Embracing the Holidays
Well 2020 is finally coming to an end …. wow what a ride it has been! I can’t believe that this year is coming to a close and we are about to embark on another trip around the sun. This year has been different on so many levels for all of us. Most of us have a variety of holiday traditions that we love and sadly these traditions will look different this year.
Happy Holidays 2020
Bring on the packages! We are mailing everything this year and it has been kind of crazy. We are shipping gifts to friends who live in other states and then even to our family who we would normally see in person. I have to think through how to safely package up some tasty treats and drop them off in the mail in the next 2 weeks. I have also ordered 90% of Christmas gifts online this year and haven’t gone into any stores, except for the grocery.
Rethinking co-worker Christmas gifts. I have been thinking through how to still give some Christmas treats to my co-workers in person, but also Chas’s co-workers who are all remote. I need to come up with some creative packaging and find some boxes to use to mail treats along with Christmas cards. I have ordered some fun 2020 ornaments as well to include for friends.
Cooking up yummy treats. I am trying to keep some traditions alive like baking Christmas goodies and finding creative ways to get those to people. I think we drop off goodies to our neighbors (while wearing masks) this holiday season.
Mailing cards to everyone. Since we aren’t able to see very many people this holiday season, we are mailing Christmas cards to everyone! So watch your mailbox from some festive mail.
Virtual Santa visit. I scheduled a virtual Santa visit in the comfort of our own home for a Saturday morning. I normally am not a big Santa person, but that was something I couldn’t miss out on. Should be a fun way to celebrate the holidays in true 2020 style.
Holiday crafts at home. I purchased some fun holiday crafts to do with the boys as a fun way to celebrate the holidays as we are spending time at home. Also for part of their Christmas/Birthday gifts they are getting a Kiwi Co subscription, which will be a fun way for them to learn and do some STEAM activities at home.
Hopefully you can find some creative ways to celebrate this holiday season and enjoy this time together as a family. It is definitely different, but hopefully some quiet time and not running around like crazy, will help us all appreciate this time of year and all the blessings in our lives.
Thanksgiving Pandemic Style
I have decided that this year, I will make a post for each holiday and just add “pandemic style,” because I feel like that is an accurate description of 2020. Everything has changed and is different this year. That is just our new reality. I know this is being posted after Thanksgiving Day has occurred, but I wanted to share with you a recap of our Thanksgiving 2020. We have so much to give thanks for this year and despite the craziness of 2020 we still managed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent time with people we love.
We decided to spend Thanksgiving at our house with just our immediate household. We didn’t get together with grandparents, because they are older, in another state and we didn’t feel like that was the safest things at this point. We decided that our main goals for the day were 1) eat good food and 2) relax and spend quality time together as a family. Well I have to say that I think we accomplished both of those things.
Thanksgiving Agenda
Breakfast: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Egg Casserole and Grapes
Watch the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade and Walk the Dog + Play at the Playground
Lunch: Charcuterie Board that included Fresh Veggies with Hummus, Cheese and Meat with Crackers, Cranberry Brie with Bread and some more Grapes
Naptime for the Children = Cooking time for Chas and myself.
Watched Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with the boys, Played in the basement, Took Einstein for a 2nd walk.
Zoom call with Family and another 2 Video Calls with Grandparents
Dinner: Homemade Tamales, Jicama Slaw, Homemade Guacamole with Chips and Margaritas
Clean up the Kitchen, Wash Dishes and Pack Lunches
Snack before Bed: Pumpkin Pie and Tea
Now you might be wondering why Mexican food for dinner? Well why not! We wanted to do something unconventional, because 2020 has been so different. Plus it was just our family at home and we didn’t feel the pressure to make “traditional” Thanksgiving food. My husband, wanted to try to make tamales. Neither of us had ever made them before and I have to admit the were delicious. I have included some links up above for recipes of these food items.
As you can see from our agenda, we were busy, but we stayed at home and that schedule is what our normal days look like at home (minus all the homemade food and cooking). It was a wonderful holiday and we have so many things to be grateful for, but first and foremost being healthy and having our jobs during this stressful year. I know for some of you it might not have been a relaxing Thanksgiving, you might have been working or worried about your job or have a loved one who is ill. Please, know that you are not alone and these hardships don’t last forever. As we start to gear up for this holiday season and Christmas, may you have a safe and wonderful rest of your weekend!
Family Meal Time
I have spoke about family meal time before, but I was sitting at our dining room table last night and I was looking around at my wonderful family and thought I should bring up the importance of family meals. Spending this time together as a family is so valuable to the development of our children and fostering positive relationships. I actually wrote up a blog post on this topic in the summer. I was watching my youngest son and his interaction with the rest of the family and it made me realize how important this time together is for all of us. I have spoken about baby led weaning before and I think that this part of family meal times helps SO much with food acceptance.
Family meal times teaches how we as humans sit down and communicate over a meal. My almost 2 year old was watching us talk about our day and wanting to chime in with his own thoughts and noises. We always ask our almost 4 year old how his day was and what he did at daycare. Now our little guy (whose almost 2 years old) is babbling and wanting to chat with us as well. I wanted to share this to encourage you to make sure your kiddos are having that uninterrupted time with you at the dinner table. Our total amount of time eating together maybe lasts 20 minutes at the most, but that is still valuable. Some days I am able to make a delicious homemade meal and other nights it is frozen foods that have been heated up … the main point of dining together is the togetherness, not what is being served.
