Reid slept about 11 hours Monday night and woke up ravenous. While I was packing my lunch and we were waiting for her oatmeal to cool, I offered her the choice of a slice of turkey lunch meat or a banana. She told me, “I’m a little bit T-Rex and a little monkey.” It must have shown on my face that I didn’t understand where her declaration had come from because she explained. “I need meat because I’m a little bit T-Rex and banana because I’m a little bit monkey.” Ah, I thought. It’s obvious when you take the time to follow her logic. On the way to school, Reid ate her oatmeal-raisin cereal and half of my banana. I’ll have to measure her height this weekend. I’m pretty sure she must be growing taller since she isn’t getting any wider.
Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
A bit T-Rex, a bit monkey
Friday, November 7th, 2008Breastfeeding, poverty and Blog Action Day
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day 2008 and the theme this year is poverty. Angela, at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 has proposed a focus on breastfeeding and I think that is a worthwhile link to make. Starting our children off on a good basis is surely one of the issues to be addressed when confronting poverty.
I remember that books that I read when I was pregnant revealed an inverse relationship between income and rates of breastfeeding, that is: that the less money that you had access to, the more likely you were to use formula to feed your child. It surprised me from a purely economic point of view. If money was tight, why wouldn’t you breastfeed to avoid the cost of formula? Of course, the issue is far from that simple. An Australian study from August 2008 explains the tendency not to breastfeed:
Women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were less likely to breastfeed for various reasons, including a lack of family support, less ability to seek help with breastfeeding problems, less flexibility with working arrangements, and concerns about breastfeeding in public.
A Canadian study breastfeeding from multicultural perspectives from 1997 explains that formula-feeding is perceived as the norm in Western society and thus a behaviour to be modeled in developing societies.
It is interesting to note that the adoption of commercially prepared infant formula in developing countries is so frequent that some anthropologists see the continuation of breastfeeding as an inverse indicator of acculturation to Western ways (Bader, 1979 as cited in Henderson & Brown, 1987). In other words, researchers suggest that the rate at which a particular cultural group adopts bottle-feeding and decreases breastfeeding can be used as a measure of the extent to which that culture has replaced its traditional beliefs and practices with those of the Western world.
Of all that the West could share with the developing world, it shames me that we have shared a propensity toward a less-healthful approach to infant feeding. It makes me think of the adoption of white bread, a nutritionally inferior product that was initially available only to those who could afford the costs of over-processing the flour but which soon became sought-after by all in society, to the detriment of their health.
According to a number of sources, James P. Grant (past Executive Director of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)) stated, Breastfeeding is a natural safety net against the worst effects of poverty. This seems emininently logical but what are the concrete steps that must be taken to encourage higher rates of breastfeeding among those in poverty?
1. Increase the number of Baby-friendly hospitals, which includes: helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within 30 minutes of giving birth; showing mothers how to breastfeed and maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants; giving newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, not even sips of water, unless medically indicated; giving no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants; and other criteria.
2. Increased breastfeeding help in the community, like Well-baby drop in sessions and La Leche League meetings but especially peer support programs.
3. Paid maternity leave to allow for the establishment of good breastfeeding routines.
4. Work with employers to establish locations and policies conducive to pumping breastmilk when the mother does return to work
5. On a personal level, and with no research to back me up, I think that breastfeeding mothers should breastfeed their babies in public because it is normal and important and should be seen. Those who are nursing or have done so in the past should talk about their experiences. Again normalizing the experience seems important and you establish yourself as a resource should the person have a question or need a bit of support.
6. Institute or continue public education campaigns that promote breastfeeding in culturally-sensitive terms for various communities. I would argue that this would include using humour to appeal to younger mothers.
More thoughts on breastfeeding and poverty will be shared through this month’s Carnival of Breastfeeding.
