God Bless the United States of America

Okay....so Christmas is still  my favorite holiday.  Even as an adult.  However, Independence Day is a very close second.  

I love the United States of America.  I choke up when ever the National Anthem is sung.  When every single fan at the Boston Garden drowned out Rene Rancourt at the first Bruins game after the Boston Marathon Bombings, I sobbed.  Hard.  I am so proud and grateful to live here, I am consumed by it sometimes.  Usually my life is too chaotic to slow down and really think about how blessed and lucky we are.  But July 4th is a day we have to stop and appreciate what we have.   

We had a party.  I was so stressed out before the party because I wanted my house and yard to look good.  Then, the closer we got to the day of the party, I realized that A.)  all of my friends are working moms and dads that are as busy or busier than I am B.) my friends value the rare opportunity to get together and see and talk to each other again and C.) after three weeks of rain, there was NO way I was going to conquer the jungle our country acre had become.  The pool was clean, the bathrooms were clean and the rest of the house was mostly clean.  Done.  I didn't care that there were weeds growing up through every crack in our brick walkway.  I didn't care that weeds surrounded the outside of the pool fence.  I didn't care that there was dust on most of the surfaces in the house.  Nobody else cared either.  

How did I celebrate this country's birthday?  I got to spend a beautiful summer day with my family and the my very best friends and know that we live in the best place in the world.

Do I suffer from depression?

I am glad to say that I do not have Depression.  I think I just had a serious case of the blues.  But I have broken free from them.  For now.  The ups and downs of life sometimes seem like an unbearable roller coaster.  The joy of the riding the peak (for however long it may last) makes it all worth while.  But getting through those down moments can be a long, arduous challenge.

Do I suffer from depression?  Have you ever asked yourself that?  Considering 12.4 million women (versus 6.4 million men) are affected by depression each year, you very well could be.  But there are many positive points to make.  If you are depressed, you certainly aren't alone and there is help.  As I mentioned in my last post, three of my dearest friends suffer from various degrees of depression -from bi-polar disorder to mild depression.  They are both happy and healthy.  It was a long road for my friend with bi-polar disorder, but her support team (family, friends and doctors) were invaluable to her daily survival.  If you suspect you have depression, please call someone - friend, family or doctor - for help.

Such a difficult question to ask yourself.  Do I suffer from depression?  Click to find out.  I've actually bookmarked the website.  I think it will prove helpful for many aspects of my life.

I'm Back after a Bad Spell

I am back. It's been a month since my last post.  My last two posts were pretty depressing and I stopped writing because I thought I had to be more positive and helpful.  Then I realized that there were probably many other working moms that were (or are) struggling like I was.  I realized that I should embrace that audience.  The upbeat, outgoing, I've-got-my-shit-together blogs can be helpful and motivating but often times, I think they can annoying and distressing - because I can't seem to do it. Get my shit together, that is. 

So here I am.  My blog name is Multi-Tasking Master Mom and I am anything but a master at this.  BUT, my kids are happy, healthy, polite and love to read.  So I must be doing something right.  And I hold onto that - tightly.  

My "bad spell" brings up a topic I don't see covered much, although I don't have much time to read other blogs, so maybe I am wrong.  Depression.  It's a disease and a very big deal.  I know people who suffer from mild cases and are on medication and that helps them.  So I wonder.....do I have it?  Can it come and go without the use of medication?  Should I be on medication (I'd rather not)? I think the answers to the first two questions are yes, but I am going to do a little research and get back to you.

My parting words are - don't worry if you don't have your shit together.  I think we are in the same boat as a lot of moms.  

Weekend

Here it is, Friday night, again.  A night meant for relaxing and/or celebrating the end of the work week.  Then why do I feel just as stressed and overwhelmed as I do on a weeknight?  UGH.  I have a list of things to do a mile long.  Grocery shopping.  This must be done without the children.  I keep trying to take them with me and every time I do, I regret it by Aisle 3!  So that leaves evenings.  After my kids are tucked in I rush to the store and by Aisle 3 I hear that the store is closing in 15 minutes.  Oh no they are not!  

