CHOICES
Have you ever stopped to consider just how many choices you make in a day? I only just realized that volume of choices that are now reflexes this last week. Coffee or tea in the morning? Make it before leaving, or pick it up on the way into the office. From the popular chain, or that little shop that carries my favorite brand. Do I need a solid breakfast or something lighter? What about lunch? Truth is, I don’t think about it. I wake up, change the baby, get her bottle (unless my other, better-half is taking care of her), brush my teeth, makeup, put on whatever outfit is not full of baby-love, drop off kiddo at daycare, nap on the bus, pick up my coffee (full fat milk latte, because who has time for breakfast!). I’m on autopilot.
I started thinking about choices at about the same time my kid (G) started eating. What do I feed her, and how do I serve it? Thankfully this 6mth old was not a picky eater (and knock on wood, has not entered that phase yet).
Feeding G at home is pretty easy. We simply give her whatever we’re having. The Man and I both love to cook and tend to eat clean and wholesome meals. Our meals are homemade, fresh and made from scratch. On special occasions, the Man would sneak her a tiny piece of dessert.
I started to pose a lot more questions when it came time for her to be taken care of by others. Namely when it came to daycare. She loves it there, she has all her friends and she can play to her heart’s content. I’m a very hands-on mom, not to be confused with helicopter-parenting. I’m not the mom who will hover, however, I am the mom who wants to know how her day was, what she did/learned. Is she her usual self, and what is her “normal” self these days? I may only catch her for an hour or so a day during the week, and no, I feel absolutely no guilt about it, given that I consider daycare to be an extension of her family. That being said, I believe I have every right to inquire, and that I should know. I would often hear that she had fruits and yogurt, chicken and a rice pilaf at lunch. She was being fed according to the Canadian Food Guide.
Great! Wonderful! Good habits start young.
What I discovered upon further investigation (asking more questions after seeing the remnants of the snacks on the kitchen table): jammy yogurt, fruits in a can and a box of battered chicken in the trash. Sugar, sugar, preservatives, sodium, more sodium, mystery “meat” ( thank you Jamie Oliver!)I can just see the nutrition-less label!
All the food groups are present… the meal was representative of the Canadian Food guide.
Lucky for me, I can still influence G’s choices. By obtaining a medical note stating that no added sugars are to be in G’s diet, specifically when it comes to canned fruits, and the jammy yogurts. Yes, both are permitted under the Canadian Food Guide which educators must abide by. I still receive reports that she has a very popular multigrain O-shaped cereal (which is a treat at home), and that other kids do occasionally share their colorful, very sugary, O-shaped cereals.
I can’t quite control what she eats and does when she is in the care of others, but I can offer her good and healthy fare when she is with me. Fresh, whole foods instead of sugary snacks. Water, not juices. Sweets are not always bad, however, they are a treat, not a habit.
Hopefully the produce I plant outside this spring will be enough to encourage her to select fresh and healthy most of the time. With any luck, this will just be a start to good habits and to future good choices
