Healthy Eating with Kids in the House

Posted on August 22, 2012 by llpitlwp

This NYTimes article speaks to me…

Many days I prepare food for my family.

As a grandmother, I am concerned about having a balance of foods for my preschool grandchild. Children need a certain amount of fats, and carbs that my husband and I can definitely do without.

We all deserve a trip to the ice cream shop once in a while but summertime makes ice cream frequently a desirable dessert destination. When we are in New England …there seems to be ice cream shoppes on every block…fresh homemade flavors topped with childhood memories…truly tempting and too often indulged in.

One of my favorite comfort foods is pasta…any kind served with marinara sauce. I enjoy regular semolina thin spaghetti or linguine. It just happens that the rest of my family loves this meal as well but they also want meatballs which is not a big deal and very delicious.

Recently, I have found a pasta that suits me and my husband ….it is Barilla Plus…and I have to say, I find it tastier than whole wheat pastas, many of which I find just not a suitable replacement for regular pasta. Barilla Plus has bridged this gourmet gap, at least for me.

But back to kids’ foods. My grandchild enjoys a good mac’n cheese and so do I. More often than not, I am tempted to eat her leftovers…more calories, carbs and fats. Not so good for my waistline or my cholesterol levels.

What is a conscientious parent or grandparent to do? It is not an easy answer…for me it is will power and a constant effort not to become a garbage pail.

My guidelines:

Do not share your child or grandchild’s food or snacks
Do not clean a child’s plate by eating the forbidden foods yourself.
Make a selection of foods and serve them at the stove so parents eat more protein and less potatoes.
Choose a lower fat soft ice cream or frozen yogurt if you must indulge at the ice cream shoppe.
If you head for fast foods get a salad for yourself and don’t share your kids’ food

Much easier said than done, especially when I have made crepe style pancakes with maple syrup, fresh whipped cream and berries for breakfast. Believe me, when I say it is next to impossible not to indulge.

This summer the scale has not been kind to me and I know it is because I am snacking and eating when I should not be.

I am reminded of a time years ago when my teenage niece lived with our family. I began snacking with her after school…she was an eighth grader who enjoyed Ramen noodles every day. It was a habit she had developed after living in Korea for a few years. It became a new habit for me. She also enjoyed Snickers another love of mine. Daily, I joined her in an afternoon binge as we discussed her school day. Then a few hours later we would sit down to dinner with two preschoolers and my husband.

It did not take long for me to start gaining weight. I stopped snacking with her and all was well my weight returned to “normal”.

This time around, as a grandmother, it is not so easy to shed the pounds. As fall approaches and school re-opens maybe my daily diet will return to normal and some of the summer weight will disappear with vigilant eating habits and some more exercise.

Do you find yourself eating more like your kids and grandkids?

How do you balance your adult diet with what is healthy for your kids and grandkids?

Disclosure:

All food opinions are my own, any brands mentioned are personal choices. I was not compensated for mentioning any particular brand in this post.

Dads Often Find It Difficult to Eat Healthy – NYTimes.com.

Blog Boundaries-Followup

Posted on August 21, 2012 by llpitlwp

Blog Boundaries – Follow-up

Here is a message that I received a few minutes ago from the editors at Babble.com.

Thanks for you note, Loretta. We very much appreciate your feedback. Please note that all comments revealing identities, unrelated to the issue at hand, or those considered “unduly hostile” have been removed. We’re still in the process of monitoring the post, so it’s very possible that we may remove more. Again, we appreciate your concern and thanks for letting us know your thoughts. -Babble Editors

I am happy to see Babble take the reins in this issue.

Thank you all for reading and I am always appreciative of your comments.

Blog Boundaries…where do you draw the line?

Toast Tuesday!

Posted on August 21, 2012 by llpitlwp

Toast Tuesday!

This Tuesday, I am going to simply pick a blog post that I like.

We are currently inundated with “back to school” posts so this one caught my eye as one that deals with another mom moment.

What about the mom who is going back to work after having a baby?

This is a very emotional moment and those feelings are captured so well in this post from NewParent.com.

Returning to Work After Maternity Leave | New Parent.

What was your experience when you returned to work after having a baby? How did you deal with your feelings?

Blog Boundaries, Where Do You Draw the Line?

Posted on August 20, 2012 by llpitlwp

Volleying Back and Forth with Comments

BLOGGER BOUNDARIES

This past week I have been following Christine Coppa’s blog on Babble.com. Christine’s blog is one that I have “toasted” to in my Tuesday posts. One of her recent posts has stirred up a lot of her reader, me being one of them.

