You can  learn how to protect  your children from exposure to toxic foods and substances that cause health problems — by taking one or more of these action steps today.

Action  1! SIGN-UP for the Organic Nanny monthly email newsletter that provides healthy living tips, solutions, options, and steps to protect your children’s health.   You will find advice concerning specific behavioral or emotional concerns, steps you can take to build a more organic and healthy home, my recommendations concerning products and services for children, and the opportunity to ask me your specific questions regarding child care.

Action 2 ! REPLACE three toxic household cleaning and pest control products with safe alternatives (and throw in a few organic fruits and veggies from a green grocer) and consider switching permanently.  You probably have everything you need to clean anything in your home, right in your own kitchen.  This simple, chemical-free homemade all-purpose cleaner is good for kitchen and bathroom counters, sinks, even toilets and bathtubs.  Put it in a spray bottle and label it so you remember what it is:  Organic Nanny Cleaner!  In a clean spray bottle, add 1 teaspoon Castille soap, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, and10 drops lavender essential oil or tea tree oil.  Then fill bottle up the rest of the bottle with warm water.   Use this cleaner to spray on counters, sinks, and floors.  Just wipe or mop clean.

Action 3! SUPPORT the dream to keep our kids safe and healthy and purchase our book “The Organic Nanny’s Guide to Raising Healthy Kids”. Your financial support will enable us to sustain our national campaign  to educate parents throughout the United States on the importance of taking health protective steps for children in their homes, schools, and communities and spread our organic mission.

Action 4!  STIMULATE discussion in your child’s school or day care center, your community center, or parks and recreation department as to what precautions are being taken to ensure that kids are not being exposed to toxic substances in the air, food, water or food products in each of these places. Use organic parenting articles to focus the conversation and start Organic Nanny Whole Foods Workshops.

Action 5!  SEND a letter or an email to your member of Congress asking him/her to ensure funding for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection — the only government office charged with protecting the environmental health of the nation’s children. We hear that this office will be dismantled soon, so your voice needs to be heard.

These simple lifestyle changes and action steps can help parents to dramatically improve the well-being of their children and reverse some disturbing trends- toxic foods, childhood obesity, insomnia, and a lack of communication between parents and children.  I want to create better childhoods by empowering parents and nannies with the tools that will allow for a more organic and peaceful lifestyle. Whether it is healthy eating, providing positive structure, or developing a sense of participation in a greater community, I advocate a holistic approach to child care.

My name is Barbara Rodriguez, and I am The Organic Nanny.  I take care of children as a profession, and many of those children have celebrity parents.  I see and work within a rich and privileged world, but I believe all children can benefit from the changes I help my clients realize.  Those changes are all, at their essence, organic—organic food, organic relationships, and an organic connection with the earth.