We’ve all been there– you’re in an ice cream shop and a child points to that flavor–the flavor that’s so fluorescent it probably glows in the dark. It’s got a name like ‘cotton candy explosion!’ or something of the like. It’s the flavor all the kids want–the one that turns your entire mouth and lips a dark blue color with an aftertaste that’s reminiscent of hairspray. It’s a childhood rite of passage to be able to get the most outrageous, brightest dessert that you can find. One that my child will never have.
As I watched the Chef’s Table tonight on Netflix about the amazing woman who started Milk Bar (her business is built on desserts inspired by junk food) I started feeling nostalgic about the junk food I ate when I was a kid. And then I felt sad. Sad because I have to say no to my daughter every time she inevitable points to the cotton candy explosion flavor with big eyes and asks if she can get “that one”. She doesn’t eat anything fluorescent (or nostalgic). Why? Because she turns into a different person when she eats them. In fact even when we give her dye-free, chemical free treats she gets pretty hyper. But we’ve somehow managed to fool her into thinking that a 1/8 cup of ice cream or ten natural m & m’s are standard sized servings! So did I ban dyes because I wanted to be the perfect mother, or because I was obsessed with nutrition? Absolutely not. I did it because I wanted her AND ME to have at least a shot at a normal life and without this diet she didn’t. She just didn’t…
I remember taking her to the zoo when she was two. She didn’t want to be carried and she didn’t want to walk. So she just layed on the ground screaming. Then she’d go to the next exhibit and do the same thing. Animals? What animals? She didn’t care about the animals! She didn’t have the focus or desire to even look at them. I distinctly remember getting candy from one of those coin machines in order to appease her and make her happy. Of course it did the exact opposite. We had come with my parents. My dad had taken a few hours off work to meet us at the zoo in the middle of the day. But he didn’t stay long. I didn’t blame him, I wouldn’t have either. I remember thinking I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t handle this force of nature. I was barely hanging on by a thread so how was I supposed to manage HER? Well the will to survive is a steady force. I say steady because we don’t really have a choice. We take our curve balls, no matter how devastating, because we certainly can’t avoid them. We can try to minimize the damage but we can’t avoid them. So I kept on…trying to survive.
There is a misconception that moms who ban junk food from their children are overachieving neurotics. The truth of it is that these women have probably been to hell and back. I say hell because it’s the worst place I can think of and there is nothing worse than seeing your child suffer day in and day out. What, you are probably asking yourself, does any of this have to do with fluorescent ice cream? Well a lot of these kids’ bodies just can’t process these chemicals. This comes out in behavior and focus. The artificial junk is affecting their body’s ability to function the way it’s supposed to. What was supposed to be “fun” turns into “why can’t my child behave?” Well let’s start with the food…
Erin Fisher NTP 