Parental Rights on Progressive Parenting

On tomorrows show we will be discussing Parental Rights with Will Estrada he is;

A homeschool graduate from Pennsylvania and the eldest of eight children, Will began working for Home School Legal Defense Association in January, 2004 as a legal assistant to Staff Attorney Scott Woodruff. After graduating from Oak Brook College of Law with his J.D., he moved to HSLDA's Federal Relations department to serve as HSLDA’s federal lobbyist. As HSLDA’s representative on Capitol Hill, Will uses his passion for homeschooling to advocate for all homeschoolers before Congress and the federal departments. In October, 2007, Will took over as the director of Generation Joshua, a division of HSLDA, where he works with young people who are passionate about making a difference in politics, along with continuing to serve as HSLDA's federal lobbyist. Will and his wife, Rachel, also a homeschool graduate as well as an accomplished portrait artist, reside in northern Virginia.

Feel free to call in during the show with questions. 559-266-8888

Circumcision

Mommy Matters Online and Progressive Parenting Radio Show feel very strongly about parents having informed consent, before making important decisions regarding their health. We do not set out to make parents feel bad about their choices, our only intent is to help new parents find out what their options are before making tough decisions and to let them know they are not alone. Our doctor told us, when we asked about circumcision, that "it doesn't hurt the baby and why wouldn't we want the baby to look like his father? That was all the information we received. Luckily we didn't have to make a decision as our second child was a girl. We are about to have a third child and do not know the sex of the baby, and one of our relatives asked me if we were going to or not and when I said no they were surprised. So I thought now would be a good time to blog about this topic again. For more information on where MOST doctors stand on this topic go to www.nocirc.org and click on doctors opposing circumcision Genital integrity Statement. Regarding the following video: Be sure to watch part 1 first, wait a second and when it says part 1 click on the video and it will play. Part 2 is a bit graphic, but so is the procedure.

Find out what some other moms think about the topic regarding both sides of the debate by clicking on the Momversations video.

Today On Progressive Parenting: RAW MILK! Amazing New Discovery, Or Long Lost Friend?

Our friends Mark and Blain from Organic Pastures stopped by today to talk about the health benefits of Raw Milk.

According to OPDC's website, Organic Pastures produces Grade A, 100% pasture grazed raw milk of super premium quality. The Company has been recognized repeatedly in independent NFO (National Farmers Organization) tests as having the best milk taste of the dairies surveyed.

But it doesn't just taste great, it's good for you! Raw milk is alive with probiotics that are great for your digestive system. I'm a lactavist and I'm ashamed that I never put together in my mind, the fact that breast milk is raw milk too. I wouldn't dream of cooking or heating my own milk before giving it to my baby so why would I drink cooked milk? I fact, according to their site, question number 6 on their FAQs page says, "What happens to bacteria in pasteurized milk after pasteurization?
After pasteurization, bacteria found naturally in milk are killed. During the high temperature heating process, cell bodies of these bacteria are ruptured and their contents are spilled, releasing intracellular proteins. This causes many milk drinkers to suffer histamine or allergic reactions. Almost all of these same consumers can drink raw milk and not have allergies. The high levels of bacteria permitted in milk intended for pasteurization are still found in pasteurized milk; they are just dead and not removed by the process.

We've never tried raw milk at home before but we will this weekend after learning more about it today. I hope I see you out at Farmers Market on Saturday out at Blackstone and Shaw. We've been eating their butter, and I even tried the Keifer it makes great smoothies, (for Keifer smoothie recipes see my blog at www.ning.com/mommymattersonline.com) but now I'm going for the milk now. I'm going to ease into it, as I've never been a big milk drinker, but as it turns out I'm more intolerant of pasteurization than I am lactose. Who knew, well, you do, now.

I think the best part of today's show was just hanging out with Mark and Blaine. This was my first visit with Mark, but i had the pleasure of meeting Blaine before out at Clovis Community Hospital where she is a labor and delivery nurse. They're both beautiful folks and both took turns holding my baby girl Charlie during the show. They said they'd come back soon and share more in the future. I can't wait!

Special time! Or, The Fifteen Minute Save

Night time has proven to be the hardest adjustment for me since the baby was born. My oldest is six and the middle child is three, she poses a few more challenges as she has Downs Syndrome. It's hard to tell how she feels about her new baby sister Charlie. Between 5pm and 9pm every night the girls would be on full blown all out mood swing mania. Between diaper changing and breastfeeding and tantrums a-minute I was losing it. My husband works at night so giving myself a 'time out' is out of the question when I lose it. So, what to do? 

Thankfully I had a postpartum doula my third week postpartum. She suggested I try the fifteen minute method. Essentially I spend fifteen minutes with each child, during this time they get my full attention. This meant the time I let Ava sit in my lap when I'm trying to meet my deadline for an article with the Undercurrent wasn't up to snuff. No, they would each get undivided-I'm-here-just-for-you-time. She said it was very important refer to our 15 minutes as Special Time. She said it was important to use a timer to minimize whining when our 15 minutes was up.

I am so amazed at what a difference this half hour makes in our routine. Sure we still have someone breakdown once in a while, but mainly they're pretty content after getting in-your-face-just-me-and-you-isn't-this-special-time-with me. Don't we all need that kind of time with the people that mean the most to us? My next move in trying to improve my life will be trying to convince my husband to do the fifteen minute save with me.

Peace My Children Peace

My husband and I fight over sleep constantly. I recently had a baby, my third and I complain every day about how beat I am. You would think this complaint  understandable, right? Well, I guess it's more complicated than that. You see, I should sleep when the baby sleeps, but this is mostly during the day, when my husband thinks I should be working on the site blog etc. He believes I should be asleep when the older girls nod off at about 9pm. However, this is the only time no one is tugging on mom. The "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! echo has just subsided and I can focus and hunker down and get things done. My darling husband insists that this time is for me to sleep. If I take his advice, I would sleep most of the day that he needs me as a team mate. The baby sleeps from 5:30 am till 8:30ish. This is the time I'm helping get the girls up and dressed while he makes his mad crazy yummy breftast, (that is not a typo it is how my 6 year old says breakfast.) You see the conflict yes? The sleep deprivation keeps me from being able to make a clear, logical argument to my husband. So, while he is sleeping, he passed out re-tucking night-terror-Ava back in bed, I will catch up on my duties and pick up a sock or two on my way back to bed. Is it wrong that I look the most fondly at my children when they are sleeping? If it is, please don't tell me.