Advice, ideas, discussions and stories about raising children, being pregnant, and planning a family. We love talking about living naturally & organically, baby wearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding and having fun raising your children.
Thank you all so much for celebrating with us this past Saturday for our 3rd birthday! And thanks to all of those who participated in our giveaways, both in store and here online.
It’s today! It’s today! Franklin Goose is 3 years old today!
To celebrate, we’re giving away several excellent prizes. If
you would like to enter in our giveaways, you can do so by either stopping by
our Richmond store or here online. (You may only enter in the store or online;
you may not enter both in the store and online.)
To enter online, simply comment below with your name and
which giveaway you would like to enter. Each person may enter for 3 different
giveaways, or you may use your 3 entries for 1 giveaway.
Please note that the GroVia Diaper Set Giveaway is available only to
online entrants. For in-store entrants there is The Honest Co Diaper Cake
Giveaway.
Winners will be chosen at random from the combined in-store
and online entries, save for those giveaways that are only in store or only
online. Winners will be contacted by Franklin Goose. There is no purchase
necessary, and winners do not have to be present for drawings.
The deadline for entries in-store is our closing time at 6:00. The deadline for online entries is midnight tonight.
Green Toys’School Bus is so cute! It’s made with recycled
milk jugs. The open roof allows your child to add his or her favorite toys
inside to take to school, and the large wheels make it a great toy to use in
the sandbox, at the beach, or at home.
The delightful book Bear At Home/Oso en Casa by Barefoot Books is a bilingual paperback which includes English and Spanish Vocabulary words. It’s written by Stella Blackstone, illustrated by Debbie Harter, and is suited for children ages 2-6.
The Begin AgainBath Tub Ball comes with a natural rubber
“cage” ball that can house 1 scuba diver, 2 sharks, and 1 octopus, also made
from natural rubber. The toys can be removed for bathtub fun.
Green Toys’Airplane is a single-seater airplane with a
spinning propeller, two-wheeled landing gear, and rounded wings, and so
durable--it’s made from 100% recycled milk jugs!
Our 3rd birthday is tomorrow! We can barely
contain our excitement! We will be having various giveaways tomorrow, which you
can enter in either online or in our Richmond, VA, store.
Tomorrow you will have the chance to win an Honest Company
Diaper cake!
We took 24 disposable Honest Diapers in Skulls and 38
Anchors & Stripes disposable Honest Diapers to create our 4-tiered cake.
The Honest Company makes their diapers hypoallergenic, free
of chlorine processing and any risky additives like fragrances, lotions, or
latex. They’re made with plant-based (PLA) outer and inner layers, and are
filled with sustainably harvested pulp with a bio-based wheat/corn blend in a
super-absorbent core.
The Honest Co Diaper Cake giveaway is only available in
store.
GroVia Diaper Shells are one-size and provide a trim cover
and are closed with Velcro. You can snap an Organic Soaker inside, and when
it’s wet, unsnap it and replace with a fresh Soaker. The inside of the diaper
shell is lined with a soft netting material. Lay in a GroVia BioLiner to help
with easy clean up of solid waste. The BioLiner will allow moisture to pass
through to the diaper and keep your baby’s skin dry but will contain solid
waste.
The GroVia Magic Stick is an all-natural diaper ointment
that is easy to use, goes on smoothly, and keeps your baby protected and
comfortable without damaging your cloth diapers.
The GroVia Diaper Set Giveaway will be available only to entrants online.
We are so looking forward to our birthday this weekend, and
we hope you are, too! We will be hosting several giveaways, and you can enter either
online or stop by our Richmond, VA, store.
The Lillebaby COMPLETE is a great baby carrier that allows
you to carry your child from newborn to 45 lbs facing in or out and comfortably
on your front, hip, or back. If you’re baby is facing out, the Lillebaby
COMPLETE allows for your baby to sit safely in a “spread-squat” seat to keep
your baby’s hip development healthy. It’s also designed to distribute your baby’s
weight evenly across your hips and shoulders with a unique lumbar support and a
wide padded waistband to provide exceptional lower back support.
Imagine Greenwear shirts are made from 100% organic cotton
and with different graphics on the front and back dyed with seaweed-based dyes.
Our Imagine Greenwear giveaway includes 2 shirts: a fun
Monkey t-shirt (size 6) and a lovely adult woman’s Dragonfly shirt (size
Small).
