parenting

My bike and kids

The Bike-To-Work-Week gods had plans for me ... even though I don't actually work.

On Mother's Day, May 13, a wheel fell off my stroller.

Walking is my main mode of transportation, and I love it. Even with its distance limitations, pushing a stroller felt like a safe alternative to driving and less annoying than taking the bus.

My daughters, 18 months and 3, are too old for us to justify buying another stroller and too young to walk the two-mile roundtrip to downtown, the playground, or the library.

Since I gave up driving almost a year ago, I've ignored the advice of cycling advocates, both on the web and in real life, because I thought walking served my family just fine.

Now, without a stroller, it was time to buy a bike. And a trailer that hooks onto the back. And helmets. And test drive it to the downtown vegetarian coffee shop for a breakfast sandwich.

And finally this week, I strapped in the girls for a ride to the playground -- and they loved it. Why, I think, did I wait so long?

Umbra on graduation gifts

Dear Umbra, The recent question about a senior gift to the school got me wondering: what are some green gift ideas for graduates? Misty Boyd Tahlequah, Okla. Dearest Misty, Cash. You could help them set up a retirement account. With this answer, I think Grist will have covered most gifting opportunities: Valentine’s Day, weddings, babies, […]

A proclamation

I’m stealing this from Digby. Hats off you all you mothers out there — especially you, Mom! Mother’s Day Proclamation – 1870 by Julia Ward Howe Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have great questions […]

Can a mother survive without antibacterial wipes?

A few Sundays back, the newspaper seemed to spill an overwhelming number of cleaning-product coupons onto my living-room floor.

"It's like They know," my husband said. "They're on to you."

"They" are the companies selling household liquids and powders for a little spring cleaning. And the secret my husband thought they'd discovered? I had decided to purge my pine-fresh scents and 99.9 percent germ killers in favor of a few products our "great-grandparents used," as advised by green-parenting maverick MaGreen.

Countering the pro-natal propaganda wave

Lo and behold, once again doing what's best for the planet (rather than, say, advertisers or your in-laws) turns out to be also the best thing for your own happiness.

Bib you hear the one about … ?

The number one craze in Hollywood -- babies. The number two craze -- using your baby to show off your eco-grooviness.

According to the folks at Ecorazzi, OopC bibs, made from 100 percent organic cotton, are flying off the shelves and into the homes of such glitter-mamas as Gwyneth Paltrow and Tori Spelling. But, as the site rightly points out, buying a few organic bibs does not a true green celeb make:

One new Hollywood grandma who must rename nameless ordered 56 OOPCs -- that's nine for each of her six homes ...

Six homes?! Grandma's lucky she chose to remain nameless as we would be quick to blast such excess. Granted, buying 56 organic bibs is a step in the right direction.

I don't know. In my opinion, the only way buying 56 bibs is a step in the right direction is if 52 of them are being donated to some kind of mothers-in-need program.

But, hey, let me give Hollywood Grandma the benefit of the doubt. She could just be trying to help create an economy of scale for organic baby products.

Umbra on baby gifts

The first step is to know what you want.

Dare this mom to change her life

Few things are less environmentally friendly than kids.

You know it's true. They stand as examples of our populating an overpopulated planet. They need a lot of stuff, or at least that's what other parents and Babies 'R' Us tell us. And nothing says "earth hater" more than the billions of dirty diapers now calling landfills home.

But here's the thing: Before kids, I wasn't much of an environmentalist.

Umbra on plastic and kids

Hi Umbra, What about “sippy” cups for little kids, not to mention bottles? They’re all plastic, and we all know that kids are more vulnerable to environmental toxins. What’s a mom to do? Janet Byron Berkeley, Calif. Dearest Janet, A mom is to check the research and purchase only bottles and sippy cups that are […]