What Mommy Knows

Running Out of Fumes

Malika Risley — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:28:52 +0000

It was a decision long coming. I think moving from our house to a larger rental house finally pushed me over the edge. I have a crazy busy lifestyle as it is. I am a wife, a mother of two young children (4 year old and 20 month old), a full time worker, a part-time graduate student and now a landlord. Besides that, I have to make sure the house is clean, the laundry is done and the meal is cooked. I also try to squeeze in 15-20 minutes of workout every morning before work to the benefit of my children (don’t think they would like their mother crocking early from some heart disease or the lazy sedentary ass sindrome).
So, with that said, I am feeling like I am running low on battery most of the time, and no matter how hard I try, the to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer, and longer and longer….. But, dropping the ball on any of the above is not an option. Now I find myself exhausted mentally and physically, tired, moody, stressed out and never caught up with things that I have to get done. So what the heck??? I got to do something to keep functioning.
One, I decided to get a housecleaner for once every two weeks. I posted a listing on craigslist. The phone did not stop ringing for two days. I never knew about how people are desperate to clean houses! Thank goodness someone is starting soon, so I won’t have to scrub toilets and dust anymore. Now I wish I had enough money to hire someone to cook, pick up toys and do laundry for me. LOL, maybe someday when I’m reach or when the kids start school and instead of paying for their daycare, I can pay them to run some errands for me.
Two, I decided to start keeping a list of what I need to get done that I can access via both, my computer and my smartphone. My husband recommended Wunderline. I am yet to try it and will post an update once I do.
Three, I decided to quit all of the caffeinated beverages. I don’t feel like getting into the whys, there are plenty of enlightening blogs on the topic.
Four, I decided to eat better.

Are Vaccines Evil?

Malika Risley — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:34:43 +0000

So many people have varying opinions on whether to vaccinate their kids or not. One, it is hard to get a child into the daycare, either home or public if he or she is missing the required vaccines. Second, what about these so called diseases? It’s hard to argue because some diseases are extinct or very rare. On the other hand they still pop up here and there and the doctors argue that if we stop actively vaccinating, they will come back. Third, both, me and my husband received whatever vaccines were required at the time and seem to do okay.

Here is the thing, it’s all about how the statistics are being presented. The people that side with the no-vaccination route state statistics in numbers, like so many hundreds of people have been alternately affected by the vaccines. That seems like a large number and makes you really think. But the people that side with the vaccination route, give statistics in percentages, like the possibility of being alternately affected by the vaccine is 100^th of a percent, which is same as one in a million. So, the statistics are the same, the difference is how they’re being reported. By the way these are fictitious numbers, I’m presenting them as an example.

Being that it’s such a hard subject to argue, we have our own philosophy on the vaccinations. We permit our kids receive whatever is being required by state in order for kids to stay in daycare or school. We opt out of all of the new or the optional vaccines. My opinion is as follows, if the vaccine is established, it’s more likely been tried for many years and the number of lawsuits regarding that particular vaccine is so small that it may not be worth worrying about.

When a doctor offers me a new vaccine for some virus or flu of the day, I politely refuse. This is more likely a new type of vaccine that may not have been around for enough time for people to notice its alternate effects. The lawsuits usually don’t start until 5 or more years after the new thing is introduced, so it’s hard to tell how safe the vaccine is if it hadn’t been tried for some time.

How about you? What’s your opinion on this matter?

Ear Infections No More

Malika Risley — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:08:34 +0000

My 18 month-old son has been getting ear infections every couple of weeks to a month for the past 5 months in the row. About 2 months ago we’ve been given a referral to the pediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist for placing tubes in his ears. We were very reluctant to doing this due to both, the effectiveness of this treatment and the cost of the procedure itself. We have a high deductable insurance plan, so unfortunately we would have to flip the bill for his treatment. After calling the ENT specialist and learning that just the consultation alone will be $300-$500, I decided to try something different. After pondering numerous advices from family and friends, we ended up trying three very cheap suggestions that made the most sense to us.

