Idiotic Statement of the Week

I originally wanted to limit this category to one idiotic statement a week. But there are SO MANY to choose from!!! So, I may post more than one. Some may have my comments added, some really don't need much of anything- some idiocy speaks for itself.
Anyway, number ONE for this week:
(this statement is part of a "discussion" on Amy's blog about health and nutrition. Mind you, she calls herself a doctor. Scary.)

Another Mummy:"Are you seriously saying that it's fine to stuff your children full of crap and this will have no effect on them whatsoever?


Dr Amy Tuteur: "Yes. That's what I am saying."


(Now, in case it isn't blaringly obvious, the idiotic statement is the one by "Dr" Amy.)

Oh! I HAVE to add this one (from the same discussion):

"So breastfeeding is best NOT because it is natural, but because it is a superior food that we cannot duplicate. "

heeheeheeheeheehee
Um, yeah.
It's a superior food that we cannot duplicate- WHY?? Because it's NATURAL.
Yes, it is superior. Because it is made by human bodies for human babies. You cannot duplicate breastmilk with something synthetic, or man-made, and produce something equally beneficial. And it's not for lack of trying. (in fact food companies are still trying earnestly). With all of our knowledge and technology, our own bodies still do it better. It's really very simple.

Now back to that first statement. What is there to say?? I'm so glad this doctor enlightened me. And to think, for all these years, I've been torturing my children by trying to make them eat healthy foods. And I could have been stuffing them with all the crap that they wanted! From now on, Ezra will get sprite in his sippy cup, and tootsie rolls with his chicken. He'll love it. Calev, you don't want to eat your veggies? Okay, sure, just have some ice cream instead. Actually, just go ahead and eat ALL the ice cream.
Better yet, instead of reading labels on the food I buy to AVOID all the sugar and artificial crap, I'll read them to make sure I only get stuff with Artificial flavors, red #40, and 23 grams of sugar per serving, etc etc. Because really, these things are put in "food" to make them look and taste more appealing, and what you put in your body has no effect on it according to this doctor. Why not give yopur kids, and yourself only what you want? According to her warped logic, what is the point of eating real food?

This kind of leads me to something I've been thinking about lately. So little of what the average american eats is really FOOD. We put things into our bodies every day that we have no idea about. You don't eat a single thing that has NO effect on your body. That's physiology 101.
Dr. Amy, nor anyone else can say with any credibility that anything you buy, that's marketed as food, is safe, and/or healthy regardless of what's in it. In fact, most of the time, you don't know what's in something even if you do read labels. Why? Because the food industry is not required to let you know. How many things say "artificial flavor(s)" on the list of ingredients? Those artificial flavors are made up of numerous chemicals- sometimes 20 or more, to make something taste or smell a certain way. There is no law that requires that list of chemicals to be on the label. So, if you eat something that says "artificial flavor", you have NO IDEA what you are eating. If you don't really know what you are eating, you cannot claim that it is safe, healthy, or lacks any effect on your body. You can ASSUME all you want, but you do not know anything.

I personally feel that as a parent, I am responsible for what I put into my children's bodies. If I don't know what's in it, they're not getting it. I'm sorry, but I don't have that much trust in the multi-million dollar food industry to assume that they have my family's health or best interest at the forefront of their agenda. If they did, why not list ALL the ingredients in our food? Don't we have a right to know what we are ingesting?

Dr. Amy loves to say that there's no evidence to show this or that to be unsafe. But, you can't really say that if you don't know what you're even ingesting. Furthermore, when it comes to food, drugs, anything that we are putting into our bodies, the burden should be on proving it is SAFE , not saying all is good until it is proven UNsafe. Duh.

Spring In Maine

This is just last week here in Maine. The snow was almost gone, and the temperature was at least in the 40's everyday. It was officially mud-season. The kids were thrilled (as was I) to be able to run around and play without being hindered by all the the poofy layers of snowpants, coats, boots, hats, etc etc.

And my favorite thing of all- the robins came out. About 30 of them milling around the lawn every morning until our 3-legged dog noticed them and chased them around. I finally heard a pheobe- which for me has always been the sign that spring is really here. I love that sound, always have since I was a little girl.
I love this time of year- the longer days, the smell of the earth thawing, the sun, and the sounds- all hinting of the long warm summer days to come...

Then came Tuesday morning. I looked out my window and saw this:


It was actually really beautiful, but, well, it just wasn't what I expected to see on an April morning. I'm not much of a winter person, but I reasoned that it would probably melt by the end of the day, and spring would be back for good.

Then we got a snowstorm. My kids were thrilled. Calev didn't have school, and spent most of the day outside (after I dragged the winter stuff out from where I had packed it away for the season). Eleora and Ezra followed me around the house with their boots until I gave in, and bundled them up. Poor Ezra could barely stand up outside, especially with the clunky boots. He's 14 months old, and has been walking since he was 9 months. He is so steady on his feet most of the time- he runs, jumps, climbs- and he's very determined and strong-willed when he sets his mind on something ... all I can say is he was so frustrated ! Every two steps he was flat on his back, or his face. And when he did manage to get his balance in the snow, Otie kept running over and knocking him back down.

Actually, the picture is a bit deceiving. This is one of the few times Ezra actually stayed up while Otie knocked the other two down. We got a LOT of snow during that storm- I think it was the most we got all winter. And 4 days later it's still here. I wonder if we'll have a spring at all this year?

Driving home today, I saw a field full of Canada geese standing around looking perplexed. It was definately spring when they decided to fly north again. I wonder if they think they got lost?

When we first moved to Maine a few years ago someone said that if you don't like the weather, just blink. They were right. That's how it is here. You just never know what to expect, and it can always change with the blink of an eye.