I miss the high chair. Well actually ours was a lo chair. But you get the idea. Strapped in. And even though I never really strapped her in, the tray locked her wiggly little body in place. Heaven. But not anymore. I ditched it because really she was too old for it and hated sitting in it. Now she feels the need to run around the house in between bites, throwing bits of cheese, porridge or veges in her wake. Always on my freshly vacuumed or mopped floors.

I sense that the problem is that we don’t have a dining table. Mainly because the dining room (if you could call it that, it’s really a glorified alcove) has been turned into a playroom and there just doesn’t seem to be room for a dining table at the moment. And if I don’t sit down on a regular basis to eat and stay there then I can hardly expect her to. Around here I’m usually a standing eater or a couch eater. I’m sure this is part of the problem.

Still, sometimes I just wish she would stay still for five second out of her entire life, so she could eat or I could help her get dressed or any of those things that I have to do multiple times a day that she finds so completely inconvenient to oblige me in.

I’m absolutely amazed that she actually sat down to eat this smoothie. I say eat, because she insisted on using a spoon. And so, I insisted that she sit down. An exercise in futility perhaps. Because the smoothie still ended up all over her shirt and somehow all over the couch as well. One of the miracles of toddlers. You give them the tiniest amount of liquid and they can somehow spread it over the vast majority of your entire house. It’s a gift, really.

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Welcome to the July Carnival of Natural Parenting: Let’s Talk About Food

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about their struggles and successes with healthy eating. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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I love food. I love food when I’m happy. I love food when I’m sad. I’ve even been known to especially love it when I’m bored. Sometimes, I plan particular meals for things that I really enjoy, like a favourite tv show. Because for me nothing is really complete until there is food involved.

Family traditions are often built around food. At Christmas, we always have pancakes for breakfast and lasagna, garlic bread and potato salad for lunch. It’s something that I’ve continued with our daughter because for me, traditions are the backbone of families and special memories. Of course, we’ve added to traditions over time. Josh does like pancakes, but as an enthusiastic meat eater, his special meal is a big breakfast with lots of crispy bacon. And while he does enjoy ricotta and spinach lasagna, his big thing at Christmas is a ham.

I involve Riley in cooking. Because one of my favourite memories (and first memories) was licking a cake bowl with my brother. She loves to mix and pour, and she sits up on the bench looking as happy as she could possibly be. I like her being involved in all aspects of food. From making to preparing to eating. I want her to know how to make a loaf of bread, or a batch of cookies, or a laksa.

There is one thing that I haven’t added to this equation and that’s the growing of the food. I live in fear that one day Riley will grow up and not know that pasta sauce comes from tomatoes. Or some such thing. So a vegetable garden is high on my priority list. It will combine my two favourite toddler activities – food and getting dirty.

Some of my most joyful moments as a parent have been when I haven’t even finished making a meal and all of a sudden Riley has retrieved a spoon from the drawer and is already digging in to taste it. Or when her little eyes lights up when she sees a favourite meal and she rubs yer belly ‘yum! yum!’

I may not be the most disciplined about always preparing meals – peanut butter pizza anyone? Or about always using organic ingredients. Or about making everything from scratch. But I hope that I’ll be able to pass on the beauty of food in creating and treasuring moments when she starts to build her own traditions.

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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated July 13 with all the carnival links.)