First, we decided to eliminate as much sugar as possible from Nathan’s diet, since sugar breeds bacteria if not fully metabolized. I started with the snacks he gets at the daycare. Three times a day, he’s being provided snacks, in the form or crackers, sugary cereal, a cereal bar or cookies. Though most crackers, such as Goldfish or Ritz may not be bad on sugar from the first glance, they still easily metabolize to sugar. Plus they contain a bunch of other crap (check out the ingredients list) that’s really not helping. And the crazy thing is, the daycare would not let me bring my own snacks unless I provide the slip from Nathan’s doctor that he has allergies. Well, that’s just what I had to do. Now I pack very plain snacks for him in form of fruits, like the bananas and grapes and either plain pretzels or rice crackers. By the way, we did not cut his intake of fruits, since they actually have favorable nutritional value, like the vitamins which strengthen the immune system and help fight sicknesses.

Second, we bought powdered vitamin C and started adding just a tad to his juice in the morning. You really don’t need much. The type that we bought contains 5 grams, which is the same as 5,000 milligrams in one steaspoon. We only add about one third of the quarter of a teaspoon, which is approximately 400 mg. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, so one can’t really overdose on it unless they’re taking insane quantities of it.

Third, we started putting few drops of half white vinegar (5% acidity) and half water solution in each of his ears about three times per day. If we see that he’s starting to develop snot or cough, we increase the frequency to 5-6 times per day. When I do the drops, I put him flat on his side and after I’m done administering drops, I lightly move my finger around the area of his ear and lightly tug on his ear to help the liquid go down. I weight for at least 30 seconds for him to get back up.

And this is it!

So far it’s been 0ver two months without the ear infection. We just had a well visit with the doctor. At the time of the check up Nathan had a cold with runny nose and some cough, but no fever. I asked the doc to check his ears for possible ear infection. She said she hadn’t seen his ears to be this clear in quite a while. Yay!!

Daddy, Mommy

Malika Risley — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:03:53 +0000

Couple of days ago Nathan started saying “Daddy” to his daddy and today he started saying “Monni” to me!! He actually names us the right names, yay. He was transferred into a group up today at daycare and did well.

We started bringing our own snacks for him to daycare since he’s facing the tubes in his ears. Too many ear infections…

Elyana is still in the bunkers phase. She’s scared of the dark and sleeps by the door on the floor in her room with the lights on. Some nights she gets out and turns on all of the house lights and ends up falling asleep on the couch. Go figure…

I’m still working full time. I just got done with my Summer semester that went very very well. I have three more classes left and the graduation in 2012 looks very promising. Dave is working as usual for himself.

Nathan’s Walking

Malika Risley — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:04:45 +0000

I know it’s about 3 months late, but Nathan is walking! He made his first steps on April 21; his first three steps. His 14-month birthday came the day after on the 22 and on that same day he started walking for real! We were at my mother-in-law’s house, gathering for something, possibly Easter. We had Bryan and Joanna there and Dave’s grandparents. It was awesome, he’s such a show-off. He was so excited to walk to me, it seemed like at that moment his main motivation to walk was to get to me, his one and only mama. And he was so happy, with big smile he was reaching out to me with his tiny hands and moving his tiny feet along the carpet… This precious memory will be with me forever because that was one of the moments when I felt that being a mother is one of the greatest rewards of life.

Nathan’s Talking

Malika Risley — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:00:50 +0000

Nathan is already 16 months! Where does the time go?

For the longest time the only sound he’s been making was “A-Daaaa” and different variations of it like the French version “A-Duaaaa-a-a-a” and the casual version “A-du” and the other version “A-doe”. Also, since “A-doe” sounds almost like “All Done”, my motherly brain’s, been telling me that that’s exactly what he’s been saying all these months at the end of his meals. And you won’t convince me otherwise!

Anyways, today he graduated to saying “E-ka Ba,” almost every time after I would say “Take a Bath”. Now this I didn’t make up! And he kept repeating it even after he was done with the bath. He’s so enjoying his new abilities.

He also likes to sing ABCs song. It usually starts in the middle and doesn’t go till the end, but who cares, right?

That’s my boy

How I Found Gypsum In My Bread

Malika Risley — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:38:14 +0000

So I’m in the bread isle looking for a loaf of healthy bread. Here is the ‘Health Nut’, ‘Healthy Multi-Grain’, ‘Heart Healthy’, and then some. Wow, awesome! I guess I pick the one that appeals to me the most — “Healthy Multi-Grain” with “No Artificial Colors, Flavors or Preservatives”. Why not? The name clearly states – healthy; it’s also multi-grain, which sounds even more healthy. And on top of that, it has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, sounds very, very healthy to me! I bought it.