Tomorrow - TBall game and dance class in the morning.  Saturday afternoon we are going to attend the town fair (it's actually called a Hoe Down and we live in Massachusetts!)  And it is going to be WICKED hot here.  It's going to be a LONG, hot day.  Good news is the children will sleep well.  Saturday night I have a date with a couple of girlfriends and the NHL Eastern Conference Final Playoff Series stars tomorrow night at 8:00, too.  My girlfriends are going to harrass me because I am going to insist we sit at the bar instead of the outdoor patio.  I can see it coming.  But I am an avid hockey fan and love my Boston Bruins (especially Krechi), so I WILL watch the game.

Sunday morning I am doing my bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe's.  I also want to go to the nursery to buy some vegetable plants (my seedlings failed again this year) and some pansies!  The Mother's Day gift I haven't actually gotten yet.  And then I have to plant them before the weather turns.  

At least I won't be at work and I will be with my family - most of the time.

Bad Mood

I feel like such an ass.  I took an hour off of work to get to my daughter's Preschool graduation. Needless to say I get stuck in holiday traffic.  When I call daycare to tell them I might be late, I discover I have the wrong date!  *&%#@!  I am so annoyed with myself.  Today was graduation picture day.  Crap, crap, crap.  Horrible way to start my holiday weekend.

And of course the kids are exhausted, so they just feed into my bad mood.  My husband, thankfully, was calming and helpful (he stopped at a bar for a beer because he was early for "graduation").  I managed to get the kitchen totally clean before getting the kids to bed so now I am going to pour myself a BIG glass of wine and sit my stupid ass down in front of the television and decompress.

Here is to 3 "stay home days" as my children call it.  We don't have any plans for the weekend and after 3 weekends of total chaos, I am glad.  Three whole days to get all the laundry done, get started on some much needed spring cleaning and quality time with my family.


                     Happy Memorial Day, everyone. God Bless the USA.

Overwhelmed

First things first.  Happy Belated Mother's Day, ladies!  I hope you all had a wonderful day - or part of a day.

Now back to the subject.
So completely overwhelmed!  I haven't even had a minute to write a post in nearly two weeks.  Some days you think you have everything under control - like you are a master.  Like you were meant to be a career mom. Then most other days..not so much. 

Work has been out of control the last two week.  So busy that the days flew by in a whirl and I worried how I was going to get everything done.  Then I get home and the kids are out of control, don't listen to a word I say and complain about what food I manage to get on their dinner plates.  They make a mess of the growing pile of baskets of clean clothes (at least they are clean) that I haven't had time to put away because they can't find a clean pair of pajamas. Then once the kids are asleep, I have to make lunches, clean the kitchen and collapse in bed around 11 pm absolutely exhausted.  You are probably wondering....my husband contributes a little.  But we won't go there.

  Then the weekend.  T-Ball game, dance class, a visit from friends, grocery shopping, my nieces 3 1/2 hour dance recital (thank god it was an excellent show - my daughter and I both really enjoyed it).  Holy hell!  I'm exhausted.  Thank god for the visit from friends.  At least I got the family room vacuumed  the kitchen and stairs swept and the kitchen floor mopped (the kitchen floor was GROSS!). 

Overwhelmed - seems to be the story of my life for now.  I have to go fold some more laundry now.  

Morning Chaos

Drives me crazy!  I try and try to get out of the house on time every morning and nothing seems to work.  Maybe one day in 5, I get in the car, look at the clock and smile.  Yes!  On time! 

The next day I try and recreate that morning.  Fail.  Ugh.  One of my biggest problems is over the last two years, our morning routine has varied quite a bit from non-existent (unemployed), relaxed (working part-time for a friend), to absolute chaos (since starting my current job).  So it is hard.

Today I go on-line and try to find help.  I realized that 1.) I am not alone and 2.) this is probably the one thing most of us working moms have in common.  So what to do to fix it.  One suggestion is to make sure I take care of myself before the kids get up.  I do that.  I try to get up with my husband and work out and then I make coffee and take a shower.  I don't even do much with my hair and makeup, so I can't cut out time there.  Suggestions include making coffee the night before.  I should do this but I don't think of it at night when I just want to go to bed.  I think the most time consuming thing is making lunches for my kids and myself.  I suppose I should do that the night before too.  But I'm tired and want to got to bed (how about some cheese with that wine).  *sigh*.  

Something has to change though because I want to have some peace in the morning.  I want to start the day out right.  A list!  I must generate a list of all the things I need to do in the morning - and the night before.  

