In the kaos of everyday life we sometimes forget about the things we have to be thankful for and let’s face it some day’s being thankful is the farthest thing from our minds especially when you are staring at a mountain of laundry, a sink full of dishes and a maze of toys littering the floor. At the end of a long day the last thing on your mind is looking back and saying wow I’m really lucky that I have such great kids( who are for the most part healthy) a roof over my head and a fridge full of food, things that a lot of us take for granted but that not everyone is lucky enough to have. The last few days my kids have been driving me nuts, they are fighting and cranky and whining and crying over the littlest things, This in turn makes mommy cranky and tired and at times ready to cry, I haven’t been feeling the love lately. Then a couple of things happened to remind me of just how lucky I am, The kids that I watch got brought to daycare by their father( not a normal thing) and when I asked what was up he told me that he had to call the ambulance to pick up their mom, she had passed out and collapsed onto the floor while getting ready for work that morning, she lost mobility and they are doing testing to find out what is wrong. She is the same age as I am and has two children the same age as my two youngest, It made me thankful for my health and caused my heart to go out to her little ones who were scarred and didn’t understand what was wrong with mommy, prayers that everything will be ok. Then my daughter woke up screaming last night she had had a nightmare and while I was hugging her and cuddling with her she snuggled into my shoulder and said mommy you’re my safe spot ( yes I shed a few tears of happiness, after all that is exactly how I want my kids to feel I want them to know that no matter what I will be there for them and to hear this coming from my three year old made my heart sing. ) The third thing that happened made me grin from ear to ear, my baby boy came over to me and hugged my leg and as I handed him down his bottle he looked up at me and said clear as day “Love you” and G who was just entering the kitchen at the same time that lil man Ben said this for the first time looks at me and says “I love you too mommy”. I waited what seemed a life time to hear G say those words and even though he has been saying them now for almost a year I still smile every time I hear him say them and to hear Ben say it for the first time well my smile could have lit up the room. So yes today I am having a very good day and I am feeling extremely thankful for all of the good things in my life. Studies show that people that are thankful have less stress in their lives and I don’t know a single mom out there that doesn’t need less stress. Thank you to my healthy beautiful family, to my supportive and loving husband and to my wonderful friends who each bring something special to my life.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Gender Blocking- vs. Gender Celebration
So recently I have read two articles in regards to babies and their gender, the first was in regards to a new trend in which the expecting parents throw a party complete with cake, decorations and gifts around the 20wk mark, this party is a reveal party in which they receive the results of an ultra sound showing the gender of the soon to be arrival. There are guessing games and then the big surprise is revealed when they open the envelope Oscar style. Hmm sounds an offal lot like a baby shower to me! No it’s not they still have a baby shower too! I know the excitement of finding out what that little bundle you are carrying is going to be, being able to plan the nursery and buy the appropriate cute little outfits it’s wonderful that technology has allowed us to be able to not have to wait until the arrival of the little one (I hate surprises and love to be prepared we found out with all 3 of our kids) To each their own I guess, not sure that I would throw a party to share the news I freely shared that with all of our friends and loved ones no cake involved, on second thought any excuse to have cake is good enough for me. Now the second article that I read was on the completely opposite end of the spectrum in which the parents of a new baby are keeping the child’s gender a secret their reasoning that they do not want their child to be pigeon holed into a specific gender, they feel that their baby should be allowed to decide for its self what it wishes to be, how it wants to dress and what toys it wants to play with.
“They say that kids receive messages from society that encourage them to fit into existing boxes, including with regard to gender. "We thought that if we delayed sharing that information, in this case hopefully, we might knock off a couple million of those messages by the time that Storm decides Storm would like to share," says Witterick.”
The parents have a point about the expectations that society puts onto a child and onto adults for that matter the invention of television and the internet has made advertising a breeze, but gender roles have been around since the dawn of time this is nothing new, this is whoever a new approach to dealing with gender stereotypes. Whether this is a good choice or a bad one remains to be seen, however in my opinion this approach is not going to resolve the problems with gender stereotypes and will probably cause the child in question to have more problems than they would have had they been raised the gender(sex) they were born. For starters gender is not something that someone chooses it is determined at birth you are either born a male or a female it’s that easy and should not be made out to be difficult (ok I do admit that there are those cases in which children are born transgender but that in its self is a whole other discussion) I agree 100% that a child should be allowed to make the choices as to whether they want to play with trucks or dolls so as a good parent if you are concerned about this issue then the solution is simple buy both types of toys and allow the child to choose which one they wish to play with and don’t be surprised when they end up playing with both types of toys children this young don’t know the difference between the toys they are playing with as much as they know that it is something to play with. I have witnessed all three of my children playing one minute with a doll then the next racing cars along the floor, are they confused about their gender not at all they are happy, well-adjusted kids that are capable of playing with many types of toys. Childhood is a confusing time for kids so why would a parent want to add to this confusion it would be better to let the child know that they are either a boy or a girl and that they are accepted for the individual that they are. My daughter likes to dress herself and because I want her to be able to make her own choices and have her own sense of style I allow her to choose what she wants to wear(within limits the other day she wanted to go to the park bundled up in like 7 different articles of clothing when it was +20 outside, I made her remove some layers) Dealing with gender stereotypes starts at home with the way that you raise your children, both my son and daughter(my youngest is still just a babe) are shown how to clean and know that both daddy and mommy clean the house, they know that we are equal partners in the relationship and that neither of us is better than the other, I want all of my children to know that they are valuable as an individual regardless of gender (or special needs as we deal with stereotypes all the time in regards to my sons autism) and that they are capable of doing anything they choose to do regardless of social expectations. It is your job as a parent to ensure that your child is happy, healthy and well adjusted. Part of your job is to ensure that your child is capable of entering society and able to properly adapt to situations in a manner in which they are able to make choices that will allow them to live within society. If you raise a child without restrictions you will raise a menace to society. The choices that your children make are inevitably their decisions once they are old enough to properly think for themselves, prepare them to be able to make these decisions and support them in the decisions that they choose to make. Society today is full of many many different types of people with different, cultural, religious and sexual believes and individuals now a days are fortunate enough to live in a fairly open minded society where gender roles and boundaries are forever being pushed and expanded.
