Buy, Swap, Sell — Message Board for Central FL Moms

This was created by a mom who was interested in connecting with other moms in the area who wanted to buy and sell children’s items.  While Craig’s List is a great resource, this is a little different because it’s geared entirely towards Orlando area moms.  I’ve had good luck selling things on Buy, Swap, Sell and recently took over ownership since the founder moved out of the area. 

So how does it work?  You simply post what you’ve got for sale, what you’re looking for, or what you’ve got to give away.  People respond offlist to keep mail to a minimum.   At this time, there are more than 100 moms on the list.  Garage sales are often announced here as well.

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New “Florida Friends of Midwives” Group on Yahoo

Got this in my inbox and wanted to share:

Many of you are supporters of normal birth and appreciate the accessibility of birth center and homebirth care in Florida. Here we enjoy legal homebirth, numerous birth centers, and mandatory Medicaid and insurance coverage of licensed midwife and nurse midwifery care. We also have two active midwifery schools.

In Georgia, one State away, there is not a single birth center and home birth midwifery is illegal. Midwives actually get arrested for doing home births there, and mothers looking for midwives have to find an “outlaw” midwife to attend them…you can bet they are not having Medicaid/ Insurance paid births up there at all! And Missouri has been going through terrible struggles trying get midwifery legalized, and the opposition to it is STRONG….

It is easy to forget how good we have it here.

Political circumstances over the next few years are doing to require a really strong family-mother/ consumer voice in support of midwifery. So we are going to need to come out of our quiet golden era where we have just coasted along with good conditions for birth. Its time to organize ourselves.

The great conditions we enjoy here are due to political organizing done in the 80′s and 90′s by The Florida Friends of Midwives. Consumers of Midwifery Care lobbied our government and got mother friendly laws passed in our State.

The first midwifery law was passed in 1980′s after much hard work by midwifery advocates. But then the law was reviewed in a process called Sunset review where all laws are looked at after a certain time. The American Medical Association came on strong against Midwives and the law closed, making midwifery illegal again and for 10 years the schools were closed and no midwives were issued licenses. It took ten hard years of moms writing bills, looking for a bill sponsor, and the lobbying in Tallahassee with babes in arms and baking cookies with the bill number on it to get the law we have now passed. It was actually a small miracle- a fast accidental breech homebirth of Governor Lawton Chiles grandchild, safely attended by a midwife working as an EMT since could not get a license, that finally turned the tide and got our law passed.

In 2009, the law will be reviewed again, or “Sunset Reviewed”. This is a potentially dangerous time, because as we learned in the 80′s, sunset review is a time when those who have economic interests that oppose midwifery care and homebirth may organize against us. Nationally, we are seeing very strong opposition to homebirth and we believe that there will be a significant and organized campaign against midwifery in Florida this sunset review.

Also, the way the State works, they charge each profession for certain regulating costs. Midwives are always “in the red” because we can not pay the costs required by the State due to the low number of licensees. This means that due to the way the book keeping is done*, it looks like regulating midwifery costs the State of Florida money. This is really bad in our times of budget cuts and lower tax revenues. It means that the State is actually considering deregulating midwifery, which would mean we would mean we would have no new midwives, the ones working would be able to work, and midwifery would be phased into illegality again.

Yes, homebirth midwifery is in danger of becoming illegal again in Florida if we do not organize to protect our birthing choices.

A yahoo group of midwife supporters has formed to discuss ways of organizing to be the voice of consumers in the coming year. You can also have fun and support each other and educate other women about birth! Please join and help organize to protect birth choice for you, your sisters, and your daughters!

If you write or blog, please pass on the word. Please forward this invitation to any interested parties.  

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaFriendsofMidwives/

 

Peace
Heidi Dahlborg, LM Sarasota

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Green bags at Albertson’s

I’m normally a Publix girl, but I had some time to kill in Winter Park this morning and stopped at Albertson’s to pick up a few items. Since it was an impromptu shopping trip, I didn’t have my bags with me, so I was thrilled to see reusable bags for sale near the registers. They’re a similar style to the Publix bags (paper bag style with handles), but they have a cute graphic on the front and say “Celebrate and protect your environment. Reuse this bag when you shop at Albertson’s.” Best of all, they cost only $1. I’m not sure if that’s the regular price or a special, but what a great deal. I was excited to see reusable bags being carried in another large grocery chain. It seems like “green” is really catching on!

Five years ago, Jessica traded “making green” for “going green” becoming a stay-at-home mom who likes to save the planet in her spare time. This two-time Ironman finisher finds that years of triathlon training prepared her well for the endurance sport of motherhood. She spends her days changing cloth diapers, preparing organic meals for her family and teaching family nutrition as a Juice Plus health educator. At night, she dreams about the introduction of the first hybrid minivan and moonlights as a technical writer so she’ll be able to afford it.

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Children’s Orchard Resale- Mom’s Night Out

Children’s Orchard Resale is hosting a “Mom’s Night Out” tomorrow, October 19th from 7:30-9pm.   Fall holiday dresses will be on sale, a massage therapist will be on site, along with free food and beverages.  If you’ve never been to Children’s Orchard, it’s worth checking out.  I was there several weeks ago and they had quite a nice collection of gently used Halloween Costumes at very affordable prices.

