I try to buy organic as much as I can, but great googly moogly it can be expensive! I usually focus on  the dirty dozen when it comes to produce, and we always buy organic milk, but I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve bought organic meat. So how do you know which organic foods are worth shelling out the extra cash?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently conducted a study on organic versus conventional produce, meat, and dairy. The study concluded that there is no real nutritional difference between organic and regular foods—they have the same nutrients, minerals, vitamins, etc.; however, organic foods have been proven to contain lower levels of pesticides and other chemicals, which is especially important to small children whose brains are still developing.

When it comes to meat, the hormone and steroid levels in conventional meat were not found to be significant or very different from those found in organic meat, thought the AAP notes that the animals who provide the latter are “less likely to be contaminated with drug-resistant bacteria.” Something to think about and definitely more of an issue when it comes to red meat versus poultry.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the report (to me at least), was that the AAP found no real benefit to buying organic milk. Considering I have been shelling out around $7 or $8 a gallon for organic whole milk (about twice the price of the non-organic variety), I was shocked—and a little embarrassed considering I was the one who insisted that we only give Olivia organic milk or she would surely grow boobs by the third grade. The fear of early puberty is what made my husband cave in. Turns out, I was wrong.

At the end of the day, the AAP report concluded that the most important thing is for children to get plenty of healthy foods, organic or otherwise. As Janet Silverstein, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition and an author on the report, notes, “Many families have a limited food budget, and we do not want families to choose to consume smaller amounts of more expensive organic foods and thus reduce their overall intake of healthy foods like produce.”

I have a confession to make.

I took the day off work today and still took Olivia to daycare. (gasp)

As a mom who works outside the home, this is a big deal. I get so little time with my daughter that I want to spend every waking minute outside of the office with her. I know how crazy and unhealthy that sounds, that experts everywhere will say you need time away to recharge and refuel blah blah blah. When you only see your child for an hour and a half a day during the week, it’s just not that easy.

I’ve been walking around with a massage gift certificate in my wallet for a year and a half because I just couldn’t shake the guilt of spending that time away from my little girl (that and for a good 7 months after Olivia was born, I couldn’t fathom laying on my chest on a massage table—I was sure I’d leak everywhere, which is the opposite of relaxing!).

So I made the decision that this day would be for me, and to make sure I couldn’t wriggle out of it and just take Olivia to the park or something, I booked three back-to-back appointments at the spa. I was finally cashing in some of the gift certificates I’d received for my past two birthdays! Sure, I took Olivia to daycare later than normal and picked her up a few hours early, but the time in between—that was mine. And let me tell you, I made the most of it.

I went straight to Starbucks after the daycare drop-off and savored every drop of my chai tea latte on my way to the spa, where I was massaged, manicured and waxed to within an inch of my life. After my appointments, I grabbed a salad at the café next door and then did a little window shopping. It was exhilarating! And you know what? I did feel refreshed and recharged, not guilt-ridden and awful like I thought I would feel by taking a day for myself.

These spa days will be few and far between (in large part because I’m now out of gift certificates), but I think I’ll put a little more effort into taking some time for myself. It makes me feel like me again, which I think makes me a better mom and a better wife.

A couple of weeks ago, Wired Momma’s Monica Sakala interviewed NBC4′s Angie Goff about work-life balance. It was a good piece, but the nugget that stuck out most to me what was Goff had to say about her “me time.” She has her “me time” between 1 and 2 a.m., after she gets home from delivering the 11 p.m. news. My first thought was, isn’t she exhausted?! I thought, if it were me, I’d be crawling into bed the minute I stepped in the door.

But the comment made me think about my own “me time,” and I realized people would probably think what I considered “me time” pretty strange as well. You see, my commute is my “me time.” I know, this doesn’t seem like the logical time to destress and decompress, and it didn’t used to be. Then I discovered audio books. I’ve always been an avid reader, a book snob of sorts. I turned my nose up to audio books for a long time because I haughtily thought they would “taint the inner voices I lent to characters as I read.” I’m serious—I actually think I said that exact thing to someone once over dinner. But once I started, I was instantly hooked!

I commute to work 45 minutes to an hour each way, so that’s an uninterrupted hour and a half  (minimum, it is NoVA after all) that I get every day. When I’m listening to a particularly good book, I can’t wait to get in the car for my drive. I don’t get as annoyed by stupid drivers anymore, and I actually get excited when I get caught by a red light (I get to hear more of the story!). And with my library card in hand, I have a steady stream of free, in-car entertainment to fill my “me time.”

The point of me sharing this seemingly insignificant story is to encourage all women, but especially moms, to work with what you’ve got to carve out your “me time.” Even if it’s just 30 minutes here and 20 minutes there. The time is there—it just might need a little tweaking, or a really great audio book!

When do you find “me time”?

Today has just been a bundle of fun. Everything started out perfectly normal—that is, until I got a call from daycare at 9 a.m. informing me that Olivia had spit up (something she hasn’t done in months). It wasn’t bad and she wasn’t running a fever, so they decided to let her nap and see how she was afterward. Apparently, the situation deteriorated rapidly because, before long, I got a second call asking me to come pick her up, as she had just blown grits all over the place. By the time I made it there, she was wrapped in nothing but a towel, having thrown up all over herself. It was the most pitiful sight I have ever seen. This is the first time she has ever had a stomach bug and, man, when she does something, she really does it! She went straight for the norovirus, of cruise ship fame, and there’s a major outbreak of it in Fairfax County. Olivia was the second casualty of this virus at daycare just this morning. So since many of my readers are in the DC metro area (and even those who aren’t, this is good info to have), here’s my PSA for the day!

Noroviruses are a group of highly contagious stomach bugs that spread rapidly from person to person through contaminated food and drink, contaminated surfaces, and direct contact. Symptoms often develop suddenly and generally last 1-2 days. Symptoms include:

Vomiting
Diarrhea
Stomach cramps
Nausea
Headache
Low-grade fever
Chills
Muscle aches
Fatigue

Children in school or daycare are extremely susceptible to the virus. Most often, symptoms don’t arise until 24-48 hours after exposure (though they can occur as soon as 12 hours following exposure), which means children are likely to spread the virus without displaying any symptoms. By the time the symptoms start, it’s usually too late. Because small children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths, this is a difficult virus to contain in a daycare setting.

The most dangerous aspect of the norovirus is that it can cause severe dehydration, especially in young children. Make sure to give your child plenty of fluids, such as Pedialyte. My daughter also likes the Pedialyte Freezer Pops, which are great right now, since she’s cutting a few new teeth. For her upset tummy, I have been giving her Nabisco’s Premium Saltine Minis—they are the perfect size for her little hands.

If you or your little one is unfortunate enough to come down with this nasty bug, be sure to wash your hands obsessively and try to disinfect as many surfaces as you can. I’ve also been using the sanitary setting on our washing machine for her clothes, bedding and anything else that ends up in the line of fire. And when all else fails, Netflix has about a year’s worth of the Backyardigans at your disposal!

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus.htm