2008 July 07

Responsibility

July 7th, 2008 | Author: Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You

I’m watching the Today Show. Their health segment has me staring at the tv incredulously because ummm… HUH?

Salmonella outbreak. Who DOESN’T wash their fruits and vegetables before using them? Seriously. Maybe it’s because I already imagine all the animals and bugs that have peed & whatnot on my fresh produce [never mind the people who are PICKING the produce without proper sanitation procedures!], I always wash this stuff. ALWAYS. So now they’re saying it might also affect peppers, cilantro, etc. Again – WHY aren’t people washing these things? Blech. I haven’t stopped using tomatoes, peppers, etc. I just make sure that I wash them and then use I rough kitchen towel to dry them.
Gardasil HPV vaccine. Apparently, there have been reports of girls having “adverse reactions” that include fainting and nausea. Ok, no big deal. She talks about how it’s teenage girls that are getting the shot, and how it might be related to just getting a shot, not the vaccine itself. Then they mention there have been some DEATHS. Oh, but there’s been millions of vaccines given and it has been proven to be VERY safe and “obviously effective at preventing cancer of the cervix”. How can they know that yet?
Now they want to screen kids for cholesterol problems. Ages 2-10. Huh? There’s also been talk of medicating kids for it. Couldn’t we prevent those problems by actually paying ATTENTION to what we’re feeding our kids? How about some responsible parenting, people? I know, I know – I’m nuts.

I don’t know – it seems to me that RESPONSIBLE PARENTING would cure a lot of things in this country. Obesity – stop feeding your kids candy, frozen pizza, SODA, processed foods. Yes, once in a while, these things can be treats – they can be. But when I see people in the market whose carts are LOADED with nothing but boxed stuff, it’s not hard to see why there’s a childhood obesity problem in this country! I see it over and over again. This isn’t me being all high & mighty. This is me being one of those parents who doesn’t allow her kids to decide what goes into the shopping cart. I AM THE PARENT. I AM THE ONE PAYING THE BILLS. I AM THE ONE WHO MAKES THE DECISIONS.

I have no idea when things went to hell. I wasn’t allowed to dictate what my mother bought. We ate what she brought home. The same thing goes for my kids. Once in a great while, they’ll get a frozen pizza or a lunchable. But every day? NO. My son loves loves LOVES bologna sandwiches. He gets ONE at a time, every few days. He doesn’t eat 4 of them in 1 sitting.

Do I need to get better at the pre-packaged stuff like oodles of noodles? Absolutely. I am by no means a perfect parent. I feel that particularly because I am a stay at home mom, (therefore, I have more time w/them), I have a responsibility to my kids to feed them healthy. I also have a responsibility to instill in them a HEALTHY attitude towards food. Would my son rather have 1/2 a pound of spaghetti for dinner? Of course. It tastes good. But does he NEED 1/2 a pound of pasta and it’s resulting carbs? Nope! Because I know that my kids might have an increased risk of diabetes because I had it while pregnant with them, I’ve been very mindful of teaching Anthony to limit his carb intake to a healthy level. No, we haven’t cut them out. But he knows the limits and respects them (most of the time LOL). He’s also been taught about SERVING SIZES and actually reading them and sticking with them. That’s particularly helpful when he wants an entire can of soda PLUS a sandwich PLUS chips. Yeah, I know – yummy lunch. But MEGA carbs, MEGA calories and simply not necessary.

I also don’t buy 6 packs, 12 packs, whole cases of soda. We buy 1 or 2 cans of soda from outside of WalMart occasionally. Otherwise, they have water & milk and juicy juice that I’ve made with 1-1/2 times the water it calls for LOL

Our biggest vice in our house is cookies & other sweets. I don’t buy sugared cereals (mostly because they’re not allowed on WIC. But I buy cookies (about every other week), bake occasionally, etc. I try to make healthy alternatives, but of course, *I* am human too (and a sugar addict). I’m working on fixing that. Maybe if more parents took a look at what they put in their kids’ mouths, the doctors could think about something else besides medicating our kids.