When you’re a first-time parent, the urge to buy tons of cute, new stuff for your baby is overwhelming. There are so many cool gadgets, products, clothes and more for your little one … not to mention all the already-parents telling you what you absolutely have to have in order to survive as a new parent. I am 38 weeks pregnant with my first child - a boy named Quentin (whom we already call “Q”) - and I really do believe that it will be possible for my fiance and I to maintain somewhat of a simple lifestyle. Am I living in a dream world? As of now, we buy only what we need in terms of food, consumer products and clothing - so why should having a baby change all that?

Well, there’s a laugh! It just does, doesn’t it? And those of you who are already parents probably know exactly what I mean. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about raising a “minimalist” baby. I think it’s completely possible, but I want to hear feedback from the clutter-ridden to the absolutely minimalistic. Although we are not total minimalists, we thrive on having a simple household - I truly believe there is a happy medium in which we buy and keep things that we love, use or need. And that’s it. If anything doesn’t fit into one of those three categories, it goes to charity, the recycle bin or - as a last resort - the garbage.

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“We must be the change we wish to see.” Mahatma Gandhi
We are habits people.
What is a habit?
The Webster dictionary defines habit as: “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance; an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary”.

Sometimes we are not even aware of our habits. They may go way back to our childhood, and they are so deeply rooted in us that we don’t even notice them.

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Soap - it has the ability to produce strong, lasting emotions in us, and this depends on its peculiar scent… charming aroma, or color. I clearly remember when my child was very young and loved a special soap bar with a little ducky inside – she would get it out at every bath time. I easily remember the cool invigorating feeling of washing with sea-spray scented soap, or the luxurious feel of scrubbing with vanilla soap. I remember these things easily - soap scent easily brings such memories back.

Nowadays, richly scented soaps aren’t cheap, and we can’t always afford the ones we want. Often, we have to settle for commercially made soaps with only a hint of fragrance.

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Are you sick and tired of that vomit smell in your house? You have perhaps purchased countless number of air purifiers and cool fragrances and thought they would work; but they didn’t. In this article I will tell you how to eliminate vomit smell fast.

Well, here is the real reason why neither your air purifiers nor fragrances eliminate vomit smell from your house. Air purifiers and fragrances do nothing other than just hiding the bad odor from you. Strange as it may sound, these tools do nothing to fix the real cause of the bad smell. They just mask the bad odor with overpowering fragrances and once that fragrance is gone, the vomit smell comes back. Here are three tips to help you:

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Our belief that the source of joy is material objects is full of illusion. If this belief were to be true all material pleasures would have given satiation to all mankind in an equal manner. Or else all of mankind would have attained eternal joy without a speck of sorrow by now. Today all over the world we find people who have amassed plenty of wealth and grandeur and yet their lives are full of despair, agony and hopelessness. These material objects (TV, computer, cars, aircrafts, AC, movies etc) do not help in alleviating their pain and sorrow in a permanent manner.

The fact remains that all material objects are inert. Thus inert is after all inert. It has no potential of its own. On their own inert objects are incapable of giving us both, joy or anguish. Material objects lack the potential of joy and sorrow since they are inanimate. Thus they cannot induce sorrow or joy in us on their own. When we contact material objects with our sense organs, our mind gets attached to them which in turn induce joy or pain as the case maybe. Thus it is our mind/psyche, a conscious entity that manifests joy and pain in our inner self.

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Although it’s often diagnosed fairly early in life, when a child is between 6 and 12 years old, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is considered a chronic condition for which no medical cure is available. However, in defining whether cures are available, studies consider only conventional drug treatments and behavioral therapy, intended to help control ADHD/ADD behavior, but do not improve mental or physical health in general.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is essentially the result of a brain that can’t manage the amount of stimuli it encounters. Factors such as boredom, anxiety, poor nutrition, allergies, or undiagnosed yeast infections can lead to false diagnoses. Prescription drugs are used to chemically block a portion of internal and external stimuli from reaching the brain. To do so, they reduce a child’s exploration, curiosity, socializing, and playing, as well as diminishing brain function and narrowing the range of mental capacity or emotional expression.

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The scent of lavendar has the power to recreate long lost memories for nearly everyone. It’s classic fragrance has long been used for centuries. The latin word lavendar translates “to wash” and both the Romans and Greeks used the herb.

There is some confusion with lavendar as the common form is lavandula angustifolia and is a bushy shrub with small lavender purple flowers. Lavender (cotton) which is called santolina chamecyparissus is a shrubby plant with yellow flowers.

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Humans have enjoyed using fragrances since early history. They were originally considered to be luxury items, but now are common in everyday life. Not only are they used in perfumes and colognes, but they are also an important ingredient in lotions, hairsprays, soaps, deodorants, laundry and dishwashing detergents, air fresheners, candles, foods, and even scented gravel cat litter. Even popular magazines often contain scented perfume strips.

Fragrances are generally pleasant for the majority of individuals, but over 72% of asthmatics report that they trigger their asthma symptoms including tightness of the chest and wheezing. Others report that they exacerbate migraines and skin rashes. The fragrance allergen can enter the body either by inhalation, ingestion, or absorption. Sensitivity usually grows over time with repeated exposure to the offending agent.

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