In case you didn’t know, this week- March 15th-21st- is National Wildlife Week, and I signed the pledge to “Be Out There.” (You should sign, too!) And the weather has cooperated so nicely; I can’t resist its siren song.

Tomorrow promises to be another glorious gift of a day, and as luck would have it, it is also the “National Day of Unplugging.” During daylight hours, anyway (I have to get work done SOMETIME) I’ll try to heed the principles:

— Avoid technology,
— Connect with loved ones,
— Nurture your health,
— Get outside,
— Avoid commerce,
— Light candles,
— Drink wine,
— Eat bread,
— Find silence and
— Give back.

Then I’ll come back to the computer and tell you about the monster of a week I’ve had.

How have you been spending these wonderful spring-y days? Anything good cooking this weekend?

**I posted some starter ideas for outdoor fun with kids on MomsLikeMe.com. Add any creative ones that you have!**

Turn your clocks ahead yesterday? It’s a yearly move that messes my cycles and rhythms up more and more as I get older, and then just when I’ve adjusted we turn the blasted things back again. It’s not just me, either. The Monday after the clock change, there is a 5.7% increase in workplace injuries and a 17% increase in traffic accidents.

I need a nap.

Most people experience a dip in energy about eight hours after waking, and studies show that a 20 minute power nap during this time have greater benefits than an extra 20 minutes in the morning. Napping reduces stress, increases alertness and productivity, improves memory and learning, increases motivation to exercise, and boosts creativity (allowing your brain to create free associations or new ways of working through existing problems).

Leonardo Da Vinci napped; so did Thomas Edison. The vision of “Kubla Khan” was famously penned while Coleridge blinked away sleep (granted, probably opium induced). Even Martha Stewart naps (“I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it’s not a waste of time”).

To help you get the perfect nap,  Protect-a-Bed has offered to give away a Queen Size Protect-A-Bed Premium Mattress Cover (retail value $79.99) here on good ol’ simple.green.organic.happy.

Why do you need a Protect-a-Bed mattress cover? Well,  research shows 10 percent of the general public and as many as 90 percent of people with allergic asthma (depending on the study you read) have an allergy to dust mites. And dust mites love spoiling our napping refuge, taking up residence in mattresses and pillows.  As many as two million dust mites can thrive in an unprotected mattress.

Besides dust mites, other allergy triggers like pollen and pet dander can become trapped within mattresses. By using a mattress protector, allergy sufferers can create an impermeable barrier between themselves and the allergens within their bed. Protect-A-Bed® Products are listed as a Class 1 Medical Device with the FDA! By coupling mattress protection with pillow protectors that seal allergens within pillows, people can create a virtually allergy-free nap space.

This is sort of a big deal around here, where EVERYBODY suffers from seasonal allergies.

So let’s celebrate Napping Day!

—Today only, Protect-A-Bed will be hosting a Twitter contest where they will be giving away sets of Premium Pillow Protectors to those who share the funniest place they’ve ever taken a nap. To enter, follow @Protect_A_Bed on Twitter and use the hashtag #nappingday to share your funniest or strangest nap location.
—To enter to win the Queen Size Protect-A-Bed Premium Mattress Cover, just leave a reply below telling me something about your sleep or nap habits. U.S. residents only, please. Subscribe to my feed, follow me @robinelton on Twitter, or tweet/Facebook this giveaway, and you can enter again for each action (leave another comment letting me know what you did). I’ll randomly choose a winner on Friday at midnight.

Good luck, and happy napping 🙂

**For more info on the Protect-a-Bed product line, check out their website.

And in the interest of full disclosure: I have not tried the Mattress Cover firsthand, but the company is sending me one to try out for review. We did buy one for Jacob, as well as pillow protectors, after his last asthma attack (he suffers from allergies of all kinds).**

ONE MORE THING!!!!
This is a last minute addition that Cass insisted on: Ricky Gervais on Sesame Street singing Elmo a celebrity lullaby. Seriously, watch it, it’s awesome. HAPPY NAPPING!

Update 3/20/10

AND THE WINNER IS…

Comment #16: alittlerayofbittersunshine.

Congrats! I’ll be emailing you for your mailing info.

Thanks to everyone who entered! Nap well!

I ran across a blog this week that was hosting a giveaway for Zippity Doo’s- Children’s Daily Use Hair Care Products that Help Prevent Lice!

