Sunshine, shopping, and progress

On the last full day of school, my husband and I decided to blow off work in the morning and walk a 3½-mile stretch of bike trail through the middle of town. It conveniently took us to an area with restaurants, so we had lunch before walking back to our car. Then we went shopping at the Goodwill-type store we like and bought $70 worth of $3 and $4 shirts and stuff.

It was nice to do something completely different. It reminds me of why we quit our jobs and moved to Montana in the first place—for the freedom! That and, M.H. would add, to write novels that earn passive income while we're basking in the sunshine. (Even if the passive income is only like $4 a day right now.)

My awesome morning helped me simmer down about the schools and their sugar, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to distribute some kind of letter about it still. I'm thinking maybe instead of teachers and principals, I'll send it to the newspaper, where it might possibly spark some kind of citywide discussion, which would be great. Because it's really out of hand. Mik was offered three treats on Friday, three on Tuesday, one Wednesday, one Thursday, and there's at least one planned for tomorrow. (Before that, I wasn't keeping track.)

I really sympathize with how challenging eating Paleo has been for him, but I'm so pleased with how it's going so far. The stomach problems have disappeared, and he already looks like he's slimming down. He seems much more energetic (we've been treated to some awesome dance moves). He also says he feels stronger at swim practice, which the coaches noticed, too. He's been telling kids at school that wheat is bad for you (which I guess provoked some sort of uproar in the lunch room, with a group of kids chanting, "Wheat is heal-thy!" which I find hilarious). And get this: Today I made him a stir fry of bacon, broccoli, and carrots, and he devoured it and asked for seconds. Those are three foods he already liked, but he ate them in a slightly different form and mixed together. That's huge for a picky eater.

Update: Four treats on Friday. He and I had decided it should be a cheat day, and he got sick again that night.

Schools and sugar

Mik's experience of having to turn down so much sugar at school this week has really been gnawing at me (and today it was "only" an ice cream sandwich). But the more I think about it, the more I think it's ridiculous that kids are served any food at all in the classrooms. What about kids with allergies? What about the ones with food intolerances? What if a parent just prefers that their kids not eat certain things, like food dyes or animal products? What right do they have to be feeding my kids things that are both addictive and terrible for them (or allowing other parents to do it)? And isn't eating what lunchtime is for?

I know the kids can just refuse the food, but come on. They're kids. They don't know how bad sugar is for them, and if they did, they wouldn't care.

This has been an issue for Dex his whole life, because he can't eat dairy or eggs, so maybe I'm a bad mother for only getting riled up about it now. What we used to do for him, though, was bring the teacher a box of Blow Pops, so whenever treats got brought into the classroom, he could have one of those instead. (And they used to go through a Costco box of suckers every year, believe me.)

If I had to do it over again, I think I'd be writing letters and trying to organize parents. Or is bringing cupcakes to school such a beloved tradition that the PTA mommies wouldn't be able to part with it? (Sigh, don't answer that.)

I'm an elementary school parent for exactly one and a half more days. Fight for change or let it go?

Ouch

Just an update from this morning. Mik came home nearly in tears and told us he'd had to turn down popsicles, pizza, and ice cream (from our favorite place) at school today. Apparently the school had planned on pizza being lunch, and he had to ask for special permission to go back inside and get his bag of fruits and vegetables. He didn't feel like explaining what he was doing to the other kids, and they pestered him about it all day. He said it was the worst day of school he ever had.

I keep trying to remind myself that it is NOT a tragedy that a happy, well-fed child getting an excellent education in a free country had to decline some "food" that is making him sick, but whoa. That had to suuuuuuck. He's got two and a half more days of school and a birthday party after school on Friday. This had better work.

Cupcakes on parade

There are three and a half more days of school, and today we sent Mik off with cold Paleo pancakes (success!), strawberries, grapes, baby carrots, cheese, and juice in his lunchbox. Getting through the school day on Paleo could be a challenge, because they have some sort of party or field day planned pretty much every day this week, and sugar is always a part of that. (Have you ever thought about how messed up that is? They drill the anti-drug and anti-smoking messages into their heads from kindergarten, all the while serving an endless parade of cupcakes.) In fact, the night when he had his worst episode of stomach pains, he'd had three treats that day at school. Sheesh.

