Upcoming Event!!

Here's the flyer for our upcoming event!!

 Tickets are available on the blog (look down the right hand side)

Hope to see you there.

The Barefoot Team

Listening to our Children in the Spaces

By Jenny Chapman

"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow,
but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work."
Patricia Clafford

Living in bare feet makes me think of a carefree childhood spent outdoors: summers by the lake; mud and sand; bee stings; running; and the occasional mishap with doggie doodoo…

Bare feet can symbolise childhood, play and a free, ‘un-selfconscious’ way of being in the world.
Bare feet can also represent a child’s place in our parenting world. The space that we provide for them, with our words and actions (and reactions!) is the space in which a child’s sense of self will flourish. This space creates the context in which they grow and understand their world and their relationships. The challenge is to give up the pace of our adult lives and tune into the pace of our child—even just for a moment. Kindness, respect and presence will never be replaced as the most important gifts we can give anyone, least of all our own children.

And our child's place in our world can be seen and heard when we stop and listen to them in the 'white space' of our lives - the spaces between the words, the busy-ness. With this in mind, I wondered, am I present with my child? I decided to metaphorically take off my shoes and socks and listen to my child today…and to the spaces between us. I got a shock.

Dear mama.

Did you know the sky was pink this morning when I woke up? I wanted to tell you about it but I forgot to when you turned on the telly and I saw the Bananas chasing the Teddy Bears. I wanted to help you make the breakfast, but you told me to go sit down and wait. I wanted to crunch up the wheat biscuits and feel them in my hand—even munch on a few bits. I wanted to hold the spoon and watch the honey drip. Why did you take the spoon off me? I am sorry I spilt the honey on the table. Can I help you wash up the dishes? Why are we in a hurry? I feel a bit sad…

Can you swing me on the swing? More, more! Wheeeee! Why do we have to stop? I am happy just swinging. I don’t want to go on the slide – I want to swing!

When we make the omelette can I crack the eggs? Sorry Mama, I got a shell in the bowl. I will help you wipe the table. I already did it—why do you have to do it again? Can I help do the vacuuming? I can do the little bits then you do the big bits.

I want to show you something mama, just outside. Watch me run! Watch me roll on the ground! Look at the rain—can I go outside and play in my raincoat?

Mama can I sit on your knee? Please don’t do your emails now…read me my new book!

I was shocked by the number of times my son apologised TO ME for spilling something; for thinking he was in the road when I was trying to get something done. And, the number of times he asked to just JOIN in with what I was doing, however mundane I thought it was. And, the number of outbursts of frustration and sadness by him, because I’d interrupted his time in disrespectful ways, or tried to control how he played. And, the number of times I said, ‘Be careful.’ Too many! Oh my heart fills with grief for lost moments, and guilt for violating his needs.
Breathe. Let us all take time now, and reflect on how we treat our children. Moreover, how we treat ourselves? Living barefoot is the freedom to be a child. Do we allow our children to live freely? Do we allow ourselves to live freely, simply, and in the present?

My Son Reminds Me

Who told you that I need to Learn how to live in this world?
I am in this world NOW and NOW is my world!
I am living!
I am Life!

I like my Boots on THESE feet,
And if I have my pants on backwards I can see my tag – very Important to see your tag, Mama!
And today I want this blue sock, and this orange sock. I think they look very pretty.
Why are you groaning? Are you sick?

I LIKE my pops, they are FUNNY!
My bottom goes all bubbly and tickles me.
My tummy is big but not as big as yours, Mama – yours is Very Big!
I have big ears, you say, that hear too much.
What is Too Much? A song? Can you sing it?

Mama, YOU have to sit on the Calm Down chair
You have to sit there and take big breaths in and out when you are cross.
Then I will give you a cuddle and you can say Sorry.

Let’s have a picnic outside in the dark tonight,
But you have to hold my hand…it’s a bit scary and the possums might get me.
Look! There’s the moon! It’s a smiley moon today!
Hey diddle diddle the cat played the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the mooooooooo-n!

Here I am NOW, Mama
I am Life!
Don’t get too busy, Mama
Here I am NOW!

 What do you hear, when you stop to listen to the white space in your lives?

Red Nose Day

Hello lovely Barefoot readers


This post is about an issue which is very close to our hearts in the Barefoot team - As you may know, Rachel's daughter Iris died in her sleep almost four years ago. She was a month off turning three and she was such a wonderful girl. Rachel and her family received a great deal of support from SIDS and Kids and so we all feel very strongly about supporting Red Nose Day which is coming up on Friday 24th June, 2011.




