In Defense of Food (in a way that would make Michael Pollan punch me), Alternate Title: How Being a Mom Has Made Me Less of a Judgy B Word

Jim Gaffigan- McDonalds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YDTfEhChgw

Asher and I swung through the McDonald's drive thru on our way home from a play date with Emily & Liam today and it got me thinking...this is the second time in the last 2 weeks that I ordered Asher a happy meal.  I kind of smiled to myself because once upon a time I would have thought to myself, I will never feed my 1 year old fast food and I know that I've judged parents who have done just that.  

But boy oh boy, does having a kid turn everything upside down or what.  Beyond that, having a kid with food issues turns everything WAY upside down.  McDonald's, icecream, and goldfish crackers are my new best friends.  

I'm not saying that Asher will eat crap his whole life or that I only ever feed him crap.  He gets organic yogurt, nitrate free meat (unless he is eating a happy meal), and I have recently learned that if I chop broccoli up into microscopic pieces and mix it into his velveeta shells and cheese he will 'eat vegetables'.  But that's pretty much as good as it gets.

Right now, Asher is afraid of food.  This is a terrible thing to see happen in a 14 months old.  He chokes on solids and while we finally have an appointment scheduled with a therapist at the children's hospital feeding clinic, eating is becoming a more stressful thing for him every day.  If we would let him, he would eat yogurt, applesauce, and smoothies all day-- these things are the consistency that don't lead to aspiration like thin liquids, but he can still swallow them without having to worry about choking on a hunk of food.  He approaches new foods and solid foods cautiously, and will typically refuse them.  Exceptions are mac and cheese, goldfish crackers, and french fries.  These he seems to be comfortable with and will usually, eventually, eat them.  

So today while I was alternating oreo McFlurry bites with beans & rice bites, I couldn't help but marvel a little bit at how I used to be such a judgy jerk about how parents feed their kids.  Not saying all parents have a good excuse for nutritional neglect, but it definitely makes you stop and think about why we do the things we do.  But even if there isn't a medical reason for how/what/why/when we feed our children, I'm learning to stop thinking so much about what other people do.  As long as kids are healthy, who the hell cares how they get to that point?  Not me.  

P.S. If Asher were a completely developmentally normal eater, I would still be letting him eat the crap out of happy meals.  It is a lot of fun watching kids eat food, no matter what that food is.