"We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now--a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)," it said.”
These parents would be much further ahead in raising a forward thinking individual if they were to concentrate on the important issues in life such as teaching your children to value themselves as individuals, and to have respect for others, to take responsibility for their own actions these attributes are sadly missing in many of today’s children and adults. Whether you decide as a parent to celebrate the sex of your child or keep it quite from the rest of the world this is still a child and needs to have your love, and support no matter what.
“They say that kids receive messages from society that encourage them to fit into existing boxes, including with regard to gender. "We thought that if we delayed sharing that information, in this case hopefully, we might knock off a couple million of those messages by the time that Storm decides Storm would like to share," says Witterick.”
The parents have a point about the expectations that society puts onto a child and onto adults for that matter the invention of television and the internet has made advertising a breeze, but gender roles have been around since the dawn of time this is nothing new, this is whoever a new approach to dealing with gender stereotypes. Whether this is a good choice or a bad one remains to be seen, however in my opinion this approach is not going to resolve the problems with gender stereotypes and will probably cause the child in question to have more problems than they would have had they been raised the gender(sex) they were born. For starters gender is not something that someone chooses it is determined at birth you are either born a male or a female it’s that easy and should not be made out to be difficult (ok I do admit that there are those cases in which children are born transgender but that in its self is a whole other discussion) I agree 100% that a child should be allowed to make the choices as to whether they want to play with trucks or dolls so as a good parent if you are concerned about this issue then the solution is simple buy both types of toys and allow the child to choose which one they wish to play with and don’t be surprised when they end up playing with both types of toys children this young don’t know the difference between the toys they are playing with as much as they know that it is something to play with. I have witnessed all three of my children playing one minute with a doll then the next racing cars along the floor, are they confused about their gender not at all they are happy, well-adjusted kids that are capable of playing with many types of toys. Childhood is a confusing time for kids so why would a parent want to add to this confusion it would be better to let the child know that they are either a boy or a girl and that they are accepted for the individual that they are. My daughter likes to dress herself and because I want her to be able to make her own choices and have her own sense of style I allow her to choose what she wants to wear(within limits the other day she wanted to go to the park bundled up in like 7 different articles of clothing when it was +20 outside, I made her remove some layers) Dealing with gender stereotypes starts at home with the way that you raise your children, both my son and daughter(my youngest is still just a babe) are shown how to clean and know that both daddy and mommy clean the house, they know that we are equal partners in the relationship and that neither of us is better than the other, I want all of my children to know that they are valuable as an individual regardless of gender (or special needs as we deal with stereotypes all the time in regards to my sons autism) and that they are capable of doing anything they choose to do regardless of social expectations. It is your job as a parent to ensure that your child is happy, healthy and well adjusted. Part of your job is to ensure that your child is capable of entering society and able to properly adapt to situations in a manner in which they are able to make choices that will allow them to live within society. If you raise a child without restrictions you will raise a menace to society. The choices that your children make are inevitably their decisions once they are old enough to properly think for themselves, prepare them to be able to make these decisions and support them in the decisions that they choose to make. Society today is full of many many different types of people with different, cultural, religious and sexual believes and individuals now a days are fortunate enough to live in a fairly open minded society where gender roles and boundaries are forever being pushed and expanded.
"We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now--a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)," it said.”
