Monthly Archives: August 2007

Green When You’re in a Wedding

My sister is getting married next weekend. Second wedding for both, but they’re planning quite a party, I think in part because my sister’s first wedding was, shall we say, less than what she wanted. They eloped.

Since I’m just a bridesmaid, I have little say in most of what is going on, and traditional weddings are pretty hard to make green anyhow. But I am thinking on what I can do for my part.

My sister gave us some wonderful flexibility in some ways. She wanted all the bridesmaids to wear different color and style dresses. But did she ever stress over the selection of dresses. Really had to fight for the one I got, and I really hope to wear it again. My husband’s first comment was that he’d love to make an excuse for me to wear it again. So that’s hopeful.

Then again, I have two other formal dresses I kept just in case I could wear them again. One really did get worn more than once. I would have loved to use either for this wedding, but let’s just say that having two kids does terrible things to the hips. The poor dresses just don’t fit anymore. My 5 year old now has her eye on them, though.

Of course, an alternative to having that dress sit in the closet is to donate or resell it. Formal dresses can be reused by other people too. Continue reading →

So Glad I Didn’t Get the Laptop Lunches Box Now

The delights of parenthood! My dear, darling daughter managed to lose her lunchbox already. This would be day 2 of kindergarten. Really makes me glad I didn’t get the Laptop Lunches box.

lunch bag

The school has a lost and found, but it hasn’t turned up there yet. The custodian said she’d keep an eye out since sometimes these just get given to the wrong teacher.

That’s the whole thing, including the containers inside her box. Plus her head band, which her grandparents had just bought on Tuesday and that really does help to keep her hair out of her face during class. But I know my daughter, and she just likes having her hair lose. She says she doesn’t look like the real Ariel with her hair pulled back. Which is funny since it’s been pulled back most days since she had enough hair to pull back.

I took her television and computer privileges, which I had previously warned her would be the consequence for losing her lunch things at school. This, of course, started because on day 1 she lost the ice pack to her lunch.

Much as I hate to, it looks like time for disposables until she’s responsible. Makes more sense than buying new constantly. But I’m going to tell her to keep her things so that she can show me that she’s not losing them. Have to have her teacher’s cooperation, I assume, but what else to do?

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School Lunches – Here Goes!

Tomorrow my daughter starts kindergarten. Yes, the big day is just about here.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how to pack her lunch. It’s one of the few things that I have control about how green it is when it comes to school (yes, we walk there). And I’ve been wanting the Laptop Lunches from ReusableBags.com because it just makes so much sense to me. But a bit pricey on my current budget. Tough being a stay at home mom, and all that.

I finally found an adequate alternative at my local Target. It’s called a Lock & Lock with removeable trays. I had wanted the Fit & Fresh Lunch on the Go, but that wouldn’t fit in the lunch box my daughter already has, and I am NOT buying a new lunch box when the old one is just fine. I’ll admit the Laptop Lunches probably would have replaced it, but in the $20 range so I figured I could take a look locally and see if I could get something similar cheaper. At about $3-4 each, my Lock & Lock trays will certainly do the job.

These are much smaller than the Laptop Lunches, but then we are talking about a kindergartener’s appetite. For that it should hold enough. Continue reading →

Green Keep Cool Ideas for the Family

It’s hot today where I live. 98 degrees F, and a warming trend expected for next week.

As you can probably imagine, my kids aren’t too interested in playing outside, unless it’s in the kiddie pool, and I’d rather let the sun get a bit lower in the sky before we do that, just to avoid sunburns and heat exhaustion. My kids tan well, but I burn very easily.

sunglasses

Today we’ve been having to come up with ways to stay fairly cool indoors. I’ve resorted to using the air conditioner. It’s set to around 80-82, not that it gets that low in here in this weather. I covered the windows that allow the most heat in so they have a little more insulation too. That makes a wonderful difference.

But the hardest thing is keeping the kids busy without just plopping them in front of the television.

Started out by making them a tent out of the couch cushions. Great fun for them, at least an hour’s creative play. Continue reading →