Defenses Up

I can't stand it when parents worry so much about what their kids eat.

I'm not saying we, as parents, should be feeding our kids ring-dings and happy meals non-stop. I am not insane. But there are parents out there that so carefully monitor their children's food intake that the child can reach the age of fourteen without ever having had to metabolize sugar in some of it's most glorious forms.

I feel a bit silly "talking" this way because I don't like to sound ignorant, or as though I am against health food. But the truth is, I am against most health food. Not that health food is BAD, but I find most health food BORING, and honestly, if I had to live life without diet soda or pie or snickers bars... I'm just saying that I find most (ahem) "Health Foods" lack taste. I mean, actual flavor. I have never been able to cook brown rice so that it doesn't resemble a bowl of boiled beetles. Whole grain pasta never quite cooks long enough for me. I will eat fruits and vegetables, but I am very picky about bruising and rotting and after a few days I go back to the frozen variety.

So when it comes to feeding my children... sometimes I feel a bit outdone by mothers who scan ingredients for artificial sweeteners. When I grew up, juice was healthy, but I know parents that now refuse to give it to their children because of the sugar. It's not that I don't want my children to be healthy. I do! I really, really do. I want them to be able to make the right choices and I would like to do whatever I can to prepare them to make those choices. But does that mean pretending that twinkies are heroin and banning them from my house?

There is this theory that playing in the dirt helps boost the immune system. That is to say, if you disinfect everything your child touches, and your baby grows up in a mostly sterile environment, her body will not learn to fight off germs that one might encounter every day. So as the child grows, she will actually get sick more often. I like to apply this theory to food. If I expose my children to sugars and fats, not to ring-dings but to the occasional ice cream and pizza and oreo and chocolate chip cookie, then my children will learn to metabolize it.

Funny thing is, my kids are mostly good eaters. Sure, they'll go for the junk food if I give it to them, which I will occasionally. But they really like tomatoes and broccoli. They like chicken and green beans. They love apples and oranges and pineapple. Nathan will turn flips for berries and Nicholas still has never met a food he loves as much as cottage cheese. The doctor says they are healthy, they are growing well and their weight is fine. Both of them are bright boys. So am I really doing anything wrong, here? Why do I then feel threatened when I see parents refuse juice of any kind, scanning labels for sugars as though it were poison? I guess I feel they are judging me, as a parent. It doesn't make sense, does it?