Mindfulness

I often have trouble staying in the moment and flit from one thing to another worrying about what is coming up or what I have to do instead of just being in the moment.  I've begun to realize that not being mindful and present has caused me to miss out on opportunities of bonding and interaction with my daughter.
So, in the interest of enjoying every moment with her in the present - I'm working on practicing mindfulness in my parenting.  For instance, yesterday when Aari was getting ready to nap in my bed, she wanted to snuggle on me. I found my mind wandering and wanting her to fall asleep so I could check my email, throw laundry in, put away the dishes, etc...I stopped myself and focused on this adorable little being that was attached to me like a little monkey and put all else out of my mind.  It was the perfect bonding moment and I found that she drifted off to sleep so much easier because she wasn't struggling to get my full attention by climbing all over me whilst I was thinking about everything BUT her.
Susan Salzberg states that mindfulness is "the quality of fullness to attention, immediacy, non-distraction.  In that sense, it is the key to life."  Susan gives some practical examples of ways to begin practicing mindfulness in your life.  One of her suggestions, that really resonated with me, was to begin by being mindful of your breath.  She says that by coming back to the breath, over and over again, by observing it without judgement or any opinion, you connect to that moment without jumping ahead to the next.
The Mindful Parent site's message is to "Experience the Joy of Connecting with our Children."  I am excited to explore this site and share in others' mindful experiences as parents in the hopes to be present in my parenting journey.

Charlie's Soap

I've made the switch to Charlie's Soap for all our mountains of laundry!  I liked the Rockin' Green detergent but I seemed to need a lot of it to clean the cloth diapers and I just wanted to switch to a detergent that I could use for everything.
Charlie's Soap is 100% biodegradable - which the hippie in me loves. :)  There's nothing like saving the earth whilst doing a load of laundry!  Makes me want to throw on my Wonder Woman costume for the whole affair.  Now that would be a sight!
I prepped the machine (per the instructions on the Charlie's Soap canister) and successfully washed a load of cloth diapers and am happy with the results.  I'm working on some sheets now...so we'll see how it works on larger loads.  You supposedly only need 1 TBS per load!  Which I find amazing!  If it really works as well as they claim - it will save a lot of $$$$ in the long run as well.  We all know how expensive detergent can be.
It is also supposed to dissolve well in cold water so I could even go back to doing cold/cold cycles!  Another energy-efficient bonus!
I'll post some updates soon...