Cotton-Pickin’ Days

Down on my knees, I beg you.

Please visit A Hearty Life this month.

I’m celebrating my first anniversary there and trying to raise a little money for the British Heart Foundation. None of it comes out of your pocket either. All you have to do is to read a few posts a day and I will donate $1 per 1,000 pages viewed. (I get an average of 50,000 page views per month and want to beat that!) You’ll not only be more heart healthy, you’ll be contributing to public health and awareness of heart disease as well.

Please please pretty please? Won’t you visit A Hearty Life today, tomorrow, and the next day?

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Not so sure about this SquidSoap business. The soap dispenser leaves a small orange dot on the palm of your hand that you have to wash away. The idea is that the amount of time it takes to get rid of that dot is also the optimum time for cleaning your hands properly.

I know that kids are usually way too quick at the sink but I can imagine them just going for that dot and not applying proper technique. Watch this video and see if you’re convinced. I didn’t see either of the boys washing between their fingers or the backs of their hands.

This video from Safety Issues demonstrates proper handwashing technique although they use bar soap and I prefer liquid!

via Babygadget

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The idea of using lavender is so appealing – peace, calm, tranquility. Perfect for the little monster that lives within four-year-old boys. But maybe lavender’s effects are a little more than what we’d planned for.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine describes a few isolated cases of boys who developed breasts after using lavender and tea tree oils on their skin. Later, laboratory tests found these oils to promote estrogen (female hormone) and inhibit androgen (male hormone) activity. Once they stopped using the oils, their bodies returned to normal.

I would have been inclined to think they were using highly concentrated oils but according to the report, the boys were using lavender-scented skin lotions, soap, shampoo, and/or hairstyling gel. Very odd.

More at MSN Health & Fitness

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For a short while until we get the new writer up and running, I’ll be over at Lively Women talking about women’s health and ranting about celebrity women and their impact on our lives. Come visit me so I won’t feel lonely at my new, albeit temporary, digs.

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This cold and flu season, sneeze or cough into your sleeve instead of your hands. I’ve been trying to teach Stephen this but I think school is undoing my work. Argh.

Yes! Yes! Yes!!! You’ll be healthier if you watch this CoughSafe.com video.

No tissue? Do the Sleeve Sneeze.

• Cough or sneeze into your sleeve
• Keep your hands clean
• Stop the spread of GERMS

via Torontoist

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Outrageous!

Breastfeeding Mother Kicked off Commercial Airplane

I have done my fair share of nursing on planes and have NEVER even gotten a sideways look from anyone. I’ve often worn nursing shirts, tucked a pillow under my arm as a screen, had Marv hold up a blanket for me, or simply done nothing except hunch over in my seat a little and turn towards the window. Thank goodness no one has ever suggested I refrain from breastfeeding Stephen or I would have had to punch their lights out or better yet, sue their pants off just as Emily Gillette and her family are doing. Go Emily!!

via Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Technorati Tags: breastfeeding, emily gillette, delta airlines

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Robyn at Inside Motherhood alerted me to this recall of generic, store-brand acetaminophen also commonly known as Tylenol and Panadol (although these are brand names not implicated in the recall). A huge list of retailers are recalling 11 million bottles of 500 mg acetaminophen manufactured by Perrigo Company. “Small metal particles” have been found in the caplets although no illness or injuries have been reported thus far.

Based on information currently available, the FDA believes the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote; however if a consumer were to swallow an affected caplet, it could result in minor stomach discomfort and/or possible cuts to the mouth or throat. Consumers should consult their physician if they suspect they’ve been harmed by use of this product.

More information at the FDA.

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My Skintimate look-alike who clearly does not have razor burn.

On Friday, after weeks of not shaving my legs (only because I’ve been wearing pants and long skirts since summer ended in September), I decided to do it for no particular reason. And when I decided to shave those long feathery hairs off my legs, I went in and scraped those guys off. Once. Twice. Several times. Can’t be too heavyhanded when it comes to so many days of growth!

Welp, I should have been more careful because I’ve now got wide red roadways on my legs that itch madly. I’ve slathered on body lotion, menthol calamine lotion, Eurax anti-itch cream, Vicks Vapo Rub, and lanolin containing cream, so far. It helps but the ants really start crawling at night under the covers.

Here are some tips for women when it comes to razor burn.

• Stop shaving – Yes, that does seem to be the best way to avoid razor burn. Sounds mighty good right now. [scratch]
• Hydrocortisone – Eurax doing the trick right now
• Lubricate skin after shaving – Check.
• Shave after you bathe – I guess at the start wasn’t too good.
• Drop the soap – I was using that razor with the built in soap. Maybe that’s not the greatest after all.
• Shave hair in the direction it grows – Kind of tricky when shaving legs.
• Switch to a hair-dissolver cream/depilatory – Smelly and messy? Not so sure about that.
• Zap bumps with acne preps – What?! You can get bumps from razor burn?!?!
• Replace your razor – Hmmm. Maybe that was the problem as well. @#!
• Go electric – Zap! Electrocution isn’t quite my thing either.

Time to go slather on some more calamine. [scritch]

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Carl Chapman just emailed me with a passionate plea. He is going to boycott blogs until at least 25 other blogs help promote the purchase of pink M&M’s for breast cancer awareness by posting about it.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to commemorate, we’ve created a special pack of M&M’S? Chocolate Candies. Each time you buy one of the specially marked bags, we’ll make a donation* to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Help support breast cancer research and outreach programs while satisfying your sweet tooth!

I haven’t seen pink M&M’s here in London but I know Christina has been buying and eating her share of pink M&M’s. How about you?

Update: Carl was successful! His blog strike has now ended.

Technorati Tags: breast cancer, cancer, m and m, pink

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Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 wrote about Breastfeeding Art yesterday and they’re so gorgeous I had to share them with you here too. The picture shown here is of the 2007 calendar.

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