What's on my bedside table

And when I say bedside table, I mean "laying on the floor next to my bed."

Food Fights. Got lots of good ideas from this one--basically the gist was not to engage in a power struggle over eating, but continue to present lots of different food varieties.

ADD Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life. This book is wonderful--there are three levels of solutions to all of the organizational problems they address. For example, if you have mild problems with hyperfocus you might try a level 1 solution, like a timer. For moderate hyperfocus problems, find a support person to disengage you. For severe hyperfocus, you might need both plus some drugs! (ok I'm summarizing the last part.)

Gorgeously Green. Lots of good information, product reviews, for the beginning granola-mom.

Checked out all of these at the Temple Public Library in the new section. What are you reading?

Phthalates Ban to take effect in 6 months...

Mark it down, friends. I agree with Dianne Feinstein about something.
Washington Post reported yesterday:

Congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to a ban on a family of toxins found
in children's products, handing a major victory to parents and health experts
who have been clamoring for the government to remove harmful chemicals from
toys.

Senator Feinstein is sponsoring the legislation that would ban three different types of phthalates from children's products and restrict three additional types.

I started cleaning out our products with phthalates (pronounced thal-ates) last year when I read about this study of human babies with elevated phthalates levels. Phthalates evidently act as estrogenic and decrease anogenital distance and impair testicular function. Yikes! I want grandchildren, people!!

They are everywhere. Basically if a vinyl or plastic is flexible and doesn't say PVC-free and phthalate-free on the label, it's toxic. So here were a couple of the primary culprits in our house...

teethers, bath toys,

vinyl books, cute little turtles,
vinyl bibs,


and, *sniff, sniff*, nail polish.

That's right. I have to officially withdraw my endorsement of my favorite nail protein. Months ago I went to Target and stocked up on phthalate-free nail polish and it's been okay, not great--it does chip pretty fast. I guess I didn't think (or want to think) that--duh!--my two week nail treatment would be poison too.

It doesn't stop with flexible plastics. Most cosmetics and soaps that have that catch-all ingredient "fragrance" contain phthalates. So let's clean house!