Green Parent Chicago

While You Can, Best Free Things to Do Outdoor With Kids in Chicago

August is already here and for some families kids will soon be heading back to school.

While summer winds down, check out some of Green Parent Chicago's top picks for free and low cost things to do with kids outdoor in Chicago.

-The Grant Park Music Festival completes its season on August 16 at Millennium Park. Pack a picnic dinner and hear the nation's only remaining free outdoor classical music series.

-Take a dip in the lake or build sandcastles together at the beach. Chicago beaches are open for swimming until September 1. Looking for something specific? See this list of beaches with a nearby playground, peace and quiet and even poetry: The Beach Poets series originally in residence at North Avenue Beach now takes place Sunday afternoons at Loyola Beach.

-See a movie in the park now until the end of the month. All movies begin at dusk at various parks around the city.

-Join a Stroller Strut with your wee one and get some exercise, fresh air and learn about nature in the city together. Four dates are scheduled for August, see the Chicago Park District Nature Oasis site for times and location.

-Go fly a kite. Cricket Hill at Montrose Harbor is a grassy plateau which is said to be the highest point on the city’s lake shore and an ideal location for wind "obstruction-free—far from buildings, trees and, most importantly, power lines," says Time Out Chicago's Jake Malooley. Or try Columbia Beach Park also on the city's northside.

Add your own suggestions below!

Marketers Hope They're A Better Influence On Kids Than You Are

With little public outcry in opposition, the tales brand marketers weave about marketing and young people continue to reach bizarre proportions.

In a July 16 article in the British magazine Ethical Corporation, Giles Gibbons marketing director of the PR and marketing firm Good Business argues, not surprisingly, that brands shouldn't fear marketing to kids and can actually can reach children in a way parents and schools are unable to.

Gibbons takes on "commentators" who argue for control of brand marketing. He writes that these commentators "tend to react in a knee-jerk way particularly when it comes to products that can be deemed “bad” for children – whether it is the possible health risks of mobiles phones, or soft drinks and obesity."

Companies themselves are capable of their own regulation, according to Gibbons and "will often rule out activity that would clearly lead to children pestering their parents for unhealthy or expensive products – whether by changing the message or changing the context in which it is found."

"But to suggest that companies should not communicate with children at all is narrow-minded and shortsighted.." he continues.

"Messages on bullying, or the environment, or online safety that come from a cool brand – like Hello Kitty – can have far more impact than the strictures of parents and schools."

Tina Wells, who prides herself on being the queen of tween and teen marketing and leads her own Buzzspotter tween marketing recruits, recently wrote in The Huffington Post about the "new power couple" of celebrities and brands.

Wells hopes consumers believe her argument that celebrity plugs for youth products and entertainment are necessary and actually desired by teens and young people.

"The market has become so fragmented, with dozens of information outlets competing for the attention of savvy young consumers, that traditional advertising simply does not reach them anymore. Even when I was a teen, we were glued to the TV on Thursday nights. Consuming the ads was part of the experience of watching Dawson's Creek and Beverly Hills 90210. When Ali Landry became the new Doritos girl, we actually cared who she was. And we all noticed that the kids on Dawson's Creek wore American Eagle."

Wells, a PR and marketing specialist by trade is the new "author" behind the recent Mackenzie Blue "book series" by Harper Collins Publishing, aimed at 8- to 12-year-old girls. The series features product placement written into the plot. The release of the book was met with criticism by consumer advocacy group Commercial Alert.

A press release from February says tweens will discover more about going "green," learn about the "global" landscape, and be motivated to achieve their goals in the Mackenzie Blue books. 

What about strollers? CTA May Introduce Seat-less Train Cars Soon

Ridership is up on the CTA. Due in part to the rising cost of gas and the CTA's free rides for seniors program that just began in March of this year. Citing the increase Wednesday, CTA officials announced at a transit board meeting that the agency will soon experiment with seat-less cars on rush hour trains to address increased ridership and crowded trains.

While this would serve as one solution to allowing more riders on board, how might this effect the ridership of parents with kids, who may also be carrying a folded up stroller along?

The cars would debut on the Brown Line by fall, according to CTA President Ron Huberman.  An eight-car train would include at least two contiguous cars without seats. Elderly, disabled and pregnant passengers could choose to ride in the cars with seating, Huberman said.

While some parents never bring a stroller along on public transit, opting to travel with a sling or carrier only. Other parents, including many who also bring a sling or carrier tote a lightweight stroller along for their older child or to ease the burden of carrying a diaper bag, lunch and sleeping baby all at once.

Though most parents who ride the CTA during rush hour and other busy times are probably no stranger to crowded conditions, it will be interesting to note what type of extra planning parents may have to consider before boarding a seat-less train. In addition, it remains to be seen if the plan will actually cut ridership numbers of parents with young kids.

We want to hear from you at Green Parent Chicago: would you plan any differently for trips on a seat-less train? If so how? Or is planning as simple as avoiding peak travel times or just leaving the stroller at home?

