Disappointment

Coleman's team had a game on Tuesday. He plays U-11 lacrosse, which means that all of the players are nine and ten. It was a rough game but our boys won 5-3. When the boys came off of the field after the end-of-game handshakes and huddled for the post game meeting, it was obvious that several of them were upset. After everyone dispersed, I found out why.

Apparently, one of the kids on the other team was using some extremely foul language throughout the game. This same kid was also penalized for a very dangerous and illegal hit during the game. Coleman told me that at the end of the game, when the players go down the line and shake hands with each other, this kid said to him, "Nice game, motherf****." And even WORSE, this kid had used the N word to our African American player throughout the game.

THIS KID IS TEN YEARS OLD. Needless to say, a complaint was made and the league, director and kid's parent all handled the situation in a very appropriate way. But the thing I can't get past, is that the kid is only ten years old.

Also this week, two boys in Coleman's class got ISS (in school suspension) for urinating on the fence during PE. Neither boy was remorseful and neither boy got in trouble at home. AGAIN, THESE BOYS ARE NINE YEARS OLD.

What are we teaching (or not teaching) our boys? Don't get me wrong-my kids are no where NEAR perfect. Nor am I a perfect parent. I know that sometimes I live in my own little bubble, but how can these things be happening at such a young age?

Fifty Green Tips for Earth Day and Beyond

In honor of Earth Day, here are 50 tips to live a little greener. The ones I am doing are in green... there is a LOT of room for improvement, but at least we are headed in the right direction. What are you doing to live green?

1. Lower your thermostat. Buy a programmable thermostat.

2. Reuse your water bottle. Avoid buying bottled water. In fact, reuse everything at least once, especially plastics.

3. Check out your bathroom. Use low-flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets.

4. Start a compost in your back yard or on your rooftop.

5. Buy foods locally. Check out Eat Local Challenge and FoodRoutes to get started. Buy locally made products and locally produced services.

6. Buy in season.

7. Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. You'll find more on energy-efficient products and practices at Energy Star.

8. Turn off lights and electronics when you leave the room. Unplug your cell phone charger from the wall when not using it. Turn off energy strips and surge protectors when not in use (especially overnight).

9. Recycle your newspapers.

10. Car pool. Connect with other commuters at eRideShare.

11. Consider a car sharing service like Zipcar.

12. Ride a bike.

13. Walk, jog, or run.

14. Go to your local library instead of buying new books.

15. At holidays and birthdays, give your family and friends the gift of saving the earth. Donate to their favorite environmental group, foundation, or organization.

16. Get off junk mail lists. GreenDimes can get you started. They’ll even plant a tree for you!

17. Buy products that use recyclable materials whenever possible.

18. If you use plastic grocery bags, recycle them for doggie poop bags or for small trashcan liners.

19. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Given a choice between plastic and paper, opt for paper.

20. Buy locally. Find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food near you at LocalHarvest. (I wish there was a farmer's market closer to me. I bought all of our produce at a farm stand when we lived in PA.)

21. Consider organic cleaning products like vinegar, borax, and baking soda.

22. If you have a baby, consider using cloth diapers. To sign up for a diaper service to do the dirty work, check out the National Association of Diaper Services.

23. Consider buying a fuel-efficient car or a hybrid.

24. Landscape with native plants. Check out the article on the EPA website.

25. Opt into a clean energy program. Check out the Green Power Network at the US Department of Energy.

26. Go paperless. Consider reading your newspaper and magazine subscriptions online. Switch to electronic banking and credit card payment, too.

27. Teach kids about the environment.

28. Take your batteries to a recycling center. Earth 911 gives you the scoop.

29. Turn your car off if you’re going to be idle for more than one minute.

30. Do full loads of laundry and set the rinse cycle to “cold.”

31. Recycle. If you’re not at home, take the extra steps, (literally), to find that recycling can.

32. Reuse. Plastic food containers make good crayon and marker holders. Use padded envelops more than once. Buy your toddler or preschooler’s clothes from a thrift shop and give away those that don’t fit to friends. Goodwill or the Salvation Army can help.

33. Limit the length of your showers. Even better, take a “navy shower,” shutting off the water while soaping up and shampooing. (SO bad about this!)

34. Don’t run the water when brushing your teeth. Learn about water scarcity.

35. Wash towels after several uses.

36. Purchase one case of water and provide clean water to 24 people (for over twenty years).

37. Give away your goods and find new ones at FreeCycle.

38. Recycle your technology. Dell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, and IBM, among others, offer recycling programs.

39. Go zero! Log on to the Conservation Fund’s Carbon Zero Calculator and in less than five minutes, you can measure and then offset your carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees.

40. Put your money where your mouth is—invest in green investments. Web sites like Co-op America's National Green Pages™ can help.

