Michelle’s Blog

So it seems anyways… with his recent comments that are directed at the Ottawa City Police force for placing the simple yellow “Support our Troops” on their cruisers.

Check out this article and this one for more details.

“We all support our troops, but that is not the debate,” he wrote. “Chief White has made it clear that these stickers show support not only for our troops, but for the mission in Afghanistan as well.”

Here is my issue with this whole deal… First of all the “Support our Troops” decals, magnets and stickers are in support of our “Troops” around the world. That’s right around THE WORLD as apparently unbenounced to some people Canada’s troops aren’t just in Afghanistan (although it is obviously the most publicized mission at the moment). With this in mind it seems blatantly obvious that a Support our Troops sticker would then in fact also show support for our “troops” in Afghanistan… just troops though as it has NOTHING to do with the mission. Seems to me that Mr. Cullen has a personal issue with the new chief of the Ottawa Police and has decided to pick his bone with him by making a political issue out of something like whether or not Support our Troops stickers also mean support for the mission in Afghanistan. I think that Chief Vernon White placed these stickers on the cruisers in good faith, afterall police officers and our military personnel are like brothers. They all serve the people of this country and why wouldn’t you have one show support for the other.

Mr. Cullen has obviously missed the point and someone should certainly remind him of the great sacrifices that “OUR” troops have made over the years. As many of these sacrifices now allow us to enjoy the freedom and the privileges we have in our Country today.

Seriously Mr. Cullen wake up! Supporting our Troops isn’t about the mission in Afghanistan it’s about showing SUPPORT for the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are members of our Canadian Military because they believe that they can make a difference thru serving our Country.

That’s right its that time of the year again…. time to grab your nursling and head out to a local mall (or venue) and nurse in public with other mothers! The Challenge is put out by the Quintessence Foundation located in BC and people across Canada and the US compete to see who can gather the most breastfeeding woman in one place. The winner is determined by the percentage of participants vs. birthrate of the area.

Here is the link to the site in Ottawa which is at St. Laurent Shopping Mall this year. Check out the Quintessence site for a location near you!!

The quick answer is NO!  I stopped at Costco yesterday very quickly to get one of their yummy Iced Mocha’s (humm, drool) and a hotdog.  So on the menu it says hotdog and pop for $1.99 (plus free refills) and iced mocha for $2.29.  I figured like most places if you order a beverage that is more money then the one being offered in the “deal’ they usually upgrade your drink for the price difference, right?  Well, not Costco….  in order to get a hotdog and mocha like I had been dreaming about all day I had to also get a pop.  Well, I guess I didn’t have to fill up the pop but dammit I paid for the darn thing so I was going to get it.  Anyways, I walked out of  Costco pushing my baby in a stroller holding two drinks and a hotdog…   I looked pretty ridiculous.  I wonder when they are going to catch up with the times…sheesh!

I purchased some Baby Bits from Punkinhead Kids an online retailer of natural parenting products. They were recommended to me by a friend who is also uses cloth diapers and wipes.

Here is the description of what exactly they are:

So basically its soap that you can either pour over some cloth wipes to have them wet for later use or you can mix up the soap solution in a spray bottle for single uses. Its a neat idea. I personally find that the recommended 1 bit for 1 cup of water is a bit much so I usually cut them in half or quarters and dissolve in water. I use distilled water and heat it up in the microwave as this helps the soap dissolve very quickly. My baby has had some bouts of a yeast rash and for these times I actually add a couple drops of tea tree oil into the water to increase the antibacterial/anti-fungal properties of the solution… works great!

The price tag of $12 CAN for about 50-60 bits is pretty good considering how many cups of solution you can get especially if you cut them in half since you are only using half of the recommended amount. Best of all, its a natural product and nothing ends up in the garbage. They smell good too… if you like lavender and tree tea oils that is!

