You Peeps Rock!!! Thank You!
Thanks you everyone for your heartfelt advice on my last blog about my little girl. I’m cried once again as I read your responses. The reason for my tears are two-fold. One: So many of you had the same struggle as a child and I cry for that child you once were. Two: The love and support you guys give out touches me. I’m not sure I have any “real life” friends that support me as much as ya’ll do.
I am going to use all of your advice to the best of my ability. Some of it I am already doing, but some things I hadn’t thought of.
Alissa enjoys dance, so I am looking into dance lessons to help with the activity. I’m focusing on eating more fruits and veggies myself, so I’m going to encourage her to do so and really express how healthy they make me feel. Up until now, I have left my scales out even though I am trying to stay off them. I wanted to stay off them with will power. But I think having them sitting in the bathroom is sending a silent message that weight is important. So I’m hiding them out. I’m not going to say anything to her about them, but she will notice they are gone so I will explain that it doesn’t matter how much I weigh. The important thing is that I take care of my body by moving it and eating right.
Also, a buddy messaged me and expressed thoughts that my daughter may need to speak to someone other than me about the food issues. Having her be able to talk to me is really important, but I realize that she may need to speak to somone else that is trained in dealing with these issues. I am going to talk to the school counselor about that. I have her son in class this year, so we have a good relationship but are not really friends so it won’t be like talking to mommy’s friend. And Alissa likes her, so maybe she will open up to her.
Another thing I’m thinking about taking on is school food. Being a faculty member, I know better than most what our kids are eating everyday. The food is not just less than nutritious, it is primerly highly processed high-fat high-sugar food. Besides my daughters weight, she is also ADD (but that’s a whole other blog) and these meals are detremential to that as well. Of course, she could take her lunch every day, and we may do that to ensure that she is eating healthy well-balance meals to benefit both her physical health and mental health. But what about all the other kids? They deserve to have healthy nutritious meals also. So, I have designated myself as the speaker for all children. Now I just need a plan that doesn’t jeporadize my job. LOL! Seriously, I do have to figure out how to approach this. I would like to have a complete plan before going to the powers that be with it. I have discussed it with my principal and he backs me 100%. If I come up with a plan, he will help me present it.
On another note, I managed to lose 2 lbs this week! Yeah me!!!! I was really scared to get on the scale. Not because I was “bad,” but TOM showed up Wednesday night with all the crew in tow. Now I’m retaining water like a diaper, so I’m really looking forward to next weeks weigh in. As long as I continue rockin’ like I have been, I should have a great weigh in next week.
Sunday is my quit day. Quit smoking day that is. Pray for me guys!! And pray for my poor family. But I know I can do this!!!! I managed to finish college, driving 2 hours a day 5 days a week, while working a part time job and raising my baby by myself. If I can do that, I can do anything.
Once again, thanks everyone for the advice and the love!! You peeps rock!!
“But I know I can do this!!!! I managed to finish college, driving 2 hours a day 5 days a week, while working a part time job and raising my baby by myself. If I can do that, I can do anything. ”
Amen to that girl!!
I think you’ve come up with some really good solutions. Just remember that you’re a GREAT MOM, and don’t blame yourself for these unfortunate circumstances. (You might not. Speaking as a mother, I often LOOK for ways that I’m to blame for any problems my kids may be having. Not always helpful!) 
I LOVE your lunch-reform idea!! I wonder if there’s any way you could get help from a nutritionist? It would look really “official” and may carry more weight, so to speak!
I bet there are groups that would help you with that for free, since it’s to benefit children.
I commented on your other blog but another thought popped in my head. Often times healthy food is boring to kids. They would much rather have that mac and cheese or candy. There are many cookbooks out there that present healthy food in a fun way. You could probably google this as well. One thing might be making a caterpiller out of veggies, stuff like that. Celery just can not be boring when it is a caterpiller!
sounds like you get a lot of good advice on your last blog, and i think that taking on school lunches would be great! i totally agree that getting a nutritionist’s help would carry weight. you might want to also look into the cost- that’s going to be a big thing too, i think. and could you try to get some of the parent’s to get involved with this? i don’t know if that’s a good idea or not though, you don’t want to anger the powers that be! not that i’m telling you anything new there. good luck and i hope you can do it- i think it sounds wonderfull!
I’m glad your feeling better and back to your motivated self. I know I’ve heard something about people doing things like that for their childrens school, it might take some work but its an awesome idea and I’m sure everyone will be on your side. Try and get parents involved, stay focused and it is possible. If everyone agrees and stands by you, the school has no choice but to give in. Healthy meals might be slightly costlier but not as much as some might think. yams instead of potatoes, veggie burgers or turkey burgers instead of beef. Veggies that kids actually like(I hated green beans as a child and its all they served in my school! EWs!).
I did some googling and found this link.. Only read the home page but it looks like it might interest you. Hope it helps, and congrats on the weight loss! woot woot!!!!!!
http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/
YEA for quitting smoking! Your making a complete life change!
OMG school lunches are the worst! I use to get pizza or fried chicken fingers everyday at school. Good luck.
Yeah, it sounds like quitting smoking is the least of your conquests. good luck on getting the school to change its ways. Given the current climate I would find out how much the school spends on lunch now and just try to come up with a healthy plan that costs less. Hell they will approve it just for that alone!
As for your daughter, don’t worry too much. I had a hellish time in school no friends, lots of enemies, it was awful and lasted from about age 7 to 16. But I turned out quite ok, yeah there is a weight problem, but I own a condo, have a man who treats me well and I’m a scientist for crying out loud! Sometimes I think it was learning how to navigate tough times back when I was a kid that made me such a strong adult today.
Remember, it’s not about protecting her from every bad thing, but helping her to make changes when she reconizes a bad thing. I think getting those school lunches changed will be a better lesson for her than anything else because it will show that strong women change the world, they don’t let the world change them.
Ok too much ranting,
~Renee’
Yay! This whole blog = yay!
-I’m glad you got some good advice and I hope it will help.
-The school food issue, I totally agree. I think that would be a wonderful idea. Other parents will applaud you.
- Quitting smoking is the smartest thing you can do for your health. Your lungs, heart, (and family) will thank you for it. : ) My mom stopped smoking when I was about 18, and I remember how difficult it was for her. I can promise you that we are all here to support you.
Congrats on the loss, too! Keep up the FANTASTICK work!
http://www.feingold.org/PF/wisconsin1.html
Pretty neat article…
This will be good. I know in school we ALWAYS got french fries with our meal, and in middle school I would always get fries, usually wish pizza, a sweet tea, and a brownie… definitely did not help with my weight issues.. Fruit is almost nonexistant and the stuff they had at my high school was awful– the apples had NO flavor… but at least in HS we had veggies more often, and a side salad option
GOOD LUCK! You know we all will back you 200%
I just quit smoking in December or so … and I have never felt better. I literally have no desire to buy a pack (although occasionally I do dream of having one)
It’s a life changing experience.
And it’s hard but it’s so worth it!
Good luck!
I’m glad you got such great feedback for your daughter. And I’m excited to here someone is going to do something about school lucnhes. I have always wanted to do something about that because it’s horrible what they are feeding these kids escpecially the young ones cause they distinguish between whats healthy and whats not. I mean when your in kindergarten and have a choice between a baked potato and french fries what do you think they’d chhose…well shoot i’d go for the fries they look cooler and sound better and they’re both potatoes!
Well good luck coming up with a plan of action let us know how it goes :o)