Keeping Food Additives Out Of My Child
We figured out why she threw up all over me the other night. She is allergic to MSG and I am elated!
You know, there's a lot of crap that I don't want my child to eat. For me to say, "please don't feed that to her" requires a lot of balls -- which I don't always have. A simple request of, "please don't feed that to my child" is usually responded to with;
"oh come on, she can't have treats?"
"what's this going to do to her?"
"you can't protect her from everything"
or my favorite, "you give her all organic carrots now, but then one day she'll eat a non-organic carrot and then Bam! Her body won't be used to it" OK -- a carrot that makes my kid go Bam! shouldn't be consumed by any member of the human population and be immediately reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NOT that they would do anything about it...
So, I am elated that she is allergic to MSG. Because now I can say, "she can't have that she's allergic to MSG" which will be responded to with an "OK."
For the parents reading this who do have balls, how do you handle these people who insist that your child should eat food that, well, isn't even edible?
I just say that I'm a mean mom and that's it.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about food? I got the same reactions (it doesn't help that I am a herbalist so my conservative family thinks I'm a bit of a nut)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has food sensitivities. One of them is dairy. Every time we go to certain relative's house we get asked "can she have dairy yet?"
They give her foods she is sensitive to because they 'forgot'. This is after I have explained how sick it makes her (more than once) Or they ask 'can she have this?" as they are holding a food that she clearly can't have right in front of her (trust me, they know she can't) Then this puts me in a position to have to take it away when my daughter has never cared or noticed because she gets so many healthy alternatives.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not lacking in the 'balls' department. But I have often wondered why this control issue when it comes to food. First it's the guilt "oh she can't have ice cream? what a horrible way to have to live" this is no joke- that was actually said about various foods she can't have- in front of my daughter- and they were serious about it.
I really need to explore why some of my family has this boundary issue- trust me it is not about the food.
I think the first step is trusting our own parenting style and choices for our own children. What I do is be concise about the seriousness of it. I really try to be nice about it- I try to acknowledge their fear and say I understand how they feel, however we do things this way (same has to be done for discipline by the way because we have a completely different approach)Then I have to say what would happen if they don't agree- 'I would hate it if we couldn't leave our daughter here without supervision because her food sensitivities (or insert whatever) is a problem for you. Then I have to state what will happen if they continue to give her the food- 'if this happens again, we won't be able to leave our daughter here- that would be a shame' then I give them tools- bring our own food, recipes, ideas etc.
I sometimes have to question their motives and why they are not compassionate to our daughter - instead have a personal control issue with me. it's not a fun thing to have to deal with- but necessary.
I have found if you are confident in your own choices it makes a big difference:)
BTW- our next hurtle is toys- no noise making unnatural plastic toys- yep we have told them- no they don't listen uggg!
"I'm a mean mom" I've used that one a time or two; it's to the point and doesn't leave much room for arguement!
ReplyDeleteFood is such a strange issue around adults and children. I think that a lot of these people either under-estimate children or just don't understand them well enough to know that it really is OK to, "take candy from a baby" if you will. As long as you explain to the child and are respectful, they really aren't bothered by having something taken from them. As least in my experience...