Night List
1.)  Set up coffee pot
2.)  Make at least some of the kids lunches
3.)  Make husbands lunch
3.)  Work bags near the door

Morning list
1.)  Workout
2.)  Shower
3.)  Finish assembling lunches
4.)  Get kids up, dressed, teeth brushed (yeah right)
5.)  Get breakfast for everyone (we have breakfast on the go - subject for another post:  Recipes for breakfast on the go)
This is where chaos ensues
6.)  Get Ben's hearing aids (another subject for a future post)
7.)  Coats and shoes
8.)  Get in car, buckle up and go

I gotta go - I have some things to do.  Wish me luck.  I'll let you know how it goes.

TBall Temper Tantrum

Holy crap!  Whose bright idea was it to volunteer to be the assistant TBall Coach for my son's team?  Oh, right.  Mine.

My son is not quite 4 (his birthday is next week) and I signed him up for TBall.  I don't think it was such a good idea.  

I should have seen the trouble start during practice when Ben would throw himself on the ground and pout when another kid would get the ball.  Now mind you, before the ball was hit, Ben would be rolling around on the ground like a dog, or picking grass or spinning in a circle looking at the sky.  Like he had a prayer to get the ball!  "Pay attention, Ben", I say.  Like a broken record.  It doesn't do much good but he is enjoying himself, so I back off and work with the other kids.  TBall is supposed to be fun.

Then we have our first game last Saturday.  Ben made it through the first 2 innings (there are only 4, if your wondering) and completely shut down.  The last "play" he made was running after 2 other kids to get a ball that had gone right past him (he would have gotten it if he had been paying attention!).  One of the other kids got the ball and Ben dropped to the ground, face first and laid there for a while.  The next time I look for him, he is in center field, lying on his stomach, chin in hand, feet in the air watching the game.  Happy and content.  Ok.  Fine.  TBall is supposed to be fun.

Fast forward to tonight.  Practice again.  Within the first 5 minutes  another player runs to get a ball that Ben was trying to get.  (Are you sensing a trend here?) What happens next was one of Ben's biggest, baddest meltdowns.  He starts to cry and scream and doesn't/can't stop.  What the hell am I supposed to do?  I have 4 other kids in my group practicing catching.  And then Ben decides he is going to leave.  He starts to walk away across the football field next to the practice field.  I had to leave the practice to go retrieve him and what do you think he does?  Starts to run away from me!  Little shit.  I catch him and carry him back.  And tell him if he doesn't want to play, that is fine, but he has to sit and watch.  Then he starts to scream "I want to sit in the van.  I want to sit in the van."  Over and over and over.....  I had to work very hard at staying calm and not getting angry.  But he is obviously so exhausted he can't function, so I don't freak out on him.  I let him sit in the van.  Anything to shut him up.  

TBall is supposed to be fun?  That was NOT fun.  At least the head coach and the other parents were sympathetic.  Great.

In the Kitchen - Part 1

Trying to come up with meals that my husband and children will eat is a trying business.  I will eat anything.  My mother would hardly believe it - I was a bit of a picky eater as a kid and growing up.  But I digress....   I will eat anything, my husband is a steak and potatoes kind of guy and then there are my children.  At 5 1/2 and 4 years of age, you could say they are a bit picky.

So it's a challenge  I like to cook, but I am not a creative cook.  I need recipes.  I have boxes and folders of recipes!  To be honest, I stick to what I know and what everyone likes most of the time, but I do like to try new things - thanks to my mother's influence.

I learned a lot from my mother, especially in the kitchen.  She taught me all sorts of fun tricks (like a teaspoon of salt is about the size of  the cup of your palm) but mostly, she taught me the importance of quality cookware.  Pots, pans and knives, particularly   One day, at my brother's house, I was stunned to find out that my sister-in-law bought my brother (the cook in that family) a new set of knives EVERY YEAR!  Every year?  I couldn't believe it.  I have had one of my Wusthof knives for 12 years!  And it is still in perfect condition.


Oh, and I miss my Professional-Grade Calphalon set like you wouldn't believe.  My father got it for me 12 years ago, when I bought my condo.  That set finally had to be replaced and although I replaced it with a really nice stainless steel set, the calphalon was so much better.

Cooking can be fun, but just like with any job, you have to have the right tools.  So, if you hate cooking or find it to be a chore, make sure you have the right tools and some help by the way of good recipes, so you can enjoy your time in the kitchen.

