When the Kids Set the Table

And sometimes Benjamin breaks out the candles for an added touch of class.

Chores

I am a mama who believes in the value of chores. Anyone who has been around teenagers lately will agree that something has to be done to weed out the natural inclination toward a sense of entitlement. Chores are one of the ways parents can bring some intentionality to child-rearing and instill a sense of community and responsibility in a child.

So how does Little P help out around the house?



He puts away silverware, of course!



The wonderful thing about this is that he thinks it's fun to sort. He also gets to practice skills like paying attention to the similarities and differences of what he's sorting. Once he became frustrated as he attempted to stuff a big spoon in a little spoon's place. We talked about size and compared it to the other spoons. Little P figured out that it was actually a big spoon, and he did it mostly on his own!



He also assists with watering the potted plants outside. He tries to sweep with the hand-held broom when I use the big broom, and he has a child-sized pretend vacuum which he uses when I vacuum.

We also work on him cleaning up his own messes (in his room, at the dinner table, any accidents or spills) as much as possible.

Mamas...what do you expect of your toddlers? I'm curious about other ways you have incorporated your little people into care for the household!

Green Clean - Part 2

Just got an email from Joanna. She writes:

"For tough spots I usually use lemon essential oil, baking soda, and salt mixed with a little water to make a paste. The book that I get most of my recipes from is called The Naturally Clean Home by Karyn Seigel-Maier. It addresses the major rooms that need cleaning and sanitizing as well as some recipes for laundry detergents. I make most of my cleaning products, minus the laundry stuff. (I really like Method's laundry products). This book [also] has a few suggestions for tough stains, and uses different essential oils because of their different properties. Hope this is helpful!"

Getting a Green Clean

Loreen posed some questions about eco-friendly, child-healthy cleaning products that actually work on the tough stuff. I have sent the question off to Joanna, an avid reader of this blog and a woman who is significantly farther ahead of me when it comes to making such products at home. Maybe she'll email me and I'll make an entry...or maybe she'll comment on this post with her info. We'll see.

I do not personally know how to deal with the really difficult stuff, but here's what working for me otherwise. AND, keep reading because there are some great links near the end that may be really helpful to you.

I can comment a little on general household pre-made cleansers: I love the Seventh Generation all-purpose cleaner - it works really well on a number of jobs - even removes stains from the light colored formica stuff in the kitchen with minimal scrubbing. I use it to clean my tile floors, counter tops, whatever. That said, I have never used it on anything really bad like soap scum or toilet buildup or anything, so I can't promise results. For soap scum I am still trying to use up some nasty mainstream product that burns the hairs off my nostrils after about the third squirt on the tub. I am doing the use-it-up-before-replacing-it method of reducing what I have/use. In the meantime, I am probably taking gigantic steps toward cancer of the lungs.

The eco-friendly laundry soap that seems to work best for me is the Seventh Generation free & clear HE version. I also really liked (before I got the HE washer) the biokleen "Oxygen Bleach Plus" - a chlorine-free whitener that really works. (I don't know if I can use it with an HE, so I haven't.) I remember not having feelings one way or the other about their regular detergent.

For the dishwasher - I really like the Ecover dishwasher tablets - but they're kind of expensive (as any individual pods/packages of anything are), so I bought some generic stuff in a pinch and have to go back to my search. The Ecover dishwashing liquid is my favorite. I actually liked a different brand better for the scent (pear), but that seemed less concentrated and I would run out of it faster. The Ecover lasts me a while and it cuts through the greasy buildup on Benjamin's bottles. I just noticed that this line carries all kinds of cleansers that I have never seen in the store before. As I have had good luck with some of their products, I would recommend trying some of their others if you have heavier-duty needs (a lime scale remover, toilet bowl cleaner, cream scrub, floor cleaner, etc). Click here for the "where to buy" section of their Web site.

In researching this topic, I came across a few really informative web sites:

The Seventh Generation blog: Of the "green" household products I have tried, some of my favorites (most effective) have come from this company.

Broomhuggers, a cleaning company in Atlanta, offers lots of practical cleaning info for home cleaning remedies...really useful.

An excellent overview on why eco-friendly cleaners are better for you and the environment, PLUS some homegrown cleaning solutions and recommendations for the most effective green cleaning products you can buy at the store. Make sure to look at the little orange and blue boxes embedded in the article - they have links to the details you are probably looking for. From Grist magazine, an excellent resource for more sustainable living. Here's a review on bathroom cleaning products. It's funny, too!

Here's a gigantic list of links for how to green just about anything in your life - from your baby to your funeral. Couldn't pass this one up, but I haven't read it all yet. From Treehugger.com.


PLEASE NOTE:
A lot of mainstream companies are starting to "greenwash" themselves - marketing themselves as though they are eco-conscious and always have been (Proctor and Gamble is one that I have noticed). Regard such claims with suspicion. The trustworthy companies are the ones that have been doing this from the start - they reveal ALL the contents of their products (not hiding something behind the excuse of "proprietary blend"). I'm not saying that companies can't change, it's just that with everyone hopping on the bandwagon now (hey, it's a trend so it's good for business), you have to be a smart consumer. For me, this means sticking with the originals. They may be a little more expensive than, say, the new Windex that suddenly has an eco-friendly sticker slapped on it, but I know that I am getting what I'm paying for. Don't be fooled by tricky ad campaigns!

Readers, what eco-products have you found to really work? Or, which ones have you discovered to be a bust? Got any book or Web site recommendations for homemade cleaning products, again, that work on the tough stuff?