• Welcome to Two — All About Food — In case you hadn’t heard, there is a conspiracy afoot from the two year olds of the world. Shana at Tales of Minor Interest stumbled onto their newsletter!
• Four Seasons of Eating Locally — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction has pointers for what fresh produce can be found year-round. (@MBJunction)
• Happy Families Can Have More Than One Diet — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now has figured out a way for her family to live happily as vegans and vegetarians with relatives who eat meat. (@DebChitwood)
• My Own Omnivore’s Dilemma — Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante prioritizes responsible consumer choices for her family.
• No Gluten — No Cry — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma learned to cook balanced meals when her son’s food sensitivities prompted a diet overhaul. (@kitchenwitch)
• Try, Try Again — Stefanie at very very fine has become an enthusiastic consumer of locally grown food.
• CSA — Week 1 — Casey at What Love Is wants her children to know where their food comes from, so she joined a friendly CSA. (@CBerbs)
• Food: Parenting or Homemaking? — Michelle at The Parent Vortex sees food as part of a parent’s nurturing role. (@TheParentVortex)
• 5 Tips to Help Kids Develop Healthy Eating Habits — If you struggle with healthy eating, helping your child develop healthy habits might be a challenge. Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares five easy tips that will help your kids learn to make good food choices. (@CodeNameMama)
• Family Food: Seeking Balance Between Healthy, Sustainable & Affordable — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings has a whole list of ideas for how she can improve her family’s eating, both now and into the future. (@sunfrog)
• Whole Foods in, Wholesome Feelings Out — Jessica at This is Worthwhile has turned her back on the processed, preservative-ridden food of her childhood. (@tisworthwhile)
• When to Splurge on Organic (and When It Is Okay to Skip It) — Becoming Mamas tell you what foods to prioritize when buying pricier organic food, and where you can find it cheaper. (@becomingmamas)
• A Locavore’s Family Meal — Acacia at Be Present Mama tells a story in pictures of her family taking a trip to the local organic farmers market and then preparing a summer meal together with their bounty.
• Eat Your Food, or Else — Why should we not bribe a child to eat? TwinToddlersDad from Littlestomaks (Science Driven Real Life Toddler Nutrition) explains. (@TwinToddlersDad)
• Food, Glorious Food! — Luschka at Diary of a First Child describes three easy ways her family has started eating healthier. (@diaryfirstchild)
• Celebrating Food — Mrs Green at Little Green Blog believes in food as medicine and thinks it’s worth paying more to keep healthy. (@myzerowaste)
• Oil and Yogurt — What have you been motivated to do with the current oil spill crisis? midnightfeedings has started making her own yogurt. (@midnightfeeding)
• Growth-Spurt Soup (AKA “Beannut Stew”) — BeanMa has a special stew to help her baby through growth spurts that keep her up all night. (@thebeanma)
• Why I Love The Real Food Community — Much like many people who follow AP/NP values, Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! takes the parts of the “real food” philosophy that work for her family and leaves the rest. (@bfmom)
• Feeding a Family of Six — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children gives helpful tips for feeding a family of six.
• Starting Solids at 6 Months — Did your doctor recommend that you give your baby cereal? Sheryl at Little Snowflakes discusses how whole foods are so much healthier (and more delicious) than traditional cereal. (@sheryljesin)
• Am I What I Eat? — Andrea!!! at Ella-Bean & Co. has figured out a way to avoid grocery stores nearly altogether.
• Are We Setting Our Kids Up To Fail? — Megan at Purple Dancing Dahlias found that cutting out the junk also transformed her sons’ behavior problems.
• Changing your family’s way of eating — Lauren at Hobo Mama has techniques you can try to move your family gradually toward a healthier diet. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Real Food — What kinds of fake foods do you eat? And why?! Lisa C. at My World Edenwild talks about why she chooses real food.
• A Snackaholic’s Food Battle — Julie at Simple Life wants to stop snacking and get into the old ways of cooking from scratch and raising her own food. (@homemakerjulie)
• Food, Not Fight — Summer at Finding Summer doesn’t want her kids to grow up like her husband: hating everything green. (@summerm)
• How Do You Eat When You Are out of Town? — Cassie at There’s a Pickle In My Life wants some tips on how to eat healthy when you are out of town.
• Carnival of Natural Parenting: Food! — Sybil at Musings of a Milk Maker hopes that by serving her children healthy, balanced meals, they will become accustomed to making good food choices. (@sybilryan)
• There’s No Food Like Home’s — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing revels in the Bajan food of her upbringing. (@BlkWmnDoBF)
• This Mom’s Food Journey — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment made a journey from not paying attention to food to growing her own.
• Who Knew Eating Was So Hard? — The challenges involved in changing to healthier eating habits take on a whole new dimension when you have a child who has difficulties eating. kadiera at Our Little Acorn shares her own experiences. (@kadiera)
• Loving Food — Starr at Earth Mama truly believes food is her family’s medicine and is willing to spend days preparing it the traditional way.
• Food Mindfulness — Danielle at born.in.japan details how her family spends money on each category of food. (@borninjp)
• Food for Little People — Zoey at Good Goog wants to bless her daughter with happy traditions built around good food. (@zoeyspeak)
• Eat Like a Baby — Have you been told that you should not equate food with love? Kate Wicker at Momopoly shows us why that’s not necessarily true. (@Momopoly)
• Food — Deb at Science@Home tries to teach her children three rules to help them eat a healthy diet. (@ScienceMum)
• Healthy Eating Lactose-Free — MamanADroit gives us tips on how to eat healthy if you are lactose intolerant (or just don’t want cow milk). (@MamanADroit)

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