CONSCIOUS PARENTING
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What’s a Doula |Black Doulas and Midwives near me in NYC
Traditionally all Doulas and Midwives that birthed babies in America were Black women, over time the “business of birthing” gave way to whitewashing and monetization. Now it’s harder and harder to find a Black birth worker. The care of a Midwife for a low-risk birthing human greatly reduces the risk of complications in pregnancy and delivery. I didn’t hire a doula at my first birth, I thought I couldn’t afford one and I was also really afraid of having any more than the one stranger that ABSOLUTLEY HAD to see my vagina, get a peek at it. My midwife knowledgeable as ever showed up to my birth with a doula…
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Cloth diapers for beginners, babes, and babies
Blame it on my hippie soul but even from the beginning, I’ve always wanted to cloth diapers. Albeit on a self-contained farm in view of a mountain range but my NYC apartments served the purpose in the end. There’s so much information on the internet about cloth diapers for beginners, however, I feel like a lot of it is aimed at people who are already deeply entrenched in the community. There’s a heap of cloth diapering lingo that to be honest I don’t have the energy to decipher while attempting to keep two babies alive. If you’re farther along in your journey to cloth diapers or have a specific question…
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Low Waste Living | Trying to raise a Zero Waste Baby
Whenever I think about the glitzy glam that is today’s Zero waste movement I’m moved to tears at just how much this way of living is just ingrained into the lives of immigrant families. There is a picture of my mom in a garden stooping down between a group of children, one of them is my little sister, three others I’ve long since lost contact with, they’re all wearing too-big-for-them-dresses that I have fond memories of playing in myself. Sustainability is now a flashy buzz word but the notion of being zero waste with my baby now just takes a bit of digging low down into my own memory banks.…
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How to be sustainable at home | Eco-friendly bedding
In these interesting new times, we’re spending more time and home and hopefully, more time cuddled up in bed burrowing into the bedding. After what feels like decades of co-sleeping we finally decided to spring for not only a big girl bed but an upgrade to our own situation. It’s been nearly a decade since either of us purchased bedding but it seems only right that its components should be in line with all our other sustainable home goods. So I set out in search of the most eco-friendly bedding. Eco-friendly mattress You spend so much of your time sleeping on your mattress. If you’re like me so much time…
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Postpartum Care| Breastfeeding Clothing
Postpartum my body changed a great deal sizing me out of not only my wardrobe but straight sizing. I gained so much weight during my pregnancy that my body type changed drastically making it hard to feel good in the clothing that did still fit. I felt bad about wanting a whole new wardrobe but also got so bummed out looking at my clothing that some days I’d just stand in my closet and cry. First-world problems aside, I became acutely aware that me finding the right breastfeeding clothing was an important part of my postpartum care. I’m ant maternity clothing because they’re only really useful for five months or…
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Baby essentials | Earth Friendly Baby Products for the First 3 Months
The product and gear essentials that you actually need for the first 3 months as a parent is pretty simple. You need a place to lay your baby and a way to carry your baby close to you and a way to feed them. Because honestly, for the first 3 months, your baby really only needs you, or a substitute for you. Choosing Earth friendly products ensures there will be a planet for your baby to pass on to their baby when the time comes. Basinet | I love this natural elephant grass basket Diaper bag| I’m against diaper bags, I’m anti uncute things I’m forced to wear because I’m…
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Zero Waste Grocery Shopping| How to Select Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
That’s me, picking up apples at the farmers market, selecting them by their color palate. What you can’t see is my best friend off-camera reminding me I’m allergic to apples and urging me to put them back before I have an allergic reaction. Simply put, I’m trash at picking fruit, my batting average is 100 if 100 means that I always buy a spoiled bruised fruit. This means there are many times on my travels that I miss out on experiencing the local market culture because I don’t know how to select fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m often left totally at the mercy of predatory stall owners that can spot…
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Micro Locks | I’m rooting for Toddlers and Kids with dreadlocks, Here’s Why
When I was in middle school the coolest most popular girl with the best grades was a girl named Elisheba, she was the fastest girl on, the track team and the teachers’ pet. I was obsessed with here endless hairstyles ponytails that swang, as she walked, swooped updos held in place with jewel incrusted pins and the holy grail a center part with her deep brown tresses effortlessly framing her face and cascading down her shoulders. She had enviable dimples, flawless mahogany-colored skin, and waist-length freeform locks. Parent-teacher conference I caught a glimpse of her mother and knew in an instant my ideal form of beauty was set. Elisheba’s mom…
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Micro locks |The tool and products I use to maintain our DIY Sisterlocks
I consider myself to be a bit of a micro locks \ DIY sister lock expert. After seven years of retightening my own micro locks and convincing two other people to let me do their sisterlocks installation. If that’s not enough I’ve watched every video there is to watch about sisterlocks tools, installation and maintenance. What follows s everything I’ve learned on my micro locks journey, including what sisterlocks tool I use to maintain both mine and my child’s hair, both at home and abroad. Micro Locks Retightening Schedule I personally can’t stand to see my scalp so initially had an every other month retightening schedule. Now I retighten with my fingernails whenever…
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Micro locks| What I learned from my DIY Sisterlocks installation & How to start
I’ve never had a perm, my mother never let me. I grew up dedicating weekends to the maintenance of my hair. In highschool finally able to decide the styles I wanted myself, I opted to get my hair braided in box braids devoid of synthetic hair. I’d painstakingly redo the front two rows whenever they showed the slightest bit of frizz. I dated a boy in high school whose mom was a sisterlock consultant, she was the first person I ever met with sisterlocks. She informed me that it would save a heap of time if I started sisterlocks this way, I was so close to scheduling an installation. Over…