These parents would be much further ahead in raising a forward thinking individual if they were to concentrate on the important issues in life such as teaching your children to value themselves as individuals, and to have respect for others, to take responsibility for their own actions these attributes are sadly missing in many of today’s children and adults. Whether you decide as a parent to celebrate the sex of your child or keep it quite from the rest of the world this is still a child and needs to have your love, and support no matter what.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
An Autism Diagnosis
April is autism month, every day is autism day in our house. It is actually kind of ironic really as 2 years ago in April our oldest son was diagnosed with Autism and seizure disorder April 14th 2009 will forever be etched in my mind as a day that I wish I could erase from history, I know that I have never actually written about how I felt when we received the diagnosis and to be honest up until recently I never really thought about it from a rational point of view that is. I reacted, I didn’t think, I allowed my emotions full out free rang over the situation, Even though my husband and I had been already talking about the scary “A” word it still did not prepare me for that dreadful day that the doctor actually said the words out loud, funny how when something is said out loud it makes it that much more real. I knew it was bad when she looked at me and handed me a box of tissue, never a good sign when you are in a doctor’s office. Surprisingly though I did not break down in the office looking back I think that my mind and body had gone numb I remember the doctor saying to me that she was certain that G had Autism, she handed me some brochures and told me that she was willing to take him on as a patient and that the seizures that had started the whole journey to this point were a secondary concern I don’t remember anything else about that meeting though I know that there was much more to it than that, I remember driving home in a daze and thinking to myself how? How could this be real, at any time I was going to wake up and this was going to all be a bad dream. I walked into the house and came face to face with my little blue eyed angel, I hugged him and then the tears started and I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t stop crying and I couldn’t stop hugging him, I looked over his head at Andrew and our eyes met, and he knew without saying a word he knew!
The next few weeks went by in a blur when I wasn’t crying I was mad and looking back now I know that I was not a nice person to be around, I hated the world and even worse I hated all of my friends and family, I hated them and their perfect kids and their words of advice and concern, I was mean to them ignoring their calls and snapping at them when they said things that seemed stupid and redundant, I was mad at my parents and Andrew’s parents, mine because my mom and dad were overwhelming me with info and Andrew’s because it seemed like they didn’t care they just seemed to be ignoring the situation. Looking back now I realize that they too were dealing with the diagnosis in their own way, their first grandchild had just been diagnosed with autism a completely unfamiliar territory, my parents like myself research the hell out of everything and wanted to help us the best they knew how by providing support and information and Andrew’s parents had also been researching but wanted to give us some space to adjust. After the anger and tears started to disappear I went into overdrive I needed to learn everything that I could about this disorder and I needed to learn it all right away! I started to make phone calls and filled out enough paper work to give me carpal tunnel, I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that G got everything that he was entitled to and I was going to learn everything that I needed to help him, I thought that by researching the hell out of the subject I could become an expert, little did I know then that years later I would still be learning and when I think I have something figured out it goes and changes on me, such is life.
This diagnosis played havoc on our marriage and at one point I even said that horrible D word, it took me a while to realize that Andrew was hurting just as much as I was, he just dealt with it in a different manner where as I threw myself into it head first, he was withdrawing from the situation, or so I thought. I wanted him to read all of the books and join the support groups but he wasn’t at that point yet, he was still mourning the little boy that we thought G would be, the little football player and the happy go lucky little man that would do great things. It came to a point for me however where I had to say it, I love you but my priority is our son and if you can’t step up and start to become a part of this family again then I am willing to do this on my own, after all I felt like I was already doing it on my own. I devastated him( remember earlier when I mentioned that I was not a nice person, this was definitely a low point for me, he was grieving the death of our “normal” son and I had just told him that I was going to leave him.) Our lives had officially hit rock bottom and something needed to change and it needed to not only change drastically but fast.
In walked my guardian angel, she came in with a strong shoulder and a bag full of information and she said the words I needed to hear, This is not your fault. I didn’t even realize it until she said it, but it was true, I was blaming myself, all of the what if’s and if only’s came raging to the surface and together we faced all of these horrible demons, once I had dealt with these demons I was then free to take a deep breath and look at the situation from a whole new perspective, I stopped being mad at Andrew, I realized that he too had been blaming himself, we did what we do best we started working together for our son. We realized that what we had been doing before to raise G still worked after all he was still the same amazing little boy that he had been just a few short weeks before, just now there was a name associated with all of the little quirks that he had and that we loved so much about him. There is never a day in our lives that we forget that our son has autism every morning and every night when I open the cupboard to get G’s meds ready I am reminded of this fact, some days are easier to forget then others but now it is just a part of our lives. “life is not about the milestones, it’s about the moments” and we have learned to make every moment count. G may be diagnosed with Autism but there is so much more to him than that, and he will defiantly still do great things.
The next few weeks went by in a blur when I wasn’t crying I was mad and looking back now I know that I was not a nice person to be around, I hated the world and even worse I hated all of my friends and family, I hated them and their perfect kids and their words of advice and concern, I was mean to them ignoring their calls and snapping at them when they said things that seemed stupid and redundant, I was mad at my parents and Andrew’s parents, mine because my mom and dad were overwhelming me with info and Andrew’s because it seemed like they didn’t care they just seemed to be ignoring the situation. Looking back now I realize that they too were dealing with the diagnosis in their own way, their first grandchild had just been diagnosed with autism a completely unfamiliar territory, my parents like myself research the hell out of everything and wanted to help us the best they knew how by providing support and information and Andrew’s parents had also been researching but wanted to give us some space to adjust. After the anger and tears started to disappear I went into overdrive I needed to learn everything that I could about this disorder and I needed to learn it all right away! I started to make phone calls and filled out enough paper work to give me carpal tunnel, I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that G got everything that he was entitled to and I was going to learn everything that I needed to help him, I thought that by researching the hell out of the subject I could become an expert, little did I know then that years later I would still be learning and when I think I have something figured out it goes and changes on me, such is life.