The Bits are actually made by hand in Gainesville, Florida by a company called Soaps by Denise and by the looks of a note on the site they are so popular they can no longer accept wholesale clients, good thing Punkinhead kids is already a client of theirs.

Here is a pic of the 3oz package:

Dr. Jack Newman is the “Canadian Breastfeeding Guru” and he is no longer receiving government funding to run his clinic that helps many new mother succeed at breastfeeding their babies. This is really a sign of how sad things are for woman seeking help while learning how to nurse there babies. I for one have contacted Dr. Newman via e-mail a couple of times and he has been nothing but a great help and should be credited with helping me nurse my baby for so long. Anyways, Mom2Mom-Toronto is rallying around the clinic and raising money that will go directly to help Dr. Newman’s Clinic. Here is the press release:

Charity Fundraising Indoor Yard Sale for Dr Jack Newman’s Breastfeeding Clinic on Canadian Breastfeeding Challenge Day by MOM2MOM TORONTOCheck out the flyer for the event at this site. Not your ordinary indoor yard sale

Toronto, ON —Dr. Jack Newman established Canada’s first hospital-based breastfeeding clinic in 1984 at The Hospital for Sick Children. Soon thereafter, he opened clinics in several Toronto hospitals as the need for his expertise grew. Unfortunately, all of his hospital clinics have closed down, including the last of them at North York General Hospital last December 2005, when government funding for the programme came to an end. Thankfully, Dr. Jack Newman has found a new home for his new and sole clinic in Toronto where new and breastfeeding moms can go for help.

Today, Dr Newman, together with Ms Edith Kernerman, continues to empower mothers to achieve their own breastfeeding goals through the NEWMAN BREASTFEEDING CLINIC & INSTITUTE (NBCI) which is located in the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine Building. Since they no longer receive any government funding, they rely on the support of moms, families, and organizations such as ours.
As a breastfeeding advocate, MOM2MOM TORONTO is holding a Charity Fundraising Indoor Yard Sale for Dr. Jack Newman’s Breastfeeding Clinic in Toronto. 100% of the proceeds of the Charity Yard Sale will be going directly to the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute.

When : Saturday, September 29th 2007 10:00am-2:00pm, during Breastfeeding Challenge Day

Where : The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine Building
1255 Sheppard Avenue East (@ Leslie, near IKEA), Toronto M2K 1E2

How : We need your help and support! Here’s what we’re looking for…
Item Donations (all items collected will be sold at the sale, with the funds being collected by and going directly to the NBCI). All pre-loved baby/kids/maternity clothing, toys, books, baby equipment donations should be clean, and in good condition. To arrange drop-off of your donated items, kindly email us.

Monetary Donations
Please consider a donation to the Canadian Breastfeeding Foundation, a registered charity, and earmark the donation for the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute.

If you don’t need a charitable tax receipt, you can also forward a cheque directly to Dr Newman’s Clinic at The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. Please be sure to put “DONATION – M2M” on your cheque so they know what it is for. Donations will also be accepted at the Sale by Dr Newman’s staff.

Your presence come and shop for great deals that support a great cause! admission is FREE!Join other breastfeeding moms at the Breastfeeding Challenge 2007 and let’s make breastfeeding history together! Buy a raffle ticket or 2 (all monies to go to the Newman Clinic) and enter to win a prize from our supporters during the hourly raffle draws.

If you need more info you can contact: Dani Arnold via e-mail at daniandnick@hotmail.com or mom2momdani@gmail.com

Unfortunately I don’t live close enough to physically help out but I wish Mom2Mom-Toronto the best of luck as Dr. Newman is a man we need to keep around.

Canadian Cancer Society – The Driven to Quit Challenge

Does anyone else find this “challenge” ridiculous? I mean really… offering people the incentive to win a car to quit smoking. I say, what about those who don’t smoke? What can they win? Should I start smoking so I can quit and qualify to win a car? Seriously, I know people who smoke need all the help they can get but what about giving them free nicotine gum or something. At least that is something a non-smoker like myself wouldn’t care about not qualifying to win.

