For any parent who can throw a sandwich, a cookie, and an apple into a brown bag and call it lunch for your child, consider yourself lucky. Both my kids are allergic to dairy and eggs. My son is also allergic to wheat, peanuts, and fish. My daughter, while she hasn't been officially tested yet, appears to be allergic to walnuts in addition to the dairy and eggs.
When I was pregnant, I had visions of baking cookies with my kids during holidays, having them lick batter off the spatula, maybe stealing the odd-shaped cookies off the rack before packing the pretty ones in baggies to share with friends. When you have a child who is allergic to wheat, eggs, and dairy, that becomes a much harder vision to realize.
On the more serious side, these food allergies mean a quick trip to the grocery store is at least an hour long, as I read over every single food label. I have episodes of anxiety at the thought of my son starting school, where an innocent trade of his potato chips for a friend's Oreo cookie might mean a trip to the emergency room. When we go out to eat, it's always Asian food, so that he at least can have a bowl of rice if nothing else on the menu is edible for him.
It is exhausting to be so vigilant about every morsel they put in their mouth. And this manifestation of my love and concern for them goes unappreciated. You are nobody's favorite mommy when you have to tell your boy that he can't have a taste of birthday cake or ice cream at his best friend's party.
I know I am not alone out there. Google searches have revealed countless web sites, blogs, and chat rooms devoted to this topic. But it feels like being on an island sometimes, to have to carry this worry over something so basic as eating. I only hope that all the care I put into planning my kids' diet and meals will result in healthier kids down the road.
Still, what I would give just to be able to order a pizza for dinner after a long day's work for once.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Stuff I Love: Aden & Anais Swaddling Blankets
My little girl has allergies, so even though most parents stop swaddling their babies around three months, I still wrap my baby up like a burrito every night so that she won't scratch her face.
What I Love: Aden & Anais Muslin Blankets. They are super big and soft swaddling blankets (44" x 44") that can be used for a variety of other purposes besides swaddling.
Why I Love It: First of all, most baby blankets are 30" x 30". My 7-month-0ld is over 25" long, there is no way a normal receiving blanket is going to hold her. So these blankets get a thumbs-up just for being big enough to wrap my girl up.
But they also come in really cute patterns. I have the "girlie" collection, which features dots, stripes, and stars in pink and brown. And the fact that they are cotton muslin makes them soft, softer with each washing in fact.
And you can use them for more than just swaddling. They make a fine burp cloth or play mat. They are fabulous to drape over your stroller to keep the sun out of your little one's eyes. They are big enough to roll up to use as a bolster. I have even made one into a makeshift sling in a pinch.
You can purchase them at: http://www.adenandanais.com/. At $44 for 4 blankets, they are very reasonably priced for all the use you will get out of them.
What I Love: Aden & Anais Muslin Blankets. They are super big and soft swaddling blankets (44" x 44") that can be used for a variety of other purposes besides swaddling.
Why I Love It: First of all, most baby blankets are 30" x 30". My 7-month-0ld is over 25" long, there is no way a normal receiving blanket is going to hold her. So these blankets get a thumbs-up just for being big enough to wrap my girl up.
But they also come in really cute patterns. I have the "girlie" collection, which features dots, stripes, and stars in pink and brown. And the fact that they are cotton muslin makes them soft, softer with each washing in fact.
And you can use them for more than just swaddling. They make a fine burp cloth or play mat. They are fabulous to drape over your stroller to keep the sun out of your little one's eyes. They are big enough to roll up to use as a bolster. I have even made one into a makeshift sling in a pinch.
You can purchase them at: http://www.adenandanais.com/. At $44 for 4 blankets, they are very reasonably priced for all the use you will get out of them.
If Moms Ran the World...
At this year's Emmy Awards, Sally Field was censored for making the statement that "if mothers ran the world, there wouldn't be any goddamn wars!" And I recently had an epiphany on why that sentiment is true.
When my son was an infant, he spat up often. My husband and I would joke, "There he goes, making cheese again." I never gave it a second thought because babies spit up. It was never a lot, and he was tracking on the 75th percentile on all the growth charts. We found out after his first birthday that he has a lot of food allergies (wheat, eggs, dairy, fish, peanuts), which was causing his eczema to flare up. Once I cut all the offending foods out of my diet, his skin cleared up.
When my daughter broke out with eczema patches, I immediately cut all the foods my son was allergic to out of my diet. Her skin, too, cleared up immediately. I added the foods in one by one to determine exactly which foods exascerbated her eczema. The culprits: egg and dairy. I know this because even a teaspoon of mayonnaise on a sandwich I ate would result in her spitting up after I nursed her.
Then the thought seized upon me: all that "cheese" my son made, was it because I hadn't cut out the offending foods from my diet? Did I short-change him nutritionally because of all the milk he lost when he would spit up? I was racked with guilt - if he ends up being scrawny, is it because of what I ate while I was nursing him?
My husband told me not to worry, I didn't know at the time, and to move on. And that's the difference. Men will plead ignorance and never give a transgression a second thought. Damage is done, but a man will move on.
Mothers, on the other hand, worry. They tie the most insignificant, inconsequential moments to larger events, to actions, to reactions, and they scrutinize themselves, constantly contemplating how their own actions played a part in how a situation unfolds. Mothers consider the people around them, and they take some accountability for the impact, good or bad, they have on others.
There are definitely advantages to being able to move on. Certainly, moving on results in less money spent on therapy (psychological and retail). Yet, I can't help but think that the world might be in a better state if our world leaders felt the accountability for the human race the way mothers accept responsibility for the well-being of their children.
When my son was an infant, he spat up often. My husband and I would joke, "There he goes, making cheese again." I never gave it a second thought because babies spit up. It was never a lot, and he was tracking on the 75th percentile on all the growth charts. We found out after his first birthday that he has a lot of food allergies (wheat, eggs, dairy, fish, peanuts), which was causing his eczema to flare up. Once I cut all the offending foods out of my diet, his skin cleared up.
When my daughter broke out with eczema patches, I immediately cut all the foods my son was allergic to out of my diet. Her skin, too, cleared up immediately. I added the foods in one by one to determine exactly which foods exascerbated her eczema. The culprits: egg and dairy. I know this because even a teaspoon of mayonnaise on a sandwich I ate would result in her spitting up after I nursed her.
Then the thought seized upon me: all that "cheese" my son made, was it because I hadn't cut out the offending foods from my diet? Did I short-change him nutritionally because of all the milk he lost when he would spit up? I was racked with guilt - if he ends up being scrawny, is it because of what I ate while I was nursing him?
My husband told me not to worry, I didn't know at the time, and to move on. And that's the difference. Men will plead ignorance and never give a transgression a second thought. Damage is done, but a man will move on.
Mothers, on the other hand, worry. They tie the most insignificant, inconsequential moments to larger events, to actions, to reactions, and they scrutinize themselves, constantly contemplating how their own actions played a part in how a situation unfolds. Mothers consider the people around them, and they take some accountability for the impact, good or bad, they have on others.
There are definitely advantages to being able to move on. Certainly, moving on results in less money spent on therapy (psychological and retail). Yet, I can't help but think that the world might be in a better state if our world leaders felt the accountability for the human race the way mothers accept responsibility for the well-being of their children.
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