As you may know, I am a clinical social worker, a maternal child nurse and a blogger. I have worked with families and children for over 35 years. Since I began blogging, I have been reading many blogs written by moms, Christine’s blog being one of them.

Some of these moms write for Babble.com and other blog groups. They write from their perspective and many are personal. Some topics are of course more controversial than others and generate more interest and comments.

More than a week ago, Christine Coppa wrote a piece about whether parents should split the costs of a birthday party. What followed in the comments violated my idea of boundaries. Many of the comments were totally unrelated to the initial discussion. They were commenters’ personal feelings towards the father of Christine’s son, who for his own reasons chooses not to recognize his son. One commenter bashed Christine and her family in uncalled for ways.

For whatever reason, Babble’s editors chose to support Christine’s wish to keep these comments on her site even though they stated that their policy is to not publish hostile comments.

There were a handful of comments including my own that felt this line of commenting was not only unpleasant but that it could be potentially harmful to Christine’s 5 year old son in the future. It was said in several comments that this kind of back and forth “slinging” of angry words would be better kept private.

Needless to say for various reasons this was Christine Coppa’s most viewed Babble blog. I am not sure what that says, after reading most of the comments which had nothing to do with the original topic. To me it was an airing of dirty laundry, which generated the popularity of this post and at whose expense?

I have often thought about boundaries when it comes to airing one’s life on a blog and it seems that it gets even more complicated when you are getting paid to do so and it involves a young child.

I also do not find it appropriate when the blogger/writer gets hostile in her own comments. I lose respect for the writer at that point especially where a young child is concerned. The comments that were made with concern for JD and the effect this might have on him in the future were met with anger although I did see some acceptance of the comment from a lawyer who deals with families in conflict. One of my comments was not even published and I am not sure why.

I also sent a message to Babble via their Facebook page asking why they did not uphold their own policies in this case especially where a young child is involved. I have gotten no response so far.

Are numbers of readers so important to a blog that a child’s boundaries are all but ignored?

Do you think that boundaries are important for mom/dad bloggers who discuss personal family issues? Do you have concern for the possible long range effects of this type of blog on children?

I would be happy to hear your opinions?

NOTE:

I will continue to support Ms. Coppa’s blog even though I disagree wholeheartedly the way this comment section was handled. I am disappointed in the Babble editors decision.

8/20/2012

http://blogs.babble.com/kid-scoop/2012/08/09/should-parents-split-the-birthday-party-fee/

I visited the link above and the very hostile comments have been removed from this particular post at “Kid Scoop”. Without these comments, it will be difficult to fully appreciate what I wrote in the above post.

I am glad that the comments are no longer able to be viewed.

Week in Review….Parenting in the Loop

Posted on August 17, 2012 by llpitlwp

Summer Sailing

Happy Friday everyone…here in Chicagoland, it is going to be a very pleasant weekend…a great one for the Air and Water Show! It is one of the summer events that always is amazing!

Here are my pick reads for one of the last summer weekends before school reopens and we start to feel the presence of Fall creeping up to greet us.

Getting your mojo back is critical for your quality of life so it’s cause for some radical changes and the outright shattering of your own conventional wisdom. Face it – feeling passionate and motivated every day for your work, family and self is a win for yourself and those that depend on you.

You Lost It: 7 Ways to Get Your Mojo Back (Yeah, Baby!) – Forbes.

I always want to make more time for important stuff like paying attention to family and having time for what is meaningful…don’t you. It is nice to see that others have the same difficulties getting things done to make room for family fun.

9 quick actions you can do today to make more time for your kids | Sleeping Should Be Easy.

I love this site. It has great little ideas for moms and grandmothers…you can follow on FB, Twitter, Pinterest or receive e-mails. Worth a look!

A-List Mom.

My long time dream is to shop for food like I did when I was a single city dweller in NY or similar to Europeans in Paris or Rome. Shopping for fresh ingredients each day and making a dinner from my imagination is truly just that …a dream! But this shopping cart bag makes me think of perusing small fruit and vegetable stands, and visiting the butcher, baker and candle stick maker. What about you? What is your dream when it comes to preparing dinner.

Reisenthel EasyBags.

“Thank You”

Posted on August 16, 2012 by llpitlwp

Yo Gabba Gabba Live

“Thank you”.

How many times a day do you actually say ,”Thank you”?

Who do you routinely say , “Thank you” to?

Teaching a child to say “Thank you” is something all of us have done at one time or another…it is usually coupled with learning to also say, “Please”

In fact, as I write this I am reminded of a singalong on Yo Gabba Gabba, the sole purpose of which was to impress on a young one the importance of these words and of being polite.

