Greening my routine . . . taking care of me

Welcome to the May 2014 Natural Living Blog Carnival: Green Moms.  

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Natural Living Blog Carnival hosted by Happy Mothering and Crunchy Farm Baby through the Green Moms Network. This month, our members are talking about how they take time to care for themselves. Stop by all of the posts to get green ideas on how you can take better care of yourself . 

 To be honest, I wasn't an overly green mom when my children were little. Oh sure, I cloth diapered, breastfed, and made my own baby food, but I didn't know enough about toxins to avoid them in my home. I should have known better, since I suffered from Epstein Barr Virus Syndrome and fibromyalgia which was triggered by chemical exposure, but I guess I was just too trusting. If a cleaning product was on the market, surely it was safe. Right? If detergent said it was gentle and perfect for cloth diapers, it must be. Right? If fabric softener showed a picture of a cuddly teddy bear, it must be the right choice for baby clothes. Right? Wrong. But I just didn't know. 

Don't let the smiles fool you. We were loaded with toxins!

Back in the 80s, when I was having babies, we didn't have access to the Internet the way we do now. Mamas were left on their own, reading outdated books on parenting or listening to the advice of other moms who were just as clueless. 

Besides all of that, my husband at the time worked at a chemical company and brought home all those nasty toxins five days a week. It wasn't until a couple of years before he died that a doctor determined the chemicals were the main source of my health problems and we started isolating them as much as possible. Jim took his car to work and I stopped riding in it. He did his own laundry, so the girls' and my clothing were no longer washed with his. As my exposure to the toxins from Neville Chemical Company was lessened, so were my symptoms. I regained strength in my arms and legs as I dealt with a reduction in pain. Yet, I still didn't realize the connection to the toxins I used for cleaning, laundry, and other household tasks. I cooked with Teflon. I washed windows with Windex. I whitened clothes with bleach. I let Calgon take me away . . . nearly every day. Yikes! I developed asthma when I was 27 and still didn't make the connection. 

Now I'm a grandma and my daughters are much wiser moms than I was. Their children aren't subjected to the same toxins I exposed them to. And I'm much wiser, too.

How do I take care of myself these days? While I still relish my hot baths for relaxation and relief from my fibromyalgia pain, I no longer dump a cupful of toxins in the tub. Instead, I reach for the apple cider vinegar or baking soda. When I wash my hair, a bunch of harmful chemicals no longer stream down my body. Instead, I either no poo (click here to find out what that's all about) or I use zero toxin shampoos. I've even stopped dying my hair and guess what? I'm actually liking the gray. 

What I'm not liking are the wrinkles associated with too much sunning when I was young (if you're still doing it, let me warn you, it will catch up with you). I just can't embrace those frown lines. But I also can't go the route of high-priced wrinkle creams that are loaded with carcinogens, etc. So I either reach for the coconut oil or, in recent days, I massage some moringa oil on my face and neck, hoping that someday I'll see some positive results. Either way, I'm keeping it safe and healthy, and mommas -- isn't that much more important? 

We all need pampering sometimes. But there's the safe way and the not-so-safe way. Here's hoping you choose wisely.

Keeping it toxin-free and green,

Visit Happy Mothering and Crunchy Farm Baby to learn more about participating in next month’s Natural Living Blog Carnival! Please take some time to enjoy the posts our other carnival participants have contributed: