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Bring Your Own Bag.  I have been working on this.  I have an array of reusable shopping bags now, and I am starting to remember them before I leave my driveway.  So, even though I often have to run back in the house to grab them, at least I’m getting to the store with them on a regular basis.  The other day, I was at my least favorite, least-progressive grocery store, Price Chopper, which is unfortunately the grocery nearest our house.  The store has a paltry selection of organic items, including almost no organic produce.  And I think they are one of the last hold-outs to begin selling reusable shopping bags in their stores (at least I haven’t seen any).  Unfortuantely this was one of the times that I had forgotten my bags.  However, I consoled myself by analyzing my small cartload of items, thinking I could get by with only two or three bags, which I would recycle.*  The vacant teenager bagging my groceries then proceeded to segregate my items as though they might quarrel if they were placed in close quarters.  Spaghetti sauce got a bag all to itelf.  So did a loaf of bread.  A six-pack carton of eggs?  All alone in the bottom of a bag.  SIX bags total.  I was speechless, appalled.  I vowed that even their special on cherries for $2.69/lb would not bring me back to this store.

I have high praise for our Hy-Vee store, however.  They have a pretty wide selection of organics, including an entire aisle of produce, plus a “Health Market” section where you can find natural peanut butter and Lily’s organic Bunny Grahams.  And they have organic store brand items — lots of them.  Plus they have been selling reusable shopping bags for a long time now, and they credit you five cents per bag for using them.  And, they carry our very favorite local dairy hormone-free milk products, Shatto, which come in yummy flavors and fab glass bottles.  So, despite the extra gas to get to the store a few more miles away, I think my purchases more than offset the carbon impact.

Anyway, back to the bags.  A friend sent me a Power Point slide presentation that really hit home for me.  I think it was the photos of various wildlife creatures entrapped or ingesting plastic grocery bags that stuck in my mind most.  I think too often we Americans are so short-sighted.  We use the bags by the dozens, maybe we remember to take them back to the store to recylce a few, maybe we repurpose one to bring wet swimsuits home from the pool.  And that’s that.  The truth is, those bags are going to be around for a LONG time, and we’re not the ones who will suffer the most.  Plastic bags have already been banned or are in the process of being banned in a number of countries.  How long will it take for Americans to sacrifice the ease of their disposable lifestyles?

Please take a few minutes to download and watch the slide presentation below.  Maybe it will help you remember your cloth bags on your next grocery store trip.

*On recylcing plastic bags:  I was surprised to learn that this isn’t really the feel-good solution I thought it was.  It takes more energy and costs more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one, which isn’t exactly an incentive for companies to recycle.  See details in the slide show. 

The Dangers of Plastic Bags

I deliberated about blogging about today, since it is certainly not a proud moment in motherhood for me.  But I decided that, if I only write about the happy-go-lucky events of our lives, the blog would only represent a partial truth.  The truth is, I feel like a terrible mother today.

Lily fell down the stairs.  An entire flight.  Before I go further, let me say that she seems nearly completely unscathed, except for a temporary lump on her head that has already disappeared.  I was cutting corners, trying to save myself a few minutes by not moving the gate from the bottom of the stairs to the top.  I was only going to quickly change into my gym clothes, and I always try to keep close tabs on her upstairs, as it is not completely baby-proofed.  I turned to the closet for the briefest of moments — isn’t that always when accidents happen, in the blink of an eye? — and when I looked up she had toddled out of the room.  I called out to her and flew to the hallway, just in time to see her lean forward at the top of the stairs and go.  I told Bill later that it looked like a scene from a bad TV movie, where they cut from live action to a phony-looking doll tossed and tumbling down the stairs.  That image will stay with me for awhile…forever, likely.  Pink and orange pajama-clad baby, just out of reach.

At some point I screamed, screamed for Bill, feeling powerless to stop the chain of events.  I think the gate at the bottom of the stairs helped break her fall, which would have been directly onto the hardwood floor.  She immediately started crying, which was a relief, really, because it meant she was conscious.  I scooped her up, Bill appeared, we checked her over.  I was traumatized, but Lily didn’t even cry as loudly as she typically does when I try to put her in her carseat.  Within five minutes she was recovered and on her way, though the bump on the back of her head urged me to call her pediatrician’s office.  The nurse assured me that: a) it sounded like Lily was fine, and b) I was not the worst mother in the world.  She said they frequently get similar calls.  Not much consolation, frankly.

So that’s our first major trauma.  It scares me to imagine that it won’t be the last.  It is a lesson in humility, a reminder that you can never be too careful, and a sign of things to come as we attempt to usher our little risktaker through the toddler years.  Lord, grant me strength.

I have Baby Einstein videos to thank for this gem.  Do I think my daughter is going to turn out bilingual because of the videos?  No.  Does she view them with rapt attention, immediately calmed at the toughest time of day — dinner hour?  Sí.  And they do provide some comedy for the adults, too.  I guess “tuffet” does not have a Spanish equivolent.

