Organic Baby Nook’s Weekly Roundup (September 28)

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This week, moms from around the Internet have given us some food for thought – and for our bellies. A pro photographer found her cause snapping shots of Barbie’s homebirth while another activist mom teaches us how to find our own passions. After long days playing outside with their parents, kids learned how to laugh with monsters, not fear them. And for after the little ones are snuggled in bed, a few moms taught us how to indulge our sweet tooth (guilt-lite or totally guilt-ridden, you choose!).

Get Your Politics On

Mom’s Clean Air Force always leads the pack on activism, and this week she gives us a few tips on becoming an activist mom. Interestingly, she points to studies that show that the mothering impulse to love and protect our children is actually hard-wired into our brains. So basically, it’s not your fault when you go mama bear on the playground bully’s laissez-faire parent. Anyway. Lori over Mom’s Clean Air Force has some great advice on discovering your passion, choosing a cause(s), and becoming an advocate for what you think is right and important.

Take Advantage of Fall Weather – Go Outside!

Fall has already snuck up and winter – eek! – will be too soon to follow. This week, while the weather is still mild, Chrystal at Happy Mothering has given us a few ideas for outdoor activities for both parents and kids. I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill tag or leaf pile jumping (although that’s fun too!) – she hits us with some awesome fun like flashlight hide-and-seek and parachute games. Sign me up!

Barbie Has a Homebirth

I didn’t even know she was pregnant, but this week Barbie had a homebirth with husband Ken and their midwife at her side. This is a pretty cool photo shoot and a great talking point for explaining homebirth to big kids. Katie Moore, the photographer who shot the series, is an advocate of Evidence Based Maternity Care and says she chose Barbie because she is a strong woman and role model. “No matter what your opinion of her is, you cannot deny that she has done it all. In this day and age, I believe that Barbie would have educated herself on her birth options. This is what women today need to do. Whether a home birth or hospital birth, women need to start taking control of their own health and birth experience.”

Halloween-y Reads

Monsters are all the rage right now, and for good reason: they’re adorable! Somehow, the creatures that used to terrorize me from under the bed have morphed from terrifying to silly. I love that. So just in time for the pre-Halloween buildup, No Time for Flashcards has give us a list of 19 monster books for kids. You’ve got your classics, like Where the Wild Things Are, mixed in with some pretty fabulous new kids on the block. (Monster Mess!, Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody, Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters, and Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli sound particularly baby and toddler-friendly.) I love that many of the books focus on conquering fears rather than creating them.

Sweet Nothings

The Internet tried to give me a cavity this week. Or, at least, a diet setback. But I didn’t mind. In fact, I sort of drooled. Someone take my Pinterest away. Nature Mom Tiffany kept it semi-healthy with an avocado-chocolate pudding that sounds good enough to give the littlest chocolate fiends (note: children under age one should not eat honey), while Simple Bites contributor Shaina tempted us with the tantalizing thought of desserts in jars – and a recipe for gift-worthy campfire bars in a jar. And if you’d like to throw your diet completely out the window and revel in the fruits of fall (aka apple season), head on over to Juanita’s Cocina for the most tempting cinnamon-apple chimichangas you will ever see.