I think there is a reason I am a child care provider. :) I enjoy the little flashes of laughter in my day, the giggles at all the things that us adults forget is funny. There is a host of other reasons that I love my job, but being able to drink hot chocolate with colored marshmallows and not get one little raised eyebrow is a big perk! And the kids love my cooking - well, they love the baking more than the cooking, but that's normal, I think. Sometimes the cooking is just a bit too healthy and I get an upturned nose, but it's not often. I try to make things for them that are healthy, as well as enjoyable to eat. I succeed most days. Childhood is such a great time to introduce all kinds of healthy foods to create a lifelong love of real food.
I wish my own kids were young again so I could have a do-over on their eating habits. They are 16 and 20 and don't share our love of all things healthy. I still serve it but unfortunately there comes a point when they can buy their own food and snacks and you lose control as a parent over what they put into their bodies. I only hope that they'll remember at some point and carry that through with them when they become parents. I am just glad that I've been able to expose them to a wide range of foods and dishes.
As a kid, my diet was a bit atypical. We ate mostly fish - caught by my parents and either eaten fresh or frozen, and venison - again killed and fresh frozen by my parents. Add to that mostly things my parents grew in the garden and that was the basics of our meals. To this day, I have a lot of issue eating venison. It's like I reached some sort of limit for it and that was it. I don't eat meat in any form very often, so it's not entirely surprising but such a reversal from my childhood. I am thankful for the early exposure to fresh veggies though. There really isn't a veggie I don't like. I love them all, and can eat them raw, cooked, baked, anything. I just love them. I didn't appreciate the garden, the fresh meat, etc, when I was growing up, but I sure do look back and think how lucky we were to have had such a good food foundation.
Now, I have my own garden, I grind my own wheat, I bake my own bread and I rely on canning and freezing fresh foods in season to get us through the winter. My childhood has come full circle! So, there is hope that my own children will find their way back too.
So, for today, try to just let a little childhood into your day. Smile...and not just because it's Friday! :)
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