EC with a Newborn

I just wanted to pass along this great blog post on newborn EC from a customer of ours in Quebec, Canada. EC from birth is such a fantastic experience!

Where to Find Continuum Family Around the World

I am often asked if we offer our CF line of EC-friendly baby clothing and accessories at wholesale. The short answer is "sorry, no". While I love the idea of having other small businesses support us in bringing our custom items to as many places around the world as possible, we have made a conscious decision to keep things small here at Continuum Family. For now at least, it suits us best to be a family-sustaining business. We have embraced the business practice of smallering, which means we plan to grow the business only as much as we want to grow it, running our business instead of letting it run us.

That being said, there are currently two companies, Dream Nappies in Japan and Windelmaus in Austria, that are carrying select CF items. Dream Nappies carries our prefold belts and T-shirt tunics/gowns and Windelmaus carries our tiny undies and pull up training pants.

 tiny undies order destined for Austria

While we will remain the exclusive distributor for our CF line in North America, we will review any requests for other international companies to carry our CF items on a case by case basis.

EC Essential -- The Tunic!

Even though I have 3 weeks of sewing orders in the queue, I took a half hour today and whipped up a tunic for Malcolm out of some lovely camel colored wool jersey that I just got in:

For an almost-11-month-old who's now walking (aacck!!), this is a really handy piece of clothing. It's long enough to keep him warm with only trainers underneath (and he would be discreetly covered if he was nakey butt) but it's not so long as to get in his way when he's crawling or sitting on the potty. And, add a pair of matching wool pants (not yet sewn) and we're ready to go out and about.

In addition to the tunic length, I also make these as a regular shirt length (4" shorter) and a gown length (6" longer), in either long or short sleeve. They are currently available in both cotton and bamboo, and I will be getting more wool jersey colors in a couple of weeks.

Affirmations for Peaceful Parenting

Take a few short minutes to read these -- very inspiring!

NVC Book Giveaway Winner!

Wow! I really enjoyed reading all your comments and seeing that NVC has inspired many of you already. So nice to read that many are open to learning about it as well.

So without further ado, the winner of the NVC book giveaway is...

Jess said...
I've only heard of NVC, but I'm hoping to read more soon!

So Jess, please get in touch with me here to give me your contact information. I need to hear from you by October 9 or I will redraw for the books. ETA: Again I had to redraw and so the new winner is...

Lisa said...
this is some of the first I've really seen about NVC, but I'm hoping to read more and learn more about it. Thanks for doing this!

Thanks so much everyone! I'm having a lot of fun with these giveaways, so stay tuned for future ones. :)

Non-Violent Communication Books Giveaway!

Being introduced to Non-Violent Communication (NVC) a few years ago was a real eye-opener for me. The idea that one could be compassionate while still recognizing and asserting one's own needs seemed so foreign. Striving to create win-win solutions and really hearing the needs behind my children's behaviour takes a lot of patience and effort and I fall short often, but it is so worth the connection and cooperative spirit it fosters.

As October 2, 2009 has been designated International Day of Non-Violence, I decided I would like to have another giveaway -- a set of two booklets that combine parenting and NVC: Raising Children Compassionately by Marshall Rosenberg and Parenting From Your Heart by Inbal Kashtan.

All you have to do to enter is make a comment on this post (entries from "anonymous" will not be accepted). I'd love to hear whether you've heard of NVC before and if so, how it has affected your parenting.

You can get bonus entries for:

• posting about this giveaway on Facebook with a link to this post
• blogging about this giveaway with a link to this post

Winner will be decided using a random integer generator. Giveaway closes October 2 at 11:59 PM PST.

And when you're done entering here, go on over to my friend Annie's blog and enter her giveaway for Scott Noelle's book The Daily Groove!

Organic Pouch Sling Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Organic Pouch Sling Giveaway is...

Robin said...
I like the looks of the Feeleez, myself. :)

(winner was drawn using a random integer generator)

Robin, please get in touch with me here to give me your full name and address so I can send you your sling! I need to hear from you by October 5 or I will redraw for the sling. ETA: I did not hear from Robin by the deadline so the redraw has resulted in Kyre being the new winner. Kyre, please get in touch with me ASAP to arrange to receive your sling.

Thanks to all who entered - it was fun seeing all your comments about what products you think are unique or interesting at our store.

Please stay tuned tomorrow for an announcement of our next giveaway which will be in honour of International Day of Non-Violence on October 2.