Another example of that family time helping to teach children how to behave, how to communicate, but always how to try new things. My almost 2 year old was very eager to mimic and try things like his older brother. He would look over and watch his brother and then pick up the same food and try it. This time and ability for him to watch and learn from his brother is important for his development and food acceptance.
In some of my work with outpatient follow up at the hospital, I have chatted with families about how to start solids with their babies. The first thing I emphasize is getting a high chair and having their child at the table for meal time. Give them foods at meal time, when everyone else is at the table. They are part of the family and sitting down together to eat is what your family should do at least once a day.
Hopefully this posts encourages you, whether you have small children or teenagers, to sit down at the table a share a meal together. It could even be enjoying take out from your favorite restaurant, but take a moment and sit together as a family and talk.
Changing Holiday Plans
This holiday season is 100% guaranteed to look different than any other time in our lifetime. That makes me sad, because I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, my children’s birthdays and time with family and friends. Now things look so different and we shouldn’t be doing all those things. I know that is hard to wrap our minds around, but it is necessary.
Living in a pandemic is new for all of us and it has been a long 9 months, but we are here and need to continue to vigilant. I have seen so many news articles addressing the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the Midwest (in and around Indiana, Michigan and Ohio). It has been a hard 2020, but we can’t let down our guard. One of my old co-workers in the NICU in Indianapolis received bilateral lung transplant this fall in Chicago after getting COVID-19 earlier in the summer. Read about her story - CLICK HERE. Unfortunately, another co-worker of mine in Indianapolis, Julie Henricks, lost her fight with COVID-19 the other week. This disease is so horrible, because you don’t know how much viral load you will end up with and how that affect your body. This is NOT like the cold or a flu, but instead much more serious, depending on how much of the virus you are exposed to.
So please, be careful this holiday season. This year is going to be so different from years past and it is going to affect Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. At my work, this graphic is being posted and shared and I wanted to make sure you had access to it, because it really sums up the importance of staying socially distant and changing our plans this year. CLICK HERE for the link to webpage. Read through some of these recommendations, think through your holidays plans and please, make changes if you had planned to do activities that fall in the “less safe” and “unsafe” categories. For my family personally, we are staying at home on Thanksgiving and we have asked our parents, who we originally invited over, to stay at their respective houses. We wanted our family to just stay home this year. We will chat with one another via video chat, but that will just have to do for this year. I work the day before and after Thanksgiving, so we will appreciate our time at home with our boys on Thursday. Our food plans are going to be completely untraditional, but it will be fun. We are going to make tamales, a jicama slaw, homemade guacamole, margaritas and then pumpkin pie for dessert! We are embracing the fact this year is crazy and going to make something new and different.
Be careful this holiday season, stay home, keep your contacts small and practice social distancing. It is hard and I know it makes all of us sad, but the alternative could be devastating and that is not want any of us want.
Your Voice Matters
I wanted to take a moment today and remind you all that it is time to VOTE! This year there is so much to think about and consider as you go to cast your ballot. You, as an American, have the ability to let your voice be heard. There are some misinformation out there about how your vote may not make a difference. I wanted to address those concerns and help clear up any concerns you might have before you head to the polls.
When you are voting in a Presidential election there is more on the ballot than just who will win the presidency. I have heard comments about how if your state tends to go red or blue then your vote for the opposing candidate doesn’t matter. Well that is not true. Each vote gets counted and that does matter, plus when you vote for other positions (judge positions, senate seats, county and state positions) you are helping to put people into offices that uphold your same values. When it comes to voting your vote has a huge impact on your local government and that impacts your community, state and country.
I have also heard crazy statistics about young people who have not voted. It is crazy to me to hear about people who don’t routinely vote. The reason we have older people running for office is because older people are electing people like themselves to those positions. We as humans, want people like us to advocate for our values. Our parents and grandparents get out and vote and then the people campaigning are targeting their agenda items to align with their base. As someone who is 30 something, if more of us voted and ran for office there would be more people like us in politics/on the ballot. So do your part, get out and vote and then who knows, maybe in the future you want to get involved with serving in your local and state government.
Halloween Pandemic Style
I am not sure if you have thought about your Halloween and Trick-Or-Treating plans this year, but you might want to take a minute and decide what you are going to do as a family. I have been thinking about all the upcoming holiday festivities and trying to figure out who we can do some of the traditions we love in a safe and socially distant way.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/22/915689646/cdcs-halloween-guidelines-warn-against-typical-trick-or-treating-boo
The CDC published some guidelines for parents in regards to Trick-Or-Treating - CLICK HERE for that resource. I love that they divided up ideas of things you can do for Halloween in terms of low, moderate and high risk activities. I felt like this clearly explained things you can do that will keep your family and those you interact with the safest.
Low Risk Halloween Activities
Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them
Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends
Decorating your house, apartment, or living space
Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance
Having a virtual Halloween costume contest
Having a Halloween movie night with people you live with
Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house
We are planning to have our own Halloween party, since Halloween falls on a Saturday we are going to spend the day doing up Halloween things. I am going to make some yummy breakfast that is Halloween themed (sprinkles on the pancakes and maybe even pumpkin oranges). Then we are going to a scavengar hunt with clues and candy. The boys each have a little gift that they will get to find at the very end. I have some Halloween crafts that we are going to make. I thought it would be fun to maybe grill out for dinner and wear our costumes around during the day. We might meet up with some friends at their house for a bonfire in the evening, but our goal is to avoid large groups of people. Our neighborhood has LOTS of trick-or-treaters so we are going to leave candy out on the porch, but we are not personally handing anyone candy. If you want some other ideas of things to use for treats on Halloween that are not candy - CLICK HERE for another blog post I wrote up a few years ago.