Poor Lily is still fighting this nasty respiratory virus.  I’m guessing it’s viral, since the perscribed antibiotic did nothing.  Bill has been suffering with it as well, and I’ve had a less virulent case.  So it’s been a whole lot of no fun for going on two weeks around here.  No gym, since I can’t take Lil to the gym child care, and no weekly visits to the two great-grandmas, since we certainly can’t risk exposing them.  And with the late summer weather getting increasing inhospitable around here, we are kind of gloomy Gusses.

On an optimistic note, the Napa trip is booked!  Well, the airfare at least, courtesy of credit card rewards points.  When Bill and I were in wedding planning mode six years ago, we opened the new credit card to use for wedding expenses.  Now, for our five-year anniversary, we have enough points saved up to fly us to San Francisco for free.  Maybe by our 10-year we can fly free to revisit Hawaii!  I’m a little worried about leaving the Lily-bug for four whole days, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to put that aside and thoroughly enjoy the gorgeous scenery and relaxing time to be just a couple again.  Let’s see…picturesque landscapes, great food, wine, sleeping late, spa treatments…we may just manage to enjoy it!

We finally received our new camera in the mail, and I had a chance to try it out today.  I have been dying to get a picture of Lily with her newest style — pigtails!  I’m actually getting pretty quick with them, too, in an attempt to minimize the frustration on the part of both mom and baby.  At any rate, it is so worth it.  She looks so adorable, and they make her look like such a big girl!  So here are a few quick pics of Lily in pigtails, followed by a video of nothing in particular, just wanted to catch the pigtails in action.

I’m back from a fabulous weekend of celebrating my friend Cynthia and her expected twins.  The shower came together beautifully, which was no small feat as it was a joint effort spanning KC, STL, and Memphis.  We gathered in Robyn’s gorgeous new home (with new paint colors that matched our shower theme perfectly!)  We served the requisite chicken salad on croissants, green salad with fruit and walnuts, cheese torte assortment with crostini, and crudite.  Our signature cocktail for the event was a delish white cranberry juice and champagne.  We decorated with dozens of bright gerber daisies and bowls of M&M’s.  The best part was the cupcakes, from The Cupcakery in St. Louis — they were a big hit!  I was in charge of invitations and favors, so Bill created the design from my description, and I handled assembly.  Here are some pics of the event. 

        Here are all of the Sigma sista’s from days of yore: me, Hilary, Cynthia, Janelle, Jenn, and Paige. We were missing a few of the out-of-towners, but they were with us in spirit!  Cynthia was a trooper, considering she is 32 weeks pregnant…with twins…in JULY.

Unfortunately, I started coming down with Lily’s sickness the day of the shower, but it has been mild — just a sore throat so far.  And Lily is hopped up on antibiotics and Motrin so, after a peak fever of 103 on Friday night, she has been recovering.  She seems much more like herself now, except she has a constantly runny nose and has been sleeping A LOT more than usual (a three hour nap this morning?  Followed by another hour nap this afternoon??  Who is this baby?)  Glad to see her back to her normal stinkpot self.

P.S.  To my STL friends who I did NOT get a chance to visit — I’m so sorry!  I desperately wanted to see you and the baby, but I was in the West Boonies of St. Louis, a good hour from downtown, and it was a hectic weekend.  We hope we can connect with you guys soon!

It’s been busy around here, and I don’t have much time even now.  I picked up a temporary work gig — working two days a week during the summer school session at Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired.  It has been nice to feel like a physical therapist again, not just a mommy, but I have a tough time feeling like I am striking a comfortable balance between work and home.  The days I’ve worked I have raced home to start dinner, gotten Lily off to bed, cleaned up after dinner, and collapsed on the couch exhausted and feeling like I hardly saw my baby girl all day.  I’m sure this is a familiar feeling to my friends who are moms and routinely work outside the home.  At any rate, it’s not a feeling I think I can get used to, so I am looking forward to the close of summer school (one more week).

Also, Lily is sick.  This child has never really been sick — just a runny nose from time to time when she’s teething — so this is new to us as well.  She has a cold and upper repiratory gunk, plus a low-grade fever.  She clearly does not feel like herself, but she doesn’t want to just rest quietly, so she wanders around the house whining much of the time.  It is tough not being able to help her.  She doesn’t want to be cuddled, and she’s far from clingy; she’s just listless.

Finally, I have to get going to St. Louis today for my friend Cynthia’s baby shower that I am hosting with a couple of other friends this weekend!  I have been looking forward to this for a loooooong time — since the babies (yes, I said “babies!”) were just a twinkle in Cynthia’s and Scott’s eyes.  So I’m off to pack up the car and get a move on.  I hate to be leaving Lily when she is sicky, but she will be in wonderful hands with Bill caring for her.  No one knows how to take care of the ill and infirm like Bill.  He will likely make her a “nest” on the couch and ply her with juice and a Baby Einstein video.

My next post will more than likely be from my own sick bed, as I can’t imagine I will avoid catching whatever bug Lily has, with all the nose wiping and getting sneezed on.  Here’s hoping I at least get through this weekend with my health — it’s going to be a busy one!