Magic in a Bottle- A Holiday Craft

It’s a strange and turbulent time of change for me; my family is moving again over the holiday and I am trying to keep myself calm at the center of the storm. 

This is when the true pain of being a Myalgia Mommy hits and here is the fun of the the blog. I'm all about magic and recycling. 

It’s time for a quick and easy Holiday craft to keep the monsters busy. I have a six year old and my Little Man will be 3 soon. I am hosting the kindergarden at our house for a special farewell party and trying to be present to their little needs. 

I’m leaving Niger after a year that I’m sure I will be processing the rest of my life. Over the course of this year I became involved in volunteering at a local orphanage. Initially, I went alone as part of the group from the US Embassy that makes a monthly visit. Other members of our party brought their families and inspired me to do the same.  This past weekend my entire family as well as our friends helped me prepare an activity for our last visit to see children I have come to know and love. 

The craft we did was inspired by MySweetArts mommy and me class years ago. (There is no recycling in Niamey, but I have been conditioned to sort my things so I have a closet full of bottles for crafts)(My recycling closet needs to be it’s own blog)(It’s actually more of a small room). These are their projects. 

The classes lifted me up at the time and we have carried the bottle full of glitter that Mimi made in class years ago with us to Africa. 

Something I made a point of saying was that it was possible to do the same craft here with the children in the orphanage that my friends came up with for a class in Chapel Hill. I sourced everything locally. All children deserve the chance to make a bottle filled with magic at the holidays. 

For the toddlers and youngest we filled plastic bottles with pom poms, glitter, small metallic trees and stars then filled them with water. When you shake the bottle it glitters and the pom noms float at different speeds. 

We brought and shared a Santa snow globe and the older children made fake snow with an instant science kit. Then they grew crystals to keep them busy. We used a kit but there are wonderful sugar crystal tutorials to follow.

The craft was snow globes. For older children we had science kits with instant grow crystals and balls that expanded. 

For those that were ready to craft it was the magic of glitter, something shiny, more glitter, some water and a small animal. 

I told the kids I sat with that the gold glitter was a sandstorm and Africa was full of Holiday magic. We should all make wishes on stars. 

Over the weekend my children first made the snow globes I found at Target on my medical visit (I should really blog about going home to North Carolina every three months to see my doctor…it’s complicated.) Then we separated and cleaned our bottles for the activity with the children. We had to soak labels off bottles a friend brought over, it was a group effort with our kids being busy and engaged. 

On the day of the activity we had a large group of volunteers. Many friends and some teachers accompanied  us on the trip and we spread magic and glitter everywhere. 

In one spilt bottle and a poof a dozen children were covered in golden specks. 

One of the kindest men I've ever met, who runs the REMAR center and has adopted many children of his own asked us to please stop with the glitter. 

Wherever you are reading this, happy holidays. I highly encourage you to put some glitter in a bottle or make a snow globe with your kids. It’s an easy win. I should be packing. 

Blessings, 

ALJ 

P.S.  The magic part of the bottle was in the glitter. I was unpacking with our pre-school teacher-who came on the trip to see our kids- and would be repeating the snow globe activity. She had been surrounded by children asking for more glitter and we carefully poured it out, watching it spill across the water, or fill the little bottles. Only adults could hold the glitter. We filled the 70 bottles we brought the children and the jar of glitter is still half full…

MM and Cleaning with Bleach

In my Twitter feed I am calling today Toxic Thursday.

Following Hurricane Sandy, FEMA and The Center for Disease Control (CDC) are both advising people to be careful cleaning after the storm because the water has toxic chemicals and raw sewage all mixed together. After the storm water recedes there is one miracle product that will disinfect and kill bacteria, flu viruses and even AIDS: BLEACH.

Decades ago, as a high school student, I participated in the CDC AIDS companion advocate training program. This was back before we knew what AIDS was, and back when some ignorant people thought if a mosquito bit someone with AIDS then bit them, they would be gay. It was Colorado. In the class I learned that a solution with a little bleach would kill the AIDS virus.

Last week my baby was sick. At the pediatrician I learned that one of our local elementary schools has a whooping cough outbreak because I live in an area where people don't vaccinate their children (please vaccinate your children). I have a Master in Public Health, and I don't want to tell you about the MILLIONS of children who die every year. Fortunately, my baby had a different virus and recovered in 24 hours. All of the things going around can be killed by bleach.

When I first became bed ridden and incredibly sick over a decade ago, I was a medical mystery. I have always been chemically sensitive and use only plant based cleaners in my house.

Once, helping a friend move in college, we mixed bleach and ammonia while cleaning and almost killed ourselves. I've learned many things since then. Now I use organic cleaners and bleach.

There is increasing research that overexposure to a sterile environment is harmful to young children. Eating dirt helps build a good immune system. Generally, I use this as an excuse not to clean my house. Also, I let my kids get really dirty.

Last night, I hosted a Halloween party, and now my house is full of germs. I am immune suppressed, so now I have to clean. Other people's children put my kid's toys in their mouths, and it's time to disinfect while the baby naps.

I already have a headache. If you want to play from home, you could bet on how long until my fibro flares from the strenuous activity. Normally, I would stretch out the cleaning over the course of the week, and wait until the weekend when my hubby can help, but Sunday we are going out of town, so things must get done.

These are the things that make us Myalgia Mommies special. We decorate our houses like a Kindergarten classroom then have to take everything back down. I miss the days of putting on a costume and going to a party!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your best cleaning tip or just say, "Awe, poor thing, housework is evil!"

Cheers,
ALJ