Is it starting already ~ or ~ yet another thing to obsess over

The other day, when I dropped Bug off at preschool, he was excited to show his friend Katelyn his new Strawberry Shortcake coloring book. Apparently, she is a big fan, which inspired him to pick that particular coloring book.

The moment he walked into the classroom, he ran straight for where she was sitting with a few other girls at a table, coloring. He excitedly said “Guess what I have Katelyn?”.

Her response? Run away.

So what did he do? He ran to me in tears, saying “Katelyn won’t talk to me!”

At my suggestion, he tried to show her his coloring book again, once she returned to the table, but she kept turning her head and wouldn’t look at him. I could pretty much tell it wasn’t to be “mean”, but rather because she was “embarrassed”. Like girls and boys tend to be with one another by a certain age. But by the age of four? Really?

So. I told Bug that sometimes friends who really like us a lot will get embarrassed sometimes, when they aren’t sure what to say, and that did evoke a small smile from him.

The thing is, I knew this sort of thing happened between girls and boys, because I remember participating in similar behavior when I was a kid. But I could have sworn it didn’t start until AT LEAST elementary school.

***********************************************************************

But it seems that kids grow up FASTER nowadays, doesn’t it?

And really… knowing me from this blog…how can this not lead to more anxiety and obsession on my part?

I already try to make the healthiest choices for my family. We get a lot of things (not all) organic, especially the foods deemed most high in pesticide levels in all forms (fresh, canned, frozen). The kids had only organic baby food when they were little. With the exception of my own daily can of Diet Pepsi, we don’t encourage soda except for the rare treat, and try to minimize juice. We try to steer clear of processed foods most of the time (although not perfectly). And of course, you know all about my recent obsession with the sunscreen.

And now (duh-da da DA!), there is more. A colleague of mine was telling me a few weeks ago about another colleague of ours (in a different city) whose 6 year old daughter has begun to “mature” already (I dare not describe this, for fear of the freakish hits it would cause). Her pediatrician told her mom that she is the 6th case in his practice alone in the past 6 months, with this happening.

And he attributes it to the (artificially injected) hormones in milk and beef.

I had already been getting organic milk for the past 9 months or so. But after hearing this, I made it my mission to ensure that the kid’s preschool was also serving hormone-free milk, and thankfully, they are. You see… I already bring in our own canned organic green beans, since they are one of those foods listed as having high levels of pesticides in every form… and now I bring in our special sunscreen… so one more “special” thing was not really what I was after here.

But the beef… well, shit! For a while, about a year ago, I did buy organic beef. I think it was right after some scare over bad beef. But once my initial fear subsided and when the grocery bill started getting out of hand, I stopped. But now! NOW, I am definitely getting organic again. For good. I don’t even care that it is $2 more a pound.

Oh! And then there are the cleaning products on the market today, don’t even get me started on those. Vinegar and water, baby, that’s what I say. And Buffi added one more to my list of questionable items... high fructose corn syrup. I haven’t even had the time to research that one yet. YET.

So then, my wubbies**… what is next?

Or more importantly, what to do? Feel free to call me paranoid after this, God knows I am inviting comments like that…but here are my thoughts.

Clearly we cannot trust agencies like the FDA to make sure we have good information (because let’s face it, the question of whether we can really trust anyone in government bears serious consideration. Unless we are lining their pockets, that is). And even doctors are not the best source of information… remember ~ they once touted the benefits of smoking cigarettes, and getting lobotomies, just to mention a few things.

And yes, the web is not the best source of information either… although I admit to using it often, thereby further fueling my already abundant anxiety.

It is all so aggravating and scary. So… my solution is steer clear of chemicals/processed stuff as much as possible… and then just to try to stay informed. All of which is easier said than done. Bah.


**One of the funniest bloggers I know calls her web friends “wubbies”, as dubbed by her husband. It means web-buddies. With her blessing, I am going to borrow this term from her now, because it fits, doesn’t it?