Red Nose Day, one of Australia's favourite fundraisers, is calling on your support this June. Nine children under the age of four die suddenly and unexpectedly everyday in Australia from a range of causes including sleeping accidents, drowning, motor vehicle accidents, sudden onset illness, SIDS and stillbirth.

SIDS and Kids offers anyone affected by the death of a baby or child free 24-hour bereavement support services. They also provide safe sleeping education for mums, dads, grandparents, carers and the like to reduce the occurrence of SIDS and other fatal sleeping accidents.
This June, why not fundraise for SIDS and Kids and support families who have been devastated by the death of a baby or child? Through Red Nose Day, SIDS and Kids are helping to save lives of future babies and children.

SIDS and Kids needs your help so stick on a red nose, slap on a smile and be silly for a serious cause this June!

How can you help?

Buy Red Nose Day products from retail partners

www.rednoseday.com.au/national-partners

The SIDS and Kids online shop is a great way people can offer their support. Visit www.sidsandkidsshop.org to see what's on offer or you can follow the cause on Facebook and Twitter

facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Red-Nose-Day-Australia/199513403400177
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/RedNoseDayOz

Birth.art Exhibition 14-30 June 2011

For more info, Check out Midwives for President (wonderful name, that)

Seminar coming up....

For all of our Melbourne Barefoot readers, there is a great seminar coming up in Ivanhoe, Victoria about the sexualisation of children in the media. Julie Gale spoke at our of our events and she's fabulous - I strongly recommend going along if you can...

Bratz, Britney and Bralettes:

The sexualisation of children in the media.

Thursday 19 May 2011

7:00 pm for 7:30 pm to 9:45pm

The Performing Arts Centre, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School

Cnr Noel Street & Upper Heidelberg Road

Ivanhoe VIC

From tiny tots to late teens, children are being affected by sexualisation and media messages about weight, looks, clothes and behaviour.

The harm is real, and not just to girls.

Come and hear some of Australia's best speakers on children and teens, the issues and what can be done, at this seminar for parents and teachers.

• Steve Biddulph, Author and Family Psychologist (via video presentation)

• Julie Gale, Founding Director of Kids Free 2B Kids

• Dr C Glenn Cupit, Senior Lecturer in Child Development, University of South Australia

• Archbishop Dr Philip Freier, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

The seminar will be chaired by Professor Elizabeth Handsley, School of Law, Flinders University & ACCM President

Cost: $30.00

Download a registration form

For more information, or to book by phone, contact ACCM:

helpline@youngmedia.org.au

PH 08 8376 2111

Seminar bought to you by The Australia Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) and Kids Free 2B Kids

Please share this information.

Winners!!

Our Autumn 2011 winners have been decided!!

Congratulations to Marissa Prudden from Mornington, VIC who won a 100% double bed bamboo quilt from Mendip! For more info, go to www.mendipsilks.com.au  All Marissa needed to do was subscribe during March/April!

Our photo winner was Shellie Drysdale from Eltham, VIC who sent in this beautiful photo which will be featured in our Winter 2011 issue.

Well done Marissa and Shellie  - thanks for your continued support of Barefoot and being a part of it!

Take care and stay warm.

Anna

xox

The Science of Washing Nappies

by Amanda McCracken, with Jacqui Parncutt and Kirsten Randle.

With the advent of modern cloth nappies a new regime of eco-friendly laundering has come into being. No soaking, no bleach, no boiling water. Modern nappies don’t require all those things of the past! All sounds very well, but in many parts this has been taken to an extreme – gentle washing, cold water and minimal detergent. The result: smelly nappies that are deteriorating before they should.
As much as we want to believe that we can get away without chemicals or hot water, it goes against the laws of science and nature. Going against the laws of science in the laundry is like standing naked in the rain and expecting to get as clean as you would by scrubbing yourself with a soapy washcloth in a warm shower.
We must always remember that nappies are essentially our babies’ toilets for the first two years of their lives. We are not washing clothing which may have a bit of dirt or food marks, we are washing little toilets and trying to get them clean enough that our babies can wear their toilets, right next to their skin, over and over again.

Using science in the laundry.
There are four main factors to consider when trying to get your nappies clean.

1.Thermal Energy (water temperature)
2. Water Softness (mineral content of the water)
3. Mechanical Energy (agitation)
4. Chemical Energy (detergent)

These four factors work together to help reduce the surface tension of water which in turn allows it to get into the fibres of the nappies an clean them. If you decrease one factor other factors will need to increase to compensate for that loss. This explains why people in Adelaide with hard water will require more detergent than people in Melbourne, and why they have to scrub harder with a cake of soap in order to make bubbles.

