Color Dance

One of my fondest, most visceral memories from childhood summers is those evenings all five of us piled into the family station wagon after dinner and drove to the custard stand for soft serve ice cream. Our hair still wet from the shower, our shortie PJ's cool yet cozy and the divine creaminess of the swirling mass of vanilla or chocolate soft serve topped off by the crunchy delight of sprinkles or one of those bizarre quick hardening dips. Cicadas and peepers filled the air and all was right in the world.

As a parent I can't tell you how many summer evenings I've wanted to put the kids in the car and head for the custard stand but had to stop myself because the boy couldn't eat the ice cream. So we'd drive to the store instead, get some soy or coconut or rice milk ice cream and come home to indulge. This has worked for us up to this point but finally, this summer we can indulge in fashion because a local ice cream shop in our little town has added sorbet to their selection. Yay!

So, tonight when the girl was crying at dinner because her daddy finished off the last of the broccoli (I'm not kidding) I knew the perfect fix was to head out for an after dinner cone. We brought the dog along to make the evening complete and headed into town.

While I waited outside with the pooch the family went in to get their cones. The boy emerged with  a double scoop of lemon sorbet in a waffle cone, then came the girl with her mint chocolate chip (not the bright green kind) in a sugar cone. Then here came  daddy bringing up the rear with a sugar cone filled with cotton candy flavored ice cream, resplendent in electric blue and brain melting red.

Now I am not going to slag the guy, especially not here in a public(ish) forum, but it does bring up the fact that we parents have got to watch what we do, not only what we say. Now the Dad will joke that he chose the one flavor  he knew that  no one would ask for a bite of, but in all seriousness kids, even those as young as one year old, can smell a hypocrite a mile away. Food coloring and chemical preservatives are just as dangerous for our jaded old adult bodies as they are for the fresh young flesh of our kids (did that sound lascivious?) Let's not fool ourselves and I can tell you that when the husband has been eating road food for a few weeks he's not nearly as chipper as when he's bringing lunch from home or eating well. The chemical load adds up for everyone, it just a matter of whether you recognize it or not.

I know summer time is an especially tempting season. I can't tell you how many friends have told me in the past few weeks that in the summer they let down their usual guard and let the ice pops fly. Summer camp, bbq's, camp outs, country fairs, sleep overs; all perfect fodder for an endless stream of food colored treats. But now as the count down to school begins and the need to reestablish some semblance of order becomes imperative, the two month food fiesta is starting to catch up and those little heads are beginning to swivel all the way around. So, here are a few suggestions to help bolster the system and get the brains ready for learning again.

If you are not already giving yourself and your kids a fish or krill oil supplement, please consider beginning ASAP. The benefits of a high quality Omega 3 supplement cannot be understated for maintaining over all health. For our food sensitive kids or those with developmental delays or other neurological stressors (add, adhd, dyslexia etc..) the benefits can be quite striking. I found when I added cod liver oil (I know, shades of our grandmothers) into my son's daily routine that it helped him greatly to be more flexible and less rigid.

The other thing I am swearing by these days  is a greens drink. I know that you'll say they are disgusting and ask what kid in their right mind would take one but I have to tell you that the boy is drinking one and actually liking it. Granted I add it to 6 ounces of Vanilla almond milk, some vanilla egg protein powder and half a banana but it goes down and I can only tell that from my experience the addition of these vital nutrients into the boys diet has made him more resilient and tolerant of both milk and food coloring. He's not the biggest vegetable eater around (string beans, corn, peas, carrots are pretty much it for him) and now that I have finally found a way to get them into him I cannot say enough about the power they have to heal his body.  So, give it a try even if you have to dress it up in banana and strawberries and please let me know if you see any difference in your or your kids lives.

The fish oil I use is Nordic Naturals Arctic Cod liver oil a very high quality oil that is thoroughly tested for heavy metals and contaminants of any kind.  My kids are freaks and take it right off the spoon (they've had no choice since they were wee babes in arms) but this company sells a million variations on the theme, many in a chewable with (non-chemical) flavoring.

The greens drink we have been using is beastly expensive and by no means do I think it is the only game in town but take a look at the ingredients and look for something comparable to this gold standard. It comes in flavors but they kind of scare me, I 'd rather add my own - a lemon/lime greens drink just doesn't do it for me.

There are a dozen other things we can do to boost the system but that's a story for another day and you know, I'm not a Dr, just a mom sharing my story with you (yes, this is a disclaimer!!).

We're off on vacation, see you in September.

Source: http://fresh-kids.blogspot.com/2010/08/color-dance.html

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