I encourage you to find some fun ways to celebrate Halloween this year that is with your own family and close friends and be safe.
Redeveloping Yourself
I wanted to continue to talk about this topic of loving yourself and finding ways to reinvent yourself. I feel like this is a great theme for 2020, because this year is just not going how any of us anticipated. This has been so hard for so many people and has left so many of us just throwing our hands up in the air and wondering what to do next.
As you all know this last year my family has moved, I have started a new job, worked to navigate a global pandemic and then left kind of questioning myself. I am so thankful to be employed full time … so this totally ends up being more of a first world problem. So please, recognize that I understand my privilege in this regard.
With all of this change, being up rooted from our close friends and professional networks has really left me feeling like I have been drifting in regards to my career. I knew what I have wanted to do and worked so hard the past 9 years towards reaching my current position. Then now that I am here, I am starting from square one in terms of building relationships and seeing where I fit in here. That has been tough to figure out what I want to continue to move toward and where I want to see myself in the next year, next two years, next five years. I have vague ideas, but with the state of the world and things changes, I am kind of left wondering if my expectations will be reality.
I wanted to share these feelings and emotions with you, because maybe you can relate. This year has been so hard on families and on people’s careers. If you are feeling like you are just floating and not sure what is on the horizon, don’t give up paddling. Stick with small, attainable goals. I am trying to consider larger goals, but working to understand that maybe things will change. So what are your little goals for yourself? I am working towards taking a nutrition exam here in October. Then I want to look at putting together a presentation with some other amazing RDs for a conference in the spring. I am slowly working on building back up my self-confidence and pushing forward on my career path. It feels good to focus on things I can control and work towards meeting those little goals. None of these goals are huge or life changing (I have had enough of those changes for a this year), but it is forward progress and that should be celebrated!
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Toddler vs. Vegetables
I have done Baby Led Weaning now with both of my children. My oldest was a great eater and loves all food for the most part. He was always willing to try something new and has a great appetite. Of course, as you may guess my second child, had to be different. He was a good eater when he was < 1 year old, but now that he is nearing 2 years old things are changing. My oldest went through this stage, gaining independence, but it has been as bumpy as with baby #2. My 1.5 year old is really not loving vegetables. If you put his fruit, main course and veggies on a plate … he will eat the fruit first, then the main course and if he is still hungry we will try a piece of vegetables. As the weeks have ticked by, he was eating less and less of those vegetables. Then one night we had a massive melt down at the table when I wouldn’t give him his milk and he was not wanting to sit at the table.
So let’s break this down and exactly what happened, because there were lots of things at play here.
He wanted his milk. I took his milk away, because he wasn’t eating any of his food. My child is obsessed with milk and would drink it all day everyday if I let him. His reaction to me taking away his milk was to completely melt down (scream, cry, push away from the table and start to throw food on the floor). We had a power struggle on our hands, I said no and he didn’t like that choice I made for him.
He ate the carbohydrates for the meal first. Every time he was keeping the vegetables until the end. I am ok with that sometimes, but all the time wasn’t working for us. It was getting to the point that he just wasn’t eating the vegetables.
Too many snacks. This one was completely my fault. I was giving him a snack of a piece or two of apple a cheese stick when we got home, but this was filling him up enough that he wasn’t eating much for dinner. That snack was not helping him when it came to eat a wider variety of food items. Instead he was filling up on a cheese stick and a fruit or cracker and that was leading even less vegetable consumption.
Not staying at the table. He kept pushing his chair away from the table and not wanting to be present at family meal time. He was throwing food on the floor and not calming down. This was another power struggle issue, because he decided that since he wasn’t getting his way, he wanted to leave the table.
You are probably now wondering what I did in this situation?! Well I kind of lost my cool and felt like a terrible mother for the rest of the evening. This turned into our “come to Jesus moment,” because it was just too much for the whole family at the dinner table. My husband and I decided that we were going to flip things around for the next few weeks and we started offering our toddler vegetables first at lunch and dinner and also for snacks. We basically jumped into the vegetables 100%. We offered that “non-preferred” food first and then offered the “preferred” foods like the main course and maybe a fruit. Then snack was normally a variety of raw veggies and a hummus dip. Over the course of a couple weeks, he started eating the vegetables. We eliminated the evening snack and he got hungry enough that he was eating what was placed in front of him. Now, I am kind of back to offering the veggies and main course at dinner and that is going well. I am still cutting out the evening snack and our daycare provider offers the veggies first at lunch. So in the end, we have a stubborn toddler who prefers other foods over vegetables. I don’t blame him, but I have to help give him those healthy options and limit those other choices (within reason).
I wanted to share this experience with you, because raising adventurous, well rounded eaters is touch. There are a few key points to remember … as the adult you get to decide WHAT is offered and WHEN it is offered. The child gets to choose HOW MUCH they eat of that food item. Especially with toddlers, who are looking to gain independence, it can be hard to navigate family meal times. You are not alone if you have faced some of these struggles. Just remember that you are the parent and you love your child and this too shall pass.
