"Grow"ing my perspective

This entire week I've been conducting an awareness campaign on my personal blog for local Wicker Park boutique, Grow Modern. I had never been to Grow before I started working with its owner, Deree Kobets for this campaign and event tonight at her store. I had already purchased much of my baby stuff the first time around, and have tried to reuse as much as I possibly could with my second.

So I stuck it out for this past year with the ugly plastic swings and bouncy chairs, the old and noisy toys and my cruddy old diaper/ gym bag.

However, the next time my friend has a baby, I'm going to try to instill in them much of what I've learned from Deree this week about the products we buy for our children:

- That if a child is surrounded by natural and non-toxic products, he or she will grow naturally.

- That by giving our children a non-toxic environment with modern, purposeful products that were produced locally with a sense of style, I know that I've done all that I can as a parent.

- That modern style is more than just crisp, clean lines. The modern child reaps the benefits from products that are multi-functional and well-designed as well as nice to look at.

- And, that our society has recently gotten smarter about eating organically. Our skin is our largest organ. Just as it releases toxins when we perspire, our skin absorbs what surrounds it. Therefore, our clothing, bath & body products even car seats and toys matter when it comes to our skin.

Deree's knowledge and perspective make sense to me and I'm going to try to remember her philosophy as I continue to search out new and interesting things for my baby. Because he has a long, and non-toxic life to continue living.

Sara Fisher is a mother of two living in Roscoe Village. She also blogs at selfmademom.net.

See more of Sara's stories here.

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