Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter celebrations??

Easter has always been a special time for me - a real time of celebration with others of the same beliefs. This is the first year I've spent the lead up to Easter with considered trepidation. The thought of chocolate eggs all over small fingers and faces strikes fear into my heart. A month before Easter we already had to grab a foil covered bunny out of the grasps of our son while we were at the airport for fear of an anaphylactic reaction. Despite our best efforts, our son typically ends up with allergic red cheeks whenever we travel due to the bits of food left behind on airport seats and tables - a timely reminder I guess that his allergies are serious and continued vigilence is required.

I'm pleased to report that we have all survived an Easter long weekend without any trips to the hospital, and better yet, even without any allergic rash. Childcare was terrific - they rang us a week before asking for an alternative treat. I brought along 2 bars of soy chocolate, but stressed my concern about contamination on the outside of eggs, or the risk that our son would pick up a chocolate egg somehow. On the day, he was accompanied at all times by one of the workers to make sure he didn't come in contact with any offending eggs. His allergies are a pain in the butt, but at least he does get some special attention!

At home, we had interstate guests, so I wanted to try and continue the festivities. Plastic eggs were fairly easy to find, but I scoured the shops for an hour looking for special treats that would fit inside. In the end, I settled for puffy stickers of animals and cars. The Easter egg hunt went well and lasted for all of 5 minutes if that! Perhaps I needed a better Easter bunny?

The most enjoyable part was when our son stuck one of his Ikea finger puppets inside: "Tap Tap Tap... what is it? A baby turtle!" Trust him to find a better way to play with the eggs!


Actually the best moment was when he pretended to eat the egg then started coughing because it made him sick... Hallelujah, our son understands that eating eggs will make him sick! Toy eggs are OK, real eggs... NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Where is the me?

You'll notice that my posts have dropped off in frequency. You'll also notice a lack of new recipes.

Why? Well, I think it must have to do with returning to work. I know lots of people do it. I know I shouldn't complain because life's pretty good really. I know I know I know.

But seriously, let's look at what's changed so maybe I can understand rather than just know?

For the past 12 months I've enjoyed taking my son to occasional care for about 3 hours a week. During those 12 months, I think I only ever came home to sleep on one occasion. All other times were spent window shopping, shopping, catching up with friends, and the occasional doctor's appt. NEVER did I actually return home to do the housework, as I know others do.

The result was a much happier mum who took comfort knowing there was another person beside herself and her husband who would look after our son... for whatever reason. The other result was some time when I could check out that dress, who knows, maybe even try it on! Time to myself, when I didn't need to worry about the welfare of others and I could be a little bit care free. To tell you the truth, many a times were spent at KFC! Aaah, the memories...

Now that I'm working, there doesn't seem to be time for me anymore... It's a mad rush to get to childcare, it's a mad rush at work getting through all the dramas, then it's a mad rush picking up our son from childcare and cooking dinner etc. The days at home are fewer, so time to catch up with other mums has diminished as has time for even grocery shopping which tends to happen after 9pm now a days.

Yup, this is a winge... Where is the me? I don't know! I need time to find it again, and when I do, I'm sure I'll be the happier for it, as will my son and husband...

OK, time to book an extra childcare day, have some "me time" and start a new school term refreshed and ready. It'll be worth it :-)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Dietician's ideas at 2

We went to our allergy dietician when our son turned 2 and I thought I'd put down some of the comments she made that may be interesting for other parents out there. We're often wondering whether we are doing it right or not, so having a guide has helped.

Calcium - our aim is 600mg of Calcium a day. Previously, drinking about 500ml of So Good Regular Soy has been our son's main source of Calcium. However, lately he's getting pretty sick of the same old drink. Some days he drinks well, other days not so much. Now, I've conceeded to giving him a Calcium supplement that has 125mg Ca in one tablet on most days to make up for it. Other products like soy cheese or soy yoghurt could be other options, but our son still can't digest the soy yoghurt and if you've ever tasted soy cheese, you'll know it's disgusting!

Fluids - we were told we should aim for 1 litre a day of liquid. This includes milk of course, and any other water that may be in fruit or other foods. I have to admit we fall pretty short on this one. I've been working off the consistency that comes out the other end... if it's too hard, then try harder I guess. Jelly seems to be a good way to add water, but I try and keep it as a snack during the day so his belly isn't artificially full.

Meat - 150g/day is the aim. Our family has a heritage in cattle farming, so I'm proud to say our son probably has double this most days! Yup, our food bill is a bit high, but we our boy sure has muscle! We have a mixture of beef, chicken, lamb and salmon. Oh, here's a funny one... I just realised the other day that Veal is actually the same animal as Beef, therefore our son can eat it. Hooray! We tried pork the other day, but I'm pretty sure we got a rash. Oh well, back to the end of the list again.

Fruit/Veg - the aim is 3 tennis balls a day. We're fortunuate on this front because our son loves his veg. His favourites at the moment are cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden and mandarins which he loves to peel on his own. The problem is getting him to eat one before he can peel another.

... and that's it!