After having a piece of my great-tasting healthy bread, I wanted to find out its caloric and fat info. It wasn’t bad at all, within healthy range. Then I noticed ingredients’ list beside it and it seemed quite long, and the longer I read it, the less familiar they sounded. Here they are:

whole wheat flour
water
sugar
wheat gluten
brown rice
cornmeal
oats
wheat bran
yeast
cellulose fiber
soybean oil
salt
molasses
cultured dextrose
maltodextrin
DATEM
mono- and diglycerides
calcium sulfate
citric acid
poppy seeds
grain vinegar
soy lecithin
nuts
whey
nonfat milk

Okay, so the first few ingredients I am very familiar with, I know their origin, what they look like, taste like and they sound okay-healthy to me. But as I’m going down the list, the names get more scientific and not nearly as familiar. I run into the unpronounceables! What are these ingredients? Still healthy?

Out of curiosity I decided to do a little research on my own to ensure that I am making a true “healthy” choice. Here is what I found so far translated into plain English.

Dextrose and maltodextrin are highly processed food additives derived from corn or wheat and come as a light, white tasteless powder. They mix well with liquids and have lower density than sugar. As far as I understand they are used instead of sugar for improved texture and flavor of the final product. According to Wikipedia they are commonly used for the production of natural sodas and candy such as SweetTarts. So why are they in my healthy bread?

DATEM is short for Diacetyl Tartaric (Acid) Ester, a mouth full, isn’t it? It’s used in baking as a softener. It is chemically produced and is generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration. Well, does safe by the FDA standards mean healthy for me? I’m yet to figure this one out…

Mono- and diglycerides are derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. They are the kind of fats that are solid at room temperature and are responsible for clogging up arteries. But on the other hand, they improve loaf volume, and create a smooth, soft crumb.

Next is calcium sulfate. Here is how Wikipedia states it: “Calcium sulfate is a common laboratory and industrial chemical”. What? How does the proud statement “No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives” fit in then? Calcium sulfate is a chemical name for gypsum, the material that’s found in drywall and cement. Yakes. What’s it doing in my healthy bread? I am assuming it is a preservative.

So here I have it — beautifully preserved, soft, flavorful, tasty, loaf of gorgeous looking bread. After doing my research I decided this this healthy bread isn’t healthy enough for me. I still finished the loaf, it’s just so good. But I sure won’t be buying it again!

After some looking around, I think I found my healthy bread! I now buy organic sprouted grains breads by Food for Life. This bread is kept in the freezer, since it’s free of preservatives. Here is its ingredients’ list:

organic sprouted wheat
filtered water
organic malted barley
organic sprouted rye
organic sprouted barley
organic sprouted oats
organic sprouted millet
organic sprouted corn
organic sprouted brown rice
fresh yeast
organic wheat gluten
sea salt

No unpronounceables here. This bread is about twice the cost of the other bread, but to me, it’s worth it.

I also make my own bread at times. Actually, my bread maker does, I just toss the familiar ingredients into it and press the ‘START’ button.

What is your favorite bread? Please share your experience.

The Potty Training Challenge 3

Malika Risley — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:54:19 +0000

It’s been a while since I updated about Elyana’s potty training, since the last couple of posts, “The Potty Training Challenge” and “The Potty Training Challenge 2″. Basically, we didn’t have much progress since then.

It seemed like she developed a phobia of going into the potty. She’s been perfectly ready for the potty for at least 6 months. She’s been able to go without a diaper without an accident for a while. As she needed to go, she would request a diaper. And if we tried to make her go into the potty instead of a diaper, she would put up the biggest stink. It involved lots of screaming, crying, resenting sitting on the potty, until she had no choice but to go on the floor!

Finally a few days ago I decided to enforce the “no diaper” policy. Basically, I wasn’t willing to give up no matter how much stink she puts up. The goal was to make her go into the potty versus the diaper or the floor. I even sweetened up the deal by promising ice cream if she goes into the potty.

First couple of times we had to force her to sit on the potty while she was peeing. It came to the point where she would cry, scream and shake from trying to hold it in. But eventually, she just had to let it loose. There was quite a bit of spillage, but some of it made into the potty. After much praising she got her ice cream.

Now she seems to enjoy peeing into the potty. She gets really excited when she does, she runs around clapping and proudly showing everybody her full potty.

