Special Diet Frustrations

My husband and I have been trying for several years now to eat a more kosher diet.  When we were sticking with the basics of the kosher diet, his cholesterol went down and he felt more energetic and healthier. And I was much happier with the way our health seemed to be going.  We had just moved to Texas when we decided to eat this way.  We are not Jewish. I think that confused people then, and I know it's confusing people now.  We are now in Louisiana where two of the staples are crawfish and pork-definitely not kosher.  What I would like to say is this: Please do not feel bad for me or my family because we have stopped eating things we feel are bad for us.  My husband and I do not feel deprived. We are not sorry we eat the way we do.  We should not have to explain ourselves or our choices to anyone but God.

Another major obstacle to our healthier choices are people who feel that we are depriving our children. To them I need to say:  Please do not give our children artificially colored/flavored candies and say things like, "Just this one time won't hurt."  My children hear you doubt our authority and they begin to lose faith in the people who care most about them, who take care of them every day, who sit with them through nightmares and sickness and emotional upheavals.  When we say our children cannot eat the candy you brought for them or bought for them, please don't take offense. Just ask me before you give them something the next time.  And if our choices for our children are too pricey for your pocketbook, no worries! They don't have to have candy or boxed brownies or frozen cookie dough with m-n-m's in them in order to love you. Really, my children are very loving little people.

And now for the rant...

All these thoughts have been rambling around in my head for several years now.  And today I got an email from a friend who was very strong and very loving in her response to a situation like this. Only she has a child that is autistic.  She's chosen a special diet very carefully for him that has improved his health and symptoms dramatically. She let him go to a neighbor's house (who she trusted and who knew about the dietary restrictions) and discovered that he'd had several things which were not included in his diet. I would've gone insane! She calmly dealt with the situation and has resolved to just make snacks for him to bring with him when he goes to visit people.  Why in the world would someone presume to feed a child they know is on a special diet without calling the parents first?  I do not understand this at all.  When a child is diabetic, you have to feed them very carefully.  This woman's chosen diet for her autistic child is no different.

Our children are not disadvantaged by having a diet that restricts certain kinds of fish and shellfish, pork, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, and chemical preservatives.  They are not worse off for using honey to sweeten things rather than processed, bleached sugar.  They are not deprived when they have the choice of home baked goods and home cooked food rather than McDonald's or Taco Bell or something quick out of a box.  Please do not assume that we are insane, uncaring or way too strict concerning our children's diet.  God gave them into our care and we have to choose the diet we feel is best for them.  Think of how you would feel if we came up to you and questioned your authority in front of your children.  Have we ever put any of you in a sticky position concerning your kids and the decisions you make concerning them?  If so, I heartily apologize!  I love all my friends and family, even the family I try not to talk to very often. (That's a whole different blog.)  But I will not have my authority questioned concerning whether or not my kids are going to eat /CANDY/ of all things! You know, if it was veggies or bread, I would possibly understand this better. But it's /candy/ that keeps getting pushed on my kids. "Oh! They /need/ something for the holiday!" Yes. They could use a new shirt, or a new pair of socks or a good book. Please don't give our kids anything without asking us first.  It's just safer and more polite and it reinforces our authority concerning their well-being. Thank you for your patience.

Cloudy Days = Intermittent Internet

Hello, again! I'm hoping I can get thru this without an internet break down. There's a lot to talk about so here goes...

I joined a cause on facebook. The title of the cause is "People Against Poor Grammar." If that's not it exactly, it's pretty close to the actual name. I'm glad this cause exists somewhere. I was beginning to think people just didn't care anymore. I was beginning to think we were headed back to the Middle Ages and people could start spelling anything in any way they chose. Have we forgotten how confusing that was?? Sometimes there was no spacing between words, which caused even more confusion. I wonder if people got paid a couple bags of gold to decipher "code" back then.

I was playing around with my media player yesterday and put together a huge ecclectic play list. Included are artists like Van Morrison, 12 Stones, Rhianna, Jacob's Trouble, Flo Rida, My Chemical Romance and sooooo many more! I added all the songs I wanted and then had the player arrange them alphabetically. Now I have a variety of artists performing a variety of songs in various locations on my playlist! LOL I know. I'm goofy. :-b

I cooked at home for just my family yesterday. It's been a long time since I have done so. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I do not have a working stove yet. We are slowly getting the parts we need and we only need a couple of things for the breaker box. Almost there...unh....r.e.a.c.h... Anyway, I cooked on "the eye" (our little plug in double burner thingy). Every time I get it out, I say "the eye" as if I was in the movie LOTR. Makes a mediocre job more fun...
We had cheesy veggie casserole. Here's how I did it. Take your fave mac and cheese and prep according to directions. While the noodles are cooking, take your three favorite veggies and prep them in steam bags in the microwave. Next cook one strip of bacon or turkey bacon per person. You can do this in the microwave as well. When the noodles are done and all prep for mac and cheese is finished (butter, milk, sauce added in) then add the veggies one at a time and stir them in. Chop up the bacon and add that in. C'est voila! You have a one pot meal that only dirtied one pot, one spoon and one ceramic plate (cook bacon on that). Easy clean-up is a must here at our house.

I spent a considerable amount of time on blogthings yesterday. Their quizzes are so fun! I think I must have taken at least 15 over the course of the day. One might even say that I have no life to speak of. And one would be mostly right, if they didn't realize how much multi-tasking I do. I managed to get a load of clothes out on the line, cook supper, teach my son his lessons (while doing that...NO multi-tasking!), cook supper for us, talk to friends on social sites, practice piano pieces for Sunday's worship service and spend some time watching a movie and reading a book before bed. I also washed a sink full of dishes. All in all, a pretty productive day was yesterday.

I really want to get my hair colored some funky way. The only hang ups with it are the initial cost for someone to do it professionally (b/c I don't trust myself to get it right) and the ruination of my hair. I really have pretty nice hair, though it doesn't look it quite a lot of the time. I also happen to like my original hair color now, after many years in school hating the fact that I was a brunette with green eyes. I will probably do it eventually...

The school thing brought something else to mind. I used to hate my hair color and my eye color b/c I thought they were drab. Drab! Then I hit a certain point and I really took a good look at myself. Instead of looking for all the negative points, I started looking for positive ones. I starting seeing random strands of gold, silver and copper in my hair! And I also started seeing my eyes change in certain lighting and with certain colors of make-up. Wow! This could be fun, right? So then I decided being me on all points was not a bad thing at all. I started embracing my weirdness (some people might say "uniqueness" but I'm all about truth!) and trying to focus on the people who loved me for being me. Not that I turned away from those who didn't (and still don't) understand me, but I just spent less time with them. One of my friends in San Angelo told me something right before we moved from there. She said, "Don't let them stop you from being you!" She knew we were coming to my hometown and she knew my complaints from a previous stay here. I am hoping when I see her again I'll be able to tell her I'm still me. But I guess they already know that...

I found someone from my grade school days not too long ago. This was someone I worried about and prayed for anytime I thought about her. It was a relief to finally find out she was on MySpace. It was great to know she was alive and well and that we might be able to meet for a visit sometime. If there's someone you are looking for, don't give up hope. It had been at least 8 years or more since I last saw my friend. She has never met my two girls. It'll be interesting.

Well, I guess I better get started on my day. Lots to do. Remember to breathe! Laugh a lot!