A Cleaning Spray your kids can Use

NFB's Clean Home Spray
If you know me, you know I'm not what you'd call an obsessive cleaner. Part of that is that most cleaners scare me. I'm definitely afraid of bleach! I have always used homemade concoctions with either baking soda and Dr. Bronner's or vinegar and tea tree oil. They work fine, especially with some elbow grease behind them. And the smell of vinegar never bothered me much.

Well, lately my kitchen is cleaner because it's a wee bit more fun to clean. I have been using the Lavendar & Tea Tree Clean Home Spray and have been very impressed. First, I used it on tough counter spots the plain sponge didn't tackle solo. Then, I tried it on the range fan. You know gunky and gross that gets? Well, this stuff took it right off with no effort. And the resulting smell is fantastic.

And this morning, I had my four-year old help me clean! I have never, ever been comfortable letting her clean with anything except water! But today she felt "big" using the spray bottle to clean and I got help with the cleaning. My friend Vali says something like, "I'm the kind of person who would rather my kids eat off a dirty floor than one I just cleaned with floor cleaner." This is how I am, as well. But now I use Clean Home on my floor and feel good about it.

Technical info on Clean Home: Our Household products are non-toxic, hypo-allergenic, free of volatile organic chemicals, biodegradable, user friendly, not tested on animals, and contain all cruelty free ingredients. Our products contain: no dyes, no fragrance, no petroleum, no optical brighteners, no phosphates, no SLS, no chlorine, no NTA or EDTA, no ammonia, no aromatic hydrocarbons, no formaldehyde, no kerosene, no NPE's, no ethyl cellosolve, no masking agents and no fillers. The products are non-flammable, non-corrosive, pH balanced, are not considered household hazardous waste and non-caustic.

While we are not required to disclose our ingredients, we do want you to be aware of the ingredients that we used to create this safe and effective product line. We use a mildly acidic vinegar which is a diluted solution of acetic acid (CH3COOH), Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3) in solution, Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3) in solution, Boric Acid (H3BO3) in solution, Denatured Alcohol (C2H6O), Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), Sodium Chloride (NaCl), Magnesium Sulfate (MsSO4) and other food based ingredients such as crème of tartar and aloe vera along with a coconut based surfactant.

Great Movie reviews to read before taking kids to movies

http://www.screenit.com/search_movies.html
I've had this bookmarked for awhile, but so far we've only watched movies at home with my girls and usually have already seen them or know they're "safe." Like Veggie Tales. I pretty much know those will be OK for them.

But this weekend we thought we'd venture into new territory. For the first time ever, we took a family trip to the movie theater! We saw Curious George and I checked out the review on this site and it was right on. It outlines things like:
bad language
sex
violence
bad attitudes
scary music (a big deal that we tend to forget)
jumping
tobacco and alcohol usage

I think the review caught more than I even saw. Based on the review we decided it would be a good movie for our girls and it was.

Ideally, parents would be able to see the movie first. But at over $9 a pop for a ticket, that can add up. This site is an invaluable tool for those wanting to take a trip to see a new movie.

Welcome to Natural Family Favorites

Most people in Albuquerque's parenting community know me as "The Diaper Lady" or "The Signing Lady." And sometimes "The Sling Lady." I love all those titles. So welcome from the Diaper/Singing/Sling lady. I hope to use this tool to share tips, wisdom, encouragement and more, all in conjunction with my various businesses:
http://www.naturalfamilyfavorites.com
http://www.sign2speak.com