Garden Update
Our garden this year wasn’t anything huge and didn’t produce a bumper crop of food, but it was fun none the less to try to keep some plants alive. Both of my boys got to learn about how plants go, how it is important to water them and that they can produce food for us to eat. If you remember from my first garden post this year we planted some tomato plants and a basil plant. Then I also planted some flowers and succulents. In the past we have done peppers and attempted carrots all in flower pots. I would love to try to build some raise beds next year and see about planting a slightly larger garden. Our cherry tomatoes did well and we have gotten several that we have enjoyed at snacks and on salads. The larger tomatoes were planted later and I feel like they didn’t end up growing well. We have gotten 2 tomatoes on that plant and still waiting on the others to ripen. My boys have loved having plants and being able to pick the fruit. It has been a great learning experience for them.
Next year I am wanting to work towards getting some raise beds in the back of our yard, along our future fence line to plant more vegetables and flowers. I would love to be able to grow peppers, tomatoes, green beans, some lettuce and marigolds. That is on my wish list and we will see if next spring we can make that dream a reality.
In addition to our tomatoes and basil I have been working to try to acquire some house plants and succulents and trying to keep them alive. I have been learning a lot about the type of soil and the amount of water all these plants need. Not going to lie, I have had some die and I have had to do some replacements, but it has been fun to learn something new. I am also loving having more plants inside the house. It makes me smile and just feel happier. So my goal is to see if I am able to continue to keep these plants alive through the winter.
I just wanted to share an update on our garden progress. We aren’t huge farmers and aren’t bringing in a bumper crop of food, but it has been a great learning experience and something that we have enjoyed. So even if you have never gardened before, you can always give it a try,
Kitchen Organization
I had this idea come to me to write about kitchen organization, because I end up spending a fair amount of time in my kitchen. In fact, we ended up purchasing this house, because it had an amazing kitchen. Now, I am not an amazing cook, but just like any other wife and mother, you find yourself in the kitchen more than you ever anticipated. With that being said, I think it is important to think through how that space is organized and how to make that work for you.
Organizing the Space
If you have cabinets - how are they organized. Are things easy to reach? Do you have items in drawers or on shelves that you reach for frequently? Is it easy for you to end items put away?
Where is the space for drying dishes after they are washed? Is it out of the way or are you constantly moving around them?
Do you have a pantry? How is that space laid out?
Do you have a dishwasher or a garbage disposal? If that is a no, how big is your trashcan and is it close to where you need to access it?
I am sure that you have thought through some of these questions, but if you haven’t maybe you can think about the flow in your kitchen space. For example, our house in Noblesville, IN didn’t have a garbage disposal so I positioned the trash can right next to the sink so I could easily scrap dishes into the trash and then place them in the sink to wash. In our house in Broad Ripple, we didn’t have a walk in pantry so we used cabinets that were at the end of the kitchen space and put dishes closer to the dishwasher to help with ease of putting things away. You are going to feel more comfortable and enjoy being in your kitchen if things are laid out in a way that works for you and your lifestyle.
As you are thinking through where things go in the kitchen area, think about how you are storing your food items. This is important because sometimes it makes sense to take the time to cut up produce or open it and store it in different containers. Often this might take some time on the front end to open things up and then “repackage” them, but it might save time or be more helpful on the back end. For example, you might find that you like having your dry goods in airtight containers. That is helpful because it allows you to see what is the left, you can get rid of the plastic/cardboard packaging and you are able to use what you know you have available to you.
As we are all navigating this COVID-19 world and we find ourselves spending more time at home, I think it is important for our sanity and just overall well-being to enjoy the spaces we are living within. Hopefully you can find some ways to make your kitchen flow better for you and make you happy to spend time there.
Toss Those New Year's Resolutions
Do you remember back in January at the beginning of 2020? Remember when you made resolutions for yourself. You were thinking ahead to the year that was about to unfold with so much optimism and eagerly anticipating what the year would bring. Little did we know that our lives would shift and change in ways that we couldn't have imagined. 2020 has been quite the ride and honestly a year that many want to put behind them. We are just over half way through 2020 and I was thinking about what I dreamed this year would hold. For me, I anticipated a big move for our family and a new job and then I imagined what that new job would entail. Our move happened, I started a new job, but I am not doing exactly what I imagined. Starting a new job is a humbling experience, because you have learn how things are done in a new position with new coworkers, but let me tell you how humbling it is when you have to start that new position during a pandemic. Then you find yourself doing tasks you didn’t think you would be asked to do. Now, let me say I am extremely thankful for a job. I am just sharing my experience to let you know that it is ok if you feel extremely disappointed by 2020. If you are thinking back to those hopes and dreams you had at the beginning of year and you feel let down.
Acknowledging those feelings and working through that grief is important. From those hurt feelings, we have two choices - we can continue to be depressed or we can work to pick up the pieces and move forward. I can most assuredly say that 2020 is NOTHING like any of us imagined. We have all experienced challenges, disappointments, grief and had to adjust our expectations. Now how are you going to move forward? What are you going to do with the rest of the year? I am here to encourage you to find some positive aspects of 2020. What are some good things that have happened?
We have had SO much more family time and that has been fun to see our boys grow up and change.
We have made some time for some hobbies like disc golf, reading, running and porch sitting.
We are adjusting our goals and plans to move us forward to where we see ourselves in the future. We are finding projects to pursue at work, considering graduate school, studying for exams and trying to salvage a sense of drive/determination in our work.
