one), but I am happy doing them both.
Create Your Own Victory Garden
A long time ago, when I lived in a small apartment with two small children, I found a book at a used bookstore called, “The Apartment Farmer.” Within days of reading this book, I turned my small suburban apartment into a small suburban farm. For the cost of the seeds and some containers I found at thrift stores, I grew tomatoes on my little patio in a five gallon bucket. I started seeds in egg cartons. I had peppers of all sorts. You name it, I grew it. I even grew two pumpkins in a huge whiskey barrel -type contraption. I cut down a bucket and grew small cukes, too.
Spoiled by the luxury of a huge garden area in Vermont, I am now faced with a small (in farm terms) yard once again. While I am enjoying the challenges of raising a family green and frugal in the city – I must say that I’ve been concerned about my ability to garden effectively and provide the amount of produce that I once did.
We are fortunate, here in Green Bay, to live very close to the “country” as it were – and a wealth of providers of various produce. But I like to grow stuff. I like the frugality of it. I like the exercise. I like to plant stuff and watch it grow. I like to roam around the garden early in the morning with a cup of coffee and debug a few plants and pull a few stray weeds.
A quick apology to OI readers…
A quick apology to all OI readers:
On Saturday, I was out and about and didn’t realize that my new Adsense code was interpreted strangely by Wordpress. We were down most of the day. I’m very sorry that I missed all of you! Wordpress was completely flumoxed by the code and turned it all around totally disabling the site. Fortunately, my uber-geek hubby figured it out and fixed it late last night.
Thanks for your patience!
Michelle
A Fine Mess: Humor and Help for Living Simply
g-diapers – convenient and eco-friendly!
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