Progressive Politics and Parenting

Are you a news junkie, do you watch C-Span while serving your kids lunch? Can you define "pundit", a "smoke-filled room", have you ever "misspoke"? Perhaps, like me, you've been following the presidential race since it began in late 2006...(you don't think it all started at the Iowa Caucuses now do you?)

Well, the MOMocrats, Activistas, League of Maternal Justice, Moms Speak Up, Moms Rising, and PunditMom have a little something to share with you.

All you mamas and papas of the world who know that parenting is a political act, there's no shortage of political opinion from the playground set.

The MOMocrats: moms, bloggers, writers, lawyers and more from across the nation deftly skilled at the art of political smackdown are dedicated to putting a Democrat in the White House.

Activistas' out of Portland describes it's goal: "to inform, inspire & connect busy parents who want to create change on the issues that matter to your family." Their site offers relevant news, alerts, and opinion on local and national issues. 

The League of Maternal Justice uses the power of the mom internet community to "expose the injustices perpetrated against mothers everywhere and to exact vengeance through aggressive finger-wagging and online shaming."

Moms Speak Up is a collaborative blog of writers who "are women, parents, consumers, voters and much, much more" and are "fed up with the "business as usual" attitude of politicians & greedy corporations." They believe "It's time for us to speak up and be heard!"

Moms Rising is an organization working toward a more family-friendly America, with over 140,000 citizen members. Several very prominent women bloggers on their site voice their opinions on the issues and work to advance the efforts of the organization.

PunditMom: has been called a "one woman media empire" and writes regularly on her own site, as well as for The Huffington Post, BlogHer, Moms Rising and a whole slew other notable online and print publications.

Catherine Morgan, a single mom and contributing editor for BlogHer, not long ago began chronicling the Political Voices of Women on her blog. To date she has over 400 women listed from various political persuasions, many of whom are also moms.

This list just scratches the surface and of course I've forgotten many, so if you're out there (dads!) or know of any other great political parenting writers online, let us know!

-Full disclosure: editor Christine writes on politics for a couple of the above sites over here and here and more often on her own column here at the Huffington Post and her political blog, Modern English.

Do You Waste Food?

Wasted food may seem unavoidable with children who can be notoriously finicky eaters at certain stages and ages.

But parents concerned about food waste can take note of recent tips from the UK. British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has recently launched a campaign to urge consumers and world leaders at the G8 Summit this week to address the problem.

WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), a private company funded by the British government to study environmental waste reduction, discovered 1/3 of food bought in the UK winds up as waste. They've launched a site, Love Food Hate Waste, offering consumers advice on meal planning and using up leftovers in creative ways.

On the U.S. side, journalist Jonathan Bloom, who has been studying food waste since 2005 and has devoted a blog to food waste in the U.S., said "Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce for consumption. That comes at an annual cost of more than $100 billion." His blog lists ways in which groups and organizations recover and recycle wasted food.

Ready to take action? Visit Love Food Hate Waste for shopping suggestions and if you're ready to tackle this week's leftovers, Deborah Taylor-Hough, a mom, author and authority on simple living has plenty of great ideas on her site that will have you thinking beyond soup and casseroles.

What are some ways you cut down on food waste? Post your tips and suggestions in the comments below.

Happy Father's Day Papas!

Today we at Green Parent Chicago wish you a wonderful and happy Father's Day filled with lots of love from your little ones!

The Midwife of FounouFuni: A 2-Part Special Feature Begins Today

Editor's note:

Below is part one of a 2-part special feature by Amy Souza, a World Language teacher from Schurz High School in Chicago who traveled in March to the village of FounouFuni in Mali with 7 of her students as part of the Building With Books program. The Building With Books organization helps villagers build new schools while providing cultural and language learning opportunities for its participants.

In her story Souza details the existing conditions of maternal health and parent education in the town of FounouFuni located in the Segou region of Mali. One of the poorest countries in the world, children born in the region have an average life expectancy of only 38 years. During her trip, she spoke with the town's only midwife, Zubaila Tu. 

-photo: Baby Fatimata and mother Fata by Amy Vitale Oxfam

**************************************

Seven hours by plane to Paris, another six to the capital city of Bamako, Mali, followed by eight hours via bumpy van on a dust whipped road past the small city of Segou, sits the small village of FounouFuni. I had arrived there all the way from Chicago to meet a unique goal: to break ground on a elementary school – the first ever in this tiny village where the future students filled my days with laughter and made digging into the hard ground littered with hibernating desert frogs all the more meaningful. Sharing my same goal were 17 Chicago public high school students – all of us brought together by Building with Books, a U.S. based organization that encourages and inspires student to volunteer in their local communities and help build schools in developing countries.