What items are on your list of positive things to come from 2020? How are you going to adjust your goals? I am not say you need to set unrealistic expectations. Lots of us are worried and stressed about school and work and that is ok. But what are you going to do to fulfill your sense of purpose and find that joy for the rest of the year? I challenge you to look for the joy and find a way to adjust your expectations. Life is too short to just throw up our hands and give up. Here’s the to rest of 2020 and trying to make the best of rough situations!
Family Meal Times
Here in 2020 we find ourselves with LOTS more time at home and that means more family meal time! Whether you like it or not, there are more dishes and more meals to be eaten inside your own home. That can be overwhelming for families, because lots of people are seeing an increase in grocery spending and trying to figure out how to cook/prepare food. Even some food prices have increased and that has bumped up grocery budgets.
So what does this mean for you as a parent in regards to family meal time? Have you felt additional pressure to cook and sit down to eat together? Have you felt at a lost and frustrated by always feeling like a chef + all your other responsibilities? I am right there with ya. Some days I felt like I spent my entire day preparing meals and snacks for my family.
I wanted to provide you with some information to help encourage you that this time and effort you are spending in the kitchen is worth it! There have been a variety of studies done looking at family meal times and behavioral outcomes in children. An article in JAMA looked at adolescents while making good life choices (avoiding tobacco, drugs, alcohol) and correlation with those behaviors and family meal time. This article found that families who ate together more often had an inverse relationship with adolescents participating in those questionable behaviors (using tobacco, drugs, alcohol). So eating together meant these youth didn’t participate as much in smoking, drug abuse, etc activities. Other studies have shown that family meal times increase consumption of healthier food items (like fruits and vegetables) for the parents and children. These families also have a more positive outlook on life and more positive self esteem, which is an interesting finding. This article from the New York Times provides some great encouragement for sitting down together as a family at the dinner table. For teens, the more often they are able to sit down with their parents, this provides additional opportunities for communication and building relationships. I know this even holds true for my 3 year old, he loves to sit down and tell me about his day. We tend to do talk more around the dinner table and it is his chance to talk and just be the center of our undistracted attention.
Family Meal Tips
Write Out a Meal Plan: It is often tough each night to stress about what you have in your pantry and what you are doing to prepare. Taking a moment to write down some ideas of what you want to cook will help throughout the week when it comes time to cook. You can use this meal plan list to help create a shopping list and then also cross off meals as you make them throughout the week.
Incorporate Your Family (in food preparation and clean up): I need to get better about this, but I often try to do it all on my own. My 3 year old loves to help, but he often makes a mess and that makes more work for me, but I am going to work to have him help more. It is important to have him involved so that he learns and then appreciates the hard work that goes into cooking for a family. Sometimes I put off cleaning up from dinner, because I value having time to play with my kids and get them ready for bed, that’s ok too. Find a routine that works for your family where everyone helps and contributes.
Branch Out of Your Comfort Zone: Try new recipes and new foods! Pinterest is amazing for recipes and you can find any recipe online. Try to push yourself outside your comfort zone and add 1 new recipe to your weekly menu. Save that recipe and if you end up liking it you can add it to your meal rotation.
Stimulating Conversation: Take this time to sit down together and talk. Discuss upcoming things you want to do together as a family, how your day was, things that you are worried about or things that make you happy. Find the positive to all this time together and get to know your family better.
Trying to look at the positive side of this pandemic is an opportunity to bond and build closer relationships with our family. That time together around the dinner table is priceless and won’t last forever. Savor those moments, don’t get too upset about all the cooking and cleaning and be present with your family in the moment.
Finding Your Way in Clinical Dietetics
I felt like I had to write a blog post on this topic of clinical dietetics, because it has been where I have been working for the last 9 years. Plus being in a hospital was not a place I thought I would be. For those of you that aren’t as familiar with the world of dietetics a vast number of RDs work at hospitals and are clinicians. These RDs see inpatients and outpatients and provide nutrition recommendations/education on various disease states. Throughout school you learn that there are variety of jobs and places where RDs can work, but you are prepared that you will most likely find yourself working at hospital, some where along the line. I didn’t think that was where I would end up, but now we are 9 years later and I found that I love NICU nutrition and I really hate not being in that specialty area.
I share this with you, because there are lots of RDs who are on the flip side of this coin and worked in clinical and hate it and are unhappy in that area. That is ok, but I wanted to take a moment and try to encourage/prepare you … if you are a RD who has found a specialty area that you love in clinical dietetics … don’t give up and fight like hell for that dream you have.
So let’s say you find that you enjoy working at a hospital. Lots of RDs enjoy working to care different types of patients in different areas of the hospital. You tend to have two groups of clinical RDs - adults and pediatrics. Then within those age groups you have different disease states where people start to specialize. Clinical dietetics managers are under pressure to staff these various areas of the hospital with the minimum number of staff possible, because helps the bottom line. So more often then not you are asked to cover multiple areas/units/or populations within the hospital. So you are pushed towards being a “jack of all trades” and that is ok for some people. For some of us that is not what we want. For some of us, we have very specific goals and aspirations. I wanted to write this post to push you to never stop fighting for that specific dream you have. If you have a niche and an area within dietetics you love … do everything you can to put yourself in that dream job. I was feeling compelled to write this, because I haven’t heard this enough. Instead I have heard “oh well I have to be flexible and do something else for awhile” or “you need to sometimes do things you didn’t originally expect” or “we all need to be part of the team.” And I do agree with those statements, but not when those statements are used to keep me from my clearly stated objective. I have worked too hard towards a specific goal to be derailed from that dream. So never apologize for having a passionate dream and knowing where you want to go. No one should make you feel that your drive should be something you apologize for, but instead should be harnessed to propel you forward.
