The name came from my friend Josh who likes to tell the story of how one day in 2004 he came home to find his wife, Jody, sitting at the table in front of her laptop with her head in her hands. When he asked her what was wrong she started blathering about plastics and water bottles, BPA’s bringing on early menstruation and increasing chances of cancer and certain death. This was just before one of her best friends (me) was diagnosed with cancer, before stainless steel water bottles were available in every store, before we’d learned that the $50 worth of Swiss water bottles she’d just ordered were coated with the same BPA-leaching plastic (shame on you Sigg!) she was trying to avoid. In the coming weeks Josh learned she’d joined a neighborhood listserv of 900 moms where rumors and fear spread like a pandemic through a preschool. Not long after, he dubbed the group the HMN and became quick to identify its mark, left all over the house in the form of reusable bags, non-leaching lunchboxes, and the abolition of plastic Tupperware among other things.

That’s where the name came from and that’s what sparked the theme of this blog. In part, I plan to write about my quest to keep my family safe and healthy and on a low-toxin (or no-toxin if that’s possible) diet. But that’s only part of it. I also plan to write about other stuff, like my quest to find an inexpensive organic big-girl bed, my husband’s love of ham, the wonders of the sweet potato, my efforts to braid a tight cornrow, my daughter’s super-human core strength, and whatever else I feel like. I hope you’ll join me and send me lots of comments and ideas for posts.