Giving my children the healthiest life possible

You know, as a mother I find myself worrying about everything in my children's environments. There has been a recent scare with peanut butter and I immediately threw out the peanut butter crackers sitting in our snack bin and diligently went through the list of items to make sure there were no remaining suspects in our house. This is the second time in a few years there has been a scare with peanut butter....a staple in our house! I am in the process of switching over to Natural Peanut Butter in my quest to get my children to eat healthier and the brand I use is not on the list....whew!

Recently on a blog I was reading, the mother discussed her quest to get all of the chemicals out of her children's lives....she had them eating organic foods, started making her own laundry detergent, and realized that there are chemicals in shampoos and soaps that aren't healthy. So she began making her own shampoo....I don't know that I would go that far, but I am going to switch to more natural toothpastes, soaps, and shampoos and see if that helps with one of my son's skin issues and Randy's dry scalp. We have always used Ivory soap - and that I feel like is healthy! I have kicked around the idea of making my own laundry detergent - I'll let you know if/when I decide to do it.

I do think I would like to start buying organic fruits and vegetables - I read somewhere that the chemicals on our fruits and vegetables cancel out the benefits of eating them in the first place. That scares me because I really am trying to do my best by getting my kids to eat their veggies, but feel guilty about possibly feeding them more carcinogens than anything!

Now - what would the uses for all of the items that I'm trying to replace. Rather than throw them away....how can I put them to good use?

Toothpaste -

1. Remove crayon marks. Squirt a small dab of non gel toothpaste on the wall where the mark is. Rub gently with a soft cloth, then rinse with warm water -- gone!

2. Deodorize hands - get rid of garlic or onion odor by washing your hands with a blob of toothpaste.

3. Buff a DVD. Get rid of light scratches by squeezing a little non gel toothpaste onto a cotton ball. Wipe over the DVD from the center out to the edge. Rinse with water and dry with a nonabrasive lint-free cloth - all gone.

4. Get rid of pimples. Zap your zit with a blob of non-gel toothpaste. Dab it on before bedtime, leave it overnight. Works wonders.

5. Whiten sneakers. Clean rubber soles by rubbing scuff marks with an old toothbrush and non gel toothpaste.


Shampoo -

1. Mix Shampoo with baking soda to clean chrome and use conditioner to make it shine.

2. Mix with water to clean nylon panty hose and other hand wash delicates

3. Use it to wash hard grime or bird poop off your car or truck.

4. Use it as a spot cleaner. It will remove stains like the ring around the collar of your shirt or the exterior of your down jacket.

5. Use it to wash your paint/arts and crafts brushes.

6. Mix it with water to clean your hardwood floors

7. It works as great spot cleaner for your sofa or couch.

8. Rub a couple drops of shampoo on the inside of your diving mask. Then, rinse clean with
water. Your mask won't fog up when you're diving under the water!

9. Grab the shampoo and a clean rag to spot clean the outside of your refrigerator and stove. It
will remove greasy spots and food spills.

10. Use it remove a stubborn ring off your finger

11. It works well for cleaning the cork handles on old fishing poles.

Conditioner -

1. Work hair conditioner onto hands before changing the oil in your car. Makes cleanup easy and skin nice and soft.

2. Apply hair conditioner to garden tools to prevent rusting

3. Rinse nylons with hair conditioner to zap static cling.

4. Make your own fabric softener -

2 cups of water
1 cup of vinegar
2/3 cups of any hair conditioner

Mix in spray bottle and stir. Don’t shake, this will cause foaming. Soak a cloth rag and ring it out until slightly damp. Then throw it into the dryer with your load of clothes.

This can also be used as a liquid fabric softener in the rinse cycle.

I think that some people might get a tad nutty about going natural (i.e., making your own shampoo with baking soda and water, using cider vinegar as a rinse, and oil for dry hair) - I am going to research actual products that are healthier to use and see how that goes.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy life!

Angela