This diagnosis played havoc on our marriage and at one point I even said that horrible D word, it took me a while to realize that Andrew was hurting just as much as I was, he just dealt with it in a different manner where as I threw myself into it head first, he was withdrawing from the situation, or so I thought. I wanted him to read all of the books and join the support groups but he wasn’t at that point yet, he was still mourning the little boy that we thought G would be, the little football player and the happy go lucky little man that would do great things. It came to a point for me however where I had to say it, I love you but my priority is our son and if you can’t step up and start to become a part of this family again then I am willing to do this on my own, after all I felt like I was already doing it on my own. I devastated him( remember earlier when I mentioned that I was not a nice person, this was definitely a low point for me, he was grieving the death of our “normal” son and I had just told him that I was going to leave him.) Our lives had officially hit rock bottom and something needed to change and it needed to not only change drastically but fast.
In walked my guardian angel, she came in with a strong shoulder and a bag full of information and she said the words I needed to hear, This is not your fault. I didn’t even realize it until she said it, but it was true, I was blaming myself, all of the what if’s and if only’s came raging to the surface and together we faced all of these horrible demons, once I had dealt with these demons I was then free to take a deep breath and look at the situation from a whole new perspective, I stopped being mad at Andrew, I realized that he too had been blaming himself, we did what we do best we started working together for our son. We realized that what we had been doing before to raise G still worked after all he was still the same amazing little boy that he had been just a few short weeks before, just now there was a name associated with all of the little quirks that he had and that we loved so much about him. There is never a day in our lives that we forget that our son has autism every morning and every night when I open the cupboard to get G’s meds ready I am reminded of this fact, some days are easier to forget then others but now it is just a part of our lives. “life is not about the milestones, it’s about the moments” and we have learned to make every moment count. G may be diagnosed with Autism but there is so much more to him than that, and he will defiantly still do great things.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Laundry, Lovely Laundry!!!
So here I sit avoiding the very large pile of laundry that needs to be washed, folded and then put away, to say that I am a laundry procrastinator is an understatement, the word hate comes to mind and I don’t use that term very often. Our family seems to create an ungodly amount of dirty clothes and if I don’t keep up with it and happen to miss a day or two then the mountain in front of the washer is almost insurmountable, hence the fact that I am sitting here seriously considering moving to a nudist colony, I know, I know not really a feasible solution when you live in the great white north but it is the only solution that I can think of at this particular moment.
It is fair to say that if I were to win the lottery I would definitely hire someone to do our laundry, it’s not so much the washing part but the whole folding and putting away that gets to me, our couch down stairs in the rec room has become the official dumping ground for any laundry coming out of the dryer and is piled so high right now that I’m not even sure that there really is a couch there anymore I’m afraid it may have been eaten by the laundry monster and disappeared. ( this monster is the same one that steals the socks, not both socks just one so that you are left with a pile of mismatched socks and then end up leaving the house with one striped and one rainbow coloured sock on, don’t worry other mommy’s understand)
The problem in my house is that I have these wonderfully fantastic helpers every time I get a load of laundry folded they come along and mess it up, and my very adorable daughter has recently started to dress herself a great and horrible thing in my eyes, some days her pants are on backwards and more days then not she is wearing a summer dress when it’s -20 out but she is dressing herself! But along with learning to dress herself comes the need to change outfits 10 times a day, the colorful and often funny mismatch of clothes gives me a great chuckle but at last it also creates more of that lovely laundry I hate so much, because we all know a three year old is not going to hang her clothes back up (in fact the last time I looked in her closet she had pulled everything off of her hangers yep just one more laundry mess waiting to be cleaned up) My husband who can somehow fold clothes down small enough to fit several weeks’ worth of clothing into a ruck sack can’t seem to manage to fit any clothes into the dresser at all, funny how that happens eh ladies. I also have such a large selection of clothing to choose from so I can actually go for weeks and not have to do laundry but therein lie’s another problem, must conquer my clutter.
Back to the original issue, I have people coming to the house tomorrow to visit and am pretty sure that they are going to want to sit on that couch that I can’t find. So now that I have fed the kids breakfast and had a little rant just one more method of procrastination I really must tackle the mountain in the basement, and if I’m not mistaken there may even be a load of laundry sitting in the washer that didn’t get switched over, come on you know you all do it, we get busy forget that we started the washer and it ends up getting run through a couple of times( not so great for the hydro bill ) because we have forgotten it over night or in my case sometimes days go by before I get back to it, it also has that wonderful smell to it. I just think of it as adventures in laundry room drama you never know what surprise is waiting for you when you lift the lid. Well if I’m going to do this I had better put on some good music and get a move on it, I’ll write more latter if I don’t get lost in the mountains of the new territory in my basement.