The green Dragonfly shirt has ¾ long sleeves and is so soft
and comfortable, with dragonflies across the front and back. The Monkey t-shirt
features several monkeys on the front and back, with the shirt dyed in shades
of blue and green fading into each other.
Made in Richmond, VA, with organic cotton, these headbands can be worn 4 different ways: it’s reversible with 2 fun prints, and the tie in
the center can be reversed or removed.
We are all excited about our birthday party coming up on Saturday! We have some really great giveaways for our online and Richmond store shoppers. If you visit us in the store you will be able to enter to win there, but we know so many of you live all over the country and wouldn't want you to miss out! So, on Saturday we will post the giveaways here for you to enter. You can't enter both places though, unfortunately you have to pick, either online or in the store. More details will follow this week...
In the meantime, here are two great giveaways to get excited about!
This little seat is so fantastic from 3 months up to 14 months. It is a great way for your baby to start learning how to sit up because of the support the chair gives them with the high back. This booster chair has straps for the bottom and back of the seat so it can go from the floor to a chair safely. We love this because your baby can not only be in the kitchen with you, playing in their seat on the floor while you cook, they can then go to the table with you and be part of the "grown-up" family at meal time.
This seat is also non-toxic, no funky chemicals for you to worry about, and it is available in super cool colors!
Thanks Prince Lionheart for this fantastic seat to giveaway!
If you don't have the Inglesina Fast chair then you are missing out on one of the must haves for parenting. This portable highchair, made by Inglesina, has it all. It is small and compact when it folds up to travel. It comes with its own carrying back, attached under the seat so there is nothing to lose or keep track of. The seat is removable for washing, and features a little pocket on the back, perfect to store your little ones toys in. It is stylish but most importantly it is so reliable! When you tighten this chair onto a table or countertop it is going nowhere! The high sides help support little ones and the seat belt keeps them safely in the seat.
This is a great seat for Grandparents to keep at their houses.
Your little one can sit in this seat until they weigh about 33 pounds!
As a parent you know how hard it is to go to friends and families houses for dinner when they don't have a highchair or place for your baby to sit, you know how gross the highchairs in restaurants can be, if they have one, or how hard it can be to find space for a high chair in a small flat or house. The Fast chair is the perfect solution for any of these situations!
This is also a great option for Grandparents to have at their house!
A lot of people seem to make the assumption that if they’re
to eat “better” or “healthy,” they have to sacrifice flavor and eat bland and
boring food. So they ditch their cookies for celery sticks and suffer through a
few weeks (or days) because they believe that to be healthy they can no longer
enjoy food.
That’s so sad because it’s so not true. Just because
something is healthy doesn’t mean it can’t be delicious! Even the simplest
ingredients can give your food a burst of flavor.
If you’re cutting down on sodium, there are tons of ways you
can still cook tasty food. Our friends over at the blog Mama Knows What? suggest sautéing veggies in coconut oil or adding lemon or lime juice to
chicken dishes instead of salt. (Check out their recipe for Cilantro Lemonade,
too! It’s fantastic!) Coconut oil, lemon juice, and herbs like cilantro add
flavor without adding any of that junky stuff, plus they work great if your
starting to introduce little ones to solid food.
If you’re looking for alternatives for sugar, using bananas,
honey, or applesauce to sweeten food works well. If you use honey, try to buy organic and local honey because
it will retain its antimicrobial properties.
As for bananas, I personally love freezing bananas and then
blending them because the result is a delicious frozen treat with the
consistency of ice cream without added sugars or dairy. 1 banana is enough for
me, and so yummy!
The simple truth is that cutting out sugar, salt, and
processed junk food does not mean you have to eat tasteless food. Experiment with
natural ingredients and see what you and your family prefer.
What alternatives do you use instead of salt and sugar?
If you’re interested in learning more about sugar
alternatives, Franklin Goose will be hosting a class, Healthy Sugar Alternatives for your Family Food, on September 25 at our
Richmond Store. The class will be taught by Lynnette of Nettie’s Naturally, and
will look at the available options that provide a natural and low glycemic
sweetener without the risk of a sugar rush and crash. (FG)
At Franklin Goose, we help a lot of people with baby shower gifts. Often people will ask us what is a good gift to get a mother who is having her second or third or even sixth child. Recently one of our customers purchased a Petunia Pickle Bottom Cross Town Clutch for such a mom. We thought it was such a great idea, especially after we saw how many things could go in it.