Boston Strong, Boston Proud - Part One

What a week!  Horrible really, although it did have a great ending.  I don't know where to start.  So much has happened.  I am so proud of my city.  I am so proud of the marathon organizers that were thrown into a war zone and performed brilliantly.  These people are volunteers, helping to organize an internationally acclaimed marathon and they end up seeing death and bodies literally blown to pieces, running with the injured in wheelchairs to get them to safety. I am so proud of the plain, everyday citizens using their shirts and using direct pressure and tourniquets to stop bleeding of severed arteries.  A clothing store-owner used his stock for bandages and blankets.  Fearless.  Selfless.  Heroes.  And I am so proud of the surviving victims - many of them are already on the road to recovery with positive attitudes and smiles on their faces.  One kid had both his legs blown off, seen all over Facebook and the news with a guy in a cowboy hat pinching off a main artery.  I saw a picture of him in the hospital, in a chair sitting up with a Patriots hat and football with a member of the New England Patriots standing with him - he was smiling.

So....next came three days of investigation.  Who the hell did this to our people?  Who did this to our holiday?  We all felt violated.  And angry.  There was sorrow and sympathy.  But there was love and support and strength, too.  We all leaned on each other and waited.  "You messed with the wrong city".  Not a statement of dumb arrogance but a statement of strength and defiance.  It was a message saying we are not going to cave or cower and hide. 


Then there was the National Anthem at the Garden to start the Bruins game on Wednesday night.  The first sporting event since the bombings.  I cried.  I sang and cried along with everyone else. It felt good and it sounded amazing.  But the players (of both teams) salute of support to the fans was my undoing.  I sobbed.  

The support and outreach from all over the world, choked me up.  It was unbelievable.

Thursday night comes and the FBI announce they have identified the losers that did it.  A couple of young adults, practically kids, with baseball caps and sunglasses.  My gut clenched the first time I saw those faces.  [Expletive!]

Then I wake up Friday morning and see a post from a friend on Facebook that says "What the hell is going on?"  I scroll through my news feed and discover all hell had broken loose in Cambridge and Watertown, two cities outside of Boston!  Gun fight, more death, more bombs and the beginning of a manhunt like Massachusetts has never seen before.  What a HORRIBLE day.  I have friends and family that live in and around Boston and Watertown.  Practically impossible to work.  I got home at the end of the day exhausted and sick from listening to the news all day.  I swore I wasn't going to watch TV for the rest of the night.  I went to bed early and turned on "Rio".  I had to stop myself from turning on the news.  And I missed the best part, dammit!  I missed the part were they found him!  I missed the part where they fired flash-bangs at him.  I missed the part where they dragged him out of that boat and put hand-cuffs on him.

But I DIDN'T miss the best part.  The best part was yet to come.  The residents that had been in lock-down all day came out of their homes, lined the streets and clapped and cheered as the police officers, swat team members, EMT and the FBI began to leave.  It was like a parade.  It was amazing!  I have never felt more pride or gratitude for anything in my life.  THEY GOT HIM!

THE ONE FUND

Patriots Day Tragedy

Surreal.  I have lived 30 - 40 miles west of Boston for 42 years.  To hear President Obama talk about Boston and Bostonians and people and pages on Facebook sending out prayers and respects to Boston. Absolutely surreal.

My emotions run the gamut.

Anger.  On a selfish level, I am pissed that this "person" (assuming it is one person) ruined my amazing Patriots Day weekend.  I love this holiday for so many reasons. What it is about (America and patriotism) and when it is (Spring!).  The weather was glorious and I did so much yard work I am icing my neck and shoulders as I type.  I came inside with the kids after a happy afternoon spent doing lawn-"tractor" rides cleaning up the yard waste to hear about a double explosion at the Boston Marathon.  "WHAT?"  Did I hear that right?  I am angry that someone would do this on a holiday that celebrates the birth of America!  We should celebrate together with pride, not by hurting people.

Sadness.  Those poor people whose lives were just thrown into unimaginable pain and fear.  I won't go into the details that I am hearing, but it was horrific.  I was sitting at the dinner table with my family, thinking of those people - some grieving the death of a loved one, or not knowing where their loved ones are, or waiting at the hospital wondering if their loved ones are going to survive - fighting the guilt that I was sitting with my family eating a delicious dinner.  It is a blessing that two of the best hospitals in the country (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham's and Women's) were right around the corner.