It is fair to say that if I were to win the lottery I would definitely hire someone to do our laundry, it’s not so much the washing part but the whole folding and putting away that gets to me, our couch down stairs in the rec room has become the official dumping ground for any laundry coming out of the dryer and is piled so high right now that I’m not even sure that there really is a couch there anymore I’m afraid it may have been eaten by the laundry monster and disappeared. ( this monster is the same one that steals the socks, not both socks just one so that you are left with a pile of mismatched socks and then end up leaving the house with one striped and one rainbow coloured sock on, don’t worry other mommy’s understand)
The problem in my house is that I have these wonderfully fantastic helpers every time I get a load of laundry folded they come along and mess it up, and my very adorable daughter has recently started to dress herself a great and horrible thing in my eyes, some days her pants are on backwards and more days then not she is wearing a summer dress when it’s -20 out but she is dressing herself! But along with learning to dress herself comes the need to change outfits 10 times a day, the colorful and often funny mismatch of clothes gives me a great chuckle but at last it also creates more of that lovely laundry I hate so much, because we all know a three year old is not going to hang her clothes back up (in fact the last time I looked in her closet she had pulled everything off of her hangers yep just one more laundry mess waiting to be cleaned up) My husband who can somehow fold clothes down small enough to fit several weeks’ worth of clothing into a ruck sack can’t seem to manage to fit any clothes into the dresser at all, funny how that happens eh ladies. I also have such a large selection of clothing to choose from so I can actually go for weeks and not have to do laundry but therein lie’s another problem, must conquer my clutter.
Back to the original issue, I have people coming to the house tomorrow to visit and am pretty sure that they are going to want to sit on that couch that I can’t find. So now that I have fed the kids breakfast and had a little rant just one more method of procrastination I really must tackle the mountain in the basement, and if I’m not mistaken there may even be a load of laundry sitting in the washer that didn’t get switched over, come on you know you all do it, we get busy forget that we started the washer and it ends up getting run through a couple of times( not so great for the hydro bill ) because we have forgotten it over night or in my case sometimes days go by before I get back to it, it also has that wonderful smell to it. I just think of it as adventures in laundry room drama you never know what surprise is waiting for you when you lift the lid. Well if I’m going to do this I had better put on some good music and get a move on it, I’ll write more latter if I don’t get lost in the mountains of the new territory in my basement.
Friday, March 4, 2011
3 letters 1 Huge Change
Ok so I have been asked by a bunch of people now just what it is that I have removed from our diets to make us all feel so much better, the answer is 3 letters “MSG” but oh so much more complicated than that. MSG goes by so many different names and is in so many things that in order to completely remove it from our diets I have had to go to a completely REAL food diet( I prefer to use the term lifestyle as opposed to diet, as it is a complete lifestyle change) In answer to a question that I got from someone else yes that means I have removed all preservatives as well from our diets, if it has preservatives in it, it has some form of msg in it to make it taste good and because manufactured msg is in its self a preservative and is often used to increase shelf life of products.
MSG comes in two forms the first is naturally occurring and our bodies are designed to break down this form of msg examples of things that have natural msg are white potatoes, mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, grapes, cheese and yeast. The second form of msg is chemically produced and our bodies are not designed to break this form down it takes 10 to 20 times longer for our bodies to break this form down then to break down naturally occurring msg, because msg and aspartame have the same chemical makeup we have also removed anything with aspartame in it as well(this includes all things sweetened with splenda, sweet and low, and alternative sweeteners like sucralose and the like) Almost all food companies use a form of msg in their products, it is so widely used for several different reasons, it enhances foods flavor to make it taste better and to cover up unwanted tastes an example of this is the tin taste that it covers up in canned foods. Another reason is the fact that MSG has an addictive nature similar to that of caffeine or nicotine, it is added to foods and beverages by companies so that you will crave their foods and continue to want to buy them or become addicted to them, a great example of this one would be the fact that it is added to Timmies coffee and pretty much all food you buy at fast food restaurants.
So having had to remove this from our diets I have done a great deal of research into just what msg is, why it is used, where it is found, and the side effects of msg intolerance in people. Even after reading all of the literature on it I was still somewhat skeptical, was this really the cause of my daughter’s allergic reactions, was all this time and effort really going to pay off, how could something that was found in pretty much everything in the grocery store be this bad for us. Well here I sit almost a month later and all I have to say is that I am no longer a skeptic, I am seeing for myself the differences that removing this from our diets has made in our health, there have been no more allergic reactions, we are all sleeping better, our bowels are now regular (my oldest son who has never had a solid bowel movement ever has started to have solid poops.) my husband who’s hands have always shook since I have known him no longer has shaky hands. The black circles under my eyes are disappearing my skin has started to have a fresh look to it, I no longer feel tired and tense, and I actually feel genuinely happy once again and I have so much more energy, I have also lost 6pounds since we made the change.
