10/13/2024
I wanted to share an email I wrote today and sent to my subscribers because there is more to my story.
You may think of me as a sweaty active person with silly videos about packaging detergent and cleaning gross fabrics, but I have a story much bigger and much more important to tell today, a story about children. Being a teacher and mother, I have seen a very up front and personal journey of so many parents out there; parents of kids who struggle. Struggle to interact, to think clearly, to be regulated, to feel accepted, children who struggle not erupting at the littlest things like a soccer ball ending up on the school roof.
Yesterday my son played in an amazing soccer game where his team beat the second ranked Class B school in New York State. His team is actually a size D school (the tiniest!), and they beat this amazing team after regulation, overtime and then penalty kicks. Will is a freshman and played a small fraction of the time, but because the game ended in a shootout, he wanted to go to our local school after the game and practice penalty kicks in case any future playoff games might be resolved in this way. I was thrilled with his determination and commitment, but just minutes after he started practicing, the only good soccer ball he had was blasted onto the school roof, unable to be retrieved.
A meltdown of old days was brewing, and he needed help calming down. You see, my son has had trouble his whole life with regulating himself and with so many holistic methods of detoxing him and helping him, we still have these occasional outbursts that are traumatic for all involved. Every single time we go to this school it ends bad. Why?
We have a very sensitive son. He is sensitive to EVERYTHING: the pesticides at this school, the glyphosate in our food, the chemicals in our detergents and cleaning agents, the pollution in our air, and even the energy fields of certain individuals set him off. How does this present itself? Sometimes by anger, sometimes it's slow brain processing, sometimes it's being completely scattered and disorganized, sometimes it's no eye contact, sometimes it's the inability of having meaningful conversations and instead one-word answers, sometimes it's stuttering or stopping in the middle of a sentence, sometimes it's lack of coordination. Every time though, I know this is a real struggle for my son and that he does not in anyway, want to continue to live with these struggles. Instead, he wants to live a fulfilled beautiful life that is easy for him. Isn't that what we want for our children?
That is why over the past 14 years my husband and I have passionately and tirelessly committed ourselves to taking out the toxins in our environment, while living as normal a life as possible. My family laughs at us for carrying crystals around that protect our energy fields, or using nature sounds to help our environment, or eating as much organic food and using toxin-free household products that we can afford. It does seem ridiculous, but we will leave no stone unturned to help Will.
Why do I tell this story and how does it relate to laundry detergent? To admit that in fact we have not figured it all out yet. He still has these episodes where it feels like he's having an out of body experience, all because pesticides were sprayed on a field or perhaps some other unknown factor that he is reacting to. But to be very candid, for those who don't know our journey, we have come a very long way. From such situations where I would cry and cry from the violence I saw in my son, having to restrain him so many times, to helping remove these toxins little by little and becoming more and more aware of the triggers and reasons behind his struggles, I know we are making progress and helping our boy live a great life. We have made A HUGE amount of progress. If we didn't pay attention to what was triggering him or wanted to go the pharmacy route, we would be at a much different place in our lives. We would still probably be eating junk, putting toxins in our hair, lathering it on our bodies, and breathing it in with fake scented candles and air fresheners. But I have learned, through having a sensitive child, that none of this is good for ANY of us.
For our journey, I am grateful. It has opened me to being aware of our toxic environment and that the products I once trusted (or should I say I was completely ignorant about) are products leading many to paths of inflammation, disease, autoimmune issues, and general harm to our planet and to the nature that inhabits it. SO MANY people are ill.
Laundry detergent may seem like a little part, but I wanted to start somewhere. We have innate knowledge in our spirits. Do you know how many kids (and adults) are begging for someone to notice the toxic loads they are up against each and every day? Maybe they can't articulate it, but they know deep inside something is wrong. Do you sense this too?
If this story speaks to you, if you have seen a struggling child, or if you yourself are struggling with cognition, weight, or feeling unhappy or unfulfilled and you want to take a step forward to helping, please share this and be the change you wish to see in the world. If you'd like to look more into what these toxins do to our bodies that are in other laundry detergents, please visit my new page here: https://deskunk.com/pages/ingredients-what-we-use-and-what-we-stay-away-from
I tell this story with a heavy heart as this has been a long road. It's private, but it's also important. It's excruciating to remember parts, and some I have purposely left out, but I know others out there are living this right now and for those people, I want you to know you aren't alone. Whether your child is unable to sit still, is combative, needs your undivided attention at every minute, has tantrums, has a hard time learning, struggles making deep friendships, or whatever you notice that doesn't feel right, toxins in the environment surely aren't helping.
If this story resonates with you, please follow us on Facebook (I Love Clean Laundry), or join our Super Moms Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/oi3ftQGzNhLt9gFb/. Treat yourself, your children, your loved ones and the world with grace and kindness.