The children of FounouFuni ran freely about the village all the day long: they played soccer with an old nylon sock filled with sand, they skipped along with sticks rolling popped bicycle tires, and watched us as we mixed cement, pounded out bricks, and dug out a foundation under the hot African sun, their parents working beside us. Fathers taught newly-apprenticed construction workers like me (a Chicago Public Schools teacher by trade) the ins and outs of making a durable cement brick. Mothers drew water from the central deep well and carried bucket after bucket to the cement mixing station. The excitement of the children over their new school – over which their parents and these odd outsiders were working so hard – was palpable. They arrived daily at the construction site to check up on our progress, were eager to learn English words and expressions, and couldn’t get enough of the pencils, notepads and picture books that I had brought along to share.

The children of FounouFuni are survivors for the simple reason that they were born in a country where only one in five children makes it through childbirth. Children in Mali are not even named until they are at least a week old: newborns face a myriad of troubles, with one in four children dying before reaching the age of five. Their killers are malaria, dehydration brought on by diarrhea, and respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia. Killers that could be eradicated through such simple steps as parent education, clean drinking water and timely vaccinations. 78 percent of children are not immunized against preventable disease by their first birthday and access to medical care is extremely limited or altogether non-existent.

The mothers of FounouFuni are survivors in their own right as well: more than 1,500 women die during childbirth in Mali for every 100,000 live births. Childbirth and its complications are the number-one killer of teenage girls in Mali. Compare this statistic to that of the U.S., where 17 women die during childbirth per 100,000 live births. Again their killers could be eradicated through simple steps. Death can start via infection from an unsanitary knife that cuts the umbilical cord. A simple tetanus vaccination could spare mother and infant. But again, the majority of women in Mali lack basic medical care and formally educated women are the minority.

Zubaila Tu is the one and only midwife in FounouFuni. Cheery and bright, with a dimpled smile, Zubaila is 57 years old and has served as the village midwife for the past 19 years. Her only formal training was from an agent from UNICEF and two Peace Corps volunteers that visited the village and trained her 19 years ago. But her true mentor was her grandmother, a midwife that she followed around as a little girl, quietly observing and then serving her as a young assistant. Zubaila also birthed 10 babies of her own: her first child was born when she was just 15. Of those ten children, only 4 survived, fitting with statistics on birth survival rates in Mali.

-continued Monday

Co-founder of International Breastfeeding Organization Passes Away

Edwina Froehlich, co-founder of the breastfeeding organization La Leche League International died Sunday at the age of 93.

Froehlich, who resided in suburban Inverness, died at Northwest Suburban Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, after suffering a stroke on May 25. In addition to her involvement in LLLI, based in Schaumburg, she also co-authored the book, "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding", which sold more than 2 million copies worldwide since its first publication "in loose-leaf" format in 1958.

In 1956, Froehlich and six other women met at a picnic in Elmhurst's Wilder Park, to discuss how to successfully breastfeed their babies. Their meeting led to the formation of La Leche League. At the time, breastfeeding rates for new mothers had dropped nationwide to only about 20%.

As of 2006, which marked the 50th anniversary of LLLI, the organization said it assists over 300,000 women each month with breastfeeding support and education.

-photo credit La Leche League International

International Babywearing Conference Comes to Chicago

The 2nd annual International Babywearing Conference will be held June 25 to 28 at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus.

The 4 day event will offer an array of workshops, exhibitions, activities and community outreach events for families who support babywearing, the parenting practice of carrying your baby or toddler in a sling or other carrier to facilitate healthy growth, development and attachment bonds.

Alice Hollowed, an organizer for the event and a local babywearing instructor, explained the mission of the conference.

"One we are trying to bring together babywearers from all over the world to get people together and brainstorm ideas. Two, we are trying to grow the industry and connect manufacturers with vendors and to bring the sling industry into the mainstream. Three, we are trying to inspire others to wear their babies."

According to Hollowed, this year's conference is expected to include attendees from 38 U.S. states including Hawaii and Alaska.  Countries to be represented include Canada, Russia, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland.

New this year will be a Babywearing Fashion Show. Over 60 different babycarriers and babywearing accessories will be modeled in the show. In addition, the conference will host a raffle with over 60 prizes, including carriers and other babycare accessories.  

Free community outreach events will be held on the final day of the conference for those new to babywearing. Special children's activities and afternoon access to the exhibitor hall will also take place on that day.

Children are welcome at the conference and childcare will be available for kids over 1 to attendees with a conference pass. A punch card can also be purchased at $20 for 5 hours of childcare hours or $10 for 2 hours.

Online conference registration at a discounted rate ends June 11. Registration will also be available at the event.

Green Moms share your collective wisdom

Green Mom Finds, on a mission for products and services that are kinder to the earth and better for our children and families (with a good dose of green common sense) has just announced their new forum and community for green moms to share ideas, tips, recipes, topics, and news and with one another.

Current topics on the boards include homeschooling, breastfeeding, news and politics, green cleaning, unconsuming, and thrifting among others.