1. Our Eco-Friendly School Gear list includes lunch bags, food containers, and some other good tips to remember for a child’s school cubby.

2. This year’s addition to the Eco-Friendly School Gear are stainless steel food containers. We’re using the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio with soft tops and LunchBots Containers, which fit larger items and have stainless lids.

3. The Kids Konserve lunch kits offer one stop shopping and a great school fundraiser idea for September. They also raise parents’ awareness about packing lunches with reusable containers.

4. After trying a variety of water bottles, we find the 10 ounce Ecousable water bottle the perfect size and easy for kids to open and drink.

5. For delicious and nutritious foods to put inside all these containers, check out our School Lunch Ideas.

The week before school his teacher will visit Oliver at home, see his room and favorite toys. Then Oliver will go to school with the other new students for two hours a day the first week. He’ll have the chance to learn a few lessons (the Montessori approach) and get comfortable in the room and with pick up and drop off before the entire class begins school. The teacher also talked with me about the transition for Oliver when she called to set up her home visit. After starting at various preschools with the kids, this experience feels the most comfortable and supported. The process simple and relaxed.

In her letter to class parents, the teacher suggests we set up evening and morning routines two weeks before school starts so the kids will be used to getting dressed and ready in the morning. She also talks about giving the kids opportunities to be independent–clearing their plate from the table, putting on their own shoes and jacket–which independence will be part of their school days as well. And she includes language we can share with them about where they’ll sit and wait for us to pick them up and the name of the teacher who will greet them in the morning at the school gate. She’s giving us this amazing map, which is especially helpful with Montessori since parents aren’t involved in the way that we’d be at other preschools. I can see how I’m participating in Oliver’s transition even though I won’t be there in the classroom. I feel reassured, listened to, and well advised. It’s a terrific model.

California wants manufacturers to change to lead-free vinyl and party rental stores to include warnings about lead in bounce houses. Until the new lead-free editions, we can wash kids’ hands and faces after they play in a bounce house. We also are pulling out new party ideas–cookie decorating, fishing in a kiddie pool, painting and planting flower pots, decorating magic boxes and treasure hunts.

The new guidelines are in response to ACOG’s former guidelines which led many hospitals and doctors to limit VBACs, or refuse to allow them, for fear of liability if they did not follow ACOG’s more stringent recommendations. The former guidelines were interpreted by some health care providers as requiring a surgeon and anesthesiologist to be at the hospital at all hours, and even the presence of two doctors during a VBAC. Cesarean rates have increased to reach 31% in 2007, an alarming number that obstetricians are working to reduce for the health of mothers and their babies. ACOG now recommends that early in their pregnancies women discuss the risks and benefits of VBAC and potential complications from repeat cesareans. They do not want hospital restrictions to dictate that a woman have another cesarean if she prefers a vaginal delivery.

The guidelines are a positive step. They give women, their doctors and midwives an opportunity to talk in more detail about labor and delivery, and empower women to participate in making decisions about their health.

Our bodies, much like our children, are not under our control. We can treat them well, set adequate boundaries, use the right lotions, and we still catch colds, wrinkles and spider veins. I’ve found that doctors love to remind me how pregnancy exacerbates a variety of physical conditions; however, as I get older, I see that even with that added pressure, time and genetics appear the more deserving culprits. Neither of which we can do anything about, which leads me back to acceptance.

If pregnancy throws a body through the ringer, the experience also teaches patience and trust. During my pregnancies, I discovered warts on my feet. With the first pregnancy the two unwanted spots cleared up quickly, without fuss. In my second pregnancy I developed a wart in the middle of my left foot that took up residency for five years. Five years of failed cures and worries about the thing growing through to the other side of my foot or spreading into my bloodstream. I would attack for months with daily regimens, surrender in defeat and try to forget about it, and then take up the cause once again, in a loop reminiscent of Kegel relationships. Eventually my immune system strengthened and I tried one last round of Dr. Scholl’s; the skin smoothed itself back to normal.

When I look at the bottom of my foot, I’m oddly proud and amazed. I see the back to normal skin as a reminder to trust my body and believe in the passage of time–to keep turning over my challenges until I view them differently, flat chested women are sexy, or find a reasonable solution, the not completely but very good Perfectly Fit Bra.

In less than 10 minutes, we have ice pops ready to eat. The Zoku is durable and requires only a few parts. For best results, we’ve learned to stay within the fill lines and wait until the Zoku thaws to wash, otherwise water freezes in the mold bottoms and makes removing the pops more difficult. The Zoku also makes a great gift for families.

At a Challenge Success conference this spring, I listened to a Stanford administrator lecture about the importance of letting our children experience and figure out more of life on their own. When children are young, offering places to explore and practice these skills occurs in the safety (for them and us) of almost complete parent oversight. Beyond the preschool ages, Wyatt’s now six years old, a new territory outside these boundaries emerges as if on cue–like this first day of camp. Internally, I have not yet adjusted to the program. I run through potential risk scenarios in my head as I drive up to the camp drop off zone. I silently debate protocols–walk him inside, make friends with the counselor, evaluate facility cleanliness. Instead, I watch Wyatt’s cues. I want to encourage his confidence and comfort level, rather than doubt him with my protective habits. He hops out of the car, seems comfortable with the counselor and away they go.

As a three year old, Wyatt had no interest in going to preschool alone. He didn’t like being left there, he was unconvinced of the socialization benefits. We waited until he was four years old to go back to school, and even then we worked through more of a transition process than we experienced with his older sister at that age. By kindergarten, Wyatt walked into the classroom ready to participate. He has no worries about trying a new program or activity where he will be with strangers in an unknown environment. His curiosity and confidence grow from these experiences. I benefit too, from relaxing my instincts to caretake his physical spaces. I’m here to support him, not hold onto him. And that support becomes less physical for me as he gets older. Watching Wyatt step into his abilities helps me reshape my parenting habits to give him more autonomy. We’re shifting together and apart, which so far I observe appears more natural on his part than mine!

Highlights:

Lowlights: None. The stories are deep and moving for mothers too. We smiled and cried.

Why We Like It: What I Would Tell Her offers a moment to reflect upon and value our lives as parents. These father-writers share their specific experiences, which make the essays so personal, and capture the intimate emotions of parenting. A great Father’s Day gift, even for dads who rarely pick up parenting books.

Age: All parents, and specifically fathers, with children of any age.

We begin with vegetables and a protein and fill in around them to build a creative meal. Leftovers in the fridge with rice wrapped in a spelt tortilla or sheet of Nori seaweed, carrots with hummus and guacamole dips, fried egg on brown rice spaghetti–most anything goes. We started with one night a week and now may be up to two spontaneous dinners. The kids like the change, and it’s also made dinner more fun. Four year old Oliver envisions a new way of eating–turkey burgers for breakfast, pancakes for lunch and oatmeal at 6 pm. Though in the end, we realized that breakfast goes better as dinner than the other way around.

And, when we do have energy to do more than heat and roll, Weelicious is great for new food ideas.

Highlights:

Lowlights: Hartzell shares a few basics, for more detailed discussion and advice read the excellent Parenting from the Inside Out. Some of the material overlaps with the book.

Why we like it: Short and sweet–we can listen in the car on the way to pick up the kids from school. Hearing Hartzell’s language and tone aloud helps us absorb the concepts in a deeper way than just reading her book. Also, it’s easy to listen to the CD again as a refresher.

Child’s age: Infant through preschooler.