On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess

This is a post I wrote last summer on my personal blog. We had arrived at MRU, I had begun work, and had already formed the bad habit of raiding the lab snacks bought for the students instead of eating a proper meal. One of the hardest things about being a working parent is having to put your children in daycare. I worried extensively (although, I think, not excessively) about picking a nurturing environment for Little Isis. Some of the places we looked at were horrible. Horrible, I say! This place, needless to say, was not the place we chose.

I feel the need to preface this entry by saying that, as I am sure many of you can attest to, I am in no way the temple of perfect health. In fact, as I begin typing this, I have a fudge stripe cookie and a cup of coffee sitting on my desk from our lab's stash that I intend to make my lunch. That being said, having a toddler, I try to pay close attention to what he is eating and what others are feeding him. For breakfast I like him to have fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal. At lunch time I like him to have fruits and vegetables with whatever else he is having. Common lunch-type fare includes leftover meat from the previous night's dinner. And for a snack, I really do try and choose unprocessed foods (like, you guessed it, more fruits and vegetables). As a result, I have a child who loves all of the typically child-unpopular foods. He really digs things like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, and olives. He gets excited to see us cutting melon and expresses his excitement by running around and yelling, "loupe, loupe, loupe."

So, today Mr. Isis and I visited our first potential new Little Isis School. Infant and toddler care is pretty limited and we really only have a few options to choose from. This place was a small facility that was converted from an old home. The teachers were nice but I thought it was really creepy that they put the 2-3 year olds in the basement. It was like a dark, windowless little toddler cave and I was worried that if I turned my back one of them would try to jump and bite my neck. I am convinced that these children might nap hanging upside down. They seem to follow all of the state regulations and what-not, but I don't feel convinced that Little Isis would be safe there. But one thing really bothered me. The facility director showed me the weekly menu for breakfast and lunch, and it's all typical "toddler food." For breakfast they get things like French toast and pancakes and fruit cups. For lunch they get meat in assorted stick and nugget form and macaroni and cheese. And, if you ask me, corn and peas are not vegetables. She told us that common snacks include things like Nutrigrain bars. I think I may have made a face. I think this because I think she made a face in reply. I think her face said, "Why, you snooty bitch. How dare you turn your nose up at mac & cheese?"

I mean, don't get me wrong. I take no side in things like the war of fresh versus frozen vegetables, but I would prefer that Little Isis not have pancakes and Nutrigrain bars as his source of nutrition. Am I being ridiculous? Am I turning into one of those cargo pant and Birkenstock-wearing crunchy mothers? Could I be caught dead in a pair of Birkenstocks instead of my Naughty Monkeys? I worry about things like childhood obesity and I don't want his palate shaped by things like...well...pancakes and Nutrigrain bars...so that later in life I have to beat him into eating squash.

And speaking of cargo pant and Birkensock-wearing crunchy mothers - after our day care adventure, Mr. Isis and I took a trip to Whole Foods to try to calm me. I felt the need after visiting that daycare to buy some barley or quinoa or something. I had never been to a Whole Foods; since arriving I've been shopping at a combination of Sam's Club, Trader Joe's, and the local MRU grocer. However, I know some folks (some of them readers of the blog) who absolutely lose their junk over Whole Foods and I thought I could get a little fresh food therapy. Plus, Mr. Isis has been trying to find a place with decent bagels. Anyway, after having had the Whole Foods experience, I have to say that I just don't get it and I still feel uncalm. Can one of you explain it to me? It seemed kind of dark and gloomy. I was excepting to walk in and be blown away by a fresh food extravaganza, but even the produce wasn't that hot. I suppose we were just too spoiled by the grocery choices at our last MRU?

So, while some of you are reassuring me that I am not crazy in insisting that my son not each gummy fruit snacks every day, can one of you also explain the Whole Foods phenomenon to me?

Figure 1: Toddlers at the daycare Dr. and Mr. Isis investigated. Hilarious Photoshopping added ex post facto.

[Update]:  I think this is totally the place!!!!!