A Dilemma Called Disney

I grew up watching Disney. I loved the fairy tales, the magic, the romance.  I have never been able to relate to the princesses however.  I have never felt that deep desire to be Cinderella or Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. I do like (and yes I mean this in the present tense) Meg and Belle for their wit and character. 

I look at the characters and I realize that I don’t like the way these women are portrayed.  I don’t think I would want my daughter watching these and thinking that she can take one look at a man and feel head over heels in love and live happily ever after.

I don’t want her to be like Ariel and give up everything she has, disobey her parents and run away from home for a man whose name she doesn’t even know.

I don’t want her to be like Cinderella. Abused by people, neglected by her dad, yet somehow thinking this is okay. I don’t want her thinking that there will one day be a man who will take one look at her and make everything okay. Nope, it’s not a man’s job to make everything good in your life. You have to make your life ok.

I don’t want her to be like Sleeping Beauty. What did Sleeping Beauty do anyway? Cry, run and sleep…that’s it!

I could go on and on but this just leads me back to my original question. Should I let my daughter watch this? I don’t want her to be left out and to be the only one in her class who doesn’t know who Cinderella is but then again should I expose her to these chauvinistic messages? 

Hmmm

Brocolli Snack

Ruy introduced me to this recipe when we were still dating and I loved it. This totally helped me when I was dieting. I would pig on this instead of on chips and it helped curbed my appetite. I thought I could tweak it a litte and have Andrea try it.

You would need the following:

- Brocolli or Cauliflower

- Flour

- Egg

- Cooking Oil

Optional: Parmesan Cheese, Garlic Salt and Olive Oil instead of cooking oil.

Since I was feeding this batch to Andrea I decided to boil the Brocoli first to make it softer. I then dipped the brocoli in egg and then rolled it into a mixture of flour and parmesan cheese. This is then fried in oil. If you wish to make the dish healthier, you may use Olive Oil.

Listen and Not Talk?

This is an eye-opener for me. I usually have conversations with Andrea and more often than not I’m doing the talking. I always thought that this would be more helpful for her as she can hear my voice, thank God I saw this article:

Her ability to comprehend more than she can communicate means it’s important for you to speak slowly and clearly to her. You’ve probably stopped much of the singsong-y speech that you used instinctively when your child was a baby, but now you can use simple words and phrases to get, and hold, her attention. Using the correct words for objects — “toes” instead of “tootsies,” or “cookie” instead of “coo-coo” — will cut down on her confusion as she learns to use words. Listening to your child without interruption is also essential at this stage. The toddler who is listened to, especially by her parents and caregivers, is a better listener, which in turn will enhance her speaking skills.

This particular article is talking about toddlers aged 16 months so this probably doesn’t apply to other ages (I could be wrong of course ).  I now vow to really look at my interactions with Andrea from an outsider’s point of view and analyze if I’m helping her developmentally. It’s scary to think that I might be stunting her growth.

Toddler’s Cholesterol Check

A post or 2 earlier I talked about the new findings stressing the need to have toddler’s checked for cholesterol. What does this do? What for? What results are we looking at? I saw this article which might answer some of your questions:

Testing toddlers for high cholesterol when they are about 15 months old could help prevent heart attacks and strokes in the future, a new study suggests.

The study, published Thursday in the British Medical Journal, said toddlers found to have high cholesterol are likely to have an inherited cholesterol disorder called familial hypercholesterolaemia.

The disorder, which affects about one in 500 people, can cause adults to experience heart problems and strokes at a young age — men with the disorder can develop problems in their 40s, women in their 50s.

Dr. Mike Evans, a family physician based in Toronto, said parents shouldn’t rush out to have their children tested immediately but the study is an important one to watch.

“The great appeal here is that you can get two generations by testing one person,” he told CBC News on Friday.

He said if a child is found to have the genetic disorder, at least one of their parents must have it too, and may not have been aware of it.

The study suggests the mother and father of an affected child can take cholesterol tests themselves to determine which one of them has the highest cholesterol levels, and therefore likely has the disorder.

