I gave birth six weeks ago. Since then, I've lost a lot of the baby weight. Partly because the baby that I was carrying was so huge that his expulsion from the womb represented a massive weight loss, and partly because I've hardly been able to eat anything since he was born, what with his unremitting need to be held ALL THE TIME HOLY HELL. Hardly anything but cookies, that is, and maybe the odd bagel or two. Which, you know, is not the best post-partum diet.

After reading Denise's BlogHer post last week that the gift of maternal health is the perfect Mother's Day gift, I thought "this really is perfect!" I blogged it and suggested that not only is it a great cause, but it is also a great consumerism/stuff-free gift, something that I feel, in our consumerism-driven society, is so important, but so ofte

Narcissists, my ass. Bloggers are the new social movement, the swelling wave of social change, the next generation of activist-artists who put their figurative money where their literal keyboards are.

For better or worse, it's probably a safe bet that with Earth Day falling on the same day as the Pennsylvania presidential primary, April 22, the candidates are a little more focused on Pa. than on Mother Earth. For today, I'll let it go.

Last week, I took a look at my inner eco-gal and discovered that there's much to be done here at Chez PunditMom to make our lives a lot greener and more Earth-friendly. Next week I'll be writing about the official positions of the Presidential candidates about the environment. Taking a look at where the presidential-hopefuls stand on how to preserve our planet made me start to wonder: How green are their valleys?

How green is my valley? I suppose a more important question is, how much greener could my valley be? We recycle paper, glass and cans. I haven't gotten around to putting in those compact fluorescent light bulbs yet, but I've been thinking about it. But I really can't claim that we're overly focused on reducing our carbon footprint here at Chez PunditMom.

Like I don't already have ten gajillion things to worry about as a pregnant mother. Toxins in my daughter's toys and sippy cups. Toxins being blown around by garbage incineration.

New research from the Child & Family Research Institute has shown that the typical North American diet (think meat and potatoes) is deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. This information is especially important to pregnant and nursing women since the deficiency may pose a risk to infant neurological development.

The other day, an e-mail landed in my inbox with links to a couple of articles on 'Eco-Moms.' "I'm curious what you might think about 'Eco Moms'" wrote the sender, "... positive trend or just another stereotype (like soccer moms, security moms, etc)?"

When I made the decision to breastfeed my children, I did so confident in the knowledge that I was doing the best thing for both their health and mine. After all, studies have consistently shown there are numerous health benefits to both mother and baby.

As I've mentioned in this space before, my husband and I recently moved our family out of the city, to a small town in the country. We were looking for wide open spaces, fresh air, quaint village bakeries, the sort of healthy-crunchy-outdoorsy thing that we assumed to would better serve the end of raising of a healthy and well-rounded family. And we certainly found it, in spades.

I'm the sort of person whose first reaction when she hears bad news is to stick her fingers in her ears and chant la-la-la-la-la. Economy taking a turn for the worse? Cow farts burning up the ozone layer? La-la-la-la-la-la. But if the news is really scary? I take my fingers out of my ears and go running around like a madwoman looking for information. To the point where I get somewhat obsessive and - my doctor tells me - prone to anxiety. The thing is, though, sometimes one has good reason to be anxious.