Detecting Bull and DNA: An Article About Jennifer's Mother

A long article came out in the Daily Collegian yesterday about co-author Jennifer Margulis's mother, Lynn Margulis, a famous microbiologist who won a presidential medial of honor under Bill Clinton and who numbers Al Gore among her admirers and Carl Sagan among her ex-husbands.

Here's an excerpt:

Her list of accomplishments alone, however, is not what makes her one of the most prominent microbiologists in the world. It's her straightforward attitude and unrelenting spirit - the same qualities that propelled her down the winding and sometimes controversial road to where she is today.

Read the full article here.

The castle of my 4-year-old, the pictures

Here it is, made of matching boxes from a washer and a dryer, covered with $2 worth of craft paper, painted on by the resident, with a sliding roof over the 'courtyard' in the corner. There is one external door on the leftmost face; from that box another door leads to the courtyard, and the other box can only be entered from an internal door through the courtyard. Low on the very left edge you can just make out the padlock he put on the door.  Right above that is the mailbox, which opens with a drawbridge--pull the rope in front and it opens, pull the rope in back and it draws closed.  Tools required: tape, box cutter, string. Total cost: 2 bucks.

The Maternal is Political-review in Publisher's Weekly

from -- Publishers Weekly, 4/7/2008

The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change Edited by Shari MacDonald Strong, foreword by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. Seal, $15.95 paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-58005-243-6

In a raw and emotional literary anthology, 30 women express their frustrations about motherhood, their disappointment with unsupportive work environments and their deep desire for social change. In her debut effort as an anthology editor, Strong brings together voices of veteran and first-time writers in a cacophony of cries that mothering isn't just personal, it's political. The stories include Annie Downey, a struggling mother on welfare ; Jennifer Margulis and her husband who, unable to reconcile full-time work and parenting, quit office work and begin a home business; and Helaine Olen's horror stories of “mean moms” in playgroups who look down on stay-at-home mothers. Anne Lamott writes of the difficulty of espousing a pro-choice position before a largely Catholic audience. This book has a liberal bent, and happy, content mothers don't get much airtime. Young women considering motherhood may be taken aback by the rage and unchecked anger in some of the essays and the lack of solutions presented. But if shock spurs action, this anthology has done its job. (June)

Best Carrot Cake Ever--Healthy & Sweetened with Agave

Have you ever heard of agave?

No, not the hip new Mexican restaurant that opened down the street.

Agave is a plant that grows in Mexico and out of which tequila is made. But agave nectar, which comes from the sap of the plant, is a natural sweetener that tastes a lot like honey but is healthier for you.

Since your body digests it slowly, it doesn't cause low blood sugar, it's low on the glycemic index (though this varies by processing method, etc.), and is becoming increasingly popular among diabetics. It's also great for baking.

To read much more on agave, read Sweet Savvy's post here.

So what does this have to do with babies?

Babies don't need refined sugar of any kind. Ever. Neither do kids (of any age, though it gets harder to have your say as they get older and obsessed with candy, gum, lollipops, chocolate ... you get the idea.) Interestingly, breast milk is very sweet, and many parents choose to feed babies mashed yam or banana -- both which contain lots of natural sweetness -- as a first food. The natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables is perfectly healthy for babies. White sugar, though, is not.

What do you do when the tiny creature born yesterday is turning one (already!) and you want to have a party (for you, not the kid) and bake a cake? Make this healthy agave-sweetened carrot cake recipe, adapted from one by Andrew Weil, and both the babies and grown-ups will be delighted.

Ingredients
2 cups firmly packed finely grated carrots (do this with the S-shaped blade in the cuisinart and it's ready in seconds)
Juice of 1 large orange
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup agave nectar (found in the bulk section of most natural food stores, near the maple syrup)
1 Tablespoon Brewer's Yeast + 2 Tablespoons of bran + enough unbleached white flour to make one cup
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine the carrots, orange juice, vanilla, olive oil, and agave.

3. In another bowl or big measuring cup, stir together all the dry ingredients.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture, stirring until just mixed. Do not overstir.

5. Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch-square baking pan and bake at 350 for 45+ minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Natural Birth and Baby Care Reviews BBBD

While moving across the country, being 10 weeks pregnant, working (from home), and caring for three kids, Kristen Burgess of Natural Birth and Baby Care, managed to find time to review our book.

Here's an excerpt:

I'll admit I was charmed by The Baby Bonding Book for Dads the minute I picked it up - the high quality construction and gorgeous illustrations had me right away. But I was completely impressed by the time I got through it. A book that gets right to the point and is full of up-to-date information that real dads can use. I promise you, the Daddy, and your baby will be glad you picked this book up!

You can the entire review here.

Sibling Rivalry

Co-author Jennifer Margulis's most recent column in the Ashland Daily Tidings is about how much her children hate each other.

“I Hate Him!”

By Jennifer Margulis
Tidings Correspondent

Yesterday my 7-year-old dissolved in a fit of tears and anger. “I hate him! I hate having a brother! I wish he were never born! Why can’t you send him to boarding school?”

“Or chop his head off or something?” Her 8-year-old sister suggested.

You can read the rest of the column here.

Skip the Sunscreen on Your Baby?

The Environmental Working Group issued a press release on March 25th that the CDC has a new study showing that 97% of Americans have a toxic chemical from sunscreen, oxybenzone, in their blood streams.

Not good news for babies, as the chemical has been linked to cell damage, hormone disruption, and allergies.

Worst still, another just-released medical study shows that mothers who are exposed to it during pregnancy have lower birth weight baby ... girls. (An important aside: female endocrinology is much more complicated than male endocrinology and females, born with the total number of eggs they will have throughout their lifetime, are vulnerable to estrogen and other hormone mimickers, the harmful effects of which may not show up for years. Remember DES? Science writer Barbara Seaman fears we may see effects of fertility drugs like clomid on young girls whose mothers took it to get pregnant when they themselves reach childbearing age). Without reading the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine study in its entirety, it's impossible to evaluate its accuracy but it gives one pause, doesn't it?

What should you do?

1) Protect babies from harmful sun rays by using sun blocking clothing and staying in the shade.

2) Buy only natural sunscreen (preferably organic. Anything that you put on your baby's body is getting into his system. That means, really, he shouldn't have anything on his skin that would not be safe to put in his mouth) and check the ingredients. If it has oxybenzone in it--also called benzonphenone--don't buy it.

3) Know that many other products, including anti-aging creams, moisturizers, and lip balms, also contain this harmful ingredient. Read labels before buying any of these products, and think twice before putting them on your child. Organic olive oil or organic avocado oil is a perfect baby moisturizer.

You can read the original press release on the Environmental Working Group's Web site.

Here's a list of the 582 sunscreens containing the harmful chemical.

Here's a PDF of the 28-page scientific study about oxybenzone.