Some Funnies From My Littles

Zoe age 6

Zoe told me that she wanted Aqua Sand for her birthday. I reminded her that she just had a birthday in May. She said, "that's not fair! Why do I always have to use the same date for my birthday?

“Mom, not letting me draw on my body is crushing my creative soul.”

“Mom, I got a comb stuck on the top of my head”-I’m driving Zoe, I’ll get it out when I get home. “OK mom, I’ll just be a helicopter then”

I'm driving kids to school and there is a police car behind me. Zoe yells, "step on it mom, we have to lose the Po-Po".

 

Talia age 4 

"Mom pretend I have a penis but I'm still a girl"

My husband Chuck was cleaning a DVD for Talia. She told him to wipe it on her shirt. Chuck explained that he needed a special cloth to clean it properly. Talia said, "why is everything special with you?" He told her that she was special. Talia replied, "I'm not special, I'm Jewish!"

Dinnertime at the Manes house... Talia, "can I tell you a story?" Sure I replied. "Ok. Once upon a time there was a girl named Kiki. Kiki stuck her head in the toiled and ate a poop. Her hair got wet. The end."  

Talia recently told me that before she was born she went to heaven and asked God if Alison Manes could be her mommy. Sigh. 

 

Talia wearing her goggles as a headband while at a restaurant

 

During Flu Season - Breastfeeding Is The Best Protection For Your Baby

During the flu season and especially since the Swine Flu epidemic, breastfeeding is so important in safeguarding your little ones.

Even the Center for Disease Control, whom I typically disagree with, agrees:

Because mothers make antibodies to fight diseases they come in contact with, their milk is custom-made to fight the diseases their babies are exposed to as well. This is really important in young babies when their immune system is still developing.

Breastmilk is nature's way of boosting a young ones immune system. All those lovely antibodies that mom has built up over her lifetime are passed along to her baby. This is a much safer and respectful way to immunize your baby.

There is one H1N1 vaccine approved for infants. The package insert for the H1N1 vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. lists formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, as an ingredient in this vaccine. Since extensive testing of this vaccine hasn't been tested yet - the long term effects remain to be seen. What I can tell you is that injecting formaldehyde into any body, but particularity a little body can be very dangerous and in some cases fatal.

Mercury is also an ingredient in the Swine Flu vaccine. According to Victoria Nicks of Suite 101:

A .5 mL dose of the vaccine contains 25 micrograms of mercury, according to the package insert. Each infant dose of swine flu vaccine is .25 mL, exactly one-half the amount of vaccine and mercury, which equals 12.5 micrograms of mercury. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses a formula to state the amount of mercury that an individual can be exposed to without "recognized adverse effects," of .1 microgram per kilogram of body weight per day. In order to avoid adverse effects, the six month old infant receiving a 12.5 microgram dose must weigh at least 275 lbs.

Read more at Suite101: Infant's Swine Flu Vaccine Injection Ingredients: Toxins in H1N1 Vaccination Formulated for Babies Six Months and Up http://public-healthcare-issues.suite101.com/article.cfm/infants_swine_flu_vaccine_injection_ingredients#ixzz0bCca0aM7


In my house if a kid is sick, I will express some breast milk into a cup and have them drink it. I realize that some people might be grossed out by the idea, however, my children don't stay sick for more then a day or so. Even when my entire family had a Type A flu that we believe was H1N1 - not one of us was in bed for over 24 hours.


For guidelines on breastfeeding while infected with the Swine Flu visit http://breastfeeding.suite101.com/article.cfm/breastfeeding_and_swine_flu

If you can't or won't breastfeed please consider going to a milk bank to boost your baby's health. There is a yahoo milk share group as well as local milk banks all across the country.


A real look at the components of formula and why it is substandard to breastmilk, visit: http://www.theecologist.co.uk/trial_investigations/268337/breastmilk_vs_formula_food.html

Kid -Tested, Mother-Approved...not this mother!

Cherie, my Sister in law, brought my nephew over this morning as she does every weekday morning around 6:30am. This morning she woke me up telling me that she brought a healthy cereal for the kids.

OK

Knowing Cherie it wasn't. So I looked. Kix. Ya.

Really she was trying to do something nice, I know that.

I asked her if she read the label and of course she hadn't. The power of advertising is strong. I think I need to coin a term for false healthy food advertising. Something like greenwashing.

Anyway, Cherie did read the claims on the box that say, "Grow up strong with Big G kid cereals" and "good source of calcium and Vitamin D". What she didn't read was that the 4th ingredient in the cereal is sugar. (She thinks I am ridiculous by the way because I won't let my kids have soda or Hawaiian Punch).

Sugar in the morning has all kinds of ill side effects. According to Dr. Mercola, Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders. For a full listing go to http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm.

The point is that Cherie is like so many consumers who believe the advertising. How many people actually read labels with knowledge?

I know that Sugar has been implicated in upsets to the calcium/phosphorus balance.
I know this because I spend time asking our naturapath educated questions about my children's diets and reading research on nutrition.

Don't get me started on the 210mg of sodium in each serving.

Yes, the box listed a table of vitamins that they pumped into the cereal. However, the sugar is going to effect the absorption of those vitamins.

I am not the food police, my kids get there share of Del Taco and cookies. What I am not ok with is the fallacy that we are feeding our kids healthy food when we aren't. I wish more people would take some time to educate themselves about nutrition, artificial ingredients and chemicals in food.

I also think that manufacturers should take more responsibility. Sugar cereals are directly marketed to our kids and they have very little if any nutritional value.



Time to get off my soapbox.

Happy, optimistic Ali can come back out to play.