My daughter starts her first day of preschool tomorrow.  I will be dropping her off at the school she will be attending for elementary school, in hopes that it will be a good transition into her being comfortable with her school and surroundings before going  kindergarten. She will go to school two days per week for two and a half hours each day.

My daughter has had horrible separation anxiety, just last year that separation anxiety led me to have to quit my job. Now I am truly hoping that she has no problem leaving me tomorrow.   She will have two friends in her preschool class to hopefully help her feel comfortable with staying.    I am afraid it will not be a seamless transition when I leave her there on her own.   I am OK with her growing up, I am just afraid that the same horrible separation anxiety and throwing up episodes that we worked so hard and finally got past last year, might sneak back into her mind again.  I will be positive and have faith she will be fine with her new big kid place, preschool!

I forgot to publish this last night and here is the update- She did great!  She was excited to go in, she smiled in her pictures, she sat down and played with the other kids, she said to me “Bye Mom”!   I have to admit that I worried the whole time I was gone that I was going to get a phone call to have to pick her up, but the phone never rang!

She was happy when I picked her up!  She told me that she played with play-dough, then they had carpet time, read a book, sang a song, did a project, washed their hands, had a snack of mini teddy bears, went outside to the playground and then I picked her up!   Ahhhh!  It is so nice to pick up a happy kid!

My kids love foaming hand soap, it is so easy to use, it washes off completely but I have some issues with the store bought brands.  All foaming hand soaps that I have found in the stores are antibacterial soap and we are not supposed to be using antibacterial hand soap on kids.  Antibacterial hand soaps if not rinsed off can cause skin burns and irritation and they also should not be used daily because we are creating super bugs that can be antibiotic resistant.

I had four foaming  hand soap dispensers sitting around empty, and I filled one 1/8th the way with Seventh Generation dish soap then the rest of the way with regular tap water, shook it gently to mix it, and it created a perfect foaming soap.  I chose Seventh Generation because it is easy to find, less than $4 it is unscented for my fragrance free house, it is hypoallergenic,  non-toxic and it is not petroleum based.   This foaming handsoap washes off completely, and it is not antibacterial so I have no worries when my kids wash their hands without me watching them like a hawk, to ensure they rinse off the soap completely.   If you want to try to make your own foaming hand soap, save yourself money, and reuse your foaming hand soap containers and switch to seventh generation dish soap for your family and the environment.

It is spring and I am always excited to plant things, and the most satisfying place to plant things for me is in my garden.  It is exciting for me to go out before a  meal and pick all of the home grown ingredients for a salad or to make delicious home made salsa.  I found some ideas on ways to improve my garden soil and ways to test my soil so hopefully I can grow bigger, tastier vegetables this year. Who knows the state fair might be in my future!

Do a home soil test

• In a glass pint jar
• Add 2 cups of soil, and fill with water
• Add 1/2 cup of powdered dishwasher detergent
• Shake and watch for the layers settled
• After 1 minute what is settled is sand
• After 2 hours what is settled is silt
• After 2 days what is settled is clay
• If you have 3 defined layers you have a good balance of dirt.

Test your soil drainage

Dig a 12″ hole and fill it with water, Allow it to drain, immediately refill it with water if it does not drain completely within 1 hour you need to add sand and other compost to your soil for improved drainage.

Add Compost

The cheapest way to repair garden soil is to add  compost.  An easy method to remember for composting is to add 2 parts green to 1 part brown and then you have to mix the soil regularly. This explained to me why my leaves or grass clippings do not compost on their own.  When adding ingredients to your compost pile make sure that there is no oils or animal products on your kitchen waste or it will halt the compost process.  The more diverse the ingredients in your compost pile the more nutrients it will add to your soil.

http://www.composters.com/composters-article.php?id=28

http://www.sustland.umn.edu/implement/amending_soils.html