Gratitude.  I am so grateful for the fact that, as of this moment, I do not know anyone that was hurt or killed in this tragedy.  Yet.  With over 100 people hurt, I might hear something in the next day or two. I am also grateful for my kids.  While my husband sat in front of the news and seethed in anger to the point he gave himself a migraine, I had to tend to the kids (4 and 5 1/2 years old), get them a bath and get dinner on the table.  I did keep an eye on Facebook to keep track of friends who live in the city ant that run (2 have run the Marathon in the past but didn't this year, thank goodness) but I had "tubby time" and the joy of smelling my clean happy "babies".  We even had a wrestling/tickling match.  The giggles and squeals of young children is a balm for any hurt.

Pride.  Last but not least, pride.  For my city and my neighbors.  We will stand tall and strong.  We will get through this, like those who suffered before us - Oklahoma City, Littleton, CO (Columbine), Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT.  And, sadly, many others.

Remember to hug and kiss your loved ones - family and friends - and tell them you love them.  Everyday.

Vegetable Garden

In my last post, I talked about growing your own vegetables.  You can have a vegetable garden anywhere these days!  City apartment, suburban house - anywhere really, as long as you have sun and water.  Raised beds, patio containers...even a standing bed to save your knees!  I, personally, am very excited to try again this year.  I have a full compost bin that I nurtured last year with grass clippings, compost-able garbage from the kitchen and yes, the failed, dying vegetable plants from last years garden.  The only problem I have right now is my vegetable garden bed is still covered in two feet of snow!  So I am starting to sow the seeds inside.  I am learning as I go and in the last post, I mentioned a site called Growveg.com.  It is a wealth of information!  But I need supplies - both now and for later.

Look at the deal I found!  Fertilizer, raised beds, tomato cages....all of that weighs a lot and would cost a fortune in shipping.  

Free shipping!

Check them out.  Really nice stuff!  Seed starting kits, stunning garden beds and containers, some really cool tomato cages, pest control, fertilizer - everything you need to get a vegetable garden going.  And any other garden for that matter. Are you a flower lover?  Do you have a deck or patio that needs some dressing up?  It is pansy season, you know!  ;-)

 I can't help myself!  I hope you are catching the fever I am feeling!  

Grow your own vegetables

Spring is in the air and winter is pretty much over.  The northeast is experiencing a significant cold front right now.  It has dropped 30 degrees in 6 hours.  But that spring sun will make all the difference. 

The year we moved into our house (from a condo), my friends asked "Are you going to have a garden and grow your own vegetables, now?  Yes!  And I have tried two years in a row.  The first year I did a container garden and the zucchini did incredibly well. I made so many loaves of zucchini bread I can't even count them all.  So yummy!  And the tomatoes did pretty well.  The rest....not so much.  

Last year, I worked really hard to get a garden bed going.  I tried to grow my own vegetables from seeds!  My seedlings sprouted beautifully, but I started them all at the same time and realized my mistake too late, so I just shoved them all in the ground at once.  Fail.  Kind of embarrassing, really.  

So I have done a lot of research this time.  I discovered Growveg.com to be a great resource for anyone who wants to grow their own vegetables.  It allows you to plan a garden visually - you enter the dimensions of your space and then choose the vegetables you want to grow.  Then the software tells you when to sow the seeds inside (if you are so inclined), when to plant them in the ground and when to harvest.  You enter your zip code and it adjusts to your growing season.  I have a nice garden planned and Growveg.com is telling me I have to start my lettuce, tomato and pepper seedlings now (April).  So that is on the list of things to do this weekend, with the kids.  

I strongly encourage anyone that has thought about growing your own vegetables, to give it a shot.  Failure is quite possible the first and maybe second try.  But it is fun and you'll probably get something.  Start with something easy like tomatoes and zucchini.   Gardening is a great way to get outside, you can get the kids involved and there is nothing better than eating your own homegrown vegetables.  When I close my eyes I can smell and taste a homegrown cherry tomato.  I can't wait....

Happy Easter

No matter what your religious beliefs, Easter is a sign of spring.  Rebirth - human spirit, hope and tulips.  Easter makes me think of tulips, forsythia and eggs.  Hey, I am a mother of two young kids - what can I say.

