Coast 2 Coast Mom

Returning to Our Routines Post Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy and Nor-Easter Athena have kept me from updating Coast to Coast Mom these past few weeks as I've been spending all of my available time catching up on work and gearing up for my busiest time of year (now through Valentine's Day). But I wanted to share our experience surviving Hurricane Sandy in North Jersey. . .

We're lucky that we don't live in a flood-zone or coastal area, so our town wasn't as impacted as the demolished homes, beaches and businesses we keep seeing on the news. Instead, our main fear during storms is the wind. We're surrounded by gigantic trees dating back hundreds of years that start to weaken and fall when winds hit over 30-40 mph, taking out power lines and landing on homes and cars. We had sustained winds in that range, with gusts 60mph+ during Hurricane Sandy. So trees fell. Three fell on our block alone, knocking out power to half of our street for what would be 12 days.

Over 150 of these huge trees fell within a couple of miles of our home - knocking out power to 90% of our town and the surrounding towns. We usually lose power, but this time by some miracle, we didn't. (Although we acted and planned that we would lose it at any minute, keeping our devices charged, using up food from the freezer, etc.)

90% of our area without power meant that grocery stores, restaurants, shops and businesses were powerless too. Because so many trees were down around town, buses and cars couldn't get through, and the two train lines that run through town were also shut down. So we were all kind of stuck for a few days. Because so many people we knew were without power - while we had it - we invited and hosted people to hang out in our heat, play at our house, eat hot meals, charge their devices, etc. We made those days like one big casual open house. The hardest part for most was the lack of gasoline (to drive to far off family or available hotels or to keep their generators going), and the lack of heat as the temps hit the 30s at night and their home thermostats were in the 40s after several days of no heat. It was heartbreaking, and seeing the images of those impacted worse than us and hearing updates from friends, family and contact in those areas helped to keep things in perspective.

We spent our time showing off some of the exciting items I have to review (Starbucks Verismo machine, Samsung SMART TV, Sony Xperia Tablet S, BlackBerry PlayBook, phones, cameras and video games galore). The kids all wanted to play video games and use our powered devices, and with so much time spent each day powered down in the dark, we were happy to toss the screen time limits out the window. We happened to be cleaning out our basement of things we've moved around the country with but just hadn't gotten rid of yet, so a huge chunk of what we did those days was sort through our boxes of stuff in storage, to donate to various people and charities impacted by Sandy.

Here's our local DPW a couple of days later clearing the trees out of the street so cars and buses can return:

And of course, we cheered when the cable trucks arrived to fix the cable lines! :-)

Never would I have imagined that in this day and modern age that it would take a week to 12 days to get power up and running. BUT, we have a newfound appreciation this Thanksgiving for things we've been taking for granted - like school, heat, phone and Internet access.

Many families here were living like pioneers: going around collecting fire wood from fallen trees to start fires to heat their homes at night; finding places to spend their days out of the cold house during the day with outlets to charge devices; locating gasoline; gerry-rigging ways to keep a few food items cold or hot to eat.

We're so thankful for all of the power, cable and tree removal crews that traveled to help us in North Jersey - and in the surrounding NYC area. Those were cold, wet, trying times and we greatly appreciate them being here to help clean up, power up and right our town.

The kids here missed 8 days of school - and I'm sure will make for a contentious board meeting to decide when those days will be made up - but I'm positive they've never been so happy to return to their everyday routines.

While we're fortunate to be able to return to our routines this week, there are still thousands displaced and unable to get back into the swing of normalcy. Please consider some ways you can help contribute to the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

 

Support World Fair Trade Day at Breakfast May 14th

This weekend brings a unique opportunity to educate the world class citizens of your home. Fair Trade USA has designated May 14th their annual "Wake up the World" to World Fair Trade Day and invites everyone to support the world's farmers and farm workers by consciously incorporating Fair Trade Certified products into breakfast for a day. It's easier than you think.

Brew yourself a cup of Fair Trade Certified Starbucks coffee. Have a Fair Trade Certified Dole banana. Make these chai spice pancakes or these orange chocolate chip muffins. Make your own Fair Trade brunch.

