The Holiday Season is upon us! It’s a time when families and friends get together to enjoy tasty

treats and exchange gifts. Here are some green tips to help you get through this season.

With all the gatherings and parties going on, cleaning is a big concern. Here is a link to a very

practical 4-minute video that demonstrates inexpensive non-toxic household cleaning practices.

Made by Jeanne McLaughlin, a graduate of the Institute for Bau-Biologie in Florida.

http://www.youtube.com/v/hjCtd1qcU9M

If you are seeking BPA- phthlate- and lead-free gifts, check out GoodGuide.com, a BETA-version

website being developed to rank “safe, healthy & green” toys and personal care products.

http://www.goodguide.com/  

For some creative ideas about making your holiday season greener, check out the tips in The

Mommy Files compiled by Amy Graff in her blog.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/index

For San Francisco residents only:

When it’s time to purge the big stuff that cannot be reused or recycled, San Francisco residents can

call SF Recycling / Sunset Scavenger. They offer to collect up to 10 bulky items for free, twice a

year. Broken furniture, appliances, old TVs — check their website for what’s allowed, or give them a

call at 415 331-1300 for details.

http://www.sfrecycling.com/residential/bulkyitems.php?t=r

There are planes – and then there are private jets.

There are cars – and then there are Bentleys.

There are houses – and then there are mansions.

There are strollers…

And then there is
Mutsy!

Super chic, super sleek, and oh-so-indulgent, never before has there been such a posh stroller!

European design is just one of the fantastic things about this wonderful stroller. Your little one will be the center of attention in this one-of-a-kind experience. Now, if I sound over excited, I am – simply put, The Mutsy Urban Next is just too cute for words and definitely a conversation starter!

Pros:

• Amazingly smooth ride – large, easy-swivel tires make any terrain a snap (the stroller comes with a second set of smaller wheels, but I prefer to leave on the bigger ones)
• Stands upright when folded – easy to maneuver folding means less time fussing with folding and more time with baby!
• Wheels easily remove – with one-handed removal, this feature makes Mutsy all the better for quick storage
• The Mutsy Sitter turns your seat into a wonderful, detached seat for your little boy or girl.
• Soft, Graspable Leather Handle
• Lots of accessories, including bassinette, hard-shell backpack, Eskimo muff (which is just too cute and warming!), rain cover and many more.

Cons:

• It seems larger than other strollers – tight turns or small grocery store aisles may pose a problem
• It can appear weighty for some – at around 25 lbs for the stroller alone, it can be considered by some heavy duty.

If you’re in the market for a stroller and you like that modern European stroller look, then Mutsy is the stroller of your dreams. Combining functionality and charm, it will never fail to impress and charm onlookers.

To purchase, please visit www.goores.com

Great Dad Readers, receive 10% off of your order by using code “gdmu” at checkout

In our careful watch to ensure our baby slept on his back to avoid SIDS, our newborn son started to develop a flat head. While only a cosmetic concern, our pediatrician recommended we put him on his side while sleeping to mitigate the potential problem. The challenge was, our active son actually rolled over by himself at 1 week, so was not likely to stay on his side.
We found the Symmetry Sleep Positioner useful to keep him on his side (and rotated sides). In the months before he was able to really move on his own, we place him in the SSP within his crib, and he slept comfortably. The device stopped being useful once he could roll himself off of it, but by then he was moving enough that the flat head syndrome was not an issue.
While we never used the caliper to actually measure change, the improvement was visible.

There are active ways to go green, and then there are things you can just set up. Growing plants and trees is a good way to help clean the air.

Some plants are excellent at cleaning pollution from indoor air. Which ones do the best job? Dr. Bill Wolverton has published the efforts of his team of researchers at NASA to answer that question. His inexpensive, well-illustrated, and extremely practical book is called “How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office.”
These plants absorb toxic chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene which are commonly used in the production of clothing, furniture, mattresses, carpets, plastics, and printing.
One healthy plant can clean a 100 sq ft room of 87% of these contaminants in 24 hours. (Hint: the Rubber Plant and Peace Lily are star performers.)
Get more context with these links:
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/Plants/clean.htm
http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm

Dads can be hard to be buy for, but nothing is better than getting a gift from your kids that they made themselves. Here are two simple ideas that kids can easily make in time for holidays. Not only that, but the first is energy efficient!

1. A tie snake - With cold weather seeping in through every door and window, make a snake draft blocker using a colorful old tie filled with polypropylene pellets, or even dried beans (make sure they don’t get wet). Sew up both ends and you have a very long snake. If you want to go the extra distance, make it into a snake-looking object by sewing on eyes, and gluing on a red felt tongue.

2. A silk muscle-warmer made out of a tie.

Fill the tie instead with rice and you have a silky soft and heatable pad for sore muscles, keeping warm in the car, or to drape over your eyes during a nap. Microwave for 2-3 minutes and the rice will stay arem for up to two hours.

Thanks to Make Dad a Tie Snake for Christmas at Mommyland for this tip.

Buckle up – it’s the law! And not just for you, either – babies in every state are required to be placed in a rear-facing car seat. So you have to juggle between convenience and safety (not to mention how it looks!). You look, you compare, and you search high and low. But you may never find one as good as Safety 1st ’s onBoard™ car seat.

OnBoard™ manages to combine functionality, safety, and a sweet, sophisticated look all into o ne affordable package. And Safety First is a well-known household name when it comes to baby items (I have more than several myself!)

