March is going by fast and we’ve jumped forward an hour. You know what that means? Yes, it’s coming up to spring cleaning time and I can’t wait to throw open the windows to let the fresh air in. Along with more air and light, I feel the need to detoxify my body from an over-indulgence of rich food during the winter months.

As I search my cupboards under the sink, I take out, one after another, a cleaner for the stovetop, one for the granite countertops, one for the wooden floorboards, yet another for cleaning glass and, finally, a general all-round cleaner. It struck me: “Wow, how many cleaning products do I need?” and then: “What happened before we had all these manufactured cleaners?”

Okay, I’m a realist; I accept and live with the breakthroughs in technology, the manmade and processed, and I’m grateful for the modern conveniences, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make informed choices about what I use.

This spring, I’ve set myself the challenge of finding natural products to use around the house. Lest you think I’m going to turn into an “earth goddess” or “household warrior,” I can only say, I’m not the “live in a log cabin, kill and clean my own food, and make my own clothes kind of gal,” (even though my granny in rural Hong Kong taught me how to kill and pluck a chicken and that experience was more than enough!) But, I do want to do better with the resources I have.

Perhaps, my granny, mom and mom-in-law did know best when they passed on to me their natural remedies and techniques for house and body. However, knowledge is useless unless applied, so I have work to do.

Here, I share advice I’ve been given and have started to use.

Lemon juice is a great way to clean countertops. After using the juice to clean, I put the used lemon halves in the corners of the fridge to act as natural deodorizers.

Chinese believe that iced-cold water or orange juice is too much of a shock to the body first thing in the morning. Boiled water, left to cool, either plain or with a squeeze of lemon is the healthy way to wake the body’s systems and flush out toxins.

Lemon juice, honey and fresh ginger root, boiled together, make a great tonic for a cold or sore throat. Ginger root boiled in water is good for nausea.

Cinnamon powder mixed with honey to make a paste and used instead of jam is a yummy way to lower cholesterol. Likewise, you can add honey and cinnamon to tea to help reduce cholesterol.

Vegetable oil is a natural leather shoe shine. Remove any dirt with a damp cloth and use a drop of oil to polish the leather.

Who knew that standard school chalk tied in cheesecloth and stored alongside your good silverware slows down tarnishing?

I remember my father using distilled white vinegar and baking soda in scalding water to clean grease from restaurant appliances. Guess what, Dad? It works like a treat on my stove.

Pass on, share your tips and, this spring, do what comes naturally!

Susan Shifay Cheung has turned her hand to many forms of writing in her various roles, over the years, as corporate trainer, management consultant, journalist and writer. You can contact her at y2s2cheung@yahoo.com.

So, my child, a second grader, came home from school recently and proclaimed that a little boy said a “bad word.” She said he was doing some homework, dropped his pencil, and said “Damn it!” The teacher apparently scolded him so hopefully this isn’t a recurring theme in the classroom. What was funny was my child’s next question with a truly puzzled look on her face: “Mom, where on earth do kids LEARN this stuff?”

“What did he just say?”

So, this tells me a couple things:

1.  I am hiding my use of such words really well. Whew!   I seriously intentionally curbed my swearing when she tried to repeat my use of  ”Sh#!” when she was 18mos old & I was trying to get her out of her body-binding carseat one day.  I still have a resentment against those infant carseats.  Instead I started saying “Fiddle Sticks!” or “Drats” and that seemed to work.

2.  My fear of her becoming an infidel from watching iCarly is likely unfounded. Another Whew. (I like iCarly myself and especially Good Luck Charlie too:).  Apparently this content isn’t causing her any major problems.

I then thought, “How does she even know that’s a really bad word?” Well, it must be that she is already learning the meaning of Context.

What’s ur kid saying these days to crack you up? (or embarrass you to death -depending on the day).  Have a perfectly imperfect day and keep on parenting!

