As a parent, the second main worry (after sleep) is what your kid is eating, and whether he's eating enough. You also want things to be organic, wholesome, and healthy. Pre-kid, I used to see parents at restaurants feeding their kids fries and chicken nuggets. I used to think, "I wouldn't do that. It's so bad for them". But when you become a parent, your perspective changes, especially if you have a kid that's underweight. Add on severe food allergies that narrow the scope of possible foods, and you get desperate for your child to eat anything. Yes, my kid eats fries & chicken nuggets. And yes, I feel paranoid at times, like some unknowing stranger that used to be me is judging me. Kids go through weird eating phases. For a while it was tofu in any way possible. Now, this week, it's thin pretzels ALL day long. Breakfast, snack, lunch, all afternoon, a couple in the bath before bed. The up side to all of this is that it has counteracted the diarrhea (which lasted 10 days, by the way) and now he is constipated.
One thing I wasn't too crazy about is juice. Unless it's like 100% juice from Trader Joe's, most juices are 100% pure sugar. I hesitated to give him juice - for a while I would water it down 50%. That was okay for a while, until he caught on, would follow me to the kitchen, and say, "No watey, no watey". I've gotten over all that. He still doesn't get all the juice he wants, but he gets it once in a while and only 100% juice.
The other thing is candy. You know that once you start that, you're headed for a slippery slope. I've tried to hold off on the candy for as long as possible, explaining that wrapped lollipops are just "colorful sticks", wrapped mints are just toys that have crinkly paper to make noises, and candy in boxes are just "shakers" like maracas. Yet, as some point you have to let it happen, in a controlled manner. So this year, the day after Halloween, I let him have his first tasting. I was at first hesitant about the Skittles - they're small, they can be a choking hazard. But, it was probably the only thing in the batch that wasn't a lollipop and non-dairy. So after a 5 minute lecture on "chew, chew, chew, chew lots", we let him go for it. Of course, after the first one, he said, "MMMMM". And after studying the bag and reading the letters, he shortly finished the bag, waved the bag, and pronounced, "DONE! I like candy". After he found another bag this morning, I had to convince him that he first had to wait until after lunch, until which he held onto the bag with both hands, did an evil laugh, and repeatedly said, "I like it. I love it." Then, I had to trick him and convince him that the whole bag only held 5 Skittles, conveniently one of each color. Surprisingly that was enough. He didn't ask for more.
So, for those of you who see kids eating in the mall or a restaurant and say to yourself "I wouldn't feed my kids that crap", don't judge. Wait until you have your own, and then we'll talk...
One thing I wasn't too crazy about is juice. Unless it's like 100% juice from Trader Joe's, most juices are 100% pure sugar. I hesitated to give him juice - for a while I would water it down 50%. That was okay for a while, until he caught on, would follow me to the kitchen, and say, "No watey, no watey". I've gotten over all that. He still doesn't get all the juice he wants, but he gets it once in a while and only 100% juice.
The other thing is candy. You know that once you start that, you're headed for a slippery slope. I've tried to hold off on the candy for as long as possible, explaining that wrapped lollipops are just "colorful sticks", wrapped mints are just toys that have crinkly paper to make noises, and candy in boxes are just "shakers" like maracas. Yet, as some point you have to let it happen, in a controlled manner. So this year, the day after Halloween, I let him have his first tasting. I was at first hesitant about the Skittles - they're small, they can be a choking hazard. But, it was probably the only thing in the batch that wasn't a lollipop and non-dairy. So after a 5 minute lecture on "chew, chew, chew, chew lots", we let him go for it. Of course, after the first one, he said, "MMMMM". And after studying the bag and reading the letters, he shortly finished the bag, waved the bag, and pronounced, "DONE! I like candy". After he found another bag this morning, I had to convince him that he first had to wait until after lunch, until which he held onto the bag with both hands, did an evil laugh, and repeatedly said, "I like it. I love it." Then, I had to trick him and convince him that the whole bag only held 5 Skittles, conveniently one of each color. Surprisingly that was enough. He didn't ask for more.
So, for those of you who see kids eating in the mall or a restaurant and say to yourself "I wouldn't feed my kids that crap", don't judge. Wait until you have your own, and then we'll talk...
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