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Celebrate Halloween Naturally

Halloween is a time of year that can be a bit difficult for the natural-minded parent. I avoid giving my children food with additives such as artificial food dyes and high fructose corn syrup all year long. While I don’t have a problem with sweets in general, I certainly don’t want my children to consume candy that contains unnatural ingredients and refined sugar.

Trick-or-treating is discussed each year on the natural parenting boards. Some parents let their children trick-or-treat as usual, pulling out the “bad” stuff and replacing it with more natural alternatives like organic chocolate and raisins. Others actually make a trade with the child for the candy and offer a new toy instead. A few parents take their children on an extra special family outing and skip it altogether. My husband and I have fond memories of trick-or-treating, so we allow it but trade as necessary when we get home. I explain to my son that certain candies have additives in them that aren’t good for him, and I replace those with similar items that are made with natural ingredients.

In our case, it is particularly important to make the exchange since we follow the Feingold Diet. Consuming artificial food dyes or high fructose corn syrup can affect my son’s behavior for days, so that’s a chance I’m not willing to take. However, I think I’d still trade out his candy even if his behavior was unaffected by these ingredients because I just don’t believe they’re good for growing bodies. Therefore, I plan to buy natural gummy worms as well as organic milk chocolate to pass out to the children who visit our home on Halloween. They may not recognize the brands, but I know they’ll enjoy the candy!

I hope to start a new tradition for our family this year by making organic spiced apple cider as well as homemade roasted pumpkin seeds. Normally, we just toss the seeds, but visiting Earthy Family’s Halloween Page has inspired me to rinse, dry, and bake them with the kids. I think we might also try the Devil’s Food Spider Cupcakes from the Wild Oats website. They look like a lot of fun.

If you’re planning to provide your children with natural treats this year, now is the time to plan and order online. Your local health food store may also have some good alternatives to conventional sweets, but you‘d better get there soon since supplies may be limited. Please check the related links for more ways to help your children have a blast this year without exposing them to additives and refined sugar. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Recipes from Wild Oats

Enjoy a Green Halloween

Halloween Recipes from Whole Foods

Do you have any special tips or websites related to Halloween that you’d like to recommend?  Do you know of any local “green” Halloween events or Fall Festivals?  Please share!

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Misty Forest Academy-An Enrichment Center Like No Other

Scheduled to open later this month, Misty Forest Academy will offer education and enrichment using a different approach.  With a philosophy based on holistic education, it will prove to be the center many parents were waiting for.  Although, I think, its founders originally intended for it to be a children’s enrichment center primarily for homeschooler, Misty Forest will also provide classes and workshops to enrich the lives of adults.  It will also not be limited to homeschooling children as their After School Program will even offer complimentary pick-up from some area schools.

 The After School Program will provide children a healthy, organic snack, self-esteem lessons, and the opportunity to attend the many classes offered.  Misty Forest believes in the importance of enhancing children’s self-esteem with lessons that focus on self-discovery, self-love, empathy, conflict resolution, and more.  In addition to the rotating schedule of classes being offered, self-esteem activities will form part of the program everyday.  Students will also have homework time with a tutor upon arrival.  The EKO (Eco Kids of Orlando) team will be focusing on environmental issues and will likely participate in creating and maintaining the garden behind the building. 

Located in Downtown Orlando, behind Dandelion Communitea Cafe, it is at the center of a growing “green” community that includes a new yoga studio, an herbalist school, and a ”green” spa among others.  As mentioned earlier, Misty Forest Academy will also provide a place for adults to attend classes for their personal and spiritual development.  Their goal is for the community to share, grow, and inspire each other in an environment of positive consciousness. 

Michelle lives in Orlando with her husband and baby daughter.  She is passionate about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.  She is a doula, lactation counselor, and Itsy Bitsy Yoga instructor.  You can also find her doing henna at various events.  She is a conscious and spiritual being.  Her dedication to spiritual evolvement led her to become an Avatar Master through which she is creating an “enlightened planetary civilization”.  To learn more about Michelle and her offerings visit her home online. 

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You Tube Video — Save the 18th Street Park

This video was made by the Friends of the 18th Street Park.  If you’re not familiar with this green space, it’s the lot across the street from Sanford Middle School on 17-92 in Sanford.  It’s currently used by amateur golfers, parents and kids playing games and flying kites, and most often by the Pop Warner football league.  Not sure what all the fuss is about?  Check out the video on You Tube.

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Sustainable Apocotherapy & Organic Gardening

Florida’s school of Herbal Studies has just announced the soon to be opened downtown’s first organic health and gardening store. The store will carry everything from bulk herbs, herbal extracts, natural health products, bulk soaps, recycled paper products and many natural garden materials. It will open its doors Saturday October 13th.

Also organic growers are merging with simple living institute to to bring awareness for organic growers and consumers for alliance of community projects. It will help educate people to learn techniques for organic gardening in their home and backyard.

Don’t forget about the GREEN EARTH EXPO!!
Elizabeth Ashe is mother of three small boys and all natural wahm.

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