All that being said there have been challenges to get to this point several days after removing it from our diets everyone in our house was as cranky as a bear, we were all going through msg withdrawal, this lasted for several days before we all started to get used to our new eating habits. This change is also very time consuming as everything has to be prepared from scratch and planned out and as I am just learning it also takes a lot of time at the grocery store reading every single label. It is expensive to buy “real” food probably the reason behind why there is such an obesity problem around junk food and pop are actually cheaper to buy then healthy food. But that being said I spend more at the grocery store but am not spending money on take out and junk food so I am saving money there. It also took a little bit of getting used to what real food tasted like. now that we have been eating nothing but real food our taste buds have adjusted and the food tastes great, fruit tastes much sweeter and I am actually enjoying the natural flavors. At a play date the other day they had KD for lunch a month ago my kids would have wolfed it down and asked for 2nds and 3rds but this time my daughter barely touched it and my son didn’t touch it at all when asked why the answer was simple “it tastes yucky mommy”, but they did eat the apple slices and carrots. I can say that I don’t think that we will be able to completely remove it from our diets but by doing our best to remove the majority of it from our systems we are creating a healthier happier family. I don’t mind the time and effort that goes into it now and enjoy both the planning and preparing of our meals it gives me great joy in knowing that I made it from scratch with love and even more joy when I see how much my family loves it. I am getting much better at creating wonderfully delicious meals and know that our real food lifestyle will get much easier the longer we do it for.
MSG comes in two forms the first is naturally occurring and our bodies are designed to break down this form of msg examples of things that have natural msg are white potatoes, mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, grapes, cheese and yeast. The second form of msg is chemically produced and our bodies are not designed to break this form down it takes 10 to 20 times longer for our bodies to break this form down then to break down naturally occurring msg, because msg and aspartame have the same chemical makeup we have also removed anything with aspartame in it as well(this includes all things sweetened with splenda, sweet and low, and alternative sweeteners like sucralose and the like) Almost all food companies use a form of msg in their products, it is so widely used for several different reasons, it enhances foods flavor to make it taste better and to cover up unwanted tastes an example of this is the tin taste that it covers up in canned foods. Another reason is the fact that MSG has an addictive nature similar to that of caffeine or nicotine, it is added to foods and beverages by companies so that you will crave their foods and continue to want to buy them or become addicted to them, a great example of this one would be the fact that it is added to Timmies coffee and pretty much all food you buy at fast food restaurants.
So having had to remove this from our diets I have done a great deal of research into just what msg is, why it is used, where it is found, and the side effects of msg intolerance in people. Even after reading all of the literature on it I was still somewhat skeptical, was this really the cause of my daughter’s allergic reactions, was all this time and effort really going to pay off, how could something that was found in pretty much everything in the grocery store be this bad for us. Well here I sit almost a month later and all I have to say is that I am no longer a skeptic, I am seeing for myself the differences that removing this from our diets has made in our health, there have been no more allergic reactions, we are all sleeping better, our bowels are now regular (my oldest son who has never had a solid bowel movement ever has started to have solid poops.) my husband who’s hands have always shook since I have known him no longer has shaky hands. The black circles under my eyes are disappearing my skin has started to have a fresh look to it, I no longer feel tired and tense, and I actually feel genuinely happy once again and I have so much more energy, I have also lost 6pounds since we made the change.
All that being said there have been challenges to get to this point several days after removing it from our diets everyone in our house was as cranky as a bear, we were all going through msg withdrawal, this lasted for several days before we all started to get used to our new eating habits. This change is also very time consuming as everything has to be prepared from scratch and planned out and as I am just learning it also takes a lot of time at the grocery store reading every single label. It is expensive to buy “real” food probably the reason behind why there is such an obesity problem around junk food and pop are actually cheaper to buy then healthy food. But that being said I spend more at the grocery store but am not spending money on take out and junk food so I am saving money there. It also took a little bit of getting used to what real food tasted like. now that we have been eating nothing but real food our taste buds have adjusted and the food tastes great, fruit tastes much sweeter and I am actually enjoying the natural flavors. At a play date the other day they had KD for lunch a month ago my kids would have wolfed it down and asked for 2nds and 3rds but this time my daughter barely touched it and my son didn’t touch it at all when asked why the answer was simple “it tastes yucky mommy”, but they did eat the apple slices and carrots. I can say that I don’t think that we will be able to completely remove it from our diets but by doing our best to remove the majority of it from our systems we are creating a healthier happier family. I don’t mind the time and effort that goes into it now and enjoy both the planning and preparing of our meals it gives me great joy in knowing that I made it from scratch with love and even more joy when I see how much my family loves it. I am getting much better at creating wonderfully delicious meals and know that our real food lifestyle will get much easier the longer we do it for.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My Nemisis the Grocery Store
So yesterday I piled the kids into the van, grabbed my shopping list and the list off of the fridge of the other known names that MSG goes by and headed into town, we did a bit of a detour the garbage truck had gone by and the noise of it had upset Gray and one of the best ways to get Gray calmed down is to go for a drive I think I’ve said it before but he just loves being in the vehicle it totally calms him down he likes looking out at the sights and the other vehicles on the road and like me he just likes to be on the open road there is just something about driving with no known destination in mind that calm’s the nerves and provides a sense of adventure, I knew I was going to eventually end up at the grocery store but had no time frame in mind and therefore was not rushed. Well we hadn’t been in the van more than 10 minutes when I saw the smile come across Gray’s face and he pulled the hat up over his eyes to look out the side window, success.
