Things I Start to Think About When it Gets Hot

6/8/2011

Anyone who has seen a picture of my son (and that would be about half the planet by now- thanks mom) would probably agree that he has a complexion in the porcelain family. Now that we are having the kind of weather that encourages (ok demands) that one spend hours upon hours out-of-doors, this said complexion is concerning to me.
I find that even on the briefest walks (like 7 minutes to the coop), by the time we get home he has formed tan lines in his arm folds. No burns yet, but I need to form some strategies ASAP!

My Porcelain Babe

Obviously sunblock will play a huge role in our lives in later years, but I'm a bit nervous covering him in anything that's not supposed to go in his mouth, since that's where EVERYTHING goes...

This past weekend, my husband came up with a fairly inspired solution, we took him camping! No, not really. He set up a tent in the front yard so 5 could safely play outside while Dad worked on his bike and Mom read in the sun. The only drawback is that it's nearly impossible to set the tent up if you are alone, like I am all day during the week, and we can't leave it up all the time (for various reasons, not the least of which the spider colony it would become if it were ever out of my sight).

How do you protect your little ones from the sun?

Mmmmm Summer Tacos!

The second our average temperature gets above freezing I start thinking Summer food- lemonade, homemade popsicles, sandwiches, picnics, cold salads with grains, the list goes on...
This week I made Summer tacos, so simple, so easy! Today I'm posting my recipe for the Mexican slaw that separates these from all other tacos for all other seasons. I've been catching the big Fred sneaking extra spoonfuls all week, so I recommend you make a little extra...

click the picture to go the recipe

3 Comments

Mutti

6/8/2011 11:52:27 am

Is that a mosquito! on my baby's forehead??
He is quite the northern climate baby.
LOVE the Mexican slaw recipe......it is something simple enough for even your non-cooking Mutti to make!

Krissy S

6/8/2011 12:03:27 pm

Now that Jake is more active we'll probably be using sunscreen more often but so far I have only used it on him once and he ended up with a rash that one time, although it was the same day he played in a corn box (instead of a sand box) in Kentucky so it could have been the corn instead of the sunscreen. I use Soleo Organics, it's supposed to be one of the least toxic and works alright for my sensitive skin. The ways that we have kept Jake from burning is to just stay near shade or keep a hat on him and light sleeves. Our stroller has a nice shade on it so that helps to keep the sun off of him during walks. We have a big beach umbrella that I have taken to the beach with us. Last summer I spent some time with picnic lunches over at the Houghton waterfront park underneath those big round trees too. Best of luck with keeping little Fred's skin just mildly sunkissed. =o)

sally

6/8/2011 01:36:03 pm

Isaac is also of th porcelain skin variety. Very challenging in the early years and challenging once again now that he is in charge of putting on his own sunscreen! Umbrellas, hats, tents, trees. Eventually sunscreen.

I have a friend who always buys canadian sun screen products bcs they are more strict about possibly harmful contents. I will get the name.

Can't wait to try the tacos! Yum!