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| Monday, April 21, 2008 |
My Earth Day Post-Written by a Purchaser of Disposable Diapers |
As you hopefully know, tomorrow is Earth Day. I thought I would write a post about what we do at the Elliot household.
We're not tree huggers in this household. My older son (OS) wore and my younger son (YS) wears disposable diapers. When I was in college and later living in my first apartment, I would go through periods were I would be totally green, and then I would swing right back. To me trying to become greener is like trying to lose weight. I'm sure many of you are wincing at that analogy, but to me it's true. In both cases, I'm doing something to become healthier (or make the earth healthier) and they both involve trying to find ways to substitute healthier products, whether reusable grocery bags or turkey dogs on the grill, to become healthier. Most importantly, if I fall off the wagon, I can get right back on again.
That last part was huge for me. I was completely all or nothing. However, since I've comes to terms with the fact that every little bit makes a difference, I feel better about trying to go green. Diapers are a really good example. Yes, we do use disposable diapers. Actually the Big Giraffe and I did talk about using cloth diapers numerous times, but decided to go with disposable. However, we do have the maximum number of recycling bins our town permits (hey if you saw how little our neighbors recycle you would probably think it's a big deal) and we try really hard to buy in bulk, reuse Ziplock bags when appropriate (not bags that have held a dirty diaper), use plastic containers, and try and use mainly real water bottles instead of disposable. I just bought Sigg water bottles this week for our family! We changed most of our cleaners to environmentally friendly cleaners as well as our liquid dish soap and hand soap.
This is not to say that I don't ever use bleach. Yes, whenever I host a playdate or playgroup where someone has pet allergies, I do use bleach on the counters. I will use Lysol on the kitchen floor because we have two cats and a dog and I don't want to mess around with that. That's only about once a month though. Yes, there are times when we run out of soap and I will grab whatever is on hand so to speak at CVS, and it's not green. Or times like this past Halloween where they had really cute handsoap in a pumpkin shaped dispenser that encouraged my 4 year old to wash his hands or a nice scented soap that I really like just for the very rare treat. There also are times when I just don't have a plastic container to spare so I use ziplock baggies and throw them out if they contained something messy and we're out for the day. Likewise, I haven't found a container or insulated lunch box that is compatible for my son's lunch at school, so one day a week I do use a ziplock bag. I remain on the look-out for something that will work and allow his lunch to keep cool.
In our household, there's definitely lots of room for improvement, but I feel by focusing on what we can do instead of what we can't do or aren't doing, we are striving to become greener.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Every bit of green helps.Labels: Holidays |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:24 PM   |
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| Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
The Peeping Peeps |
Here's a secret confession of mine: I love buying Peeps. You know those sugary marshmallow type chicks? I don't actually like eating them, but I really enjoy buying them. I think it's because when I was little, my grandmother used to keep them in a big glass jar on her coffee table at Easter. Normally she wasn't the type of grandma who baked cookies or played dolls with me, but she did have an endless supply of Peeps. They're just so cute. Plus rumor may have it that I just might have participated in a Peep experiment at work after college where a Peep was microwaved to see the effect. Rumor has it that the Peep just kept getting bigger and bigger like the Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not out of control with my Peep purchasing. I just like to buy a package every year. The problem is that since I don't like eating them, well they just sit there. After my husband, the Big Giraffe, and I got married and the Peeps had been sitting on the counter for months, he gently suggested I throw them out. I just couldn't do it. Plus Peeps taste the best when they're stale according to everyone in my family. Who knows, maybe if they were a few years stale I would like them. I moved them to the refrigerator so they were out of sight. That's where they stayed along with the Peeps from the next year and the year after that. My husband started to complain that he felt like the Peeps were being well, Peeping Peeps I guess and looking at him every time he opened the fridge. I never really saw them just like he doesn't see the recycling left in the kitchen sink. Finally we replaced our refrigerator, no not because of the Peeps, and he suggested a Peeps ban in our house.
