Healthy Mum, Happy Baby

Gayla of You Grow Girl sent along a few more links for ideas for gardening with kids. She suggested www.kidsgardening.com and a section on her site with realistic jobs for kids in the garden: www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/jobsforkids.php 

She also suggested starting small with “really simple stuff like starting a small herb from plant or seed…giving the kids one plant that is already there is a good start for a really young kid.”

A friend sent a link to an great article from Britain’s The Independent newspaper from May 22nd called Tyranny of the child gurus: You don’t have to be a paranoid parent which is well worth reading, it starts:

There was a time when parents were told that to guarantee family happiness, children should be seen and not heard. Today it seems, to some, that a role reversal has taken place. In the 21st century, it is the parents themselves who are being told to shut up and learn from their betters.

The once private world between parent and child has been annexed by an army of policymakers, so-called childcare gurus and supernannies proffering a bewildering array of daunting, if well-meant, advice.

And there’s great stuff on how mothering has been taken away from mothers and handed over to “the experts”, plus the whole hollywood mother image of losing all your baby weight post-haste etc. Plus there are low downs on the theories and practices of Jo Frost (aka Super Nanny), Sheila Kitzinger and Dr. Spock among others.

I was interested to read it because it crystalized some of the things I wrote about in the book like weight loss and knowing your own child and trusting your own instincts, so it really echoed with me.

Full article >> 

note: if you visit the site and the article isn’t available please email me and I can send you the copy.

Does all this talk of childhood obesity freak you out a little? Me too. A new report from the Saint Louis University Medical Center concludes that children who are involved with growing and cooking their food have a better diet. If a school has a garden the students also eat more fruits and veggies, and know more about eating healthily.

It’s a good time of year to start thinking about growing your own fruits and veggies to harvest over the summer and in the fall – apparently this past weekend was a doozy for garden centres etc. If’ you’ve got a black thumb like I do you may need some help,so here are a few websites with helpful planting info:

You Grow Girl – Canadian Gayla Trail’s site and books approach gardening with a laid-back approach which focuses equally on environmentalism, style, affordability, art and humour.

If you’re like us and you don’t have a patch of garden to call your own, you may want to look for space in your local community garden – it may be too late for this season, but you can always reserve for next and you could start small by growing fresh herbs on your windowsill.

Here are a few tips from Better Homes & Gardens on starting a garden. Brian Minter’s site is good too, as is his call in segment on BC Almanac on CBC. The Natural Gardener, a store on West 10th Avenue here in Vancouver, also has useful classes to get you going, and an archive of articles. Plus if you go in, Bob, the owner, is super helpful.

Coming soon – cooking with your kids, tips & tricks for involving them without destroying your kitchen…

Source & more info on the Saint Louis study >>

Want a sneak peek at Healthy Mum, Happy Baby? Check out the June issue of Today’s Parent on newsstands or online now.

There’s an excerpt from Healthy Mum, Happy Baby with the lowdown on what nutrients you need, which vices you can indulge in – at least a little bit – how to order the healthiest take out, and more.

Enjoy!

A lot of emotions can prompt overeating – stress, frustration, boredom, anxiety – and new mums can be prone to all of those emotions. Here are a few tips on avoiding overeating to fill a void:

• Try and avoid or limit caffeine and alcohol, which can be especially hard on your system if you’re already anxious.
• Keep hydrated by drinking six to eight glasses of water a day. It’ll stop you from confusing hunger with thirst and keeping your thirst at bay can also help you feel less fatigued.
• Use healthy snacks to help keep your blood sugar levels stable. When I was on Breakfast TV today I had an array of snacks to do just that – stock up on foods like hummus, nuts, energy bars, homemade muffins, and yummy cheeses.
• Omega-3 fatty acids do great things for your mood, your skin, your hair, your brain…try walnuts for a snack or sardines on toast for lunch.
• Magnesium helps relax your muscles, so try adding more whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts and seeds into your diet. They’re all rich in magnesium.
• Keep an eye on portion size too, there’s no harm in putting something in the fridge to finish up later, it’s a perfect snack.

Source & more info

Or at least tuned to the radio & TV if you want to hear more about Healthy Mum, Happy Baby.

On Monday the 14th I’ll be on on CFAX Radio in Victoria live from 4:30 to 5:00 with Rebecca Scott. I’m not sure if it’s a full 1/2 hour or not, I’ll keep you posted. The call # is 1070, but I’m not sure if it’s am or fm. You can listen live online if you’re not in Victoria however.

On Tuesday morning I’ll be doing two six-minute segments on Breakfast Television between 9:00 am and 10:00 am so if you’re able to tune in then I’d love your feedback.

There are two tickets left for the Barbara Jo’s event on Wednesday night. What do you get for $70? A chance to see me cook and talk at the same time which could be interesting on so many levels…plus a me-cooked meal, which I’m not going to divulge yet, but should be delicious, and a copy of the book, which I will, of course sign. Call the store: 604.688.6755 if you’re interested!

There may be more coming up next week, so check back to this post for updates! And thanks for everyone’s support & feedback!

May 10, 2007
24 Hours
Yummy Mummy

This is a little bit hard to read, so if you scroll down on the website you can find it here under Yummy Mummy!

And just a little jetlagged and discombobulated…after a day of flying, a day of PR, a day of hanging and way too many good meals and good wine, I’m back again. I felt a bit like Alice as the entire trip other people were taking care of me and had itineraries and plans and I just had to follow them around, which is hugely contrary to being a mother when you’re the one with everyone in tow. It was hugely relaxing in an odd, jetlagged, nervous-about-aceing-pr kinda way!

When the articles etc come out I’ll keep you posted. And if you’re in Toronto and want to buy the book, I’ve signed every copy at every Chapters in downtown Toronto, so if you want a signed copy you know where to find it!

Well I’ve picked a TV-ready outfit that does its best to minimize my blubby mummy tummy and that can go from TV to radio to print…it makes the idea of office to evening dressing seem positively easy. I’ve packed my bag, put all my in-flight toiletries into a resealable plastic bag, stuffed the rest into my suitcase, made numerous lists for everyone at home. Now all that’s left is to go…I’ll report back when I get back (if not from there).

A few Healthy Mum, Happy Baby links I found while trolling online today:

• This site has tonnes of good breastfeeding info & links plus a hitherto unknown hmhb plug
• Amazon.ca has a list of recommended books for Mother’s Day & hmhb made line two! Yeah!
• My mum also sent a link to an article in the Globe with Dr. Jack Newman answering your breastfeeding questions, and the article links to another article called Breast Friends – which would have been on my alternate title list had I been clever enough to think of it – but which is actually about a growing trend in wetnursing and co-nursing…I always wondered how it would feel to nurse someone else’s child but never went there myself.

I just got my TO itinerary today – in addition to the CH Morning interview – which may be cancelled – I’ll also do an interview with Jennifer Williams of 680 News Radio but I don’t think it’ll be live and two print interviews with the Hamilton Spectator and also with CP journalist Judy Creighton.

Judy Creighton also reviewed Whining & Dining which I recently blogged about and she’s got some other interesting articles on kids & eating and bottled water vs. tap water.

Then I’ll hit all the Chapters/Indigo stores and be geeky all over again. It’s going to be whirlwind!