Is everyone enjoying this holiday?  The kids are out of school and some businesses are closed so the juggling act is in full swing-trying to spend some time with your little ones while also doing whatever obligations you may still have going on today.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to be granted a “day off” each time your kids are out of school, sick, or there’s a snow day?  I wrote an article a few years ago about the stress of finding childcare on an unexpected snow day.  In the South, if we see a snow flake, we cancel school – not work, just school.  I now have lots of “back up plans” in place for just such occasions but it has been a series of trial and error much like all of motherhood. Despite the books, advice, seminars, degrees, etc…a lot of it is just “on the job training.”  Today, after I leave the office, I’m going to take my little one to get “spacers” for her upcoming braces.  She is beyond excited and also a little nervous (me too).  I’m also excited to show her a new APP a mommy friend shared with me called Presidents vs. Aliens.  Anyone heard of it?  I’m sure you have.  I think it will be a fun President’s Day activity!  Have a super day learning as you go through this journey called motherhood & have a perfectly imperfect day!

Susan Douglas, MD

Okay, I know Valentine’s Day is commercialized and we’re more than sucked into the whole cards, flowers and candy shebang, but, personally, I love seeing red hearts in the shops. It’s joyful and uplifting.

Don’t you think after the blaze of holiday lights and decorations in November and December, January is a drab, grey month? That’s why we embrace the burst of bright colors for Valentine’s Day.

A friend, who’s knowledgeable about colors, tells me vibrations from the color red increases muscle activity. Well, I certainly need that to zap me out of my mental and physical stupor during the low energy winter months.

I hear that red is being touted as the current “in” color for modern weddings. Sorry, I hate to burst the trend forecasters’ bubble, but red has been significant in the Chinese culture for eons. Red is considered the most auspicious of colors and forms the backdrop of rituals and celebrations, signifying joy, luck and fortune.

It’s expected that a bride gets married in red. I wore a traditional bridal outfit called a “kwa” at my wedding banquet. This is a two-piece red silk ensemble embroidered with the dragon and phoenix motif in gold thread, sequins, beads, crystals and pearls.

This year, I’m more than happy to see twice the amount of red in February. As well as red hearts for Valentine’s, I’ll be putting up red decorations and lucky symbols for the Chinese New Year on February 10, the Year of the Water Snake. The year ends on January 30, 2014.

I think everyone has the basic understanding of the cycle of twelve animals that tracks the moon’s cycles and is known as the Chinese lunar calendar. The New Year falls each year between the middle of January and mid-February.

Even after the Chinese adopted the Western calendar in 1911, the lunar calendar is still used to track birthdays and festivities; hence I have a birthday according to the Western calendar and one according to the “Old Calendar,” as it’s known.

What’s less well-known is that the full Chinese lunar calendar is a sixty-year cycle. For the start of each twelfth year, beginning with the Rat, each animal is assigned one of the five elements in Chinese philosophy: wood, fire earth, metal and water.

It takes sixty years to complete the whole cycle of twelve animals and five elements. In 1965, it was the Wood Snake, 1977, the Fire Snake, 1989, the Earth Snake, 2001, the Metal Snake and 2013, the Water Snake.

The water element represents flexibility, endurance and wisdom, and these qualities should be reflected in the coming year.

Western culture often assigns a negative image to the snake, but I would caution you not to misjudge the snake. Many Chinese believe the snake is a guardian of the house, foreshadowing safety and plentiful food for its occupants. Not withstanding its scary outer form, the snake is considered a symbol of kindness, wisdom and loyalty.

Those born in a snake year are, generally, romantic, determined, wise and charming. In other words, it’s easy to love a snake person. And, not least, a snake person fights for things they believe in with good intuition. So, in a snake year, it’s reasonable for you to fight for your goals, visions or dreams.

Love in the air and dreams to be fulfilled, now doesn’t that sound good in the gloom of winter?

Gung Hei Fat Choi. San Nin Fai Lok. Wishing You Prosperity. Happy New Year.

Susan Shifay Cheung has turned her hand to many forms of writing in her various roles, over the years, as corporate trainer, management consultant, journalist and writer. You can contact her at y2s2cheung@yahoo.com.