Pressure. Oh that familiar feeling of anxiety mixed with a dash of fear. But all amounts of pressure seem slight compared to the outpouring of it once you begin the joy of parenting. It starts at your first OB visit and ends... well, my Aunt says the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest and after that you just don't care as much.
At 6 months old, I mentioned to my father-in-law that I had gotten Jovi (my son) organic blueberries for dessert. They were, of course, part of the "dirty dozen". In my late night internet research I had learned this was the only way to protect my child from the demons of the pesticide world. Organic. I knew my father-in-law would be so proud of me and know that I was, indeed, a good mom. He laughed, "that stuff is a big joke, its all the same". "No, it's USDA certified!," I argued. He was unwavering in his assertion that it was a ploy to make money. I looked down, sadly, at my $6 blueberries I was once so proud of.
I do still assert with my father-in-law that organic is better, for baby. But I work to release myself of guilt for not buying the $6 blueberries.
Perhaps nowadays we know too much ... knowledge brings PRESSURE.
If you, like me, have fed your child "dirty", yet incessantly washed with guilt, blueberries... stay tuned. I would like to make this a "safe place" for guilt-ridden and proud parents alike to share in the pressures and successes of parenthood, mainly the pressures of the plate. Recipes encouraged!
hey lisa,
ReplyDeletei'm with you mama.i've been going through this since jack was a babe. i do not feel it's a ploy though to be honest. it's definitely an old school way of thinking bc i've heard it from the old school folks. : ) pesticides are real. there's no getting around it that they aren't good for our bodies and there's residuals left over that have seeped in. logically there would be. but i think we as adults can deal w/ some of them better than babies w/ their new little systems can, so what i generally do is try and stick for sure to organic for the dirty dozen as best as we can and danny & i will eat non organic if we have to. for other fruits/veg though we do buy non organic if we feel ok about it and that includes things on the clean list for sure. for years i was doing only organic bananas for example but then realized we didn't really need to. but for strawberries, peaches, and defintely grapes we always get organic. i think it's worth it that my babies bodies stay clean and pure as they possibly can now. they have plenty of time for "toxins" to get into their little bodies. why not give them the best fighting chance they can have if i can do it. and trust me those $10 strawberries hurt like hell but jack eats them every single day(and i'm thrilled he loves berries bc they are so good for him!) so i just rob peter to pay paul as they say. i'd rather spend more to keep them healthy and take money away from something else not as important you know. i know some people absolutely cannot afford organic produce and i feel badly about that but i think from what i understand the more people who demand it and buy it the lower the prices will start to come down eventually. i tihnk everyone can do what they can and if that means you only buy fruits or veg in season (which is generally cheaper) and if you can't always buy organic then mix it up and don't give the kids the same non organic strawberries every day you know. get the fruits that are clean more often and splurge on the organic stuff once in a while when you can. i'm back in the whole mix again now w/ the baby here so i totally get it! but do what you can and take the pressure off for sure.