A Handy Organic Marketing Guide

Today, I am lucky to come upon a blog (by a mom too) and her label of "green living tips" has caught my attention. By reading through it, I am intrigued by the title of "The Dirty Dozen" as well as "Clean 15" and the small piece of printed sheet which displays images of some veggies and fruits. What are they?

Thanks to a crafter cum a mom, Heidi Kenney (her site The Paper Crane) who creates the cheat sheet in such a colourful and pocket-size format. It provides a simple guide to help shoppers to choose which kinds of veggie/fruit to buy organic and which kinds are safer (of low pesticide level) to buy if non-organic.

Ashamed. I seldom buys organic veggie and fruit nowadays (since this year). But I feel much better when I find out that my boy's favourite kinds of veggie/fruit mostly belong to the "Clean 15". Even for apple and pear, we peel the skin off before he consumes.

Stop This... Baby is so fragile!

Last Sunday, I read a sad story about a mother whose 8-months baby girl has been diagnosed as "Shaken Baby Syndrome" (SBS). What is this? It's a serious brain hemorrhage caused by a rough and repeated shakes on a young child (especially the infants) in back and forth motion (whiplash). Infants are not strong enough to control their neck muscles and therefore the vigorous "shakes" may rupture the blood vessels and cause bruising to the brain. Just imagine what happen to an egg's yolk when you shake the egg non-stop.

Long time ago, I happened to see a father playing a dangerous game with his little baby. How dangerous it was? Holding his baby up in the air and suddenly throwing him up a bit (I can't tolerate even it's just "a bit")... then catching him back into arms. The little baby just laughed off whenever his father "saved" him from the throw. Oh no, I couldn't bear to watch this and swear to stop anyone who does it onto my baby. Importantly, we should convey the "dangerous" message to surrounding people (our parents, relatives, maids and babysitters).
Some ways to prevent the risk (SBS):
(1) Educate the risk of SBS.
(2) Send baby to another if you doubt about the caregivers' abilities to look after. (Hot-tempered, Lack of sleep, drunk or on drug)
(3) Check the caregivers background. (Many SBS victims are found to be abused)
(4) Don't play too rough with baby.
(5) Don't shake baby when he's unconscious due to swallowing/ vomiting/ falling/ difficult breathing. Send baby to the nearest hospital immediately.

My Little Tot Was Hit By HFMD

Last friday, I got a call from my tot's English Learning Centre about one case of HFMD (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease) and one diagnose of suspected H1N1 in the past two weeks. As I just returned from overseas, any local news, small or big was totally out-of-my-mind. Coincidentally my boy missed a class last Sunday. Should I let him attend the class this sunday although the whole centre has been sanitized?

I brought my boy to the class as usual. But it's so unusual when we reached the classroom. Only my boy came for the class. Teacher confided me that I could leave him with her. So I waited at the reception but sms my hubby about this matter. My hubby replied and he asked me to reconsider the safety issue. Our boy had been hospitalised twice due to the lungs infection. Well, since we were there and he's the only student in the class, I gave it a green light.

OMG... I was wrong. After three days, he was confirmed infected with mild HFMD which rashes spotted in the throat.
Monday, he could drink milk and eat porridge. Until evening, he refused to take dinner. I could feel his body was warmer (tested 38.2). I gave him the fever syrup and started to worry about the influenza. But I observed that he just had mild fever and no appetite. No sneezing or coughing and no flu.
Tuesday, I noticed that his fever went down after the dosage. Still he refused to eat solid food, only asked for water and milk (remained same quantity). Sometimes, he would tell that he wanted to vomit. He played well and slept well.
Wednesday, again he just asked for water and milk. His eyes looked so tiring (oh, the genetic dark circles even darker) despite he slept as much as usual. In the evening, fever was back and remained 38.4-38.8 (under dosage of fever syrup).
Thursday, I brought him to see doctor and doctor confirmed him on mild HFMD (viral infection in mouth). He explained that the HFMD takes about 3-5 days to develop. The patient will have mild fever in the early 1-3 days but later the rash spots will occur in mouth, hand palm and foot... but for my boy, it's just found within the throat. He also advised us to serve cool water and milk as not to hurt the swollen throat. Ice cream maybe served to ease the sore (not given if has flu or cough).

I basically know about the fact if a person has fever... it means the virus/bacteria invades the immunity system. My boy's past history, he always has flu-fever with immediate symptoms like sneezing, high fever, excessive phlegm, coughing. Unlike this time, he just had mild fever, sore throat and vomiting. A new experience for us but we learned a lesson. Pity our boy.

Over 1 Million Baby Slings Recalled

Days ago, US had recalled over 1 million baby slings which involved few brands (Click here to read the news) following claims linking them to three infant deaths. US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a broad warning about sling-styled baby carriers, saying they posed suffocation hazards to infants especially babies under 4 months. Make sure the infant's face is not covered (face up) and is always visible to the sling's wearer. The potential risks:
1) the sling's fabric may press against the baby's nose and mouth, blocking the airway (breathing) and causing suffocation.
2) the sling may cause the infant's head to flop forward and restrict breathing.