Fine and Fair: October 2014

Monday, October 6, 2014

#365feministselfie September

Better late than never, my collage of #365feministselfie photos from September! The season has started to turn, bringing with it walks to school, hikes, cuddles, scarves, tea, and our family's first respiratory infection of the season!

Happy Fall! :)

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Hope Academy Lending Library

International Babywearing Week is just a few short days away, but I'm kicking off the festivities a little early because I am just so excited about this project.

Photo Courtesy of Halee Cesneros

Photo Courtesy of Brittanie Super

As one of the founders of a local babywearing group, I occasionally get asked to do baby wearing demonstrations for various local groups. When I was invited to present a babywearing demo at Hope Academy, I wanted to do more than just demonstrate. I wanted to provide them not just with the education and skills required for safe babywearing, but with the materials needed to do it; a lending library of variety of baby carriers.

The Hope Academy is a local alternative school for teen mothers. At Hope Academy, pregnant and parenting teens bring their babies to school, providing them with the opportunity to complete their high school degrees while bonding with and nurturing their children.

Photo Courtesy of Sabrina Lynn Hall

The goals of Hope Academy include a high school diploma or GED, education and information about parenting, child development, and healthy living, and developmentally appropriate language and pre-literacy activities for the chidren. Services are free and offered to pregnant or parenting mothers ages 14-21.

Babywearing has many benefits. It aids in early bonding, helps to facilitate breastfeeding, and provides opportunity for skin-to-skin contact. It helps new parents learn their babies cues by keeping them close. It helps to meet infants' need for physical closeness to their caregivers. It's also practical; babywearing allows parents to multi-task, keeping their babies safe and comfortable while they take care of responsibilites, like, in the case of teen mothers; attending school and studying.

Photo Courtesy of Cheyenne Dye

My vision is the school's own Carrier Lending Library, complete with a variety of carriers to suit the students' needs. Carrier types will include soft structured carriers, ring slings, wraps, and mei tais.

For more information on Hope Academy, CLICK HERE .

I am using a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to reach my goal of raising $1000 to purchase carriers for Hope Academy. Any funds raised above and beyond the goal of $1000 will be donated directly to the school.

Do you have a new or gently used carrier to donate? Contact me on Facebook!

To contribute (please note that GoFundMe does not use paypal, have a credit or debit card ready!) :

Can't donate? You can still help by sharing this post or the campaign!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

25 Babywearing Costume Ideas (That won't make you look like a Racist Asshole)

It's that time of year again, when babywearers everywhere take to google and pinterest and innocently type "babywearing halloween costume" into all-knowing boxes, in hopes of incorporating their baby and their baby carrier into an adorable and/or hilarious halloween costume.

Many of them, likely unknowingly, will settle on seemingly easy or authentic ideas that appropriate other races or cultures. (Don't know what cultural appropriation is? Start Here.) Ideas like "Indian and Papoose" (see also "Sacajawea" or "Pocahontas"), "Traditional African", "Eskimos", "Geisha and Dragon", or "Babushka Dolls" (alright, that one might be a stretch) will catch the eye of well-meaning white mothers all across America. (Not sure if your costume idea is racist? Start Here.)

So, without further ado, here are 25 Babywearing Costume ideas that WON'T make you look like a racist asshole this Halloween.

1. Aviators

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