Eco-What?

Around here, we do things pretty eco-friendly.  I mean, we don't really use the AC, keep the heat down pretty low, hang the laundry out to dry and use cloth diapers.  We usually have more recycling to put out on the curb come a Tuesday morning than trash, and we generally try to keep good ole Mother Earth in mind as we make decisions throughout the day.

But I still feel like there is so far to go!  

I cook with non-stick pans, have plastic plates and cups in the cupboard (even after purging a few months ago!), still buy, eat and feed my kids processed foods, drive an ancient van that doesn't get the best gas mileage, and use conventional cleaners, soaps and lotions...oh the list goes on!

But then I ran across this blog called Eco-Novice, Going Green Gradually, and I thought

Hey!  

That's me!

I can be an Eco-Novice, too!

Then I ran into a particular blog of hers about how to avoid eco-hysteria, and I knew that this was one that I had to read.  It seems like every time I turn around, someone or something somewhere is telling me what I should or shouldn't do, eat, touch, let around my kids...argh!  

Where's my protective bubble when I need it????

But I like this lady and her blog.  I like her idea of avoiding all the hysteria and just picking a few things that can be done relatively easily, cheaply, and within the constraints of your family.

'Cuz after all, like she says, a sane parent is also important to my child's well being.

SO...

Here is my list of things that I am resolving to do to make our family happier and healthier.  It takes 21 days to make a habit, right?  

So in 21 days, you must ask me these questions:

1.  Are you eating veggies with every dinner?

2.  When you eat dinner, is everyone in their own chair, eating their own food with the table cleaned off except for the dinner stuff?

If I can answer, why, yes, of course!  Then you know that I have succeeded in the first 2 achievable steps in getting my family on the right track toward healthier living.

Now, I know that those 2 things don't really have to do with eco-stuff, but they do in our house!  

Elizabeth often makes dinner.  So, she calls me and chooses a main dish off our list of dinners we have the ingredients for and she makes it.  And that's great!  And she's an awesome cook.

But...inevitably, when the dishes hit the table, there is something missing.  

Uh....Elizabeth...what veggie did you choose tonight?  

Ooops!  I forgot again, Mom.  

And by then, everyone is hungry and no one wants to wait the extra time to prepare something else so it gets looked over...again.

So now, the main dish choices are paired with veggies on the list.  The 2 go hand in hand.  

We'll see if it works.  (But her favorite veggie is peas...and I don't like peas!  But I have a solution for that.  We always seem to just not quite have enough peas to go around, and so I have to sacrifice and pick another veggie.  Oh, the things mothers do for their children, right?  I think Elizabeth has caught on by now!)

And the second resolution, if you will, is to keep my sanity (by cleaning all the day's detritus off the table before we eat dinner) and to let Jimmy get at least some of the food that is on his plate!  Gabriel had gotten accustomed to sitting on Jimmy's lap and eating off his plate because he soon realized that big boys don't sit in highchairs.  But now that he is older, he is eating more and will clear the whole plate!  So, he must be regulated (and strapped into!) his booster seat and eat off his own plate!   The kicking and screaming usually stops once he sees the lovely green peas on his plate...

So far, so good. 

We're two days in.  Check back in with me in 19 days....