You likely have one of the 9,500 products in your home that have passed the 200-point certification and are just not be aware of it. As a daily tea drinker, it warmed my heart that so many of the teas in my cabinet are on the Fair Trade Certified tea list: Republic of Tea, Art of Tea, Bigelow, Honest Tea, ErendipiTea, Stash, and Tea Forte for instance. Bananas and pineapple from Dole Food Company are Fair Trade Certified, as well as bananas from Sam's Club. Trader Joe's organic raw honey is certified, and you'd be surprised how many companies have made the decision to use Fair Trade Certified cocoa in their products. . .

 . . . Ben & Jerry's anyone? (Or am I the only one who's had ice cream for breakfast? On occasion. It's not like I'm eating a big bowl of Cluster Fluff every morning. . . although that would be a fun way to celebrate and have a fair trade discussion with your kids tomorrow. . .:-D) But seriously, next year I just may subject myself to a Fair Trade Certified chocolate tasting to share with everyone. The things I do for my friends ;-)

So it may not be morning where you are, but consider this your Fair Trade wake up call! Check your counters and cupboards to find something to help consciously celebrate World Fair Trade Day in your household on Saturday, May 14th.

Passing Along Info from Eggland's Best

In the midst of all of the news about eggs tainted with salmonella, I'm thinking that it was pretty well-timed that I had the opportunity to meet with one BlogHer sponsor in particular: Eggland's Best. Their presence there was priceless in hindsight, considering 1) the news that has broken since then, and 2) that they just had the opportunity to strike up relationships with the 2,400 bloggers attending the conference, to communicate with about how their eggs are safe to consume and unaffected by the salmonella outbreak.

Lucky us we just so happen to purchase Eggland's Best brand, or pick them up from our local Abma's Farm market - and a container of Eggbeaters too of course. ;-) I was happy to see the Eggland's Best booth and even won a carton of eggs for playing their jackpot game on the BlogHer expo floor. (Doesn't it just tickle your toes when you win something that you already like and use?)

This week EB sent me an email comforting me in understanding that Eggland's Best eggs are not included in the massive nationwide egg recall. As I know some of you are prone to worrying like me, I thought I'd share with you a bit of what they emailed me and point you to the FDA's Newsroom to learn more about the egg recall, and to the EB site to learn a bit more about Eggland's Best eggs.

Would My Grandmothers Mind Being Called This Color?

This post is inspired by the latest SVMoms book club choice, Green Guide Families: The Complete Reference for Eco-friendly Parents. I received a copy of the book as part of my participation in the book club.

I learned of a concept for the first time last week, in the run up to Earth Day on April 22nd, that within the eco-friendly green movement, there are actually "shades" of green. I heard that 65% of people fall under the shade "light green." These people have made some earth-friendly changes to their lifestyle, perhaps commuting or taking publictransportation and recycling some of their paper, glass, plastic and aluminum products, but haven't changed eveything in their life to live completely "dark green" by living their entire lives in the most earth-friendly ways they can possibly imagine. 

It made me think about how so much of the green movement is really a throwback to the lifestyle from a half century ago, and how my grandmothers' generation must be getting such a kick out of it - as a return to the life they knew in their younger years, and for the most part, never really left behind. When I visit my grandmothers, they've always done more with less, and by comparison of consuming less, seemingly accomplished more. They've continued their gardens and sewing on buttons and cooking from scratch. They're today's hipsters without trying to be.

Learning Values That Define A Lifetime From the Olympics

Watching the 2010 Winter Olympic closing ceremonies last night amid all of the pomp and circumstance, it seemed to me that the crowd and the athletes were walking a little lighter and smiling a bit wider. It was as though the entire stadium took a collective deep breath and began to relax, celebrate being there, and truly soak up the history, spirit and honor that is the Olympic games.

As we watched in awe of the young men and women athletes making their marks on the world stages of their sports, I couldn't help but notice how many teachable moments occured while watching the Olympics and I wondered what the future holds for Li'l Boo. Where will his athletic interests and strengths lie? Will he take to hockey? Or skiing?

