Positive not punitive!

When you were a kiddo how many times do you remember hearing, "You'll like this when you grow up"?  I'm not referring to spirits, although remembering my first sip of my dad's beer was enough to make me question his taste buds.

What I'm referring to are healthy foods!  My mother used to take me to the health food store and pick out things like Papaya juice and 'Oaties O's' (the healthy alternative to cheerios).


Most of my friends were drinking apple juice and eating Cherrios.  I was quite envious, at the time.  My mother did not allow me to eat overly sweet cereals or juices.  She diluted apple juice with water when I was at an age when that was all I wanted.  We did not have soda or things like 'Hawaiian Punch' (there's a blast from the past).  At the time I thought I was being punished.  My mother was attempting to install positive food choices.  She was being positive, not punitive!!

My mother was trying her best to make sure we were not hyped up on sugar, like many of our friends.  Sugar and kids can be a crazy combination.  My mother was not trying to suck out all the fun in our lives, she was trying to get us (I have a partner in crime that I call brother) used to food that was not doused in sugar.  I'm 33 years old and still do not have a single cavity...thanks mom!

A friend of mine is trying to ween her little guy off of milk.  It's not as easy as she had hoped.  He isn't buying the almond milk for milk.

You may be asking, what's so bad about milk?  Milk is used for growth - be it human or animal.  We, as humans, are the only species that continue to drink milk beyond infancy.  What the dairy industry has done to cattle (and humans) is absolutely deplorable!!

The farmers hook the cows up to machines and tug away at their udders.  What happens is sores develop around the udder and the machine keeps pulling away and opens the sores.  Thus allowing puss from the sore to drop into the same container as the milk!!!  (Go ahead and re-read that last sentence just to make sure you did so correctly)  So, may I offer you a nice glass of puss with your milk?

Check out this article from PETA - http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/dairy-industry.aspx

I'll wait....no seriously....read it....see I didn't go anywhere, I just found some more cute baby pics....ok, now that we've got that cleared up I'll continue.

Not only is milk not necessary it's down right disgusting.
Had I been raised as a vegan or vegetarian as a youngster I would not know any different.  That would be so completely amazing!  Babies eat what their parents (or care takers) GIVE them.  By not allowing your little one to grow up on sugar, dairy, meat, whatever...they'll never know life with it!

I love to see little ones devouring fruits and veggies.  I love seeing kids asking, "is this healthy?"  BRAVO!  Our society is producing over indulged children with parents who are more concerned with being their friend rather than their parent.  We have parents with despicable eating patterns (fast food for breakfast/lunch/dinner) and they're passing along their habits.

Don't be afraid to challenge the 'norm'.  Don't eat what everyone is eating.  Please be a savvy foodie and educate yourself about what you're deciding to put into your body or anyone else's, if you're a savvy mommy or daddy ;)
God gave us the most wonderful gift of all...life.  We need to safe guard it and make sure we're nourishing our bodies with what He provided - fruits and veggies.  I hate to say it, but the FDA does NOT have our backs.  They have our wallets.

Side note about the YouTube clip - I do not condone giving babies lemons or other sour fruits, but this video was simply hilarious.  You or your little one may have similar (initial) reactions to new foods, but don't worry it won't kill you.  You may just make a super funny face.