When you hold a styrofoam plate, you hold eternity in your hand. Plants and animals died millions of years ago and slowly turned into oil. Dozens of machines and probably a hundred people worked to find that oil deposit, bring the oil to the surface, transport it, refine it into polystyrene, produce that foam plate, package … Continue reading Eternity in Your Hand
Agent of Change: What a long, lame Journey it’s been!
When Girl Scouts USA first announced the development of Journeys, they made it sound like they would replace badges. By the time they released the first Journey for each age level last fall, they were saying these are just an *Exciting* *New* *Option* for Girl Scouts but we still can keep on doing badges as … Continue reading Agent of Change: What a long, lame Journey it’s been!
Toilet Training Tips
Start with nights. Let him go naked some of the time so it would be easy for him to observe his functions. Nylon pull-on diaper covers worn over underwear make great training pants! Use a sticker chart.
7 Product Recommendations
Here are some things I really like that I don't think I've mentioned before (I'm not affiliated with nor paid off by any of these companies): 1. Maggie's Organics cotton crew socks. At first I bought a few pairs because organic cotton is better for the environment, but then I found them so comfortable that … Continue reading 7 Product Recommendations
Canned Fish Concepts
These are not exactly recipes, more like general "how to cook" ideas that work for me. I prefer ideas like this to specific recipes because they're easy to remember without digging out a recipe card. Our family is mostly vegetarian. We do like fish, but we live far from the ocean, where fish tends to be … Continue reading Canned Fish Concepts
Hear now the Tale of Job!
My four-year-old son and I were in our car on the way to Trader Joe's last Wednesday when this Seatrain song telling the Biblical story of Job came up on the CD my dad made for me. I turned off the engine right after the line, "Long, long they journeyed until they found Job in … Continue reading Hear now the Tale of Job!
Semi-disposable sippy cups
You might be surprised to see EnviroBecca touting the virtues of anything disposable. After all, I'm all about cloth diapers and hankies and reusable menstrual gear and real dishes even at picnics and just generally reusing everything! Notice I said semi-disposable. The sippy cups we prefer are lightweight polypropylene similar to those Gladware and Ziploc containers … Continue reading Semi-disposable sippy cups
Our pets protect us from identity theft!
Here's an idea that works for me this Earth Day: We have two pet gerbils. The conventional wisdom is that you're supposed to give your gerbils lots of wood-chips to nest in (I always want to say, "to munk in," but that's chipmunks, isn't it?) and you have to buy these wood-chips at the pet … Continue reading Our pets protect us from identity theft!
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Over time, I've gradually opened more articles to comments, so this post is somewhat outdated--but feel free to post here with comments about The Earthling's Handbook in general.
Pasta Prima Becca
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday, and as I enjoy the leftovers of a meal made out of leftovers from my church's Easter reception, I have to share this tip! At the end of a party, usually there are some random vegetables lying around on the veggies-and-dip tray. I have seen people throw these into the garbage!!! What … Continue reading Pasta Prima Becca
Growing a Gamer Geek
Daniel and I are gamer geeks. Our first memory of spending time together (we met gradually, both being members of a fairly large student organization) is a party where we played Nomic. We started to hang out together more when I came to the game nights he and his housemates hosted. Attending a gigantic game … Continue reading Growing a Gamer Geek
When Kids Show Up at Your Demo
I wrote this article in 1999, when I was not yet a parent but was noticing that many adults I knew were very awkward when relating to children or actually tried to exclude children from fun activities rather than figure out how the kids could fit in. I mentioned this to Kristin Looney, whose company … Continue reading When Kids Show Up at Your Demo
Come Here! Go Away!
My dad used to play this game with me when I was little, and now I play it with my son: Place your child in a swing and stand in front of it. Frown. Say, "Go away!" and push the swing. Now open your arms and smile. Say, "Come here, Nicholas!" [or, for best results, … Continue reading Come Here! Go Away!
My Opinion of Homosexuality in Twelve Words
God is Love. God is Good. Love is Good. Love is Love. If that's too succinct for you, here is another writer who says the same thing, so beautifully, in many more words!
Take in for take-out!
When we know we'll be eating in a restaurant where we might have leftovers to take home, we bring our own containers. This is better for the environment because they're containers we've already used several times and will use again, instead of new containers provided by the restaurant that might be a single-use type. It's … Continue reading Take in for take-out!
Life-sized
Little girls are cute and small only to adults. To one another, they are not cute. They are life-sized. --Margaret Atwood Last spring, when Nicholas was 3 years 5 months old, I found a picture of myself at 3 years 5 months old. Not only did I see a strong resemblance between us, but I found … Continue reading Life-sized
Raisin Bran Bread
This is my modification of a recipe from Kellogg's All-Bran cereal, reprinted in Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars by Ceil Dyer. She says that this "Bran Nut and Raisin Bread" was served in the very first in-flight meal on a passenger plane, in 1930! I went looking for a … Continue reading Raisin Bran Bread
What I did with the Mad my kid felt
Nicholas at four years old likes to negotiate about how he spends his time. It's mostly a good thing: Of course he should have some say in what happens, and compromising and prioritizing are important skills. The trouble is that he has so many things he wants to do and so little time at home--he's in … Continue reading What I did with the Mad my kid felt
My Secret Journey
This is just a little story from my life. I can't think of a good reason to post it, except that it keeps tugging on the corner of my mind and wanting to be told. I hope that somehow, it makes a difference to somebody. Pregnancy made me very sick. The nausea hit suddenly on the … Continue reading My Secret Journey
Fist to Five: A way to reach agreement
My Girl Scouts and I recently learned a new method for assessing group opinions so we can work toward consensus. It looked useful in the book (it's included in the Agent of Change Journey program) but it wasn't until we tried it that I learned how amazingly well it works for me! Fist to Five … Continue reading Fist to Five: A way to reach agreement
The Earthling's Handbook 