But he told me (quite proudly) last night that he had not cheated once since he started this. And this morning, he told me that if he stayed on this diet longer than the planned two weeks, he was sure to make state in swimming this summer.

Oooh, I have high hopes for that boy.

Paleo for the picky eater

I've learned that the book-indexing project is more urgent than I had assumed, so I've been working nonstop all this weekend—well, with breaks for church, yoga, and to make Mik repeats of all of yesterday's meals. I feel like the kid's personal chef, but I am not complaining. And he hasn't complained a peep either, even though his diet has been completely turned upside-down. We both think it's much, much better than taking him to a doctor.

Here are my ideas for additional Mik-friendly Paleo dishes:

• Meatballs; i.e., hamburgers in a different shape. If he ever masters eating those, I might try putting garlic or eggs or almond flour in them.
• Mashed potatoes; i.e., hasbrowns in a different shape. The plus there is I should be able to slip in garlic and almond milk, at least.
• Nothing soup; i.e., warmed beef broth. He might let me put broccoli in it, but I don't have high hopes.
• Paleo Pad Thai without the eggs and chicken. He's tried this before and turned up his nose, but it's really, really good, and I think he should try again, don't you? Maybe with some honey in the sauce?
• Cucumbers. He doesn't actually like them but has eaten them frequently in the past when forced to.
• Caramelized onions. He ate one the first time I made them and did not make a face. (Or realize he was eating an onion.)
• White "bread." I already tried and failed to feed him this one, but I think I overcooked it and want to try again.
• French toast pancakes. These are mostly cream cheese. (Did I mention I'm letting him eat cheese? That's for both our sanity.) What's not to like?
• Coconut milk strawberry ice cream. Pretty sure I'm deluding myself, but if he doesn't eat it, then I'll get to.

One more going Paleo

Mik has been having weird stomach pains (which he describes as like severe hunger) with nausea off and on for a while. And after an episode that kept us all up until after midnight last night, I started getting serious about trying to figure out what might be wrong with him. I was horrified to see that his symptoms match those of a peptic ulcer!

I told him he could either go to the doctor—and endure some rather unpleasant diagnostic tests, which I did not even mention—or try eating Paleo for two weeks to see if that helps. (I knew he'd choose the Paleo, but, see, I wanted him to own that decision. Sometimes I am clever.)

I honestly think this is the best possible thing for him, since I am not a fan of antibiotics and I've heard they don't always completely eliminate the H. pylori anyway. Much better to starve them into submission by cutting off their supply of sugar and flour—which this child certainly consumes a ton of. I'm hoping he'll be feeling so strong by the end of two weeks that he'll never want to go back to it.

I'm also hoping for some inspiration (or brilliant suggestions) about what to feed him. Today he's had hashbrowns, bacon, berries, grapes, a smoothie, iceberg lettuce, bacon burger sliders on toothpicks, and roasted cauliflower. And an antacid. I can think of only two other Paleo-safe foods he will currently eat (carrots and broccoli). But I've promised him that I would keep him well fed for the next two weeks, so if it has to be hamburgers and hashbrowns every day, then so be it. Maybe if I can move him from sliders to meatballs, I could sneak in an egg or something.

Distractions

I can't believe how little I've gotten accomplished today. I have a book to index for Happy, three articles to edit for Sneezy, and nine chapters to review for Prince Charming…basically an infinite supply of work. Somehow I ended up instead spending the day cooking, messing about with chia seeds, and writing a 27-page Facebook diatribe to a college friend about why his doctor was stupid to put him on a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.

M.H. usually helps out with the cooking and talks me down from my diatribes, but he was busy all day checking Amazon to watch his Kindle download numbers climb. His book was available for free yesterday and today, and it was kind of shocking to see nearly 1,000 (so far) new downloads in those two days. I know that's not HUGE huge, but it's about ten times the number that had been sold to date, and it's kind of fun to think about who might have downloaded it, what they might think, and who they might tell. (We're still waiting for the first Amazon review from a complete stranger; is it wrong to hope they praise the editing?)

Speaking of which, off to the coal mines.