I spent the day yesterday talking to two Family and Consumer Sciences classes at a local high school. The topic? Natural Parenting. We covered cloth diapers, babywearing, breastfeeding, natural birthing, positive discipline, and many other topics. The kids seemed really interested and asked some good questions, including:

- Don’t you HAVE to breastfeed for 3 months? (How I wanted to answer that one with “yes.”)

- Why do people eat placenta? (i did not bring this up!!) (this led one confused young man to ask if we were talking about eating our periods. Um, no. I’m very glad you asked, though.)

- Did my husband agree with the way we raise our children. In my answer, I deftly skirted the issue of religious beliefs about the role of husband and wife in marriage, and stuck to “in our family, my husband has delegated all child-related decision-making to me, as the primary caregiver.”

The students were incredulous that an epidural might affect a baby, or that homebirth can be safer than a hospital birth. I encouraged them to research the issues themselves. I hope they do.

Last week, our local ICAN group hosted a showing of the film Pregnant in America, followed up by a panel discussion featuring local doulas, midwives, and mamas. We didn’t stay for the panel, but the film presentation was nice. I’d already seen the movie, but it was good to see it again. It’s no Business of Being Born, but I think I cringed less the second time through than I did the first time through. Also, it’s interesting to note, the things that annoyed me about the film (such as the filmmaker’s use of the word “bogus,” didn’t bother my husband at all!

The first annual Des Moines Green Gifts Fair will be held November 15, and we are currently accepting vendor applications. You can find out more over at Natural Living Des Moines.

When a local yarn store went out of business, I was fortunate enough to pick up this big girl for $10. My other girls are all inflatable (ok, and one is a boy), and, well, kind of lack the stability needed to model baby carriers, you know? I hope this girl will provide the sturdiness I need!

Additionally, Mercy Hospital here in Des Moines has recently declared displays that sit unobtrusively to the SIDE of your table at their baby fairs to be illegal, so I have to have my mannequins ON my table from now on. That will make the blow-up girls even less stable, but this girl should be just fine.

May 7:
6:00 pm: Cloth Diapering
7:00 pm: Babywearing
Franklin Public Library

May 16:
9:00 am: Cloth Diapering
10:00 am Babywearing
Urbandale Public Library

These classes are sponsored by Des Moines Babywearing and Des Moines Cloth Diapering and are NOT sponsored by Wallypop or any other business.

The Cloth Diapering classes will go over the basics of cloth diapering, the types of diapers and covers available, pros and cons of the types of diapers, laundering, etc. We’ll have lots of samples to look at!

The Babywearing classes will provide a demo of several different carrying positions in at least four types of carriers, with plenty of time for participants to try them on if desired. We’ll also talk about babywearing in general.

Bring your questions, concerns, or doubtful family members!!

Wallypop participates in a few hospital baby fairs every year – Oh Baby at Iowa Methodist and The Stork Affair at Mercy. This picture is from Oh Baby, which was on Saturday.

I will say, we’ve come a LOOOOONG way since I originally started at the fairs 4 years ago. I used to get largely just snotty looks, eye rolls, or wrinkled noses walking by. Baby carriers and slings were pretty oddball, and cloth diapers – um, gross!

Early on, I decided my purpose at the fairs was NOT sales, it was awareness. I may not (probably will not) change the minds of the eye rollers at the fair, but they’ve just had one more (or their first) contact with modern cloth diapers. Ten or twenty contacts with modern cloth diapers later, maybe they’ll wipe those wrinkles off their noses.

And then their friend, or their sister, or their cousin won’t be on the receiving end of their scorn when they decide to use cloth.

Four years later, most people who walk by have at least seen modern diapers, even if they have no plans to use them. People are not afraid to stop by just to look at the shoes or the leg warmers or the slings. I think people are also pleasantly surprised when they do stop that I don’t try to talk them into anything. Not interested in cloth? OK. I have other things for you.

Interested in cloth? Not sure? I’ll talk your ear off. Or, I’ll let you cruise on by. Whatever. I’m not interested in holding people hostage while I try to make them feel bad for their choices.

]]> http://wallypop.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/oh-baby-2/feed/ 0 sarahtar Oh Baby booth - 4/4 http://wallypop.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/annual-vacation-in-july/ http://wallypop.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/annual-vacation-in-july/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:26:39 +0000 sarahtar http://wallypop.wordpress.com/?p=116 ]]>

Hello! Wallypop will be closed for our annual vacation during the month of July. I will process orders through June 30. I will continue to accept Made To Order items through June 30, as well, but will post a note once I’ve reached the point that I will be unable to complete orders before closing. Orders placed after that notice is posted will be completed in August.

In years past, I’ve left the website active and accepting orders during my vacation. This year, I will close completely and will not accept any orders while I’m closed. I also will not be responding to non-emergency emails and I will not be returning non-emergency phone calls.

There are exceptions to this:

• I will continue to process registry orders.
• I will continue to accept payments for layaway orders (but any layaway orders that are paid off during July will not be packed and shipped until August).
• Local customers may continue to shop (either in person or via email) during July.

Please note, though, we will be out of town for portions of July. While we are out of town (camping), I will not have access to email, internet, or phone, and so obviously will be unable to continue even the above items.

Today, I came across a new organization called Goods for Girls.

You may have seen the commercials… the ones describing how girls in South Africa miss school when they have their period and how buying Tampax tampons will help them. There’s also a commercial for Always pads, with a similar message. Imagine having to use rags or newspaper, which is what many of these girls use for their periods.

Procter and Gamble (P&G) has started a program in Africa, where they are donating Always sanitary pads to girls who otherwise would miss several days of school each month due to inadequate menstrual supplies.

But what are the potential problems with donating disposable feminine hygiene products? Well, for starters, there is the environmental impact. In most of these areas, they have no solid waste programs or landfills. In other words, they burn their waste.

As such, products that have synthetic components (like sanitary pads and tampons) would be incinerated. For some schools, P&G is building incinerators near the bathrooms. But what about the pollutants emitted from burning these products? They may potentially get inhaled by the students and teachers. Any additional packaging, plastic or otherwise, would need to be disposed of in the same manner.

What would be a good alternative to help out these girls but without the environmental impact? Since most of these girls are using rags now, having a pad that is a more sophisticated (with a waterproof barrier) may be enough to allow them to participate in school and regular activities. They would still wash the pads as they normally do with the rags, but they would benefit from the extra protection.

I started Goods 4 Girls to provide the link for women wanting to donate hand-sewn menstrual pads to agencies who could provide the means to identify areas of need as well as provide the distribution to the women and girls needing the pads.

Wallypop has decided to become one of their participating retailers, so if you want to help them out, you can either zip on over to their website and make a donation, or you can zip on over to Wallypop and purchase some pads to be donated.

Thanks to everyone who delurked last week! New delurkers are always welcome (and old delurkers can feel free to continue to comment)!

I chose the winner randomly by placing names in a bowl and drawing one out. The winner is:

Amanda

Amanda, I have no way to contact you so if you can please contact ME with your name and address, I’ll mail out your goodies right away!

The package includes: six EveryDay Cloth Napkins in navy, a compact size Eco-Shop tote, a small zipper pouch, and a Soft Cloth Hankie in butter flannel. Enjoy!

OK, I don’t know when Delurking Day is. The closest I can find, it was last week. Who knows for sure? I sure don’t. So, I’m declaring this Delurking Week at any blog of which I am a part.

Read here? Take a minute, post a comment. Just say hi. Share your thoughts. Post a recipe. Whatever.

I’ll be giving away a small prize package of Wallypop Enterprises (I just made that up) goodies to one lucky commentor, so comment away.