A Telltale Sign...

Photo by jek in the box

A telltale sign that you have been making changes in your life and your home - when you introduce something back into your home that you haven't been using for a while and it is irritating to you.  Irritating in more than one way. 

Here's what happened.  We ran out of our homemade laundry detergent.  I had more stuff to make it with, but just hadn't gotten around to doing it (keepin' it real - I'm not perfect at this all the time!) and Jer really needed to have some of his work clothes washed.  So he did a load with some store bought detergent that we had from when we first moved into our house and got our new HE front loading washer.  We haven't used regular detergent in probably at least 5 months.  I am not kidding you, that one load of laundry "stunk" up the whole house.  I mean, it smelled like regular laundry detergent, it was "Original Fresh Scent", but I could smell it from across the room.  And then I put on a shirt that had been washed in that load and I had to take it off within 5 minutes.  I just could not stand the smell.  My nose was itchy and runny, my eyes were watering, and I had a headache.  

I was kind of surprised, kind of proud and kind of frustrated.  Surprised that I actually had such a strong reaction to it.  Proud of the changes we have made, that we are reducing our exposure to synthetic fragrances and chemicals. And frustrated at the pervasiveness of irritating chemicals, synthetic fragrances and unknown ingredients. 

I guess that's one thing about this journey that has been hard and frustrating to me.  I sometimes get overwhelmed by the amount of junk that is in products that most of us use every single day.  Junk that affects us and we often don't even know it. Or we (or the powers that be) may know it, and still the junk persists because it is easier for the companies to keep including the junk than it is for them to find an alternative, and we as consumers keep buying it.  That is one reason I am working hard to come up with homemade alternatives to things.  I want to lessen the way I am contributing to that viscious cycle in whatever small way I can. 

It is frustrating to me that I even have to worry about the things I am using to clean my home, wash my baby (and myself), make our food, the toys that my kids play with, and the list could go on and on. I want to avoid all that junk as much as possible, but it is just everywhere - and it seems the more changes I make, the more aware I am of all the changes I still feel like I need to make. 

I want to be able to buy products that are safe.  I want to trust that the products I use won't harm me, my children or my husband in some way, known or unknown.  Products that don't contain chemicals and irritants and additives and synthetics. I don't want to have to think about and worry about it all the time.

But the reality is, unfortunately, I do have to.

I didn't really expect this post to go in this direction. It just kind of came out as I was writing.  I guess this is something that has been on my mind for a while and I just needed to get it out.  Does anyone else feel this way?  Does it bother you that companies make things using ingredients that we don't really know the effects on us, or the effects of all of the different ingredients and chemicals together? Does it bother you that they know the effects and keep doing it anyway!?! (Why do I still have to worry about lead in toys?  Haven't we known for long enough that lead is poisonous that we could get it out of our children's toys!?) Do you worry about the different things that you bring into your home and whether or not they will harm you or your family in some way?  Maybe I am overly concerned about it?  I don't really know, and I guess that is what is frustrating too, is that I don't even know what I should be concerned or not concerned about.  I am trying to find balance, but I don't always feel like I know the best way to go about it. It can be so overwhelming at times. 

I'm sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.  I really didn't want this post to be a downer. This is just something that I am wrestling with right now.  I would really love though to hear your thoughts and comments, and how you deal with this in your own life and with your family.

Thanks for listening! :)