Thursday, July 31, 2014

I'd like to try to rethink this space. It started out as a way for me to blog about delving into Paleo, into CrossFit, into trying to be the best person I can be.

Lately it's been empty or a series of Whole30s.

I love Whole30s though. I'm currently trying to find the balance between almost always eating Whole30 and not driving myself mad. But I feel so good on the Whole30. But sometimes, I just want wine and paleo cake.

But one of the things that I've been thinking about lately is my daughter. She starts daycare tomorrow. I am having anxiety about this for various reasons. The school though is on the federal food program. This causing me anxiety, too. The only real "benefit" to her having severe, documented food sensitivities is that I got to get a note from her pediatrician stating that I need to bring her food and that she cannot eat what the school provides because it will make her sick.

As far as food goes, their menu looks better than most elementary schools. But just about every meal, including snacks, is bread and cheese. Now, I am impressed with the amount of fruit and the variety and amount of veggies that they require. But for example, breakfast one day is milk, biscuit, pear. That's it. The only protein is milk. I understand that more than most kids get. But for this baby, she can't have dairy or soy. Snack time? Milk and cookies. No. Now, not all of the meals are that bad, but still. I feel fortunate that I am able to have some control over what she eats. She eats good, too. Eggplant, lamb, beef, turkey, chicken, spinach, butternut squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, pear, mango, asparagus, green peas, green beans, blueberry, peaches, carrots, cauliflower, avocado, banana. She likes raw garlic even!

So maybe one of the things I need to think about here in the scope of this blog is to talk about being an academic, a mom, and someone committed to trying to raise a daughter to live as healthy as she can in this world that bombards her with unrealistic images of women and shit choices for food. And I really try, even though she's only one, to watch how I talk about myself or my body in front of her.

Perhaps that's what this will become--what it means to be a "paleo" or "primal" parent? I'm not sure what that means, but maybe this will help me figure it out.