Robert Munsch, hairstylist to the stars
Saturday, September 27th, 2008Friday was picture day at Reid’s school. She had many ideas of how her hair should be styled: a small portion in a ponytail on side and the rest on the other side; 2 small ponytails on either side of her face with holders at the top, middle and bottom; one ponytail on the left side and the rest at the back. I kept saying that I wanted her hairstyle to be a bit formal and visible in the photographs. Finally, Reid said that she wanted “Stephanie’s Ponytail”, sticking right out the side, and I agreed.
Robert Munsch, in Stephanie’s Ponytail
Reid thinks that the other kids in the class are silly for copying Stephanie but feels free to take inspiration from her. She went to day care once with a top ponytail that “looked like broccoli growing out of her head” and has chosen a side ponytail a few times, thanks to Stephanie and Robert Munsch‘s influence. I wonder if he ever intended to be the inspiration for little girl’s hairstyles?
From yucky to yummy
Sunday, September 21st, 2008I made tortilla’s for supper on Wednesday night. They’re super-healthy, with salsa, black bean and zucchini filling and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese to stick the second tortilla on. I told Reid that they were like Mexican pizzas and said she could try and eat a wedge like a slice of pizza. A few beans leaked and that bothered Reid. She wasn’t too keen to eat something that she hadn’t eaten before in any case. I insisted she eat at least one wedge and cut it into smaller pieces for her. I ate mine and soon Reid was asking if there were any more for her to eat. She picked up the bits that dropped out and may have even considered licking the plate from the look on her face. I grinned smugly but held my tongue. No sense saying, “I told you so,” when there was another piece of tortilla for me to eat.
Ken doesn’t like these tortillas and I’ve been trying to remember to eat the foods that I like and he doesn’t but have been making the same old things on those rare nights that I’ve cooked. I’ll have to work the tortillas into my rotation and might even be able to tweak them in some way to make them appeal to Ken. Next, I’m going to make corn bread muffins. But I need ideas on what low-calorie food goes with corn bread. If you think of anything, send it my way.
Breast milk – It’s like dessert
Sunday, August 17th, 2008Reid asked to nurse on Tuesday night for the first time in days. I’d been thinking earlier that I should write down when she had last nursed since it might be the last time she *ever* nursed. That time isn’t far off, I think. While she nursed, we had a conversation that went something like this:
Reid: What are breastses?
Me: They’re glands, skin and fat. They make milk. (Guess who didn’t take human biology, or any science class, after grade 10)
Reid: Milkies are like dessert.
Me: Oh? Milkies have lots of good things in them for you.
Reid: (continuing as though I hadn’t spoken) For babies, they’re not dessert. They’re food. (Wistful smile) For toddlers and juniors and seniors (meaning kids 18 months and older), milkies are like dessert. Not like a popsicle. Like juice.*
Me: You know, milkies are good for you. They’re milk. (I didn’t say as good as cows milk but I think even my extended nursling thinks of it as “regular” milk.)
Reid: But milkies are different. Like E’s milk. (E is a little boy at day care who drinks soy milk.)
Me: Okay. Now you need to go to sleep. I think you’re talking so that you don’t have to fall asleep.
Reid: I LOVE to talk.
Truer words have never been spoken!
* I limit the amount of juice Reid has because of the sugar in it, even though it has vitamins and other good things.
More thoughts on Reid’s future career
Friday, July 11th, 2008Ken and I often talk about the sorts of careers that Reid may seek out based on her behaviour as a young girl. When she was quite small and most interested in knocking over the towers of wooden blocks that we wood build for her, we talked about her being a military engineer. There was the time I thought she might want to be Rowdy Reidie the Wrestler, a cowboy phase, and our on-going conviction that Reid would find great success as an actress or, at the very least, a teenage drama queen.
More recently I’ve been thinking that Reid might find her calling as a lactation consultant. In addition to her nearly four years of first-hand experience, Reid has been practicing helping others to nurse. At various points over the years, Reid has brought her stuffed animals and dollies with her to nurse. Reid makes sure that their heads are in an appropriate position to receive the milkies that she loves so much. She was sharing with Thomas, the Care Bear, one night last week when she experienced an “aha moment”. She stopped nursing and went to find Baby-with-a-round-mouth (not all of the stuffies and dollies are lucky enough to get a people name). The doll in question came with a soother and so has a mouth that is formed into an “o”, rather than the traditional wide-mouth of a nursing baby but it was certainly closer to the right thing than the smile sewn onto Thomas’ face.