With all that being said …if you find yourself working towards a dream you have (if it is in clinical dietetics or not) … never let anyone stand in your way. Go after that dream with all that you have and don’t let people who lack that drive make you feel bad for your desire to succeed.
Embrace the Chaos
I feel like 2020 can be summed up in one word - chaos. This year has been nothing like I anticipated. I imagined starting a new job, moving, exploring a new city and my husband traveling to/from Indianapolis periodically. I imagined our family coming over and staying with us occasionally. Instead things have been crazy and nothing like I imagined, hence the chaos.
I am very much a Type A personality and I want to work to have control over things. I can barely leave my kitchen in a mess, because it isn’t relaxing to have a mess. I have to work in a clean space, because otherwise I am distracted by the mess. I appreciate knowing what lies ahead and then working towards goals. Change is hard for me. I know this about myself and I am working towards embracing change and the chaos that comes from the unknown.
This year has really highlighted to me the little control that I actually have over anything. I like to think I somehow know what is coming, but in all reality I don’t know. I am sure that you have felt that way this year, plans have gotten cancelled and changed and you are left just hanging out at home. It can be sad and disappointing.
I have been trying to focus on the positives of this year and working to be more ok with chaos. I still have goals for myself and for my life here in 2020, but they have definitely shifted and changed in the last few months. At first that left me feeling hurt and frustrated, but then I realized that this is just how things have to be and I need to find a way to embrace that and change my attitude to be more joyful. When life gives you a situation that is out of your control, you have two choices - you can embrace the change and look for the positive or you can be bitter and resentful. I have been upset, but that is not a space I can stay in and I know that there is a bigger plan for me. If you find yourself right now amongst the chaos and wondering what this means for you and questioning what the future holds … know you aren’t alone and things do work out for the best. Hang in there and continue to work towards those goals you have for yourself, never lose sight of that!
Take Time for You!
I wanted to write about self love and taking time for you! I know that seems kind of crazy during this time in the world, writing about loving yourself, but this is important now more than ever. We (as people, as parents, as employees, as family members) are tired and we are stressed. We are in the midst of a pandemic, we have civil rights issues we need to address as a country, we are wondering about school plans for the fall, job security, etc and we need to make it through this marathon. These issues are going to be present in our lives for a long time and we need to make it to the other side. For us to be able to do that, we need to learn to take time for ourselves. We need to learn to love ourselves and give ourselves what we need to keep fighting these battles on a daily basis.
I have had the opportunity to have a week off of work. I also have childcare (which is a blessing). So I sent my children to their amazing daycare lady’s house and I had a week to myself. A whole 5 days where I could do whatever I wanted for the day. I haven’t had that opportunity since I have had children (3.5 years ago). I chose not to feel guilty about taking this week for myself. I love my children and I have spent lots of time with them during quarantine. Looking back over this week, I am SO glad I made time for myself. I needed this refuel time. I was able to paint our garage (yes, that is a thing) and I learned how to fix small dry wall holes and about different finishes of paint. I was able to go for a run multiple days. I walked my dog countless times. I drank my coffee hot. I went to the store a couple of times without having to rush home (while wearing a mask and avoiding people). I re-finished a coffee table for our living room. I ordered some shelving for our garage. I cleaned the basement. I got our library cards. I got our cars registered in new state. I got the dog’s nails trimmed. I read a book. I did the laundry. I relaxed and drank beer with my lunch.
I love doing these types of projects and getting stuff done. Those things I listed above provided me with so much happiness. I felt so accomplished. I was able to relax some and I never felt bad about it. I needed some self love and to remind myself that I am that same person I was before children. That person who loves creative projects, learning new things and has energy to tackle a To Do List. I was able to just hang out with my family over the weekend and I even put off the grocery store trip, because it was stressing me out.
So after hearing all these things I did with my free time, how have you learned to love yourself? You might not be able to take a week away from your children and that’s ok. Also you may hate projects and this list of things I did, stresses you out. That is fine if that isn’t your jam. Find things that make you feel happy and enlightened. What are you able to do each day to show and remind yourself that you are amazing?! Taking some time for you goes a long way in keeping your attitude positive and encouraging you through this crazy time in the world.
This self love is important for you, but also sharing that love with your partner matters as well. I was chatting with my husband about how proud of him I was and that he does a great job. Then I reminded him that he needs to love himself. I will always be that cheerleader for him, but he needs to turn that love and support inwards and love himself too. How you view yourself impacts your outlook on your life. So plan some time (it can even be a 20 minute bath or face mask session) to dedicate to you and don’t feel bad about it. Embrace that need to take time for you and find those things that make you happy.
Summer Loving
This summer is obviously different for all of us, than what we originally imagined. I feel like it is turning out to be unique and I am wanting to make the most of it. I want to be able to spend some of this extra time with my children and make some fun memories together. It won’t include a big, summer vacation, but often we will be able to do some fun things together that they will remember and enjoy.