41. Learn about threats to ocean life and help Greenpeace take action.

42. Whenever you can, try using green cleaning products. Check out Cheap, Clean, and Green.

43. Find your local watershed and learn how to protect it.

44. Build a greener home.

45. Opt for eco-friendly and holistic health products.

46. Good to the last drop. Switch to fair trade coffee. (Or don't drink coffee at all?)

47. Go paperless at work. Distribute company information and post company material online.

48. Eliminate junk mail at work. For no fee, the EcoLogical Mail Coalition will eliminate the junk that former employees receive at work.

49. Plant a forest and feed a family while you’re at it.

50. Shop smart. Choose eco-smart products.

Find this article at:

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22355/28177-fifty-green-tips-earth-day

Open Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

We need to talk. I hate to sound ungrateful-we are all so happy you visited our house! (And believe you me, there was some doubt that the kids were going to pull it off this year.) But some of the gifts you left the kids were, how do I say this nicely, not completely thought out.

For instance, the harmonica you brought? Have you ever listened to a harmonica played by a nine-year old boy? Tunelessly for HOURS and HOURS on end? It is only two days after Christmas and I am already threatening to stick that thing where the sun don't shine.

And the Nerf swords? Seriously? THWAK THWAK THWAK OW! THWAK THWAK THWAK THWAK OW all the live-long day? Sometimes there is even harmonica accompaniment in the background. It is enough to drive a sane woman mad. (And Santa, you know that I passed sane a l-o-o-ong time ago. I am teetering on the edge here, sir!)

And the guns and bows and arrows! I think these were very irresponsible gifts. We have already had one trip to the ER this year... and between you and me, Santa, our insurance is good, but these little trips can get quite expensive!

And about the AMPLIFIER? For the electric guitar? What?! Did you not think that the guitar alone was loud enough? NOW THE WALLS SHAKE EVEN WHEN HIS DOOR IS CLOSED. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! There are no earplugs on earth thick enough to combat that particular noise, I mean "music". My diet coke vibrated right off the table the last time he played!

Thank you for your time, Santa. I know that yours is a very difficult job. However, I hope that since I have brought this to your attention, you will make more of an effort to provide our home with soft, quiet toys next year. Providing that a trip to our house is even in the cards. Let's be honest; with the addition of the above items to our household, I sincerely doubt that we will be hearing from you in 2010.

We hope you liked the cookies.

Sincerely,

Christian, Coleman and Carolyn's mom

Phonebooks, Why?

We had three phonebooks delivered this week. Coleman brought the bag in from the front porch and asked, "What's this?"

Me: "Phonebooks."

Coleman: "What are they for?"

Me: "You look up phone numbers in them."

Coleman: "Why?"

Me: "For when you need to call someone and you don't know their number.  You can look it up."

Coleman: "In a BOOK? Weird."

The child did not know what a phonebook was.  He was fascinated.  He asked if our number was in it and I showed him how to look it up.  (It wasn't; It was a business white pages.) And I realized, I have never, not ONCE, used a phonebook in the almost three years that we've lived in this house.  (Does anyone, really?) I threw the last phonebooks we received in the recycling bin about 3 months ago and no one even knew they were gone.

According to Earth911, over 540 million phonebooks are delivered each year and if placed end to end they would circle the earth over 4 times!  BUT!  Apparently, you can cancel your subscription. Call the number in the front of the directory and asked to be removed from their circulation list.  I'm going to try it and see if it works.

I Heart Reusable Bags!

This makes me happy:

A trip to Walmart where I actually remember to take in my reusable bags.  I posted a year ago about trying to go greener.  I'm doing okay remembering the shopping bags and I am so excited to say that I haven't bought ANY ziplock bags in over 6 months!  YAY Brauns!

Not Your Old Time Religion

To launch the March Madness Nothing But Nets campaign sponsored by the United Methodist Church and the NBA, the Upward Cheerleaders performed in church yesterday:

Reason #432 why I LOVE my church!

Miss Manners

Day 8

When your mother makes you write thank you notes...

It IS easy being green!

Today is Earth Day. I have really focused on trying to become greener this year. The Georgia drought has really increased our awareness of water usage. When we were home in Louisiana over spring break (where everything is flooded!) I was amazed at how much water is wasted on a daily basis...the same things that we did here before the water restrictions. Running the faucet while washing dishes, etc.

Even if you are not ready to make major changes in your life to become greener, there are still lots of things you can do right now, with little effort. So today I challenge you-find at least ONE thing that you can focus on this year to make a difference! At our house, in addition to watching our water consumption, I am making a DELIBERATE effort to not use plastic bags if possible. I use tupperware snack cups in lunches instead of baggies and wrap sandwiches in aluminum foil (which is recyclable) or use tupperware sandwich containers. I am trying to use canvas bags for small trips to Walmart and Target instead of plastic bags, although I have a LONG way to go on this! Luckily, Publix grocery store has a recycling center for shopping bags, so I drop off a load when I go. For a list of ways to go green the easy way, click here. What do you do to be green?