So after a scenic drive into town i hit up the local health food store and was pleasantly surprised at the help that I received from the owner of the shop she was knowledgeable about her products and the information that she didn’t know she was more than willing to find out for me, she had never had anyone come into her shop with the situation that I was facing and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about it, even offering to try to special order any items I may need. Unfortunately, it’s a small shop which still left me with a whole pile of grocery’s that needed to be bought. So off to the grocery store we go, yes I did have all three kids with me and yes I may be a little crazy for attempting this kind of shopping trip with not one but three kids, surprisingly the kids were great, there were a few trying moments in the aisles where I wanted to look at the child in question and say “who do you belong to?” not naming any names but well it wasn’t one of my boy’s. I can’t really blame here after all I did push the limits of a three year olds patients levels and to be honest there were a few minutes there where I wanted to throw a big old temper tantrum in the store myself.
Every single item that I picked up had to be flipped over and the ingredient’s list gone over with a fine tooth comb, my eye sight and my brain were starting to go a little bit batty by the end of the second aisle and I still had six more aisles to go up and down. All in all I spent 2 hours at the grocery store, you heard me right 2 very long hours were spent at the store just to get a half a cart full of grocery’s. I know it will get easier as I learn what is and isn’t safe for me to buy, but until I have done it a few times I’m going to completely dread the grocery store, even as I write this I feel a chill go down my spine, I never liked grocery shopping to begin with now I hate it even more.
So what did I learn from my 2 hours in the grocery store well a couple of things actually, first I learned that I really had no clue as to just what all goes into the food we eat, half of the ingredients in the foods I can barely even pronounce let along have any clue as to what they really are, and secondly some of my tried and trusted brands were also some of the worst culprits. Yep that’s right, they have been voted out of the cupboards. I’m going to miss my friends Campbell’s and Dare but if it’s not good enough for Lady Grace then it’s not good enough for any of us. So new rule, if it has more than five items in the ingredients list it probably has msg in it, if my great, great grandmother wouldn’t have had it in her cupboards I probably shouldn’t either. Back to basics and back to actual meal preparation with no short cuts, thank god for the invention of freezers.
So after a scenic drive into town i hit up the local health food store and was pleasantly surprised at the help that I received from the owner of the shop she was knowledgeable about her products and the information that she didn’t know she was more than willing to find out for me, she had never had anyone come into her shop with the situation that I was facing and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about it, even offering to try to special order any items I may need. Unfortunately, it’s a small shop which still left me with a whole pile of grocery’s that needed to be bought. So off to the grocery store we go, yes I did have all three kids with me and yes I may be a little crazy for attempting this kind of shopping trip with not one but three kids, surprisingly the kids were great, there were a few trying moments in the aisles where I wanted to look at the child in question and say “who do you belong to?” not naming any names but well it wasn’t one of my boy’s. I can’t really blame here after all I did push the limits of a three year olds patients levels and to be honest there were a few minutes there where I wanted to throw a big old temper tantrum in the store myself.
Every single item that I picked up had to be flipped over and the ingredient’s list gone over with a fine tooth comb, my eye sight and my brain were starting to go a little bit batty by the end of the second aisle and I still had six more aisles to go up and down. All in all I spent 2 hours at the grocery store, you heard me right 2 very long hours were spent at the store just to get a half a cart full of grocery’s. I know it will get easier as I learn what is and isn’t safe for me to buy, but until I have done it a few times I’m going to completely dread the grocery store, even as I write this I feel a chill go down my spine, I never liked grocery shopping to begin with now I hate it even more.
So what did I learn from my 2 hours in the grocery store well a couple of things actually, first I learned that I really had no clue as to just what all goes into the food we eat, half of the ingredients in the foods I can barely even pronounce let along have any clue as to what they really are, and secondly some of my tried and trusted brands were also some of the worst culprits. Yep that’s right, they have been voted out of the cupboards. I’m going to miss my friends Campbell’s and Dare but if it’s not good enough for Lady Grace then it’s not good enough for any of us. So new rule, if it has more than five items in the ingredients list it probably has msg in it, if my great, great grandmother wouldn’t have had it in her cupboards I probably shouldn’t either. Back to basics and back to actual meal preparation with no short cuts, thank god for the invention of freezers.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Winter Blahs
It has been a long, long winter, especially where I live way up here in the great white north, The temperatures have been some of the coldest in years hitting a whopping -40 not including wind chill and hovering around -20 daily , and the snow it just keeps coming. Now normally I enjoy winter activities, there is something to be said about falling down and making a perfect snow angel or building a great snowman, skiing and sledding are loads of fun and great excersie too, but this year, with three little ones to bundle into snowsuits before going out into the bitter cold and then only being out for a few minutes before one of the kids starts to cry and ask to go back inside, it just hasn’t been the same as in the past. This year I am actually experiencing the winter blues. I find myself short tempered, depressed and tired.
