Is Paul Mitchell trying to kill me???

Well if he doesn't, my shower curtain will.

Back in 2001 when I was pregnant with B., I had my first realization of what certain things can, and do, do to your body. I didn't color my hair or use nail polish during any of my pregnancies. And I'm not one to believe everything I read but lately I've started to make sense of it all. Our bodies are like sponges and everything we put onto them soaks in, not to mention all the things we breathe. (ie. fumes from vinyl shower curtains) Now, I'm not gonna go ripping out my cabinets because they're made with formaldehyde (<--had to spell check that one!!) but I am going to make smarter choices and not replace my counter tops with granite because they can emit radon or buy sippy cups made with BPA. We've replaced scurvy and the plague with cancer and, well, more cancer for heaven's sake.....why continue to make those choices that'll tip that unstable scale in the wrong direction??? I may be lazy about a lot of things but this is too easy NOT to do. That said, we've made more than a few changes at our house. Ok, I made the changes and the rest of the family just lives with it. So, what have we done, you ask??? Sodium Laureth is the foaming agent in shampoos and toothpaste and is linked to cancer. And did you know it's also used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers and car wash soaps??? Bert's Bees doesn't have it so we've switched to their shampoo, conditioner, kids shampoo/wash and even their baby bee diaper ointment which also works on the baby's eczema. (Yes, Bert's Bees products are a little more expensive but the ones I've used are at least 96+% natural and the shampoo is more concentrated anyway so it lasts longer than a cheap bottle of the same size. Besides, if you're using 88 cent shampoo, you'll have 88 cent hair. Live a little why don'tcha?) There are several natural tooth pastes that don't have the Sodium Laureth either and that's on the to-do list. The FDA doesn't regulate fragrances used in products and there are many things hidden there that we're not aware of. Anti-Persperant has aluminum in it. ALUMINUM!! If I wanted aluminum in my arm pits, I'd stick a piece of tin foil under there!! Baby Powder (which is really 100% corn starch) is my alternative. (Ok, so I still sneak a swipe of my Dove on those hot, humid days) We also don't use anything with aspartame...don't EVEN get me started on people that give their kids Diet Coke!! (Or soda of ANY kind, actually) And with the birth of our newest little one came the change to buying more and more organic food which was really important since I've always made all of my own baby food. It is a little more but not that much. For the price of a delivered pizza and a 2 liter soda, we cover the cost of buying organic stuff for a month. How can you possibly argue with that? And why in the world would I want to give my kids meat that has antibiotics in it??? I KNOW...These poisons are very, very minimal but over time, they build up and trigger things I don't even want to think about. Like it says in the bible...you have to have more than just faith. I pray God's protection over my children every day but he left them in my care and it's my job to be a good steward of that responsibility. Like I'm gonna to go to Publix and look at my baby in the buggy and say "Well, honey, the organic sliced carrots are 30 cents more...sorry. But we went to Taco Bell Yesterday!!!"

It's all about choices, that's all I'm saying.

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UPDATE:

Thursday, October 9: On a trip to Trader Joes today, I was able to check the above mentioned TOOTHPASTE off of my to-do list.