No, I don't want any chemicals with that water!

I’m going to be blunt because I’m really, really angry: I’m terrified about drinking water these days—bottled, tap, still, you name it. Yeah, sure we all know how important it is to the functioning of every system in the body; this information is pretty well established. But I would prefer not to drink chemicals with my water, particularly cancer-causing ones. And with the news today from the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C-based advocacy group, that most city water contains hexavalent chromium (or chromium-6), which … you guessed it … causes cancer  (stomach cancer and leukemia to name just a few), I’m throwing up my hands in absolute disgust and complete frustration.Where the heck can I get a non-toxic glass of water around here????

First, I got rid of my giant Poland Spring bottles (and dispenser) from my home because all were suspected of containing BPA, the cancer-causing chemical that leached into plastic (like the Poland Spring jugs) when heated up. Since I couldn’t guarantee where those jugs sat (and for how long), I essentially couldn’t guarantee that I wasn’t drinking (and that I wasn’t having my family drink) cancer-causing chemicals. Not to mention the possible eco-ramifications of using giant jugs of plastic (even if they were “recycled”).

So I put a filter on my home faucet—and on the pipes into my refrigerator water and ice dispensers—and cancelled my Poland Spring account. But I was always suspicious of how much junk was really being filtered out of my home tap water. And then todays’ report. Absolutely fabulous. Just lovely.

My first thought upon hearing this is: are you kidding me?! We can transmit images through satellite in seconds; we can send space shuttles up into the universe; we can develop smart bombs that can do extensive damage; we can get around a neighborhood by satellite-guided gps, but we can’t even friggin put a clean, fresh glass of drinking water on our tables?

Background here: hexavalent chromium was the chemical that Erin Brockovich fought against in real life (and in the movie)…and remember all the people who had horrific health side effects?. And guess what: there’s NO NATIONAL STANDARD for hexavalent chromium in drinking water, so that means…no one really regulates how much we’re drinking! This toxic stuff is the byproduct of steel and pulp mills, metal-plating facilities, and the erosion of natural deposits—according to various news sources.

So here’s the bottom line: most Brita filters don’t get rid of the stuff and neither do most faucet filters. Reverse osmosis filters on the tap are pretty much the only things that do—and they cost, on average, upwards of $300 (not including the filters you have to replace regularly). So what does one do if they can’t afford it? Well, that’s the billion dollar health-care question. I guess, for those who can’t afford it, they’ll just have to drink their tap water…and worry about the cancer later.

My 3-year-old's all-time favorite food

Last night, I took my kids out to the local Italian restaurant for dinner. My 3-year-old daughter pulled the bread basket in front of her and proceeded to eat slice after slice of white bread, licking the butter straight out of the little plastic packets. I looked around embarrassed, but I said nothing. Yes, I was horrified. Yes, I thought “do something”, but I offered her cucumbers from my salad “No!”; I offered her olives from my salad “No!”; I offered her some of my soup “No!” She proceeded to eat the bread before her dinner, macaroni and cheese arrived (which she ate a few bites of) and her french fries arrived (of which she ate half ). Lovely. Very nutritious and healthy meal, I was thinking in my mind as I paid the check. (My 6-year-old son ate some of my salad, a bit of soup, and ate the broccoli and mushroom pizzza…with some fries on the side.)

Why my daughter’s eating habits bother me so much: I’m one of those people that shun a cup of joe in favor of green tea (high in antioxidants), eat plenty of salmon (freshwater instead of potentially “toxic” farm raised) and skip tuna at all costs (too much mercury!), get plenty of greens (chockful of calcium and iron), and am sure to eat beans (high in fiber!). I skip fries at all costs (too greasy; all that trans fat!), limit cheese, particularly the gooey stuff found on kids’ mac and cheese, well, you get the picture. Yes, you could call me a crunchy foodie, a health “nut, a mom who has gone off the deep end (with eye rolling behind my back): say what you want, it’s probably all somewhat true.

So you can feel my horror then when my daughter’s definitive food preferences started: white rice, not “yucky” brown; white bread, not wheat; chicken nuggets; french fries; and pizza—sans anything that resembles a vegetable. It’s a battle I have not yet won (or even started to try to win) to try to get her to eat fruit or veggies; put any on her plate and she’ll run off screaming and crying “yucky, yucky, yucky!” And heaven forbid that anything that has a mixture of things touch anything else. She’ll cry that she wants a new plate. (“Is she getting enough nutrients?” I keep asking myself, terrified that her growth will stall [it hasn't yet]) One morning, I added flax meal to the blueberry pancakes in an effort to get some nutrients into her body. She looked at the pancakes suspiciously, declaring she doesn’t like brown pancakes (okay, there were a bit brown, I admit, but I told her that’s because they were cooked…yes, I know it was a lie, but what else could I say?!). And then she refused to eat them, even when I drenched them in “seebup” as she calls syrup (and loves).

Then there was the time when she took a sip of her juice and asked me “You put water in my juice?” (which, of course, I did…as I was concerned she was drinking too much juice and getting too much sugar). I told her “ummm…no, I don’t think so” to which she replied “Yes, you did!” (I looked away skeepishly…)

But the bottom line is, I’m terrified of forcing her to eat anything she doesn’t want as I’ve read so many books and articles about mothers and daughters and food—and worried that she’ll end up with an eating disorder and in therapy (“Yeah, my mom used to force me to eat my vegetables” she’ll be telling a therapist, who will respond horrified “Well, you can’t blame her. She didn’t know any better.”)

So I let her eat what she wants … in hopes that she’ll just outgrow it and one day, ask for a plate of the salmon with sauteed kale. But I also realized the proverbial apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: just as she’s determined to eat what she wants, so too am I very “definitive” in my food preferences. (Yes, I am very aware of this!) And in terms of growth, she seems to be doing fine: from all the books and studies I’ve read, kids outgrow food jags (when they eat white rice and butter night after night, as she does) and eventually update their preferences, so I’m saying nothing.

If you have kids, send me any tricks that work for you (just keep in mind, sneaking healthy ingredients into foods like Jessica Seinfeld does will probably not work for my daughter; she can sniff out anything healthy or different looking!). But I’m willing to try some new ideas!

The new designs by Kleenex

I noticed these new designs by Kleenex (who I love and use all the time: full disclosure), but I was a bit bothered by them. Pictures of desserts in pie-slice designs: do we really need to blow our noses while we think about pies, chocolate covered strawberries, and more? You’ve got a cold and now you’ve got to think about food: um…not very appetizing in my mind. And what if you’re on a diet (who isn’t these days)? You have to be reminded about what you’re avoiding when you grab a tissue. Don’t buy them, people say. But I say: don’t make them. I’m happy to stick with the pastel blues, greys, and pinks: they’re soothing and pretty nondescript, excactly the way I like my tissues!