Healthy Children, Less Judgement

How do you raise a healthy child?

Once upon a time I stumbled upon this author who was looking for eco experts to comment for a book she’s writing about parenting healthy children. And here’s what she wanted to know:

How does one plant a garden for a new eater—like squash, potatoes, etc.—so that the little budding veggies would come up at the same time as the child’s little budding incisors? And I thought: What the f*&k? Has this woman even had a child?

The barely perceptible changes—the kind that you’ll actually stick to—make the most difference. She’s saying that if you want to parent a healthy child, you have to actually go out, till the soil, plant the seeds, time the growth, all for a stinking sweet potato?

(And, presumably, when gigantically pregnant or having recently given birth, since this stuff takes a few months and babies basically start eating at six.)

Here’s what I was doing when I was pregnant with the last one: Chasing after the other two. Here’s what I did right after the first one was born: Slept. Or tried to.

My point is: Being a greener mommy (or daddy) doesn’t have to be an “I’m on a mountaintop wearing my Birkenstocks and hemp baby sling” kind of experience.

The barely perceptible changes—the kind that you’ll actually stick to—make the most difference. That’s kind of what this site is all about: Healthier parenting, less judgement.

And information. Lots of information. Because you shouldn’t have to be a scientist to raise healthy children–but you should at least know what they’re talking about.

When it comes to food, organic fruits and veggies are obviously important, because babies and children eat so much more of them and so get a much higher concentration of the pesticides and insecticides the regular ones are grown with.

But does that mean you have to grow your own? Well, sure. But you could also simply mash up the food that you and your family are eating into a consistency that’s appropriate for your baby’s age. On the go, a jar of organic baby food or a flash frozen tub might be easiest.

Despite my persistent black thumb, I love an organic garden. But stressing out about gardening to feed the baby? Not so much.