We have moved to a new area of the country and during a pandemic. We are social distancing from family and friends, because we feel that is the best thing we can do. We are getting more time just the four of us and I wanting to do some neat things with my boys to make this summer fun and special.
Creative Summer Activities
Water Play - We don’t have a fancy pool, but we have been playing outside lots with our water table, kiddo pool and slide and then our sprinkler. I know blow up pools have been a hot commodity recently and if you happened to find one, good for you! I have loved being able to get my boys outside and playing in the water to cool off. This is a great way to run around and burn off energy and stay cool.
Craft Projects - I am not an extremely crafty person, but I am trying to encourage my kiddos to work on their creative expression. We have played with play dough, colored pictures, mailed our creations to friends and family, worked through alphabet crafts and played with pipe cleaners. I don’t have an abundance of craft supplies, but I have appreciated finding kits on Amazon that have all the things needed for the crafts. That is a huge win for me and plus I know I have ALL the things we need for the activity. I have also looked at Kiwi Co and I am interested in getting a subscription for William to do some projects, but we haven’t ordered that yet.
Cooking Classes - I have kind of fallen out of the habit of including the boys in cooking. It can be tough to make the time to have them help. William and I have been doing some baking in the afternoons when he wakes up from nap and Samuel is still sleeping. William has had so much fun measuring the ingredients and getting to make yummy treats. I would love to take more time and have him help with meals. So hopefully each week, I can have him help me prepare dinner. Got to set a goal and we will see how it turns out.
Nature Walks - The saving grace of quarantine has been daily walks, in fact we would normally go on two walks a day. We have loved watching baby ducks, looking at the clouds, talking about tree bark and watching for birds. I really love this time outside, because we get to do a somewhat structured activity outside. We have gotten to see baby ducks grow up and learned about how they nest, what they eat and how their feathers change.
Summer Reading - The last several years we have done the summer reading program at our local library and also through a friend’s Usborne business. I have been trying to get us set up with library cards and trying to do their summer reading program. It is obviously all a little different this year, but we are still reading our books and loving that quiet time together, sitting the AC at the end of a long day.
What fun things are you trying to do this summer? Are there any types of activities you are excited to do or things you will miss? I am excited to be able to make some special memories and hopefully enjoy some time with our favorite boys.
Listening and Learning
I am writing this blog post, because we need to talk about what America is going through. We can’t silently ignore the pain that Black people have carried for far too long. The state of affairs our country has found itself in is heart breaking. I keep circling back to these feelings and reminding myself that Black people face these feelings ALL the time. I am facing them now, but because of my whiteness I don’t live with this heart ache on a daily basis.
That leaves me wanting to do better. I want to show and teach my children that this is not ok. We owe it to our children to step up and make changes so that they do not experience this heart ache on a daily basis. My hope to is raise my children in a way where they love and support their neighbors. They are able to see the differences and understand why being kind matters. I want them to believe that these differences are also the thing that makes America unique and is a beautiful thing. You might be wondering how this current state of our country ties into this blog … well we ALL have to eat. We, as humans, must eat and the types of foods we choose to consume are as diverse as our country. That is one reason I went to school to study nutrition, because it affects everyone. No matter what your background is, you have to eat. Food can also demonstrate the social discrepancies within our community. Those who struggle financially also commonly experience food insecurity. Nutrition is something that affects each one of us on a daily basis. We need to do better to help our brother and sisters so they can have these basic human needs met, including food on their tables. Food is has the power to brings us together. We break bread together and share it with our neighbor. It breaks my heart to see how our differences have divided us and we need to do more! We need to step up and support our Black friends and neighbors. I don’t believe that there is a simple solution to solve this hurt and quickly fix any of these disparities. I just want to share that I am listening, I want to learn more and I want to work to do better!
Photo from: Fortified Family and a RD who has an amazing BLW business. I loved this graphic and wanted to share her post as well, looking at diversifying the content that she is sharing - CLICK HERE for her post and for the credit of this image.
Cooking More At Home
Well one thing that this pandemic situation has created is the opportunity to eat more meals at home. And by more meals at home, I am ALL the meals at home. That has meant several things for our family - 1) we are spending more on food at the grocery and then 2) we are cooking all those meals ourselves. We have gotten carry out from a few restaurants, but the vast majority of our meals have been made by ME at home!
This could definitely be seen as a negative, but I also think it should be looked at as a positive opportunity. We have been able to make some delicious meals and try some new things. My favorite new recipe discovery has been a salmon patty recipe that is delicious - CLICK HERE to check it out. I love salmon and try to incorporate it in our diet about once a week, but sometimes that regular salmon fillet get a little old. If you haven’t already, try to find some new recipes, to switch up our routine and try something new.
Being at home and finding yourself in the kitchen more often, trying to figure out what to prepare can be overwhelming. That is why taking some time and putting together a meal plan for the week and then a grocery list is super helpful. If you haven’t taken the time to meal plan, take a moment when you are getting ready to go grocery shopping to write down meal ideas for the week. I normally try to aim for like 5-7 different meal options for the week. I organize our meals like this: Breakfast (cereal, bagel, eggs, sausage, yogurt, oatmeal), Lunch (sandwich of some type, leftover, fresh veggies and fruit with dip) and then Dinner (the prepared meal I had planned for that day). Since both myself and husband work, we make lunches as easy as possible and then I am normally the one who prepares dinner. I try to include a fruit and vegetable with each meal. Some days the dinner meal option is super easy, like heating up fish sticks and cooked veggies and sometimes it is more in depth like making homemade mac n’ cheese with a side salad. If you need some ideas on some new recipes to try - CLICK HERE for some healthy weeknight meal ideas.