The Good:

• Spacious – as baby sits comfortably snuggled inside, you rest assured knowing that he won’t soon outgrow the car seat.
• Leave behind base – keeping the base securely in place in the car means not only convenience, but peace of mind that fewer mistakes can be made in the buckling.
• EEP Foam – I call it the “super shock absorber stuff” and I can safely say my baby doesn’t know what it is, but he is very appreciative!

The Bad:

• Handle – not the easiest thing to move up and down, but I’ve only done it once; 99% of the time it stays up anyway.

With a superior name in baby care and a positive, strong record in safety, the Safety 1st onBoard™ car seat is a sound investment. Not only is it good for your little tykes, but parents will find the stay-in-car base and the knowledge of the child’s safety among the most important attributes.

Well, sorta… Excite Books (ExciteBooks.com) is a subscription book service that sends books monthly to your child, along with a few extra toys and goodies to keep him or her interested. Packages start at $4.95 per month and books are selected based on grade level and sex of child.

ExciteBooks is the brainchild of Austin George, a commercial pilot, who has always had a commitment to education. Before founding Excite Books, George volunteered as a motivational speaker in schools, where he was often surprised at the lack of books in the school library. George created Excite Books to “add excitement and energy into a child’s reading activities by allowing the child to be an active participant in all phases of learning and development through responsibility, motivation, and giving back to the community.”

A key element of the Excite Books program is a large plastic return prepaid envelope so you can send used or unwanted books back at the end of twelve months. Unfortunately, you can not use the bag to send all of your extra books to the chosen school since postage weight has already been determined.

Plans are available at a $4.99, $9.99 and $14.95 (one, two and three books per month) levels and comes with an “excitement guarantee.” If the books aren’t interesting to the child, he’ll refund the purchase price. Each package is engineered to excite a child, starting with the red metallic envelope. Three-book subscribers also get added educational activities.

Our sample package had books that immediately interested both my four and eight year olds, though they might not have been books they would have personally picked. This looks like a fun gift from faraway grandparents that want to foster the joy of reading in a small child, but can’t be there to help buy books on a regular basis. The price is right, the message is good, and as parents suffering always from too much clutter, we like the option of easily sending the books to schools that need them.

We introduced our eight year old early to musical and romantic comedies and she quickly replaced Disney with great directors like William Wyler, Vincente Minnelli, and George Cukor. We may be creating an incurable romantic, but these movies have the big advantage of having no profanity and in general, very few “questionable” situations.” And if they do, they are usually so subtle, that kids don’t even notice them.

Two of her favorites, Roman Holiday and Sabrina, just came out in new DVD

“Roman Holiday - The Centennial Collection” (William Wyler)

“Sabrina - The Centennial Collection” (Billy Wilder)

We’ve written before about the books 365 Days and Just Do It. Our advice was to buy them and leave them where “someone” might see them, give them a read, and hopefully pick up the challenge at the same time.

A week after the Rev. Ed Young challenged husbands and wives among his flock of 20,000 to strengthen their unions through Seven Days of Sex, his advice was — keep it going.

Mr. Young, an author, a television host and the pastor of the evangelical Fellowship Church, issued his call for a week of “congregational copulation” among married couples on Nov. 16, while pacing in front of a large bed. Sometimes he reclined on the paisley coverlet while flipping through a Bible, emphasizing his point that it is time for the church to put God back in the bed.

“Today we’re beginning this sexperiment, seven days of sex,” he said, with his characteristic mix of humor, showmanship and Scripture. “How to move from whining about the economy to whoopee!”

[From Pastor’s Advice for Better Marriage - More Sex - NYTimes.com]

Now here’s a pastor who has an idea that might entice a lot of dads back to church.

Here is more information on eliminating what appears to be the worst plastic in your drawer: BPA or Bisphenol-A.

BPA is a chemical compound used to make polycarbonate plastic. BPA has been linked to cancer, infertility, obesity, and diabetes. In animal studies, BPA has been found to cause the early onset of puberty and stimulate mammary gland development in females (Richter et al., (2007) Reprod. Tox, Vol 24(2) p. 199).

Common items containing BPA are plastic food containers, reusable water bottles, baby bottles, and the linings of canned foods. These are usually marked with plastic number “7″. The “7″ identifies “other” plastics including all BPA-based items.

How can you reduce exposure to BPA without overly inconveniencing your family life?

1) Avoid microwaving plastic containers, which may cause BPA to break down and leach out more.

2) Avoid washing plastic containers in the dishwasher or with harsh detergents, which can also cause BPA to break down and leach out more. Hand wash them instead with a mild detergent.

3) Switch to BPA-free plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, and water bottles. Look for plastics marked “1″ containing Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) which is considered safe.

4) Use wax paper instead of plastic wrap, especially when microwaving. If you must use plastic wrap,look for brands that are BPA-free such as Ziploc, Glad and Saran.

To learn more about BPA and plastics:

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/300/11/1353

http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/03/bpa-questions-answered.htm

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/hiddendangers/a/0108_env_chmcls.htm

Thanks to the French American International School in San Francisco for this information and links.

We’ve been working on trying to throw out as much plastic as we can. We just got this set of Pyrex storage bowls - $29.95 at Amazon to replace all those old tupperware style plastic containers since microwaving and heating plastics appears to be the worst thing you can do. We still have not figured out how to send food to school with our four-year-old since glass will break and everything else will likely get lost within a week. Plastic is disposable and low cost, difficult benefits to give up.