So as I have discussed in the past, I am trying to eliminate artificial dyes from our diet.  So I thought I would try to dye some eggs naturally with ingredients like blueberries, red cabbage and spices.  So I did some research and immediately started to stress out!  The ingredient list for 3 colors was something like 20 ingredients!  And my grocery store probably wouldn't have 1/2 of them.  And the time involved to actually create the dye?  Holy cow!  Okay.  How about plastic eggs?  NO!  I won't do it.  I have wonderful memories of dying eggs with my mother as a kid and I don't want to deny my kids those same memories. 

So what was I going to do?  It really was a dilemma for me. Then a light bulb went off.  Don't laugh...I realized that we didn't have to EAT the eggs.  My daughter and I love hard-boiled eggs so the waste was hard to deal with but I went out and bought the cheapest dozen of white eggs I could find and a dye kit.  I am so glad I did.  We had a wonderful afternoon coloring eggs with dye and paint!

It really is a good lesson for me and all working moms.  We have to keep our priorities straight.    Throwing out 11 (I ate one pre-dyeing) eggs is such a minor issue to the quality time I spent with my kids today.  

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.  It's going to be a beautiful spring day in the northeast.  Perfect for Easter services, Easter dresses, Easter egg hunts and time spent with family.  Enjoy.

Stress Relief

I have not been sleeping well lately.  I always have so much going on in my head.  As any multi-tasking mom knows, there are so many things to do and so many things to remember.  Laundry, meal planning, shopping.  Remember lunch boxes, snow pants and boots (for us northerners), fresh water for the pets.  I forgot to close the door to our pantry this morning and the dog helped himself to a box of cereal bars!

Last night I couldn't fall asleep, as usual.  I know it is stress related and I needed some stress relief.  So I got out of bed last night at 12:30 AM and did some yoga.  Not a lot and nothing fancy - child's pose, downward facing dog, cat's pose, triangle.  You may or may not be familiar with the names, but they are all good relaxation stretches.  

Yoga forces you to slow down.  To do the moves correctly you have to think about every part of your body.  Breath slowly, bring your heart rate down.  Stress relief at its best.  I crawled back into bed, laid down on my back, arms by my side and palms up and woke up 5 hours later when my alarm went off.  I was tired but felt good.

So I encourage you all to give yoga a try.  Check out Yoga Tutor.  They have on-line instruction for everyone from beginners to masters.  Breath.  Stretch.  Relax.  Good night....

Artificial Dyes - Did you know?

Hello ladies.  As I mentioned in my first post, I feel it is important that I share some of what I have been learning about the food we eat and the food we feed our kids.  Pesticides bother me a lot, but I think I want to talk about artificial colors or food dyes today.

Artificial food dye, synthetic food dye, food coloring, FD&C Red No. 40, or Tartrazine (a.k.a. Yellow No. 5)…  Artificial food dye is made from petroleum (yes,  the same petroleum that fuels our vehicles) and unfortunately a whopping 15 million pounds of food dye is used in the U.S. per year (5 times more than in 1955).   

Here are some interesting (and disturbing) things I have learned about these food dyes.  As I already mentioned they are made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum, a crude oil product, which also happens to be used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar.  Ick.

• NPR.org: “Artificial food dyes are made from petroleum and approved for use by the FDA to enhance the color of processed foods.”

They’ve been linked to long-term health problems such as cancer. If you’re a child of the '70s and ‘80s (like me) do you remember that rumor about red M&Ms causing cancer? Hmmmm...

• CSPInet.org: “The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens, says CSPI. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.” According to Wikipedia, “A carcinogen is any substance … that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer.”!

How about this? Apparently food products containing artificial dye are required to have a warning label in the U.K.  Interesting.  The label states that the food “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” So speaking of M&Ms, they aren't as brightly colored in some other countries besides the U.S. because manufacturers would rather do away with the artificial dye than have to put a warning label on their products.

