But first, let me back up to the weekend. My husband spent hours in the kitchen, lovingly preparing a belated birthday dinner that made our house smell like the finest restaurant. It's truly heaven when he cooks! {I call it "love on a plate" because he puts his whole heart into it!}
An assortment of cheeses...always a hit in our house!
Short ribs served on goat cheese grits with root veggies...
topped with a hearty red wine reduction.
{FYI: food photography is always better looking in
the natural light of day if you have that option. I didn't.}
If you've followed the way we eat, you know how important eating the right food is to our family. We eat as fresh as we can and LOVE IT, but every now and then, even fresh and natural causes a problem in our family, and the one who pays most dearly is our youngest daughter.
We shared the special birthday dinner with the girls...forgetting all about the GRAPE in the red wine reduction.
And boy did our youngest suffer yesterday. She woke up in a foul mood, couldn't look me in the eyes, got in trouble at school, melted down at Whole Foods, ran into people with the grocery cart, sassed me to no end, slogged her way through homework, slid out of her chair at the dinner table, attempted cartwheels in between bites, then melted down all over again on the kitchen floor while the rest of us wondered what in the world was going on.
[I know I've said this before, but it's worth noting again: I thought all the behavior described above was "normal" for my second child...until we started the Feingold Diet. I still get misty-eyed thinking about the huge change we witnessed almost four years ago.]
Every now and then, despite being four years into this, we forget to connect the dots between food and behavior. I miss the obvious clues and give way to my own impatience and frustration...forgetting how hard it is for my daughter to control the craziness she feels inside. Just when I was about to give up on her at the dinner table Monday night, my husband finally made the connection: Sunday night's dinner with the red wine reduction. {Yes, a full 24 hours later, she was still suffering.}
"Why didn't you tell me the dinner had grape in it?" I'm so sorry, sweet girl. We got carried away in the celebration and just plain forgot. It was meant to be a grown-up dinner, but you loved the smells and wanted to celebrate your mama, so we couldn't resist sharing it with you.
A good reminder that what we eat really does matter.
And then the second thing that caught my attention: an article called "Ritalin Gone Wrong" published in The New York Times this weekend. It's not a perfect article, but it reminded me of why our family turned to the Feingold Diet in the first place. Long-term medication just didn't feel like the right solution for my child. Exploring alternatives required patience and discipline, but it was worth it.
My best advice for young mothers wondering what to make of your "challenging" child {other than feeding them well and giving Feingold a serious try}: do your research, then trust your gut. God has given you incredible instincts!
Have a wonderful week!
P.S. My friend Missy {a seasoned blogger who makes me laugh out loud} is sharing her Feingold experience HERE. Keep it up, Missy! Your story is so encouraging!