After I write down those 5-7 dinner meal ideas, I figure out what ingredients I need to buy. Then I write those items down on my grocery list. I add in staples that I buy every week - bread, eggs, cheese, milk, bananas, etc. Then guess what, the meal planning and grocery list are both done. I have 7 meal ideas that I can make for dinner throughout the week and then I have a list of things I need to buy at the grocery.
Our routine is that I will go to Aldi and buy as much as I can from my grocery list. Any items that aren’t available at Aldi, I will put on ClickList order and go to Kroger and pick it up. This process has worked super well for us over the past several months. I have been doing this meal planning/grocery shopping routine for several years now to help us stick to a budget. If you are curious about how we budget and meal plan - CLICK HERE for a post I did last year on the topic.
Tips to Remember for Cooking at Home
Write out meal ideas for the week (aim for 5-7 meals).
Use those meals for the start of your grocery list.
Add your weekly staple items to your list.
Head to the store and grab the things you need and stick with your list.
Urban Gardening
I just want to preface this post with the fact that I am NOT a farmer or even a person with a super green thumb, but I love having the ability to dig in the dirt and teach my children where food comes from. That passion is what is prompting me to write this post.
Each year, I try to plant a few vegetables in some containers and attempt to grow some of our own produce. As the years have gone by, some things have grown better than others. Last year was kind of a dud of a year. Our tomatoes got planted late and they didn’t grow well. The tomatoes that did grow got eaten before it was fully ripe and then even our basil didn’t grow well. I am not sure exactly what the issue was, but I am sure that not watering things (with a two year old and 6 month old) exacerbated the problem.
I have never had a super large garden, since I have lived on my own. I grew up with my grandparents planting a huge garden each spring and then even my own parents having a decent sized garden in a raised bed. Since I have moved out on my own, I have planted a few things in gardening pots and moved them to each place we have lived. Each year I typically plant tomatoes, basil, peppers or some other herbs. This year I went ahead and planted tomatoes and some herbs (seeds) at the beginning of May. Well the weather took a turn here in Ohio and dropped to like freezing temperatures at night and despite the fact that I covered my tomatoes they died. I ended up finding some other garden plants at Aldi for a decent price, I scooped those up for replacement plants round #2.
I have also worked hard to try to encourage and include William and Samuel to learn about gardening and growing produce. William has helped me plant this year and last year. He also helped me harvest cherry tomatoes in the past. He loved eating them as we washed them and cooked with them. This year, William helped me to plant the tomato plants, spinach seeds and some flower seeds. We have been watering them and watching for them to grow. I am hopefully that they will survive and we will be able to pick tomatoes this summer and cook with them. When we planted the seeds, we talked about how we had to we cover them up with dirt and give them water to drink and they use the sunlight to grow. We also talked about how trees and plants use their leaves to absorb sunlight and that is how the plant’s get their “food.” This is a great way to start talking about science lessons.
Resources for Families
A Little Acid Base Balance
During this whole coronavirus pandemic, I have tried to brush up on my acid base balance. As an ICU dietitian this is important. If you are reading this and you don’t work in an ICU, this might not mean as much to you. Just know that your body is complicated and is designed to stay in a balance, that when it is thrown off can cause havoc and needs to get rectified for you to survive. When you are healthy your body works to keep your body in homeostasis. Your lungs help to remove unwanted CO2 and then your kidneys work to process bicarbonate. When you are sick or find yourself in an ICU setting this balance either respiratory, metabolic or both gets messed up. So this means your body isn’t able to maintain that balance and your body starts to go acidotic (lower pH) or alkalotic (higher pH). Your body wants to keep your pH around 7.4 and that helps ensure all your organs are able to function appropriately. The pH of your arterial blood is determined by three things: 1) your PaCO2 (that is the pressure of CO2 in your blood), 2) lactic acid which is a by product of anaerobic metabolism, and 3) the buffering capacity of your blood (the amount of bicarbonate that is present.
If there is a problem with your lungs ability to function then you can have respiratory acidosis or alkalosis. This means that your ability to clear that CO2 is altered and your pH will go down (acidosis) or up (alkalosis). If you have an issue with your kidney function then that is termed metabolic acidosis or alkalosis. This means that bicarbonate isn’t able to be processed appropriately.
https://www.medifee.com/blog/acid-base-disorders-a-look-into-balance-and-imbalance/
What does this mean for a dietitian? Being able to have an understanding of how the body reacts to stress and then critical illness impacts how you provide nutrition to help the body get through that event. A patient in the ICU with an acid-base imbalance may be on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN). Being able to know what time of imbalance the patient is experience (acidosis or alkalosis) and then having a working knowledge of if it is respiratory or metabolic will help in understanding the treatment methods.
Having this understanding of how the body maintains a normal acid-base balance for physiologic homeostasis and growth matters. Becoming familiar with the key components of acid-base status is important and those include PaO2, lactic acid and bicarbonate. Having a basic understanding of how these blood gases are interpreted allows clinicians to figure out what therapies are needed to normalize acid-base balance. This can help save patient’s lives and makes a difference! So whether you are an ICU provider or not, knowing that your body is incredibly complex matters.
Resources: