Shortly before I launched my blog, I came across a wonderful memoir called, Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.  It was rated “one of the 10 best books of the year” by the New York Times Book Review in 2007.  

I love reading biographies and memoirs but I probably would not have read Little Heathens were it not for my blog.  This would have been my loss because Kalish is a terrific story teller.  And though it was not her intention, her book could be my official manual for learning how to live like my grandparents.  I often refer to it as inspiration for my Grandma Challenges.  However, there is one particular passage I find myself pondering on a regular basis.

In the chapter titled, Building Character: Oral Influences, Kalish describes various sayings which shaped the life of her family and childhood.  One saying she mentions is “She can throw out more in a teaspoon than he can bring in with a shovel.”  Kalish writes, “This insightful observation describes a wasteful wife - one, say, who didn’t wipe the inside of an eggshell with her forefinger to extract every last bit of the egg white, or one who made dusting clothes out of old cotton dresses and shirts instead of first salvaging the good parts to make dust capes, tea towels, or napkins.”

Although the saying may reflect a certain view of gender, I think it also illustrates a simple, yet profound, example of the difference between my modern mindset and that of my grandparents.  I use eggs all the time for cooking and baking and it has never once dawned on me to try to wipe out “every last bit of the egg white.”  When I crack an egg, I usually try to avoid touching the white or I try to maneuver it as quickly as possible so it does not drip all over the counter.  I am not sure if this is because I do not want to get messy or if somewhere along the line I was told that I could get sick if I touched the contents of a raw egg.

Either way, it makes me think about my impatience and inattention to certain details and how these patterns often lead to unnecessary waste.  I do not maximize most of the items in my home because it is inconvenient and slows me down.  I am of the mindset that it is easier to toss a mostly used item in the trash and buy a new one.  Apparently, I could learn a lot from the saying, “She can throw out more in a teaspoon than he can bring in with a shovel.”

A friend of mine told me she recently asked her 83-year old Grandma if she used to wipe out the inside of her eggs to which her grandma exclaimed, “I still do! Don’t you?”  I want to know how you would answer my friend’s grandma, and so it is time for another What Would Grandma Do? question.

Did your grandma (or grandpa) swipe the inside of eggs to “extract every last bit of the egg white?”  Do you?  My great grandma once showed me how she used egg whites for glue on her craft projects.  Did your grandparents have any interesting uses for eggs or egg whites?  Do you have any items that you regularly try to get maximum use out of?

I have a long history of wrestling with my hair and forcing it to submit to a particular style by almost any means possible.  I am not an “au naturel” kind of girl.  

It all started back in 7th grade when I got my first spiral perm.  Yes, I came of age in the late 1980’s when perms were very popular.  Around that same time, I can recall sitting on the bathroom counter, looking in the mirror while styling my hair and vowing I would do whatever it took to make my hair look good every day for school.  No bad hair days allowed.

I broke my “no bad hair days” vow a long time ago, but I never really let my hair go natural unless I am at the beach or confined to bed because I am sick.  I will even go so far as to admit that I cringe a little when I am having a good hair day and it gets “ruined” by the rain or snow or by wrestling with my kids, etc.  

Suffice it to say, I really like my current hairstyle.  For the past six years, I have worn my hair in a chin length bob that is slightly longer in the front than in the back.  It has become my “look.”  Unfortunately, it requires a lot of styling products, tools and some “elbow grease” to get it just so.

My routine generally involves shampoo and conditioner, styling cream, my blow dryer, a round brush, a flat iron, hair wax, a regular brush for “teasing” and some hair spray.  Thankfully, I stopped perming my hair a long time ago and have never really colored my hair or this challenge would be a lot harder! 

My grandparents were decidedly more natural with their hair when they were my age.  Each of my grandparents said for as long as they could remember they simply washed their hair with the same soap they used for washing their hands, face and body and they did not use any styling products until much later in life.

When my Grandma Marlene came of age she recalled styling her hair by rolling it in twist ties that were used to hold bags of coffee shut.  My sister, who is a hairstylist, happened to ask my Grandma Pickies before she passed away how she styled her hair as a young women.  Apparently she used to roll her hair in metal rollers that had a clamp to hold them in place.  She also used a steam powered curling iron.  My Grandma Marlene eventually graduated from twist ties to metal rollers as well.

Women (and men) have always had ways of “styling” their hair but there has not always been a multi-billion dollar industry devoted to it like there is today.  It pains me to say this since my sister and one of my dearest friends are both hairstylists but the hair and beauty industry has resulted in a great deal of waste and pollution.  I am sure I could easily find some statistics to back up my statement but I do not think I need them.  All I have to do is look in my own bathroom cabinet and reflect on how many chemicals I have put on my hair over the years which then get washed down the drain only to become a part of the public water system as well as how many plastic bottles I have thrown away. 

It is time to get back to my natural hair. 

My sister cut my hair a couple of weeks ago and although I did not write about it at the time, I implemented my Grandma Challenge of going more natural with my hair as soon as she finished.  I would like to say I immediately started washing my hair and just let it go “au naturel” but it has not been that simple.  This is a big change for me and so I had to make a plan to ease my way into finding my natural hair.

