Conscious Mom

Ever since I joined various on-line communities I've become aware that a phenomenon exists that I didn't think possible: many parents, usually mothers, but sometimes fathers, are able to stay home with their children for years. The entire family subsists on one income, sometimes quite comfortably. We live modestly, have cut back on every luxury imaginable, and even a few necessities, sold our CD and DVD collections, all so I can work part time. Me not working at all seems beyond our reach. I'd like to hear from regular people- those without trust funds or partners with six-figure salaries, how they manage to live on one income. Maybe that one salary is much higher than either of ours. How did ...

Maia's Birthplace Last week Pann asked to hear more about my trip to Awassa, Ethiopia. Someday soon I hope to write a series of posts about it, but until I have time for that I'll say more about the pictures I post on Wordless Wednesday. We went to Ethiopia to bring home our daughter and our side trip to Awassa was to see her home village and meet birth family members. This house is where Maia was born. She lived here for the first few weeks of her life with her Aunt Manjitu. For many reasons, which are Maia's story to tell in her own way, Manitu and other family members couldn't continue to care for ...

The October issue of Discover magazine has an excellent article about air quality in lower Manhattan following 9/11, the health problems suffered by rescue workers and residents as a result. I am ashamed to say I hadn't given this issue much thought until reading this article. I knew some workers had respiratory illnesses but the magnitude of the problem escaped me. That may have been the EPA's very intention as Discover details the the agency's years of cover-up of air quality problems. Some statistics: 70% of 9/11 first responders have illnesses resulting from their work at Ground Zero; 130 people are known to have died of illnesses caused by air quality contamination; 70,000 New Yorkers have registered on a database that ...

The Better World Shopping Guide by Ellis Jones This is a handy little reference for anyone wanting to spend their dollars wisely. It is divided into purchasing categories, everything from airlines to gum and mints to wine, and grades the brands according to how environmentally and socially responsible they are. It also names a corporate hero and corporate villain for each category. Because the book is written mainly in chart form it would be very easy to take this along to the store to use while shopping. The reasons for each rating are explained and referenced. Especially useful are the overall 10 best and 10 worst company lists. In case you are wondering, the top three on the best list are Seventh ...

Colubus Monkey in Awassa, Ethiopia

All sorts of developmental milestones to report: Friday she pushed herself up to a sitting position for the first time. Actually, the second. The first ended sadly when she overshot and fell backwards. She's crawling backwards and creeping forwards. This encouraged developmental milestones for me- I can now change a diaper on a baby who is on her stomach, rolling across the room, and crawling for a toy. Best of all she's occasionally saying 'mama mama mama'. Realistically I think she's just babbling, but it still warms my heart!

Going to work or staying home with the baby? So far two friends have voted for staying home with the baby as the harder job. I vote for going to work being harder. But the hardest thing of all is not having a choice. And what a shame it is that the economic reality of our country is that so few people have a choice, that so few families can afford to have one parent forgo paid employment while their children are at the youngest, neediest, and most vulnerable they will ever be?

Addis Ababa

Several years ago as we approached the Millennium there were lists of the top inventions of the past 100 years and of the past 1000 years. OK, it's hard to beat the printing press and smallpox vaccine, but doesn't the baby swing deserve just a mention, a footnote perhaps?

My husband cooked today's brunch: tofu scramble, home fries, and sauteed spinach. The recipes are closely guarded secrets!