A New Kind of Weed

I was explaining to Isabelle the important concept of "eating a r-a-i-n-b-o-w" every day because the colorful foods have lots of good vitamins and nutrients. We drew a rainbow and talked about all the foods we could find in each color that she liked to eat. We then packed a "rainbow lunch" together which she thought was such fun.

She doesn't really eat too many veggies yet so this game became life-altering when she got completely jazzed over packing shredded carrots for her "orange" food. And two days in a row, she came home with no leftovers and she even asked if she could snack on carrots. Really? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?

The green is a bit more tricky. Like most toddlers, anything green scares the living bujesus out of her. But when she saw the diced cucumbers in my salad the other day, she said she wanted to try one and she loved it. She does eat cucumber slices but I always had to peel the skin off. With my diced version, the skin is still on, and she isn't afraid of them. She is also starting to branch into "salad" a little bit, but her version of salad means taking one lettuce leaf (spinach, romaine, whatever we're having) and completely submerging it in a bowl of ranch dressing, then trying not to drip salad dressing all over the table and herself and she tries to shove it in her mouth. I'm gonna have to work on the salad thing.

We were out of cucumbers yesterday when it came time to pack her Friday lunchbox. I told her I was going to the Farmer's Market today and asked her if she wanted anything special for her rainbow lunch next week. She got very excited when she gave me her whole list. And she ended with, "and Mommy, I think I'm a little tired of salad, so how about for my green food next week, we just do "key-weed" instead. Key-weed it is, honey, good choice.

Froot is Spelled F-R-U-I-T

I’m one of those weirdoes who really enjoys going to the grocery store. It’s kind of my haven. I go during the day most times. If I don’t have time during the day but really need to get stuff on a weekday, I’ll go after Ed gets home. My favorite time of all is early on a weekend morning when I can really take my time, buy a cup of coffee, read labels, browse options, search for new products, try the samples, ask questions. The point is, I enjoy going to the food store ALONE (sans children, husband, etc.).

This week, I had a tight schedule so I ended up having to go to the food store after I picked Isabelle up from school. I bribed her with a “fancy juice” when we got there and told her she could pick out a “special treat”. The special treat is ANYTHING she wants from the Produce section (as long as it doesn’t come in a package, like the chocolate dip for strawberries or the caramel dip for apples). She was having such a hard time deciding that I let her get 4 things – strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, and oranges. Nice choices, kid!

Then we had to meander into the scary inner aisles of the store for a few items. Cereal was one of them. Since I normally don’t have the 4-year-old with me at the grocery store, I was completely unprepared to navigate the cereal aisle with her. It was never so apparent; the lethal tricks the big Marketing companies play on our unsuspecting children.

The colors! The cartoon characters! The rivers of chocolate gooiness!

She looked like a gambling addict thrown onto the Vegas strip. Eyes wide. Pupils dilated. Fingers pointing at the end of shaky hands. I was appalled and frankly, scared for our kids who are victims to that nonsense. We left with a box of Cheerios and some shredded wheat. I wish I could get all cereal out of my house for good. But for now, at least I can still convince her to make semi-healthy choices compared to most of the sugary, salty, fatty junk in that aisle.

I’m looking forward to showing Isabelle my Vegas next weekend when the Farmer’s Market opens near our house.

The colors! The farm characters! The rivers of local honey!