During any given day there are so many opportunities to say, “Thank you”. I try to take advantage of them. Saying, “Thank you”, helps to validate the other person and it helps me to focus on what that person has done for me. no matter how small or mundane.

It always irritates me if I hold a door open for anyone and they do not acknowledge me with a simple, Thank you”. In fact, I usually snarl at them and say a big “THANK YOU” out loud so that they can hear me as they walk on by ignoring my gesture. I sometimes wish that I could let the door slam on them. Just telling the truth and saying that these moments really piss me off! (I try not to do this in front of a child)

I spend a fair amount of time with my grandchild and am trying to teach her the basics of politeness. Reminding her to say, “Please” and “Thank you” is a daily constant. But these reminders are basically meaningless if I don’t use the words appropriately so that she can mimic me.

Really, we always hear ourselves when little ones are playing in their make believe world. How often do we hear them say, “Thank you”.

How often do these little ones say, “Thank you” without being prompted?

In the link below, Caitlin Kelly writes about, “Thank you” and happens to make an observation about President Obama and his sometimes apparent lack of gratitude. Whether true or not it is not flattering to be perceived as ungrateful no matter how “big” or “small” you are.

(I am not making a political statement here just an observation from another writer. So please do not focus on this as a political statement. It is used just to make a point.)

What do you think about how we teach our children and grandchildren politeness? When do you tell them to say the words, “Thank you”?

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it and I would love to hear from all of you.

Saying “Thank you” « Broadside.

Yo Gabba Gabba

What’s for Lunch?

Posted on August 14, 2012 by llpitlwp

School Lunch Dilemma

School is fast approaching and that means school lunches will be back in the kitchen routine. Hmmmm!

I have been reading about healthy ideas for kids lunches and recently had a discussion concerning family food ideas with a dietician colleague. She has the same issues with kids lunches…how do you make the interesting and tasty?

So much time goes into meal planning at my house and always has. Good healthy meals have forever been a priority of mine. It was handed down to me by my own grandmother. She made a delicious dinner every night. My mother was a single mom and worked full-time. Since my grandmother lived with us she took over cooking. Most nights, we all would have dinner together. It was an important time for us to catch up with each other and one that I looked forward to.

This fall, I am going to help prepare daily lunches for pre-school…the challenge begins and I am up to it! I think…

Creativity in lunch preparation has long gone from my food prep repertoire . Personally, I take my own lunch to work…it suits me…although it is far from creative… it is usually healthy.

Recently, on my trips to Whole Foods, I find myself looking at Bento boxes and flipping through Parents Magazine for hints as to how to be creative. I want to fix something healthy and interesting….food that a four-year old will enjoy at lunch time.

Our school is a nut free environment, which is of concern to our family, because our little preschooler has a nut allergy. As you probably know, nut allergies can be life threatening. So along with lunch goes the EpiPen, which is kept at school in case of a severe reaction.

I have decided to try the Bento Box…mainly to keep things interesting and organized for our little one and ourselves. The small containers will allow for a few little snack type foods like veggies, dips and grapes (cut in half) to avoid choking, another concern of mine as a pediatric nurse.

Kids have very small “windpipes

they can easily be occluded by

a food as tiny as a grape, nut

or a chunk of hot dog.

The larger containers will be great for a sandwich, salad or something like a shish-ka-bob without the stick.

I am also purchasing a lunch bag to carry the bento box… that will make it easier to put some “blue ice” inside, keeping food cool and protected from bacteria growth.

A soup thermos also caught my eye…so, we have that as well. It allows us to change-up the menu and include some favorite soups with noodles and some veggies.

So far the food thing is coming together…now for the drinks. Milk really turns me off…no matter what, milk gets warm and there is nothing more distasteful! Water is really perfect with a squirt of juice or even a little mint. Our little one likes juice so a 50-50 juice-sparkling water is a nice variation. One suggestion from Parents Magazine suggests freezing the juice overnight so that it is slushy by lunchtime…great idea.

Parents Magazine, September 2012 issue has some wonderful top chef choices for the lunch box routine. None of them are too difficult…I give this particular article two thumbs up.

What are some of your suggestions for the lunch box dilemma every morning?

Note: I am a grandmother, whose daughter lets me get involved in the food/lunch dilemma because I really enjoy it… we do all of it together and fortunately we have the same dietary concerns for children. It is my pleasure to share with you as we navigate this together.

TGIF…

Posted on August 11, 2012 by llpitlwp

Hi everyone,

I have been absent this week because I went back to work as a renal social worker…just for the week.

Covering vacations is always a challenge but it also gives me a chance to help out and work together with a great group of colleagues.