So what to do when you’re feeling blue, well you change your way of thinking and your lifestyle right. So once again I pull out my trusty lap top and do a little research( I am constantly learning about new things) So why do we get the winter blues, well for one it’s hibernation season, which brings with it lack of contact with others, lack of exercise and lack of sunlight. Then you add in the lack of colour, no green as in no money from over indulging in the holiday season, lack of bright colours from flowers and grasses, the earth at this time of year is mostly covered in white’s, gray’s and yucky browns from dirty snow and lastly a lack of happiness. It’s no wonder that so many people are affected by the winter blues or seasonal affective disorder.
So now what to do about it? Well since it’s not likely that I’m going to be able to afford my little piece of paradise down south of the equator any time soon I guess I’ll have to think of something else, damn I had such high hopes of escaping to warm breezes, tropical beauty and umbrella drinks. Since we are not all bears(though sometimes my personality can be quite bear like at times) we need to stop hibernating, that’s right get out of the house, go for a walk, play in the snow, visit with friends, at least once a week make a point of leaving the house to do something other then go to work or run mundane errands. With a lack of colour around add a little green to your life. I can’t make money grow on trees, believe me if I knew how to do this I would have built a giant greenhouse. So I can’t help you if you over spent during the holidays but I can suggest that you fill your home with green. House plants help to boost your mood and help to clean the air in the house. If you are feeling a little down perk up with a fresh new paint colour or add some vibrant throw pillows to your décor, a splash of colour helps to boost your mood even if it’s just a few well-placed accents, and open those curtains to let in the light, it really does make a difference. Lastly get happy, I know easier said than done so here are a few suggestions to help with this. Laugh often, laughing releases endorphins you know those feel good hormones, kids laugh around 300 to 400 times a day whereas us adults only laugh around 10-12 times a day. So take a cue from your kids and laugh more often, watch a funny movie or show, have tickle wars with your kids, read the Sunday morning comics, whatever it takes to get you laughing. Exercise, it also releases those funny little things called endorphins, make a point adding a little exercise to your life it well help you feel better about you and make you healthier and to steal a quote from a classic Legally Blonde “ Exercise makes you happy, and happy people just don’t kill their husbands” good advice right ladies.
So remember happiness is really a state of mind we can choose to be unhappy and hibernate away from the rest of the world or we can do something about our winter blues and try to live a much happier and healthier life. Bye bye blues hello happy… besides spring is just around the corner. I can already see my gardens now.
So what to do when you’re feeling blue, well you change your way of thinking and your lifestyle right. So once again I pull out my trusty lap top and do a little research( I am constantly learning about new things) So why do we get the winter blues, well for one it’s hibernation season, which brings with it lack of contact with others, lack of exercise and lack of sunlight. Then you add in the lack of colour, no green as in no money from over indulging in the holiday season, lack of bright colours from flowers and grasses, the earth at this time of year is mostly covered in white’s, gray’s and yucky browns from dirty snow and lastly a lack of happiness. It’s no wonder that so many people are affected by the winter blues or seasonal affective disorder.
So now what to do about it? Well since it’s not likely that I’m going to be able to afford my little piece of paradise down south of the equator any time soon I guess I’ll have to think of something else, damn I had such high hopes of escaping to warm breezes, tropical beauty and umbrella drinks. Since we are not all bears(though sometimes my personality can be quite bear like at times) we need to stop hibernating, that’s right get out of the house, go for a walk, play in the snow, visit with friends, at least once a week make a point of leaving the house to do something other then go to work or run mundane errands. With a lack of colour around add a little green to your life. I can’t make money grow on trees, believe me if I knew how to do this I would have built a giant greenhouse. So I can’t help you if you over spent during the holidays but I can suggest that you fill your home with green. House plants help to boost your mood and help to clean the air in the house. If you are feeling a little down perk up with a fresh new paint colour or add some vibrant throw pillows to your décor, a splash of colour helps to boost your mood even if it’s just a few well-placed accents, and open those curtains to let in the light, it really does make a difference. Lastly get happy, I know easier said than done so here are a few suggestions to help with this. Laugh often, laughing releases endorphins you know those feel good hormones, kids laugh around 300 to 400 times a day whereas us adults only laugh around 10-12 times a day. So take a cue from your kids and laugh more often, watch a funny movie or show, have tickle wars with your kids, read the Sunday morning comics, whatever it takes to get you laughing. Exercise, it also releases those funny little things called endorphins, make a point adding a little exercise to your life it well help you feel better about you and make you healthier and to steal a quote from a classic Legally Blonde “ Exercise makes you happy, and happy people just don’t kill their husbands” good advice right ladies.
So remember happiness is really a state of mind we can choose to be unhappy and hibernate away from the rest of the world or we can do something about our winter blues and try to live a much happier and healthier life. Bye bye blues hello happy… besides spring is just around the corner. I can already see my gardens now.
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