But our work is far from over. Our next step is to make her go #2 into the potty. The ice cream deal didn’t seem to work tonight. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

Russia says genetically modified foods are harmful

Malika Risley — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:30:36 +0000

Source: Voice of Russia

Tag cloud: food problem, Russia, Health, Commentary, food, World

Russia has started the annual Days of Defence against Environmental Hazards from the 15th of April to the 5th of June with the announcement of sensational results of an independent work of research. Scientists have proved that Genetically Modified Organisms are harmful for mammals. The researchers discovered that animals that eat GM foodstuffs lose their ability to reproduce. Campbell hamsters that have a fast reproduction rate were fed for two years with ordinary soya beans, which are widely used in agriculture and those contain different percentages of GM organisms. Another group of hamsters, the control group, was fed with pure soya, which was found with great difficulty in Serbia because 95 percent of soya in the world is transgenic.

Concerning the experiment carried out jointly by the National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems, Dr. Alexei Surov has this to say. “We selected several groups of hamsters, kept them in pairs in cells and gave them ordinary food as always,” says Alexei Surov. “We did not add anything for one group but the other was fed with soya that contained no GM components, while the third group with some content of Genetically Modified Organisms and the fourth one with increased amount of GMO. We monitored their behavior and how they gain weight and when they give birth to their cubs. Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower and reached their sexual maturity slowly. When we got some of their cubs we formed the new pairs of the third generation. We failed to get cubs from these pairs, which were fed with GM foodstuffs. It was proved that these pairs lost their ability to give birth to their cubs,” Dr. Alexei Surov said.

Another surprise was discovered by scientists in hamsters of the third generation. Hair grew in the mouth of the animals that took part in the experiment. It’s unclear why this happened. The researchers cannot understand why a programme of destruction is launched when animals take GMO foodstuffs. They say that this can be neutralized only by stopping to eat these foods. Consequently, scientists suggest imposing a ban on the use of GM foods until they are tested for their bio-security. The results of Russian scientists coincide with those of their colleagues from France and Austria. For one, when scientist proved that GM maize was harmful for mammals, France banned immediately its production and sale. The scientists who carried out the experiment say that it’s too early to make far-reaching conclusions about the health hazards of the GMO. They insist that there is a need to carry out comprehensive research. They suggest implementing the project, “Safety Gene Technology” at the innovation centre, “Skolkovo” which is being set up near Moscow.

Nathan is 2 Months Old

Malika Risley — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 03:45:30 +0000

From Nathan 2 months

On April 22 Nathan turned 2 months. I can’t believe how fast the time is going! Seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He seems to be adjusting very well to his new life outside mommy’s tummy. Everything checked out great at his 2 month doctor’s check up. Apparently he is in the 96th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight for his age group. No wonder he wants to eat all the time! This is completely opposite from my daughter. She always checks out in the 25th percentile.

Though he’s not sleeping through the night yet, he usually wakes up only once a night to eat. His going-into-the-night time fussiness has greatly subsided. For the first month and a half of his life, his daily crying fit would begin around dinner time and last until 10:30-11 at night. He would literally scream this whole time, unless he was being fed or held. Now he still cries, but it’s only for a few minutes at a time.

Elyana seems to be adjusting well to her baby brother. She can’t quite say his name yet, so she refers to him as baby or bother (brother that is). Even though she plays rough at times, he seems to enjoy her company for the most part. He loves the attention and lets off crooked teethless smiles as she touches or kisses or talks to him.

The three of us started to get more social after Nathan turned 6 weeks. We now routinely visit the library for Elyana’s toddler story time and the playground. We go for morning stroller walks two to three times a week. It’s a great exercise for me and an outing for the kiddies. I am now braving grocery shopping by myself with the two of them. Nathan is usually sound asleep and Elyana, well, she’s being Elyana, the typical toddler in her terrible twos. She does fine though, unless the check out line is too long. Then she tries to sneak a candy bar or two past me, though puts it back when I ask her to. She is definitely learning ‘the rights’ and ‘the wrongs’. When she does something wrong, she feels bad and tries to fix it. We’re taking her out of daycare that she attended part time for the past 3 months. I now got the routine going with the little one, and I feel confident that I can keep Ely busy without having her in daycare.

Today Elyana had her first shower. We went for a stroller walk right before dinner. I knew that I wasn’t going to fit her bath and my shower in separately before dinner, so I combined the two. We took a shower together and made it well before dinner time. She seemed to enjoy it!