Once the disorder is detected, Evans said the child and affected parents can make lifestyle changes to combat the deadly health problems the disorder can bring.

Anti-cholesterol medications are another option, with the study suggesting that the affected parent can begin preventative treatment immediately, while the child can delay until adulthood.

Interesting huh? I wonder if they’ve started doing this here in the Philippines.

(Article was taken from the CBC News website)

Toddlers and Cholesterol?

Most people don’t bother checking a toddler’s diet, after all the toddler is rapidly growing and needs all the nutrients he can possibly get right? I was a victim part of this belief system when I was a child. I was fed 10 bottles of milk with donuts as an appetizer…YUM!

I saw this news on the net which really surprised me:

Here’s the new advice, in a nugget:

• Children age 2 and older who are overweight or have a family history of heart disease should get a fasting cholesterol test.
• Children should drink reduced-fat milk (2 percent or less) starting at 12 months of age.
• Statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs can be prescribed to children with high cholesterol starting at age 8.

In the past, docs worried that babies wouldn’t get enough fat, which is critical for brain development, if they didn’t drink whole milk. But young children’s fat intake is more than adequate, Greer says, and switching to low-fat milk is the easiest way to reduce the amount of animal fat in their diet.

Here are the recommendations for total cholesterol and LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) in children and adolescents:

• Acceptable: total cholesterol less than 170, LDL less than 110
• Borderline: total cholesterol 170 to 199, LDL 110 to 129
• Elevated: total cholesterol above 200, LDL above 130

If a child is found to have borderline or elevated cholesterol, the first response would be to change the diet to one that’s low in saturated fat, high in whole grains and fish, and rich in vegetables and fruits. Cholesterol-lowering drugs are recommended only if a child’s LDL level stays above 190, even with a low-fat diet. More exercise also gets the nod, although its cholesterol-lowering power hasn’t been tested as much in children as it has in adults.

I got this news article from US News, hop on to their site to read more!

Paranoia Meets the Mom

My husband has told me time and again that I am too paranoid when it comes to my baby. I don’t consider myself paranoid…I think I’m just cautious (insert my snort here).

I know now  lot of things which could have saved myself a whole lot of undue stress and problems. I think with proper eating habits, my baby would be so much better off in the future that’s why it’s so important for me to start today.

Here are the things I insist on with my baby:

- Water, water, water

- No artificial juices, no tetra pack, no canned juices

- Definitely no sodas

- No chocolate….yet (until she’s around 4)

- No nuts (because of allergies)

- No fish sauce

- No MSG

- Very limited sweets (she has treats once a week like half a stick of Champola Strawberry, 4 pieces of Hello Panda Milk Flavor, 15 pieces of Honey Stars, etc)

- No ice cream yet (too sweet)

- No fast food…

- No instant noodles

These rules make feeding her a bit more difficult in terms of preparation. I try to research here and there to come up with ideas on feeding my baby who’s almost a year and a half. Most sites and books recommend feeding babies table food at this stage. I cannot follow this advice as the food my husband and I eat are soooo unhealthy! We don’t want to subject Andrea to that kind of diet (yeah yeah I know we should stop eating unhealthy food…that’s another blog’s worth of drama)

Enough is Enough?

I am always struggling to figure out just how much my baby needs every day. Formula alone for example has proven to be too much of a puzzle to me! I thought my baby who is 16-months old is drinking enough at 48 oz. a day and as it turns out…this is a bit too many!

I asked several mom’s and they each had their own idea on what’s normal based on what their kid is doing. I figured it’s time to go to the experts…this pdf from BabyZone really helped me. (Please visit their site too…they have wonderful articles regarding feedings)

No Choice

Imagine having a baby and realizing that you don’t know how to cook. I look online and see so many recipes for baby food but half the ingredients can’t be found in the Philippines. What was I to do?

EXPERIMENT!! I’m here to share all the things I am feeding my baby…hope you can feed these things to your baby too!!