Let's Move: Parents Take Action Against Childhood Obesity

Recently the Silicon Valley Moms Group contributors were invited to participate on a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss some of the new initiatives being put forth to improve the school lunch programs from a federal level.  This call took place in support of Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative launch today. I was bummed to have missed the call (don't worry - I wasn't TOO bummed, being at Disney World afterall! ;-) )

I had access to the notes of some of the other SVMoms participants and have been reading their posts from the call this morning, and wanted to chime in myself as my perspective hasn't been reflected. The purpose of the call was to educate moms on the current state of school lunches and discuss reauthorizing the Childhood Nutrition Act and increasing school funding for more fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunches. (Which is a TOTAL no-brainer for most moms.) I learned that the U.S. provides lunches to 30 million children a year, and serves breakfast to around 10 million, making school lunches a critical component in the Let's Move initiative to combat childhood obesity. 

Check Out Headphonies for Haiti: A Donation with Each Purchase

Now that holiday gift-giving is behind us, many of us are looking for ways to customize their techno gifts (such as iPhones, Droids, gaming devices and the like) with personalized cases, coverings or other accessories. One speaker accessory that I saw and liked the looks of at CES was the Mobi headphonie.

I haven't tried them out myself yet (soon), so this isn't a review or endorsement, but I just learned about the headphonies for Haiti fundraising campaign and this DOES endear them to me. If I'm going to purchase something, I like that the company is supporting a cause that I care about.  Announced earlier today, Mobi will donate $1 from the purchase of each headphonie sold on www.headphonies.com from January 18th - February 28th, 2010 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

These Headphonies won an Innovations Award from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) at CES last week and drew quite a crowd at their booth. (Yeah, these small speakers were a BIG deal.)

Why I'm Speaking for Kids Now

I haven't paused to add up all of the healthcare costs that we've incurred on behalf of Li'l Boo, but I guess that had we paid out-of-pocket, we'd be broke or deep in debt. Li'l Boo was born with a soft cleft palate and required special bottles for feeding, major surgery to repair it, multiple doctor appointments and various specialist evaluations  - and he only had a mild case! (If I didn't tell you about his cleft, you would never have guessed - he's normal weight and has been talking since five months old!) No one could tell he had a physical deformity from just looking at him or listening to him. We've been fortunate in that we've had health insurance coverage for Li'l Boo, though we've still paid out a lot of $$ in fees insurance didn't cover, co-pays, etc.

Why we aren't all born with healthcare as an inalienable right is beyond me. I shudder to think of how things would have turned out for Li'l Boo and for us had we not been fortunate enough to be employed with insurance. Having lived in three states (CA, IL and NJ) with a child, what I find equally disturbing is how each state has different requirements for pre-natal care, babies and children. One state may begin immunizations before leaving the hospital, or at two weeks old; while others may wait until a baby is two months old! When we moved from CA to IL when my son was nine months old, he was ahead of schedule for his one-year vaccination requirements in IL so he only needed one shot at his 12-month check-up. Also in IL - post repair-surgery - we were required to have a multi-faceted team of specialists evaluate Li'l Boo (developmental pediatrician, speech therapist, plastic surgeon, ENT, etc.) on an annual basis to stay ahead of any issues that may develop as he grew. In NJ, our pediatrician informed us that no such requirement was in place, unless we sought it out ourselves. (WHAT?! So no staying on top of developmental growth changes to get ahead of any issues that could arise? Only after the fact, "piece-meal" if I noticed something was wrong?)

The funny thing is that from coast to coast I have only rarely encountered another parent whose children have not had SOME issue that required health insurance - allergies to formula/milk, "late" developers, preemies, ear tubes, swallowed objects,  accidents/injuries, the list goes on . . . So almost all of us can appreciate the value of health insurance and the travesty that not being insured could lead to . . . and why should children in certain states receive better healthcare than those in other states? They can't choose where they're born or grow up. This is why I'm adding my voice to support healthcare reform for children. For those of you interested in supporting the healthcare for children cause, please visit Speak Now for Kids, follow @speaknowforkidson Twitter or attend the Sitewarming Twitter party tonight at 9 p.m. EST #speaknowforkids.