My older son (OS) is really into anything that is sugary and artificially colored. You know what I was thinking when he was describing what type of Easter candy he hopes to get: Peeps! That is the exact description of a Peep. Plus the ban is really just for the Big Giraffe and me. The Easter Bunny was not included in the ban. It is possible that there may be some Peeps hidden from my husband the kids somewhere in the car house. I mean they're green after all, and we have never had green ones in our house.
If OS doesn't like them now, he very well may like them when they are stale enough. My only fear is that if they kids don't like them, that they'll end up in the toilet. No, literally I mean the toilet. Today's experiment, conducted while OS was allegedly using the bathroom,was seeing whether or not the washable dogs my parents got them for the bathtub will also work in the toilet. I can see them trying to decide if a Peep will dissolve in the toilet. That said, today's experiment has caused me to institute an "open door bathroom policy" until OS demonstrates a less playful approach to excretion. Unlike the dogs, I think the Peeps will end up in the trash and not the Saturday Box*.
*Box for toys that end up in the toilet or left out when I'm cooking despite numerous threats not to and are thus placed in a box to be redeemed on Saturday.
Cross Posted at the New England MamasLabels: Food (Solid), Holidays, Humor (at least Attempted) |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:57 PM |
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| Sunday, March 09, 2008 |
The Best Part of the Parade |
Sally HP invited the Giraffe family to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade with her and her son. I have mixed feelings about parades. As a kid I loved them. However I hated being cold. Plus I have a distinct memory of having to wait and wait and wait...and wait and wait. All that being said, the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago was my favorite one. They dye the Chicago river green leading to the old joke that if that can be done, why can't the river be dyed blue the rest of the year?
The parade was, well let's just say not quite up to par with Chicago. More on that on Wednesday over at New England Mamas. It was pretty cold out, but we had brought blankets and the kids were dressed warmly. The waiting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The parade started up and all I can say was there were a ton of bagpipe players. At first I thought there was just one marching band with bagpipers...and then two bands...and then three bands...then four bands... then we left so for all I know there could have been 100. (The Big Giraffe was pleased that 100% of the bands played in front of us, which is a statistic that he started keeping when he went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City every year.) I commented that I didn't personally know anyone who played the bagpipes. Seriously, I know someone who grew up on a llama farm and had to take the llamas on daily "walks" on a giant leash, but as for bag pipers, well I've seen them play before, but I've never been friends with one. Given the number of bagpipers who apparently live near me, it would seem that there must be some sort of 6 degrees of separation game that would allow me to know one. Sure enough, one of the women at my college club meeting this afternoon plays bagpipes, and two of their daughters do as well.
After we had settled into the car and began our drive home, I asked my older son (OS) his favorite part of the parade. I was sort of expecting him to say the bagpipes. His favorite part was the donut we got for him at the Dunkin Donuts near where we were standing. His second favorite part was when one of the paraders gave him a handful of candy. We could have saved ourselves a lot of shivering by just going through a drivethrough and then giving OS a handful of the old Halloween candy that we still have.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: When trying to create fond childhood memories, remember to ask yourself whose childhood memories you're trying to create: your child's or your inner child's.Labels: Holidays |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:26 PM |
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| Wednesday, January 02, 2008 |
A Great End to 2007 and Great Start to 2008 |
Thank you to Lara for providing such a wonderful start to the new year with her Blog Exchange post giving out "Best New" awards for 2007. I hope to continue the upbeat tone, by posting about how much fun my family has had over the last two days. (The Big Giraffe keeps claiming that today was the best day of the year, so far.)