I did a little research and came across a product that claimed it would “detoxify” my hair and restore it to its natural state.  It is made by a company called Terressentials.  The “shampoo” contains organic aloe vera juice, bentonite clay, organic extracts of organic linden flower, organic nettle, organic chamomile and organic shavegrass.  After following their detox program for one week, I now use it to wash my hair every three days or so. 

When detoxifying your hair it can take a couple of weeks for it to return to its natural state which means your hair may become very oily or dry as it transitions.  My hair seems to be more dry than oily and so the ends have been a frizzy mess.  I can only hope a few good haircuts will remedy this problem. 

However, after a few days of frizzy hair, I made an emergency stop at Target for some rollers.  Ideally, I would have liked to have purchased some rollers that were not made of plastic but I was desperate.  I quickly reasoned that unless my kids drag them out to the sand box or I let them fall into the toilet one too many times by accident (a hazard I discovered one day when they rolled off the counter), they should last much longer than any hair dryer I have ever owned.

The rollers have helped with my frizzy ends, but when I first take them out, my hair reminds me of what I remember my Grandma Pickies’ hair looking like after she took the rollers out of her chin-length hair.  On the flip side, my hair has more bounce, “body” and shine than it has had in years because I no longer put any additional products in it to weigh it down.

It is going to take time before I to get the hang of using my rollers.  Until then you may hear me say, ”I have grandma hair!”

This is not a perfect solution but it is an improvement since I am now only using the Terressentials’ clay-based shampoo and a few rollers.  I may try to use baking soda with an apple cider vinegar rinse after my detoxifying shampoo is gone.  I will let you know if and when I do.  At this point, I am not entirely convinced I am not going to go running back to my old hairstyle after a few months of “grandma” hair.

Is anyone willing to join me in this Grandma Challenge?  If your answer is no, I would like to know what you would have a hard time giving up in your current hair regime.  Do you have any good hair tips if you already have a more natural hair style?  Do you have any stories you would like to share about your grandparents?

I do not know if it is proper blog etiquette to do this but I am going to pause and say thank you to those who have made my blog a success thus far.  I am only 2 months into my year-long journey and I feel very grateful for all of the support I have received!

Behind every great blog is a great designer.  If you are at all impressed by the look of my blog it is because of my friend, Jeff, at Jeff Tow Creative.  Jeff has been with me from the start.  In fact, he was the second person I told about My Grandma Was Green.  I came up with the idea for this blog back in May as I found myself driving in circles looking for a parking place at my local YMCA.  You may recall what I wrote in my first post titled, A Letter To My Grandma:

Feeling somewhat exasperated, I found myself wondering, “Did Grandma ever shove her kids in the car to drive to a big building to plug into a machine to watch TV and go for a run?!” And I had an epiphany as I drove in circles looking for a parking place - the answer is no because “MY GRANDMA WAS GREEN!”

I did go for a run that day but I ran on the track, not the treadmill.  I remember running around and around, listening to my iPod, and thinking about all of the things my grandparents did differently than I do today.  I knew I had stumbled upon something I needed to explore at a deeper level.  I stopped mid-run, grabbed my cell phone from my locker, called Jeff and spilled all of my initial ideas for My Grandma Was Green.  Jeff encouraged me to go for it and offered to do whatever he could to help.

Here I am four months later with a beautiful site to call my own thanks to Jeff.  He designed my site from top to bottom and has answered all of my technology-challenged questions with patience and a great sense of humor to boot.  So here is my shameless little plug as my way of saying thank you, Jeff, for all you have done for My Grandma Was Green!  

Jeff is a graphic designer with over 14 years of experience.  He does a mix of graphic design work - print, web, and tv.  Not everyone can dance across all three successfully but Jeff can!  Check out his work at www.jefftow.com  “Tasty design…served fresh daily.”

I need to thank a few other people while I am at it.

Thank you to my wonderful husband who has listened to a million and one of my crazy ideas over the course of 14-years of marriage.  You have supported me every step of the way!

Thank you to my mother-in-law who affectionately calls me her “daughter-in-love.”  She watches my three crazy kiddos one day each week so I can work on this blog.  I would not be able to write with any coherence or interview my grandparents without your help!  Thank you as well to my father-in-law and my own amazing parents who are always cheering me on! 

Thank you to my readers - many of whom are my friends and family.  I am deeply honored that you take a few moments out of your busy lives to read my musings on sustainability and simplicity.  Your encouraging comments are going to get me through this year of learning to live like my grandparents.  Trust me - I would not have made it past my first day of cloth diapering without your helpful advice and honest stories!

Finally, thank you to my Grandpa Pickies, my Grandpa Fred, my Grandma Marlene, my Great Aunt Pat and my friend Jodie’s grandma who have all patiently endured my pestering of odd questions such as, “Did you use deodorant?” Followed by, “So were people just stinkier?”  This blog is my tribute to you!

Stay tuned for my Tuesday post titled, I Have Grandma Hair!