Mother's Day Naturally...
Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms (and a special shout out to Jennifer @ Organic Baby University- http://organicbabyuniversity.com/)!
When I was a young Mother (early 70’s) there was no internet to extract information from - which I’m grateful for. All of the information available at our fingertips today is pretty overwhelming and can oftentimes make it difficult to judge what is true and factual vs. what is creative marketing. I see today's new Moms struggling with so many decisions and options then, dealing with the associated guilt and confusion of their choices.
Fortunately for me, life was simple…there were not so many choices nor did fear control decisions. I was a 60’s child and all about natural (as nature intended) so, my four children (pictured above) were born naturally (no drugs) and breast fed. My firstborns were twin preemie girls and a year and half later I had my third girl. I had 3 babies in cloth diapers (that we washed and hung to dry!). I intended to be the greatest Mom ever (like we all do) and wanted only the best for them. Fortunately, I understood that “we are what we eat”. What made me know this? In my teens, I started paying attention to the way food made my body feel. If I ate candy, I got a headache. If I ate processed food, I became tired and sick to my stomach. I simply felt better when I ate whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables and grains.
By the time I became a Mom, eating for health was a lifestyle. I used a cookbook called “The Ten Talents” by Rosalie hurd et al (http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Talents-Cookbook-Rosalie-Hurd/dp/0615255973#) which proved to be very informative and accurate in proper diet as well as what and when to feed my babies. Knowing now that the body is like a building block (the body’s health today is what was done many years ago) I’m so glad that I made the choice to feed my family this way. As a family, we were rarely sick. I don’t recall having prescription drugs in the house as they were simply not needed or used. We ate well and spent plenty of time outdoors.
Over the years I’ve tried to stick to fresh food (no processed, canned or frozen) whenever possible but, it wasn’t popular with the kids then, and the Grandkids now. I get comments from them like “we can eat whatever we want at my other Grandmas house” or “Mom lets me eat it”. I just say “I love you” and try to educate.
The one thing I’ve learned about being a Mom is, we each make our own decisions and, fortunately or unfortunately we have to live with those decisions! Today in America, convenience is governing our decisions. Our food supply has become non-nutritional, our health is waning, our children are obese and our society embraces prescribed drugs. I really appreciate people like Dr. Oz and shows like The Biggest Loser because they help people become more aware of and sensitive to their decisions.
There is no more important job in the world than being a Mom. My hope is that you’ll make the best choices for your family, they are depending on you!
I hope you have an extra fun Mother’s Day and enjoy the best gift, your children.
- Patty