Yesterday we went to First Night Worcester with two other families. They say pessimists are never disappointed. I don't want to call parents of small kids pessimists, but it is fortunately difficult to disappoint people whose only expectations is that their kids will inevitably have at least a half a dozen meltdowns. To describe us as pleasantly surprised would be an understatement! We really enjoyed First Night. We saw an animal show (not with giraffes), watched some ballet dancing, and listened to Caribbean music for kids. It was definitely worth the $20 that the Big Giraffe and I paid. That is not to say that my children did not have meltdowns, but they were manageable and they came between moments of great enjoyment. On a complete dorky note, we also got to use the Garmin GPS that my parents got us for the holidays, even though we already knew the route. We just wanted to try it out.
We then went out for an amazing meal!- Prime rib
- Yorkshire pudding
- Quiche
- Green beans
- Pecan, pear and Gorgonzola salad
- Garlic mashed potatoes
- Fruit salad
- Chocolate cheesecake
- Chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows
I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it! Of course there was also wine and pink champagne to toast in the New Year at 8:30 pm.
Where on earth could three families take five children on New Year's Eve for that kind of feast? Well, when I said that we went out, I didn't actually mean out to a restaurant. I meant out of our house. One of the families hosted and somehow put it together so well in advance that everything was ready to eat very quickly after our return from First Night.
In addition to the wonderful hospitality and company enjoyed at the home of friends, the other good news about not being at a restaurant is that there is a lot more room for kids to act up. The better news is that they again had far fewer meltdowns than I expected. Each child took his turn (yes not only were there five children, but they were all boys) causing some measure of trouble, but given the amount of time spent walking in the cold, the stimulation of all the shows, and the amount of excitement, I think they all did really well. However, we ended up turning the GPS off on the way home to let them sleep peacefully once we confirmed that we have been using the proper route when previously traversing the route.
It really was a fabulous way to end 2007...followed by a fantastic beginning to 2008!
This morning we headed out to meet a co-worker of the Big Giraffe's (whom he has been insisting that I would enjoy meeting for several months), her husband, and their three kids. (Yes out with five kids two days in a row.) We went to a theater where we were able to sit in very comfortable chairs, socialize for an hour over food from an extensive menu, and then watch Water Horse. This was not your typical movie theater.
Why didn't we watch Alvin and the Chipmunks, you might ask. Well for two reasons:- My older son (OS) and I really wanted to see a movie about an "underwater horse" and everyone else rode along
- Alvin was sold out
More information on the venue and the experience may be found on my post at New England Mamas, but I will say that for this trip we really needed the GPS!
For the second day in a row, the children's behavior was far better than expected, and the Big Giraffe's prediction that I would like his colleague was correct. I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with the entire family. I also enjoyed the movie, but it was definitely scarier than I would have liked for my kids. That's not to say that they didn't enjoy it, but there were parts that did scare my kids, my older son in particular. It would probably be better on DVD where I could have fast forwarded through the scary scenes, like when the water horse was trying to bite people and when the soldiers were firing artillery at what they believed was an attack by the German navy. (The movie took place in Scotland during World War II.)
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Ending one year with pre-existing friends and starting another with new friends makes for an enjoyable and memorable transition.Labels: Food (Solid), Holidays, Outings and Playgroups |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:51 AM |
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| Wednesday, December 26, 2007 |
Merry Christmas! |
For all my frustrations with the holidays, we ended up having what I think was our best Christmas yet. A couple weeks ago, after after talking with my husband across the TV pondering and meditating on my deepest feelings about Christmas dinner to find inner happiness, I realized that one aspect of Christmas that has always stressed me out is trying to cook a big Christmas dinner. While my cooking has come a long way (pause as I give myself a pat on the back), it is seriously lacking in the roast/prime rib department. Unfortunately, the Big Giraffe's skills are on par with mine. The fact of the matter is that no one really likes any sort of roast that we make. (Yeah, I did make a great roast once, but that went, as it were to the dog.)