The Cross Town Clutch is a bit like Mary Poppin's carpetbag. On the outside it looks like a stylish clutch bag: we used Petunia's new pattern, Sleepy Segovia.
On the inside, well, it holds a lot:
Inside we have
1 travel size bottle of hand sanitizer from The Honest Co;
On Saturday, September 28, Franklin Goose will be celebrating its 3rd birthday, and you're invited! Come hang out with us, & you might win gifts from some of our wonderful companies.
We'll be open our normal store hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We look forward to seeing you!
Special thanks to our lovely friends at Begin Again, Green Toys, GroVia, The Honest Company, Inglesina, Lillebaby, Little Malinka, Plan Toys, & Prince Lionheart.
The other day while I was visiting my sister and niece, I
got in trouble. I said something was “crap,” My sister had decided she did not
want that word used around her daughter and told me so. I was surprised at how
strongly my sister reacted because I had not considered that word as bad; however, after I thought about it,
I realized that it was a negative and crass term to use.
I started thinking about the other words I choose to use,
some rather carelessly, and I have decided that it’s time for me to watch what
I say and what I do. I especially want to make sure that my niece learns to
treat others with respect, and I know that I will be just one of the many
people from whom she will learn.
Think Before You
Speak
Children are always observing, and they will learn from
those closest to them how to treat other people. How do you speak to your
partner? Do you ever call him or her a negative name, even in jest? While those
in on the joke might know you mean no harm, if your son or daughter happens to
speak to another child the same way, it probably will offend that child.
Listen to how you speak to your loved ones. Would you want
your child to speak to them that way? Would you want them to speak to you that
way?
Think Before You React
How do you react when you are angry? Think about that for a
minute. Would you want your child to act the same way to you? Would you want
your child to act that way to another child?
How do you react in other situations, not just ones that
cause you anger? When I am teased, I will sometimes respond by punching the
person teasing me on the arm. It’s not a hard punch, just a light tap, but my
niece does not know her own strength. Should she imitate me, she might hurt
another child, and not just physically.
My niece is very grabby. She likes to reach out and grab
necklaces, glasses, and noses, and man, can those little fingers pinch. Because
she grabs at adults and babies, we have started telling her to be gentle. “Be
gentle with the baby,” we’ll say, or, “Be gentle with Auntie.” My niece listens
and responds by patting and stroking the other person with an open hand. She
sometimes pats a little hard, but hey, at least she’s trying! My nose can take
it.
Accentuate The
Positive
As your child grows, build up his or her strengths. What is
your child really good at? What interests him or her? Encourage your child to
grow in their talents. Find ways to motivate them. If your son enjoys coloring,
introduce him to other art projects. If your daughter has a dramatic flair, ask
her to tell you stories at bedtime or
put on plays to entertain the grown ups at Thanksgiving. Take an interest in
your child’s interests.
Look at their attributes, too. Is your daughter patient?
Does your son like to help you around the house? Encourage theses traits in
your children, and find ways to help them strengthen areas that they are weak
in.
Encourage your child to also see and celebrate the strengths
in others. Learning kindness and compassion will encourage them to respond positively
to other children when they go out in the world to daycare and preschool.
Eliminate The
Negative
There’s a lot of talk today about bullying, and it’s hard to
think that one day my niece will more than likely be picked on by her peers.
It’s even harder to think that she could possibly bully someone else. However,
I know from my own childhood experiences that being a bully is scarily easy. I
would not consider myself a mean person, but I can think of 2 different people
that I truly didn’t like at school. At the time, my actions towards those
people were done out of a sense of self-preservation, but now that I’m older, I
realize that I can’t excuse my behavior: I bullied those 2 girls. And I did it
because I was insecure.
I had a negative perception of myself and of those 2 girls, so to protect myself I made the choice to
hurt someone else. I hope that as my niece grows she will have a healthy and
strong self-esteem. That she will know who she is and be strong enough that the
words and actions of others will not damage her. I also hope that my niece will
learn respect and to look for the good in others so that when she feels
threatened, she will respond with kindness and not hate, with compassion and
not cruelty.
How have you helped your children learn to respect others?
How have you taught your children to react to anger? Leave us your stories and
tips in the comments below!