SOOOO
Sometime in early October (right after three family birthdays), we drastically cut back on sugar. You know, being that sugar realllllly depletes your immune system. as well as having a TON of other effects.
I didn't want my girls...who were coming off of a Birthday Sugar-Induced-High...to just think that I was donning the Mean Mommy Hat, mercilessly stripping them of all taste bud fun.
So I was very upfront with them about the reasons behind the new change.
We'd all talk about it, straight up, around the dinner table: telling them statistics. explaining the effects of sugar on their bodies. talking to them like adults and allowing them to honestly process it all out loud. So that it became a decision that they owned themselves.
Instead of something that was being forced upon them.
The one thing that I was ruh-eallllly careful about was to NOT make the diet change about weight. or being fat. or a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. to do with outward appearance.
We use the word "Healthy" around here. Nothing more. Because with little girls running around, I'm well aware that you have to be careful with how you approach topics like food and healthy eating and being in shape and the whole myriad of body topics.
Healthy is our family's byword. I can't stress that enough because I refuse to play into the "a skinny girl is a happy girl" mantra.
Now even my two year-old knows (and initiates conversations about) when something is "healthy for me" and when "it's bad for my body". Just because it's become part of her natural thinking when approaching food. Blows me away!
Does that mean that we never let them have any sweets? Good grief, NO!!! I think going to that extreme can be almost as mentally detrimental as making eating about the "f" word (yeah...that'd'be "fat").
So we talk about eating smart. for the sheer purpose of being kind to the body God has given us. using food to protect and heal our insides.
Which has broadened our "Sugar Talk" to defining the benefits and/or concerns of eating proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits....
And fats.
It's funny because the time I spend making dinner usually brings up more questions and not because I'm trying to make it happen!! Remember: I kind of like to not have children underfoot when in the throes of evening meal prep.
But THEY bring it up. partially because I think they are truly interested in all this nutrition information. and partially because they like being treated like adults, entrusted with conversations that do not revolve around pretend play or non-important issues.
So as I was making meatloaf last night, the girls were right there. very interested in getting a good look at the hunk of protein...whether it was the best kind of meat...etc etc.
Now, we bought a 1/2 cow from a friend who raised it themselves. So it's very lean meat, but obviously there's still fat that cooked off and settled into the pan. sort of sloshing around as I got into the second phase of prepping the loaf.
Soooo in a rare moment of third-trimester inspiration, I took the opportunity to give them a hands-on experience with exactly what we've been discussing these past few months.
FAT and what it does to your body.
Exhibit A:
The liquid version of fat. heated up. runny. able to be easily dumped out of the bowl. and therefore able to pass through a straw without problem.Exhibit B.
Because we're dealing with kids here, I opted to not go the "let-it-sit-over-night-and-congeal route"...so we put it in the frig for a whopping 15 minutes (if that...since they kept asking to see the hardened fat). *laughing*
Not the best picture. But definitely hardened. immobile. goopy (they stuck their fingers in it). and totally clogging up the straw making it impossible for water to pass through.
We talked about fat in the arteries. what impact that has. diseases that can come about from an over-abundance of fat in your system.
They were REALLY interested. I mean, like, FOR REAL interested. :D Score one for mentally-exhausted, homeschooling, 37-week pregnant momma. *Cha-ching*
(doesn't that description sound so pathetic? haha!)
Honestly this is why I love homeschooling the girls during this stage in their lives. Because I get the opportunity to talk extensively with them about topics that may not normally be broached. because of lack of time in their day-to-day schedules.
I get the amazing chance to impact the way they view life. the way they treat their bodies and their hearts...both in the physically realm and in the emotional one. (We just finished reading The Princess and the Kiss this morning. *so sweet*).
I love this time I get to spend with my sweet girls, learning about things outside the realm of reading, writing, and arithmetic. watching their understanding of the world and their relationship to it come alive.
Ah, there's nothing like bonding with those you love over the grease of your partially cooked meat.