However, it seemed silly to throw up our hands and abandon making Christmas dinner to do something like order Chinese food or eat a frozen pizza like rumor has it I just may have suggested in the past. For all my joking around, both the Big Giraffe and I are capable of making at least a few tasty meals that won't give anyone diarrhea. Trying to find a meal that we both enjoyed making and both enjoyed eating might be a stretch.
That's when I realized that we could switch our Christmas Eve almost-tradition of fondue to Christmas day. The Big Giraffe and I do love making and eating fondue. We do it at least twice a year. I even taught my moms group how to make fondue a couple of years ago. I say almost-tradition because last year with a newborn and a 3 year old, it was just too much. Plus we were worried, probably rightfully so, about our older son (OS) being around an open flame. No, rest assured, we wouldn't have let him participate in fondue making. We would have, as we did this year, made him his own dinner.
A friend and her son were going to be our honored guests at Christmas dinner so I ran the idea by her. She seemed pretty excited about it too. Two days before Christmas, I sat down and did a bunch of searches for recipes. I wanted to try something new this year. I ended up finding the Melting Pot's recipe for a burgundy broth for cooking meats and vegetables and the recipe for their Green Goddess Dipping sauce. The big Giraffe and I had a wonderful Christmas Eve. After visiting the Sudbury Lights (which I wrote about over at the New England Mamas) we put the kids to bed and spent a relaxing hour chopping bread, veggies, meats and cheeses while I made 3 homemade dipping sauces, all accompanied by eggnog and Christmas music. It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve. (I will admit that it was more relaxing because only one kids gift required assembly this year and the assembly was very miminal.)
On Christmas morning, we just lounged around playing with the kids and enjoying our Christmas gifts. I have learned some valuable tips about lubing up before triathlons courtesy of a triathlon book I really wanted that my BIL and Sil gave me. Then it was time to pick up Sally HP and her son. Since all the food was chopped and prepared in advance, setting up the fondue was stress-free. The boys had hot dogs and Mac n Cheese which they finished quickly and then they went off to play. We adults had a wonderful time eating fondue, talking and laughing. It was a wonderful Christmas.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Sometimes the best traditions come out of doing something that's not traditional but that you really love doing.Labels: Holidays |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:18 PM |
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| Sunday, December 23, 2007 |
Missing My Calling |
When I was in third grade, we got to make "gingerbread houses." This involved each child bringing in a box of graham crackers, a can of frosting, and a bunch of different candies to decorate our houses. My dad was in charge of buying the candy for me, and I remember my decorations consisted of a giant bag of Good N' Plenty. We spent a couple of afternoons working on it. By the time we were finished, I had lost interest in the house, but I did enjoy eating construction materials throughout the process.
At some point, I learned that gingerbread houses were made out of gingerbread and not graham crackers. No, Big Giraffe, that wasn't today. However, I never attempted to build a real gingerbread house. It just seemed like too much effort. A couple of years ago, my aunt was participating in her yearly tradition of baking gingerbread for gingerbread houses. She gets really into it and has the special pans, makes the dough from scratch and carefully decorates each house with a theme. She mentioned that she also uses wrapped candy, so that people can pick out what they want when they want it without creating any worry about dirt or germs. I asked the obvious question: well, what about the gingerbread? My aunt explained to me that actual gingerbread houses don't taste very good. First of all, they have to be fairly sturdy, requiring a distasteful amount of molasses in them. Second, after sitting out for a couple days they get stale; a baked item that looks good but that no one actually samples to find out that it tastes terrible.
That's when I realized that I had missed my calling. Really, it's the ideal dessert I could bake. Can you imagine how relieved I would have been if I showed up at the cookie exchange carrying gingerbread houses with wrapped candy on them for everyone and told people that these baked goods were for display and candy grazing only? I might not have been less stressed out about the process, because let's face facts - making 8 gingerbread houses is a lot worse than making 16 dozen cookies!