OK, I’m not even going to mention the seemingly unnecessary apostrophe in the product name, as that is just me being nit-picky (hee!). I’m also not going to discuss the notion that buying a shampoo specifically for lice prevention feels ridiculously alarmist. Nope, totally going to let those points go.

But I wondered what the heck was in these hair products that could prevent lice. After all, moms spend the big bucks on shampoos that are tear-free, fragrance-free, super gentle. Were they seriously trying to sell us a low-grade pesticide to use on our kids’ hair?

Well, no, not really. The product page for the shampoo reads as follows:

Ingredients
Zippity Doo’s™ Shampoo for Children was created to help repel lice and other insects from the hair. Made with a special combination of natural ingredients, including Vitamin D, Carrot Seed Oil, Alpha Hydroxy, Rosemary, Cinnamon, Tea Tree, Anise & Lavender designed to promote healthy hair & scalp while repelling lice & other insects.

That sounds good, right? Made with a special combination of natural ingredients. And, oh look, check out how transparent they are, they’re got a photo of the actual ingredients list that you can click on. Looks like this:

Awesome. So I click on that.

Now, if you want to actually READ the ingredients, you have to turn your computer on its side:

and then write the ingredients down, no easy cut-and-paste job here. Which I do ’cause I’m crazy like that.

We can really look at the ingredients in order now, and I hope that every mom considering this product takes the time to do just that.


Water (Aqua). I have no issues here, other than paying $10.99 to $12.99 for a product that is mostly water makes me stabby.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): This set off some alarm bells. A quick search turned up that SLES can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane which is considered to be a probable carcinogen. Although apparently not as bad as its kissing cousin, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, SLES can’t be metabolised by the liver; therefore it residually stays in your system longer and contributes longterm to your toxic “body burden.” The Journal of The American College of Toxicology reported that concentrations as low as 0.5% could cause irritation and concentrations of 10-30% caused skin corrosion and severe irritation. Yummy!

Disodium Cocoamphodipropionate: seems to be an innocent enough liquid that contributes “a faint fruity odor.” Which is fine, I guess, if you like your kids smelling fruity (why do most kids’ shampoos smell like overripe fruit, by the way? Does this seem strange to anyone else?)

Cocamidopropyl Betaine: Because it is derived from coconut, cocamidopropyl betaine seems to be touted as the natural alternative to SLES (although that’s not the case with this product, as it has BOTH). My friend Google reveals: According to a study done by the Environmental Working Group in 2006, roughly 10% of all products containing cocamidopropyl betaine contained harmful traces of carcinogenic nitrosamines. In addition, cocamidopropyl betaine is a known skin, eye, and lung irritant.

Lauramide DEA: Google says… The Federal National Toxicology Program (NTP) completed a study in 1998 that found an association between the topical application of diethanolamine and certain DEA-related ingredients and cancer in laboratory animals. For the DEA-related ingredients, the NTP study suggested that the carcinogenic response was linked to possible residual levels of DEA…The presence of DEA in cosmetics, including shampoos, can also lead to formation of nitrosamines, which are powerful carcinogens. Many nitrosamines have been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals and have also been linked with human cancer. These have also been shown to penetrate the skin.

People, these are the top five ingredients, and therefore the most prevalent. “Special combination of natural ingredients,” my Aunt Tilly.

Now, I’m no chemist or doctor, and I can’t speak to whether these chemicals are really toxic or carcinogenic, whether they permeate the skin or have residual effects. But to package these products for children as a safe preventative for lice, as natural? To list the ingredients on the product page as cinnamon and rosemary and whatnot when 3 of 5 of the most prevalent ingredients are unpronounceable and questionable? 

I have serious issues with that.

I seem to be the only one, though… The giveaway post where I found this product had over 70 entries from moms who seemed to think that this is an awesome idea.

It also said that the key ingredient to keeping lice away was the pure rosemary oil. So, if you’re really committed to the idea of preventative lice treatment, maybe consider adding a few drops of organic rosemary oil to a safer kids’ shampoo. And teach them not to share hats, brushes or hair clips with other kids.

What do you think? Am I being overly critical here?

Do you read the labels on your hair care products? Are you so concerned about lice that you would buy this product? Let me know, I’m intensely curious.