Then again, Reid has always been interested in buses. She was tiny when she first fell in love with school buses and has since generalized this love to all buses. She had been able to twist her tongue, more or less, around “articulated” to describe the extra-long city buses we see on the streets of Ottawa. On Sunday, we saw the Lady Dive Tours‘ amphibus. I explained that it was a sort of bus-boat. Reid liked the idea and wondered if it was a double-decker bus. I explained that it wasn’t and Reid told me that when she is bigger, she will have a double-decker boat-bus. She and I would drive the lower floor and Daddy would drive the top floor, she said. Upon further reflection, Reid decided that she wanted a really long bus so that the whole world could ride if they wanted. I proposed an articulated bus and Reid agreed that would be good. (I write this so that I can prove to the teenage Reid that she didn’t always think that I was clueless.)
On the way to Reid’s optometrist appointment on Wednesday, Ken had explained that she would be seeing another kind of doctor, drawing a parallel between our family doctor, dentist and the optometrist. He told her that he, himself, was a different kind of doctor – a doctor of history. Once home they told me of the discussion and she said that Ken was a big doctor of history and she wanted to be a little doctor of history. Ken and I thought that was a good thing. But then Reid suggested that I could be a middle-sized doctor of history. Ken and I both said “no” (though he was perhaps a bit more forceful than me). We explained that Daddy had worked long and hard to be a doctor of history and that I hadn’t done that work. Reid likes the exclusive club of being the little doctor of history to Ken’s big doctor of history.
In the end, though, I’m left wondering if the career Reid will have even exists yet. She speaks about being an astronaut sometimes. Maybe that will be more of a reality than most of the jobs that come to our minds at present.
My best friend’s husband came to dinner
Friday, June 27th, 2008I have been going to Melissa (and Peter’s) house for supper on Thursday night for about 7 years. At first, I watched Ben while Melissa and Peter took Stephen and Sarah to swimming lessons. When Ben was old enough for swimming lessons, I would meet them at the pool and then we’d had have supper back at their house. Once Reid came along, she joined in. We have benefited from many meals and much good company over the years. For a number of reasons, we eat at Melissa’s at lot more often than they come to our house. At first, it was simply that Ken was volunteering at the museum and I was watching Ben. Logistically it is easier for me to bring one child than for Melissa to bring 3 kids and a husband. Ken still dedicates Thursdays to volunteer work.
This Thursday night, though, Peter came for supper by himself because Melissa and the kids were out of town. Reid was quite excited when I told her that Peter would be coming. She asked about the kids and Melissa but nodded at the explanation of their whereabouts and moved onto the business of the seating arrangements. Reid is generally very concerned about who will sit where at the table.Reid seemed pleased – maybe relieved? – that we wouldn’t need any extra chairs. I was surprised at her comments. I thought she liked it when we got out the folding chairs since she usually lobbies to sit on the black one. When I mentioned it to Peter, he said that he was going to look for more kitchen chairs at his house so that we didn’t need to bring in the dining room chairs. And then Reid’s comments made more sense. At Melissa’s, Reid sometimes needs to rearrange chairs so that she has a “kid’s chair” (not a dining room chair) and so that she is sitting next to Sarah.
We had a lovely visit with Peter over supper and, especially, over an extended dessert and after-dinner tea. I never have trouble talking to him but at his house, he has whatever project he was working on when I arrived, as well as the kids, to distract him and I have Melissa and girl talk to distract me. We talked about nothing of great significance, about children, our jobs, the way you do with a good friend. We didn’t really talk much about Melissa.