Dialysis patients are a very special group. One of their major needs is to have someone just listen to them. Listening is really an art and to be honest I enjoy it and I am good at it.

Someone, who has a chronic illness,I have learned, feels like they are carrying around a 50 pound suitcase all the time.

Kidney failure demands a lifestyle change… three times a week a person in kidney failure must sit in a chair connected to machine for 3 – 4 hours while their blood goes through a machine to be cleansed of all impurities that their kidneys used to remove without them even thinking about it.

Now, without dialysis they will die.

I am always amazed at how different people handle this type of a diagnosis. Initially, there is a period of disbelief that their kidneys have failed…there is also a period of accepting the fact that dialysis will be necessary for the rest of their lives or until they have a transplant.

This news is usually devastating for the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients and their families.

Kidney failure knows no age boundaries.

I have seen a young woman in acute renal failure due to taking massive doses of ibuprofen prior to her realizing she was pregnant. Her kidneys completely shut down …fortunately her kidney function slowly returned and she delivered a healthy baby.

We have children on dialysis too. For various reasons, kidney failure also affects babies and until they can receive a transplanted kidney they have to have dialysis treatments as well.

After this week…I am experiencing “compassion fatigue”.

When I returned to the dialysis center…some of the people with whom I had a relationship were dead…a few of them were old and their bodies weary from illness but a few were young, one was a mother of a teenager.

My heart ached for them and their families. The chairs where they sat have new dialysis patients sitting in them as the cycle of life goes on in the dialysis center.

On the upside…one of my patients, whose transplanted kidney failed, received a new kidney. He is a young dad, whose wife died a couple of years ago from complications of kidney failure.

I love my work…and am happy to help, but this Friday I am grateful to come home to my family and grandchild.

I look forward to this weekend and am thankful to get back to my regularly scheduled programming

“Week in Review” from Parenting in the Loop

Posted on August 3, 2012 by llpitlwp

A Day at the Beach…Martha’s Vineyard

Here are my Friday suggestions.

Motherload has an amusing post especially for me because I spend a fair amount of time in Rhode Island and am also amazed at all the Native American historical names of rivers and towns. One Massachusetts town always brings about a funny banter between me and my husband when we see its road sign…guess which one it is?

On the brink of my eighth year of marriage I’ve discovered the key component of successful matrimony: that both parties find stupid, ongoing jokes hi-larious.This is what it is like in my marriage.

There are things that are so horrendously obtuse–absurd things that we’ve joked about for years—that we still laugh wine out of our noses about. Yes, it’s the spewing of wine from our nasal cavities–a sort of pinot noir neti pot cleansing—that keeps our love alive.

via Motherload.

This is a meeting that I would love to have attended this year…a very large group of bloggers from many diverse areas…mostly women….along with a ton of wonderful sponsors. Ah…maybe next year!

BlogHer’s 8th Annual Conference is headed back to New York City in 2012. Thousands of bloggers will come together to connect, learn and inspire. Join us!

On Thursday, August 2, President Barack Obama addressed the BlogHer ’12 conference live, via video. Watch this clip now, and come back soon for the entire address!

BlogHer 12 | BlogHer.

A very thought provoking topic…the development and health of our children and grandchildren related to stress. This is a topic all of us can relate to our own lives but what about the next generation…What can we teach them?

The future of any society depends on its ability to foster the healthy development of the next generation. Extensive research on the biology of stress now shows that healthy development can be derailed by excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in the body (especially the brain), with damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health across the lifespan.

Toxic Stress: The Facts.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

Bloomberg on Breastfeeding.

Posted on August 2, 2012 by llpitlwp

Rant on the Politics of Breastfeeding:

Another breastfeeding issue…Mayor Bloomberg of NYC has initiated a program in his City which is supposed to promote healthy breast feeding.

Do we really need politicians to get on this “bandwagon”….Are not mothers, moms enough to decide on their own, how they want to feed their baby?

Women who stop breastfeeding do so because they are miserable and so are their infants…it is not because they did not want to breastfeed to begin with…it is because they were not initially successful or after trying and trying with good support systems they still were not successful and their babies were not getting nourished nor sleeping.

Any mother knows this can lead to a vicious cycle of crying and sleep deprivation on the part of the newborn and the mom. It is horrible when it happens ….Where is Mayor Bloomberg after mom goes home from the hospital?

I am all for breastfeeding and am aware of all the benefits of it…but I am not in favor of a Mayor getting involved in a choice that is personal and has nothing to do with him.

Politicians should stick to kissing babies on the campaign trail and stay out of the feeding frenzy.

Kara Spak: N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg is wrong on breast-feeding – Chicago Sun-Times.