• Mercola.com: “This is why if you eat a Nutri-Grain strawberry cereal bar in the United States, it will contain Red 40, Yellow 6 and Blue 1. But that same bar in the UK contains only the natural colorings beetroot red, annatto and paprika extract. In fact, the UK branches of Wal-Mart, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Mars have removed artificial colors, sodium benzoate and aspartame from their product lines as a result of consumer demand and government recommendations. In the United States, however, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to allow these toxic ingredients in countless popular foods, including those marketed directly to children.”
• CBSnews.com: Many Grocery Manufacturers Association members (like Pepsi, Kraft and General Mills) “have switched to natural colorings in their products in the U.K., where warning labels are required, but they’re not doing that here for the most part. That’s because no one’s making them do it, and switching would cost a lot of money.”

I think the reason I wanted to share this information the most (besides the fact that some of these dyes are carcinogens!) is that synthetic food dyes have been shown to cause an increase in hyperactivity in children as well as a negative impact on their ability to learn.

• Washingtonpost.com:”Artificial food dyes (in combination with a common preservative) could make even children with no known behavioral problems hyperactive and inattentive.”
• CSPInet.org: “The science shows that kids’ behavior improves when these artificial colorings are removed from their diets and worsens when they’re added to the their diets.” and “While not all children seem to be sensitive to these chemicals, it’s hard to justify their continued use in foods—especially those foods heavily marketed to young children.”
• Mercola.com: “According to scientific studies, these dyes are causing behavioral problems and disrupting children’s attention.”

Who would have thought anything that I found in my mom's baking cabinet could be so bad for us?  Anyone else remember those cute little, colorful plastic bottles?  Well, food coloring/artificial food dyes today are used in SO many foods.  I expect to find Red No. 40 or Yellow # 5 or Blue #1 in things like icing on those fancy kids cakes at the grocery store.  But can you believe they put Blue #1 in mini marshmallows?  WHITE marshmallows have food dye?  WHY?!  Or Red #40 is in Kellogs Strawberry Frosted Mini wheats?  WHY?!  How about Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Minute Maid Lemonade, Lunchables, Fruit Roll Ups, Cheetos, and even “Light and Fit” Yoplait Yogurt - they all have food dye.  

I must credit Lisa Leake at 100 Days of Real Food for doing the hard work on this research.  I have learned a lot from her.  I have decided to try and protect my kids from these chemicals.  I must admit, I have been fooled a couple times (like the marshmallows) but I am getting more diligent at looking at labels, no matter what the food is.  Unless USDA Organic, I will look at the label of the foods I am buying for my kids.  I am really sad about losing M&M's but I don't need the calories and plain 'ole chocolate keeps my kids happy.

My first blog, my first post!

So here we go.  This is my first blog.  I figured if I was going to blog about something, it should be something I know a lot about.   I am a full time working mom of two children, a wife and a home owner.  I am a multi-tasking Master Mom!  I have so many things to do, why have I decided to add a blog to that list?  Because, like every mom I know, I want to do the best I can for my family.  I want to raise healthy, active, happy, kind and bright kids and do as much as I can to provide for them.  I figured there are a lot of mothers out there that want to do the same.  I see so many mommy blogs that are created by stay-at-home moms.  I think stay-at-home moms are wonderful and lucky (sometimes). But stay-at-home moms and working moms have such different lifestyles and demands on their time that I frequently can't relate.  So I am creating a working mom blog to reach out to, and help (if I can) other working mothers. 

So, that brings me to my first topic and one that I have begun to feel rather strongly about.  Food!  I love food, but I have become convinced that a lot of what we eat is what is ultimately killing us.  I'm not talking about obesity and the health problems associated with it.  I am talking about cancer, asthma, autism, ADD/ADHD (and the drugs used to treat it) and uncontrollable allergies.  Allergies to wheat, peanuts, eggs, beef.  It goes on and on.  

Why?

One day, while looking for recipes and menu ideas on-line I came across a website about eating only "real" food.  I had to join the blog to get the last menu list, so I joined.  After reading about this "real food" concept and following this blog for a while, I feel that it is important that I spread the word on some of what I have learned - share the wealth, so to speak.

I have believed for a long time that cancer must be something environmental.  Our pets are suffering from it just as much as humans.  I think it is the food (and associated chemicals) we are eating.  I also believe that the junk we feed our kids has a direct impact on the various mental illnesses they suffer from, as well. Food dyes, "natural flavors", artificial flavors, GMO's, pesitcides....  

You may know about some or all of it, but do you understand the magnitude?  Probably not (no offense).  I didn't, and I still don't - but I am learning more and more and feel compelled to tell others.  I feel it is important.  So stay tuned.