How to wash nappies

Wash early, wash often. Like any laundering; nappies will be cleaner if they are washed soon after they become dirty. The urine has less chance to eat away at the fabric, the bacteria has less chance to breed, and any stains that may arise from soiling have less time to set. Most importantly, this is not the time to skimp on water.

1. Dry-pail. This is still a good idea from a practicality and safety point of view. A) No Heavy Lifting involved and B) No Drowning Risks to young infants. You’ll get a better result if you give your nappies a quick rinse under the tap before popping in the bucket.

2. Prerinse. This step should be done with cold water and no detergent. The aim of this step is to try to remove much of the urine and bacteria from the nappy - so we need less detergent to get the nappies clean in the next step.

3. The wash. This is where you need to contrate on getting the combination of water temperature, softness v hardness, mechanical energy and detergent right. Now while you might not have a lot of control over your water softness or hardness, you can control the three other factors. You don’t always need hot water, and it may damage other parts of your modern cloth nappies such as the elastic or plastic components, but you may need to hot wash occassionally. If you use cold water, you will need to compensate by using more detergent. So a balance is best. Warm water with an appropriate amount of detergent and a wash on the longest cycle.

So which detergent is best? We recommend a non-purfumed, enzyme free, optical whitening free, phosphate free concentrate or an ultra-concentrate. You want the best bang for your buck – the most bubbles for your scoop. As many babies can show reactions to detergents, you want the least amount of fillers – as small traces may remain on the fabric, even after a final rinse.

4. Final rinse. This is to remove as much of the detergent residue as possible – so as to reduce the risk of skin irritation of your little one’s behind.

5. Line Dry. The sun will provide you with lots of lovely UV rays that will kill bacteria and assist in sterilising your nappies. Great news for Queenslanders! Not such great news for southerners in winter, although many of us can make do.

If your nappies smell, it is likely you have a cleanliness problem, that is, you are not washing the urine and bacteria out of all the layers of your nappy. In this situation you need to work on lowering your surface tension of the water so that it will clean your nappies properly, by changing your thermal and/or chemical energies.

The extras

•  Hot water – This has a lower surface tension than cold or warm water meaning that it gets into the fibres of the nappies and cleans them more easily as well as killing many bacteria. Hot water may decrease the lifespan of PUL and elastic but it does have the advantage over chemicals that it won’t leave a residue that could cause irritation to baby’s skin. Anti-bacterial rinses - These will help to sterilise the nappies and once more will help to lower the water surface tension – resulting in cleaner nappies. They are recommended after gastro, thrush, live vaccinations and a bad case of nappy rash. Also handy in winter if you aren’t getting enough UV rays from the sun to sterilise your nappies.
•  Nappy Sanitisers – Like the anti-bacterial rinses – these use chemical energy to both kill bacteria and to lower water surfact tension. The active ingredient breaks down in water to a water softener and hydrogen peroxide – which will further break down to water and oxygen. Often cotain optical whiteners and enzymes which may cause rash. Rinse well.
• Vinegar – can be used to lower the pH of the nappies caused by detergent residue.
• Dryer - isn’t such a great idea because it deteriorates elastic and PUL in your modern nappies as well as using enormous amounts of electricity. If you do use it you will need to use it on a hot enough setting to prevent bacterial growth, since you are omitting the sterilising step that the sun performs.

Most of us who use modern cloth nappies do so because we want to reduce our footprint. We want to live eco-conscious lives, lower our impact on our environment. But this does not mean we can wish science away. Warm and hot water, detergent and chemical solutions need not be the enemies. They can help us get longer wear out of our nappies and make those years that we have little ones in nappies a pleasant, satisfying experience.



Amanda McCracken B.Com.

Amanda is a mother of four children six and under, all of whom have been cloth nappied. In 2007 she established Mandy Mac, a successful modern cloth nappy business which she runs from her home in Melbourne. See www.mandymac.com.au

Jacqui Parncutt B.Sc. (Hons)

Jacqui is a Melbourne based medical scientist. She is a keen modern cloth user with a soft spot for microbiology. She wanted to share her knowledge of bacterial management in the laundry, especially with regard to cloth nappies.

Kirsten Randle B.Sc., M.F.Sc.

Kirsten is a very busy RAAF wife and mother. She has a Bachelor of Science, Master of Forensic Science (Firearm Chemistry) and almost completed her PhD in Applied Chemistry (Forensic Science/Counter-terrorism) as well as being an avid fan of modern cloth.

Photos by Pamela Bradford and Debbie Treweek