Rachel's gone Paleo

I’ve got great kids. And I’m not going to brag but they didn’t fall off the tree like that. Ray and I are strict parents. And we are proud of being strict too. I don’t think we are unfair about it, there are a lot of things we explain to them why we are doing but most are just “because I said so” kind of things.

Like Ray can’t stand the girls wearing shorts. The Bermuda type is OK, but nothing that shows the knee. I think this is a little extreme. I’m not saying booty shorts but if they pass the “straight arm finger test” they are probably acceptable. My sister Abbey tried to give Sydney some old shorts of hers. I could tell immediately they were clearly not going to pass the “Ray test”. I was just trying to be nice and take the hand me downs because I get super offended when I offer hand me downs and someone acts snobby about it. But Ray was adamant (and verbal) about not taking these shorts and to this day my Aunt Susan is frightened to buy the girls shorts!

When we go to a restaurant or to a store the girls always want “treats” whether it is the standard bargain of I’ll get a grilled chicken sandwich if you let me get fries (and they eat all the fries and have no room for the sandwich); or can we get candy, please, please? I always gave in; always. I mean I’VE GOT GREAT KIDS don’t they deserve a little treat for being so great?

Turns out no, they don’t. And our new found Paleo family has been a hard mommy challenge for me. Last night we ate at Planet Hollywood, Orlando. Rachel and I shared a steak and mixed veggies. Rachel ate the steak willingly. She loves steak. (Eating cow is a new thing for us) but the veggies…meh, not so much. She was given two spears of broccoli and she just wouldn’t finish them. Ray, Sydney and I had been finished eating for awhile and were anxious to walk around and look at the memorabilia. Rachel finally got one spear down and oh how pitiful this child can look when she wants, and the excuses! It tastes funny; it touched the table; Sydney is looking at me (we were all staring her down at this point); I just don’t like broccoli. I was about to give in. But Ray has much better resolve than I do and he tells her to take the second one with her. And she carried that spear around for at least 30 minutes before she got it down her gullet. She probably ate H1N1 exposing it to half of Orlando.

But it is worth it – I have to tell you, she has more energy now and she doesn’t “look sick” now this is something only my mommy meter could sense with her but I could tell for the last five months something was off with Rachel (she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in December). And even though she is grumpy about eating broccoli,my mommy meter is quiet and that is something she is just going to have to SUCK UP!