say hello to the elephant

I know people say that parenting is a tough gig, but, honestly, until you are actually a parent, I don’t think you would ever believe just how tough.

They say that having children is like letting your heart walk around on the outside of your body. It is so true. Having your “heart” so exposed to the elements of life, with all its ups and downs, the knock backs, the hurts, the pressure, and the emotions, it really is at times, quite painful.

Your heart aches when it sees your “heart” suffering, sad or struggling.

You want to protect it with all that you have.

I have three sons. Eddie, Fletcher & Cody, and they are my world.  They are all so very different, which has proven to me that parenting style has nothing to do with children’s personalities. Their personalities come with them, from the ‘other side’, it’s as if they brought it with them.  My parenting style only effects their social behaviour, and even then, only to a small extent. Their social behaviour and etiquettes are still different, because of their own unique personalities.

I am sure, if you have more than one child, you know exactly what I am talking about.

One of the reasons that I am so passionate about food and health is because my eldest son, was always “a bit different”. He would react with extreme emotions at very small issues, and he seemed un-perturbed about other people’s feelings or situations, or other people’s personal space for that matter.

It was at pre-school that his teacher asked us to have him assessed for Aspergers.  Slightly devastated, yet also relieved that it could be ‘something’ that we could learn strategies to cope with the ‘something’, we went off on a very expensive ‘analysis-procedural-trip’ with a Paediatrician , Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Dietician.

The first few specialists reported that Eddie did not have Aspergers as he was able to pass the “testing”. The last specialist we visited was the Dietician. She put us on a STRICT Elimination Diet. (I say “US” because we all went on it, to show Ed that we are in this with him, as a team.)

Well….. the changes in Eddie in the first 3 weeks, was AMAZING!  We thought an alien ship had come down, abducted our child, and replaced him with a new one. We were overwhelmed with the fact that we could now, not only hold a conversation with our 5 year old, but the conversation was an interesting one!!

FOOD!!! It is FOOD INTOLERANCES!!!  Not Aspergers, just food intolerances. Proof that Food not only transforms our bodies, but it transforms our minds too.

Eddie stayed on his strict diet for a little over 2.5 years.  Unfortunately, this past year or so, we have let things like Dairy, Gluten, tomatoes, broccoli, peas, ham, preservatives, & artificial flavours/colours, creep back in.  And, unfortunately, I think we are now paying the price.

His report card, for mid term year 6 is NOT good. In fact, it devastated me. His attention span and focussing abilities are poor and he is getting left behind at a very rapid rate.  And, as his mum, it breaks my heart. I want him to be the best he can be, and not miss out on opportunities, and to experience all this world has to offer.  I’m not expecting him to be a scholar, I just want him to be able to focus, and have the attention span, to make an effort.

So, it was a unanimous decision to all go back on ‘Eddie special diet’, and get his learning back on track. We are, as a family, ALL on Eddies diet, and I have to say, Fletcher’s isn’t sneezing as much, so I think there will be big benefits and changes for ALL of us, because our food is now cleaner.

I have been curious about juicing and smoothies for awhile now, and often whip up the occasional glass for myself. I have ALWAYS offered the boys a sip, but they have always been turned off by the “green”, and always said “No thanks Mum”.

Then a good friend of mine, recommended I watch the movie “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead‘. I had also heard others say their kids had watched it. So, I made it a mid-week movie night, and made fresh air popped popcorn to entice them to stay and watch it.  Luckily the movie was really well done, and the kids were happy to stay, and watch ….. AND….. drumroll!….. they asked me if they could try my juice next time I made one!!!!   WHAT?!  Hell yeah!  AND…… if they could get “healthier” !!!!!!!!  HELLO HAPPY MUM!!!!

So, I made them a “Juice Bar” the very next morning. I put out all the ingredients I had in the fridge, and I got them to create their own juice. They put it in the juicer, they pushed it through the funnel, and they poured it into their own glass. They took full ownership and responsibility for their juice, and they LOVED what they created.

I gave them some basic rules to make sure they didn’t just go on a ‘fruit-sugar-juice-hunt’ with their choices. They had to have at least two greens, at least one vegies and at least one fruit.

(please note: I made a small Typo on the date. It was June not July – I was just wishing Winter away…)

Here’s what we had to choose from:

Baby Spinach,    Cos Lettuce,    Cucumber,    Celery,    Beetroot,    Carrots,    Apples,    Pears,    Oranges,    Grapefruits,    Lemons,    Limes,  &  ginger.

We try and juice at least twice a week. They kids are so open to it now, that if someone shows signs of a sniffle, I whip up an immune boosting juice and they don’t even blink an eye, as they chug it down.  Such good boys.

We have now been Juicing for over a month, and have been on Ed’s special diet for 2 weeks. In these last few days we have started to notice changes in Eddies conversations and attention, and I really hope that this keeps getting better and better.  Time will tell, but as a mum who wants the best for her kids, it’s a journey I’m willing to take.

Wow… I have rambled on about us in this blog. Apologies.

I do however want to add, that if you are a parent who wants to make changes to their children’s health and wellbeing, it is never too late.  And you can do it with them, and you can teach them, and they can teach you. It can be a wonderful thing to do as a ‘small community’ within your house. You have the rest of your lives together, it doesn’t have to happen overnight, play with it as you go, learn, experiment, laugh, cry, & talk together.  What a wonderful gift to give each other. Closeness and health.

All the best

Cherlisa x