The only moment of pronounced silence occurred when Reid returned from the bathroom wearing only her t-shirt and my high-heeled, calf-high boots. Of course, the t-shirt didn’t cover nearly enough and the boots were entirely inappropriate. The moment of stunned silence that we adults shared was broken after long milliseconds by Ken and me both saying, “Get your underwear on!” Peter laughed the laugh of a father whose kids have finally, more or less, learned the lesson of modesty but can still remember when they hadn’t.
The whole experience made me think about advice you read in parenting magazines that suggests setting aside time to interact with each of your children one-on-one. It is, I think, good advice for your friends who you see in couples or groups also. Changing the dynamics of a relationship every once and a while can be good for the relationship over the long term.
Party strategies – or – I can rationalize anything
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008Saturday was Reid’s last Kindermusik class for the session. They sang and danced for about 25 minutes and then had a party for the last 20 minutes. Each parent was supposed to bring a treat of the sort that would be appropriate for breakfast. I’m paranoid about peanut butter contaminating something I bake and so I took the safest course and brought single-serving packages of animal crackers. Or at least I hope that the companies that make cookies keep accurate track of what goes in them. The side benefit of the single-serving packages is that the kids can take one with them when they leave. There are always far more treats than little kid tummy space.
I think that Shannon was expecting muffins and fruit but there were plenty of cookies on the table. Reid chose a variety of fruit, some cheese and one plain cookie, which she gave to me after a single bite. I restocked her plate with fruit and cheese and allowed myself an M&Ms-and-chocolate chip cookie. Reid was keen to eat the animal crackers but I convinced her to wait for the ride home. Many of the other kids decided not to wait. The moms who had baked cookies and muffins took quite a lot home but we walked out with only 2 extra bags of animal crackers. I felt bad that the other moms had expended that extra energy. They probably felt bad that Reid was stuck with a mom who brought store-bought cookies to the party.
What shortcuts have you rationalized without regret? (Or with regret, I suppose, if you want to share that.)
Milk supply and breastfeeding challenges – Breastfeeding carnival
Monday, April 21st, 2008I wrote a couple months ago about the beginning of Reid’s and my nursing relationship and there were some bumps at the outset that we were able to resolve. Since the theme for this month’s Carnival of Breastfeeding is overcoming breastfeeding challenges and I hate to repeat myself, I thought I’d share my story about reduced milk supply. When Reid was about 8 weeks old, I went on the “mini pill” with my doctor’s assurance that it wouldn’t interfere with breastfeeding. The research that I could find online supported my doctor. It would seem that my breasts hadn’t read the material or listened to the doctor as I experienced an immediate drop in milk supply. After a couple of days I waited because I thought I must be imagining it I decided I needed to “fix” things because Reid was clearly hungry. I stopped taking the pills and started drinking nursing teas with Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek in them. I increased my intake of water, as well. Thanks to advice via email from Teresa Pitman (LLL leader, co-author of The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers
If milk supply is an issue that you are grappling with, these references may be useful:
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Teresa Pitman and Dr Jack Newman’s The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers
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Dr Sears’ advice on increasing your milk supply; and, of course,
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La Leche League’s information on milk supply, which addresses both too much and not enough milk.
There are many others who have written about their own challenges with breastfeeding and how they overcame them. You’ll also see links to useful books and Web sites. Check back throughout the day. I will be adding links as the others post their stories:
* Stephanie at Speech Act - plugged ducts;
* Half Pint Pixie – oversuppy, blocked ducts, mastitis, flat nipples and blebs;
* Jen at Mama’s Magic – breastfeeding after a C-section;
* Renata at Nurturing Notes – thrush;
* Sinead at Breastfeeding Mums – sore nipples, engorgement, blocked ducts, positioning, mastitis;
* Tanya at The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog – tongue-tie;
* Donna at Blessed Nest – mastitis, cracked nipples and low supply;
* Hobo Mama – finger feeding and baby hickeys;
* Angela at Breasteeding 123 – thrush, oversupply and plugged ducts
Have you got a story to share?