Friday, October 13, 2006

The Lunchbox/Bento Obsession

Okay, I'm a nut. Maybe I'm just a foodie. I love to look at pictures of food and all these creative people getting up at the crack of dawn to make beautiful healthy food for their children is really very inspiring.

Run your fingers over to http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ and go to the archives and start reading.
I can't wait for her cook book to come out and I'm not even Vegan. What I find unique about Jennifershmoo's site is that her young son rates his lunch. Jennifer lets us know what he ate and what he liked. I like that. I like that such a young child will try so many different kinds of food too! My hat is off to Jennifershmoo!

I teach 3 yr olds. I always repack whatever they don't eat so their mom's will know if they like their lunch or not. Some mom's would rather I just dumped the leftovers, but I feel responsible for letting them know if their kid is eating or not.

Personally I wish there were more information out there about food and behavior.

My oldest is now 18, but she is still allergic to peanuts and soy products. When she was small if she ate peas she would become a whiney mess within 10 minutes. I have taught kids who after lunch are dazed, they walk around as if they are in a fog, they don't listen and sometimes have mood swings. Were they just tired or did they have a reaction to what they ate for lunch? I'd like to know.

Back to the web, I'm busy searching for a pumpkin cookie/granola bar/protein bar that doesn't have peanut or soy in it. I'd like the oldest to be able to eat it too.

Viki

1 comment:

ChristineMM said...

Yes, too many parents don't see the food/behavior connection.

I found "Is this your child" by Doris Rapp MD a brilliant book.

Some of my friends are/were programmed/taught by advertising about what to feed their child. It began with the baby food ads from Gerber and other jarred food companies. They then believed the Sunday newspaper coupon section about feeding kids pure garbage for snacks and also somehow got the message that babies, toddlers and all children should drink juice or cow's milk not plain water (gasp, never plain water). Ads in mainstream parenting magazines are full of terrible food suggestions (Family FUn, Child, Parenting, BabyTalk, etc.).

I also don't get how 'snack food' means 'junk food', I just don't get it. To me snacks can be healthy food and they don't ever have to eat crackers, and junk as a snack. If they want a cookie call it dessert not snack.

Sigh.