Monday, September 22, 2008

Things That Make You Go...HUH?


The other day HoneyLuna and I were in the grocery story and we found ourselves in the baby food aisle, which is a place that even when I was the mother of weanlings I didn't spend much time on. In fact, here's something amazing:
I raised four children and never once bought a can of formula or a jar of baby food.

Whoa! Ms. Moon! How did you do that?

Uh. I breastfed and when my kids started eating "real" food, I fed them just that- real food.
You want to know the stupidest thing I've ever seen? The most ridiculous, anti-environmental, over-priced piece of hooey in the world?

A jar of baby food bananas.

What kind of simpleton would buy a JAR of mushed bananas?

When were those bananas grown? And what sort of energy was used to process and can them and transport them to your store and after you use them, what do you do with the jar?

It's so easy to take a piece of banana and smush it with a fork that a three-year old can do it.
Sweet potatoes, same thing. White potatoes.

But what about pears and peaches and apples and carrots and rice and beans and all that other stuff that comes in jars labeled as baby food?

Here's what you do: You cook the food. Same food that grown-ups eat, maybe a little less chili powder, okay? You take a small amount, you put it in that sweet little device in the picture there, you turn the tiny crank and out comes.....BABY FOOD!

Amazing.

That's how I fed all my young'un's. I wonder how much money I saved.

And here's another thing- my kids all grew up liking "real" food.

There's no magic they put in those jars of food. It's not like a jar of baby bananas has anything in it that you would want to feed your baby that doesn't come in a regular old banana.
If you've bought into the organic baby food thing- just buy regular organic food, cook it up, smush it up, and feed it to your child.
Let's face it- if it's not something your baby should eat, you shouldn't be eating it either.

Okay. This post is certainly not earth-shaking or philosophical and there's not one metaphor in it.

I guess it's a rant.

And I have ranted. I could go on and rant about breast versus bottle and baby juices. But I won't. And I won't even mention disposable diapers. Uh-oh. I just did. Sorry.

I will have to admit that I did buy those zwieback cookies for my kids to teeth on, and I'm not sure why. By the time the kid had gummed one of those babies to death, they were covered with a zwieback crust that, mixed with baby saliva, could be used to glue cars together.

They may all still have a bit of that stuff behind their ears. I don't know.

But people- please- a little sanity here. I know the world's going crazy- but jarred bananas?

Okay. I'm done.

Love ya.

17 comments:

  1. I have to bite my tongue about how people raise and feed their kids so often I might just as well get it pierced. When friends tell me all their kid will eat is chicken nuggets or string cheese or that they won't tell their kid that what they are eating is fish for fear they suddenly won't like it, I just have to shake my head and wonder. (Not to say kids don't suddenly have Strong Opinions about food sometimes.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it'd be fun if you had a feature each week on "Things That Make You Go...HUH?" Good rant. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had one of those. It even went out to dinner with us. I remember how excited my babies would get when they saw it. A very useful tool. I also gave it as a shower gift for years. My daughter mashes things up now and the boy has a big butt from his REAL diapers. She said it's hard now to find pants that fit (he's nine months) because all the clothes are now styled for tiny disposable diaper butts!
    I think people just don't have time for the real things anymore. My other grandson has croup and the dr. put him on predisone! It's the first time ever he's had this. But hey, mom works and dad, too and Baby can't afford to let this run its course because he has to go to the day care. I was a stay home with the babies mom, feed them what's good and take care of them. I think kids are sicker because of the drugs. Oh well my 2 cents. That's funny I hadn't thought of the baby food grinder in years and I open your page and there it is!

    ReplyDelete
  4. First you leave me some great advice about becoming a parent on my blog and now this. You are providing me with good stuff here. Mrs. Shife and I are pretty practical so hopefully we will not be duped by the baby food makers. Plus she was raised on a farm so she is a big fan of real food already.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, DTG, children certainly CAN have very definite opinions about their food preferences.
    Nicol- hmmm....
    Sally- I think we are related.
    Mr. Shife- aw. Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with nicol. I like your rants. It makes me feel like I am home again.
    Love you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just chewed baby girl's food while wearing a bird-like boa and then spat out the gumpy stuff on her plate.
    Baby mama seemed to think the feathers were overkill.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good point on the baby food...I will likely start doing that as dinero is low!

    We totally would have preferred to breast feed Maddie - for her health and $ - but because she was born so premature H's milk had dried up by the time Maddie was ready.

    Oh well...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, Jessie! Stop it! Me? Rant? Puleeze!
    Love you, too.
    Magnum- if you want to know the truth, I actually did chew a few things up for my kids. Why not? They especially liked the way I crushed ice for them when they were teething. They owe me for crowns now.
    I never wore a boa, though. Wish I'd thought of that.
    And Mike- sometimes breastfeeding just can't work. I know that. I think Maddie is doing fine on whatever y'all are feeding that gorgeous baby.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hallelujah! I feel the same and did the same with my grrrlz and although they all have their own pecularities regarding their food they all eat real food not overprocessed bland chemical laden food!

    ReplyDelete
  11. My eldest is autistic and refused to breastfeed, although I tried mightily. And Alex self-weaned at 12 months. I totally plan on breastfeeding this one, and I'm excited.

    And my mom did the same thing with baby food as you did. She'd freeze it in ice cube trays and pop one out when we needed to eat. You and she would get along fabulously, I think. She's cool, just like you.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yea - but isnt it fun to

    Fill your kids up with coke (the drink) - give 'em a bar of fizzy goo, a bag of sweetsand then

    Just whatch them run around like monkeys.

    Come on - it's great.

    Try it in a restaurant

    Great laugh

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ms. Bliss- anyone who had a baby at home is probably more inclined to pass up the jarred baby goo. Funny, huh?
    Aunt Becky- I'll bet this baby is going to want to nurse for three or four years. And I'm sure your mother and I do have a lot in common although she's probably a lot cooler than I am. It wouldn't be hard.
    Mr. P- oh, you are so right. What fun!

    ReplyDelete
  14. We actually got stuck behind a woman in the grocery store line last night, who hadn't picked out the right one that was on sale. She kept complaining how expensive it was.

    ReplyDelete
  15. yes!

    amen to this rant!

    i decided a few years ago that i wanted to make all my own baby food someday, as in... once i start having children... in a few more years.

    im still debating this diaper situation though, tell me how reusable ones worked for you?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I tell you what, AJ- I'll write something about cloth diapers soon.
    I promise.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am not a parent, but g diapers look like a great choice. Check it out.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.