Heather Bennett
Rubber Bands, Cardboard Boxes, and Junk Mail
Kids are the ultimate recyclers. They can repurpose just about anything that comes into our home. Take, for example, the rubberbands that come on fresh produce, like broccoli. If you have a toddler, you know they like to get into everything. I rearranged my kitchen a bit so my son would have one cabinet he could play with. The others have rubberbands wrapped around the knobs. A friend of mine also uses rubberbands, though she commented about what a great … Continue reading
The Speck in My Neighbor’s Eye
There’s nothing like a natural disaster to make you rethink environmental issues. I live outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where there has been severe flooding. We were lucky, but about two miles from our house, a subdivision was flooded. Our county asked residents to conserve water. Using disposable dinnerware was mentioned. Yikes. Conserve water I can do, but use disposables? For someone who had lost everything in the flood, yes, this was a logical option. For everyone else, I wasn’t sure. … Continue reading
A Simple Toy
My son is mobile. You know what that means. He gets into everything. The funniest (and most frustrating) part is that no matter how many toys are on the floor, he crawls to the pair of shoes, welcome mats, fireplace screen and computer cords. Of course, whatever he gets his hands on goes directly into the mouth, and the little boy is fast! You would think, as an adult, I could quickly overcome my little one before he gets his … Continue reading
Green for Life: Parenting
It all started with vanity, I suppose. I was married in 1999 and gained 20 pounds as quickly as I gained a husband. Instead of looking at my food portions, I decided to do something drastic—at least according to my husband: I became a vegetarian. Being a vegetarian led me to study the meat industry, and introduced me to a world I did not know about and one I did not like. It became less about losing weight and more … Continue reading
Car Seat Shuffle
Car seats. So many choices, so little time to research them all, but I sure did try. I spent hours online researching convertible car seats. Our son is now barely 5 months old and is 20 pounds and some change. Most convertible car seats go up to 30 pounds, some go to 35, and very few go 40 and above. I called our pediatrician and asked, based on my son’s measurements, which rear-facing poundage I should be looking for. She … Continue reading
Hands and Feet
James 2:16b (English Standard Version): One of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? My son does not like to have his arms constrained. When he was born, somehow the nurses were able to swaddle him and keep his arms to his sides. When we got him home, no matter how hard I tried, he would somehow get an arm out even before … Continue reading
Shopping Consignment
I love consignments. I began shopping at a consignment store a few years ago when needing some clothes for a fancy wedding rehearsal and ceremony. I began doing the majority of my shopping there. Later, I shopped there for environmental reasons–reusing existing clothes consumes far less resources than the production, shipping, and marketing of new clothes. When our son Tyler came along, I decided I didn’t want to have a lot of stuff, clothes included. A family generously gave us … Continue reading
Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 1 Corinthians 15:51 (New International Version) A friend of mine sent this scripture to my husband on Facebook late one night while he was up with our son. She was right; he didn’t sleep and did a lot of changing. Babies require a lot of changing, which means lots of diapers. The average is 7-8 diapers per day. You can spend about $2,000 … Continue reading
Setting Up a Green Nursery
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. – Acts 4:32 My husband and I met through church (and my parents!) more than a decade ago. Ryan was serving as a youth pastor at my parent’s church, and attending Seminary. We fell in love, and married…but after a decade of marriage, had not started a family. About a year ago, after much … Continue reading
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