Mondays with Momma: When I Was …

We’re all familiar with that common expression, “When I was your age, I had to … blah, blah, blah.”  Usually the comparison that followed was three times as hard, ten times as long, and uphill, both ways.

Suzy has a natural curiosity as to how I did things when I was a Mom and I’m more than happy to share what I remember.  I don’t know that I’ve been of any help with any information dispensed in the mothering department, since I’ve discovered that any advice I’m ready to share had already been researched and cataloged away months before the little one arrived on the scene.  I think her curiosity is more like when I asked my Mom what she did to entertain herself as a child, and did they even have electricity back then …. ?

When I had my girls, I was sandwiched between an era that did things a certain way and a new era that was changing baby recommendations in a big way.  Breastfeeding was already making a come-back, but as far as to how long to nurse and when to introduce solids, well, that depended on which baby book you were using.  The general rule of thumb was to introduce a cereal (rice or oatmeal) to stretch out feedings and then later on (after no reactions) a pureed jar of fruit, like peaches or apricots. Fruits were followed by pureed jars of veggies, like peas and sweet potato.  A teething biscuit and cheerios were added when the pearly whites appeared.

The first time that I got to watch Bennett and see his stash in the freezer, I realized that I had entered an entirely new era of baby raising.  As most of you know from previous postings on this blog, Square Piece makes all of Benny-boo’s baby food … ALL of it.  When she told me what his very first food would be, I was immediately impressed … all I could think was, “That boy is gonna be strong and healthy!”

I asked her to send me a list of all the foods that he has tried thus far …. here’s what she sent me:

Meats:

beef

beef and chicken liver

bison

chicken

Cornish game hen

egg white & egg yolk

lamb

pink and white fish

pork ribs/pork chops

roe (fish eggs)

steak

turkey

Veggies:

broccoli

carrots

corn

eggplant

garlic

green beans

kabocha squash

onions

peas

peppers

pumpkin

spinach

sweet potato

swiss chard

variety of beans

white potato

yellow squash

zucchini

Fruits:

apple

apricot

avocado

banana

blueberry

cucumber

kiwi

lemon

orange

papaya

peach

pear

strawberry

tomato

other:

mushroom

oatmeal

organic pasta made w/Jerusalem artichoke flour

peanut butter

ricotta cheese (homemade)

sugar cane

Van’s multi-grain, natural crackers/gluten-free

whole grain brown sprouted rice

Stir-ins:

maple syrup

organic butter (homemade)

organic coconut oil

organic cream cheese (homemade)

organic cod liver-butter oil

organic heavy cream

organic olive oil

organic plain yogurt

organic whole milk

salt

Seasonings and herbs

The one thing she did not have on her list.

A rawhide dog bone.

As for cheerios, she politely informed me that, “He’s swiped one or two cheerios that have been dropped by other babies on the church nursery floor.”

Yeah, I’m definitely impressed. Kudos to you, Suzanna … I wish that I had been as confident at mothering as you are … I love the support that you have among our family, your peers and society in general.  Now … about that magnet message from sneaky Louise …..