Oh, and if the person who won starts smoking again do they take the car away? Doesn’t actually seem like they would since the rules actually state:

“8. All participants must quit smoking by March 1, 2007 and remain smoke-free until March 30, 2007.
9. Smoke-free means no use of tobacco products of any kind. Participants are permitted to use nicotine replacement therapies (e.g. medications, gum or inhaler) and/or a doctor’s prescription to help you quit.
13. To verify smoke-free status, the potential winner will be asked to take a urine test.”

OK, so smoke-free actually means not smoking for a month and then you can have a car. How about having your “buddy” take the urine test for you. Seriously, I would like to see I better contest that doesn’t exclude a good portion of the population…. the part of the population that was smart enough to not smoke in the first place. Here is my challenge to you Canadian Cancer Society… I want a car for eating Cancer fighting veggies everyday!

Since Kim at Montana’s Diaper Store did not replace two of my diapers with defective elastics I decided to whip out my sewing machine and fix the darn things myself. Quite frankly I should have just done this from the start and avoided the weeks without my diapers and of course the shipping costs of sending them back to Montana.

I first looked up how to replace the elastics in Fuzzi Bunz diapers since I remembered reading on the Fuzzi Bunz Corporate Site how they suggested to do it. Its pretty simple; “With a seam ripper, gently unstitch the seam that encases the elastic in the legs. Turn the Fuzzi Bunz inside out. Where the original elastic started, re-sew new elastic in with a sewing machine by pulling gently on the elastic while sewing with a zig zag stitch.”

I was surprised however that when I turned my Pocket Change Diaper inside out that the snaps were actually holding parts of the seam down making it very hard to get the whole thing out. Here is a pic of what I am taking about:

The snaps on this diaper are holding the seam down for the casing that holds the elastic I needed to replace.

It was much worst on one diaper but I managed to work around it by just taking a seam ripper to the ends of the elastic casing where the elastic is attached.

To my surprise the elastics I took out of the diapers looked like they had been around for years. They were stretched and parts of the elastic were falling off. Here is a pic of the two elastics I replaced… looks like good quality, eh? And apparently completely acceptable for 3-6 months use.

So now after much hassle and wasted money I now have 6 pocket change diapers with elastics that are working…. for now that is. This saga will probably continue…

I originally ordered 6 Pocket Change Diapers from Montana’s Diaper Store after a friend ordered some and said they looked like a super deal. They are new to the market and came with 2 inserts for about $18 US which is pretty good considering we bought some Fuzzi Bunz in Canada for about $24 CAN (with hemp inserts). We had some issues with them that were posted on Jeff’s blog – check out Pocket Change Diaper Disappointment but the story continues….

After receiving the new exchanged diapers I was pleased to have the diapers back and looked forward to putting the quality issues we had with the first batch behind us. BUT, this was not the case. Within another month or so I noticed that the diapers were loosing their elastics in either the front or back, this included the new and older diapers. I contacted Kim at Montana’s Diaper Store a month or so after and she said that she would exchange the diapers as they “are always concerned anytime there is a defect in our product”. I was pleased (again) that she would make good on a bad product. I spent $8.60 CAN to send 4 diapers back to her. One had no front or back elastic left, one had no front elastic and 2 had some elastic left but were on their last days. And so we waited to get the new diapers back….

I received the diapers back about a month later and was shocked to find out that she had decided to only replace 2 of the diapers as the other two looked fine for having been used for 6 months. Funny thing about all this is that the 2 that she didn’t replace were from the first set that I sent back so they had technically only been in use for 3 months. Here is a pic of what she considered acceptable wear for 6 months of use.

The Diaper on the left is new (never washed or worn) and the diaper on the right had been used for 3 months. The stretched elastic on the white diaper is considered acceptable wear by the retailer.