So you would think then that this year I would make my own gingerbread. That would be a fairly reasonable assumption, except that it just seems like a lot of work when I could just buy a kit at the grocery store. I actually think that buying was the right choice. My older son (OS) loved decorating his house, and he was so proud of the finished product. What he didn't love was waiting the fifteen minutes for the roof to set. In fact, he found the delay torturous. That's when I realized that he couldn't care less that the house wasn't constructed out of real gingerbread. In fact, he was better off with a kit. There's no way he would have patiently waited for the gingerbread to bake.
Of course that's not to say that I won't some day make gingerbread. It's just going to be when we can make it together and more importantly when it's something that he wants to do. And if it just so happens that he never wants to do it, well I won't lose any sleep over it. Like I said, when I was little I loved the graham crackers and the canned frosting.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Many times the easy way out works out the best.Labels: Crafts, Food (Solid), Holidays |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:22 PM |
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| Saturday, December 22, 2007 |
Warm Holiday Welcomes |
The blending of two people or of two families can be fun but can have a few bumps along the road to say the least. Although my husband is Jewish, Santa used to visit his house when he and his brother were young.
Our first Christmas together Santa decided to visit our house as well. Santa filled the Big Giraffe's stocking with candy and small items and left a couple of presents under the tree. (The Big Giraffe and I exchanged gifts as well.) Santa left candy in my stocking and nothing under the tree. The next year Santa didn't leave the Big Giraffe as much but he left me more. Of course there were also issues with how Santa would wrap one of our presents, but not wrap the other. I'll leave you to guess who got the unwrapped gifts. We figured we would sort out the whole Santa thing before we had kids. Then we realized that actually we had quite a bit of time before they really caught on, although this year our older son (OS) is keeping a keen eye out for any Santa details. Most importantly we have been able to try out different traditions and see what we like and what we don't and change it. One year Santa didn't wrap any of OS's presents. It worked out well for Santa because he was a lot less stressed. However, the next year OS disregarded his birthday gifts in favor of the wrapping paper so Santa decided to wrap his gifts. We haven't received word yet on what Santa will do this year. I do remind OS that I am a personal friend of Santa's so I expect I'll be hearing soon.
Of course there are other traditions that are still works in progress. Like any great work, there's a lot of mulling, pondering, discussion and yes even arguing. You know that song the Twelve Pains of Christmas? Well tonight we lived that song, or at least the day of Christmas about the Christmas lights. We have yet to work out a good system, much less a good arrangement for our Christmas lights. Because of where our outlets are placed, it's hard for us to do anything too exciting without creating a dizzying array of daisy-chained extension cords in front of our doors. We want our lights to invite warm holiday feelings, not vicious lawsuits. As such, it's hard for us to get really excited about our lights. However, we're usually pretty good about getting them up early.
Not this year. We were great about getting and decorating our tree early. The lights were another story. Normally when the Big Giraffe hangs the lights from our gutters, he does a final gutter clean. This year we waited until late December, in fact today. Due to the weather this past week, our gutter was completely frozen. This meant that not only was he not able to clean our gutter, but we couldn't even hang the lights from the gutter. Hence, our lights are on our bushes. No big deal except that today it warmed up and all the ice that was in our gutter somehow, and I'm exactly sure how yet, managed to leak through our living room window and onto our couch. Hence an emergency call (read expensive) to our friendly handyman who's swinging by tomorrow. Fortunately it's freezing outside, so the ice is freezing again, thus stopping the leak.
How could I forget to mention that it's also the holidays? So while the Big Giraffe and I are truly the best of friends and partners in life, we may just possibly have gotten into a slight tiff audible disagreement about all of this. Wouldn't you know that a friend of ours just happened to drop-off a plate of cookies during the fight?
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Buy curtains and soundproof your doors! Labels: Holidays |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:40 PM |
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| Wednesday, December 19, 2007 |
Who's Afraid of Big Bad Santa? |
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This reminds me that I need to get back on the "green" wagon! I've been slacking lately... thanks for the reminder.