 Hi {!firstname_fix} Well, hi everyone. This weeks edition is all about kids. Hope you like it as much as I do. Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www.radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of the page. Do not email me, do not get mad at me, just click on the linkand you will be forever removed. And be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen ********************************************************************* April 5, 2004 ** Quote From Naomi ** When we came home from our vacation to Pennsylvania, we dropped our stuff and ran out to the fruit store and to a take out place to pick up chicken for supper. I told my 4 year old boys they could pick out a fruit to have for dessert tonight. So, little addicts that they are, they ran over to the counter where they have all the ‘poison’ and kept asking me "hey, Mommy, is this okay?" I kept laughing and saying "Fruit. See the fruit over there." Finally after a few times, I actually physically turned Pesach around so he was facing the rows and rows of fruit and said, "Fruit, pick a fruit." We came home with melon, purple and green grapes and Aaron picked a pineapple. After dinner I was reading this nature/animal magazine we get geared for 3-7 year olds. We were reading about raccoons and what they like to eat, i.e. fish. And the magazine asks a question, "So what do you like to eat?" Pesach pipes up and says "Fish and poison!!!" Naomi ******************************************************************** ** Testimonial for the Week** When Clara was a baby I knew about sugar sensitivity and wondered if she was or wasn't sugar sensitive. I knew I was, and I knew her older sister Emma was. I hoped that Clara had escaped the wrath of the sugar sensitive biochemistry. As she got older and her diet expanded and included more variety (including sugar), I looked for the signs that I thought I knew: hurt/sensitive feelings, cravings, withdrawals. I didn't see them...I thought her biochemistry was different! (At the time, I was trying, failing, and trying again to move through the steps myself. Sugar was still in our lives.) Around the age of 2-1/2, she started waking up in the middle of the night. One of two things would happen. She would either be wide-awake but calm, or she was badly tempered and couldn't be pleased (at ALL). Neither option was fun. If it was the first, I would put her back to bed over and over. Each time, she would come back in my room, wide-awake as could be. I would plead with her to "just go back to sleep!" Some nights she was awake for hours. If it was the latter, she was inconsolable...she wriggled, she cried, she thought she wanted one thing or another, but never wanted anything at all. It was draining. She would eventually fall back to sleep, exhausted. So would I. Eventually, she started articulating that she was hungry in the night. I really didn't believe her, quite honestly. (After all, she'd been sleeping for two years through the night without being hungry!) My sugar-fogged brain thought she was manipulating me, just trying to get an extra snack (after all, that's what I would have done when I was a kid). For a long while, I resisted giving her a mid-night snack. Eventually, I gave in. My offer was always a cheese stick (for the pure beauty of no crumbs in bed)! Pretty soon I discovered that on the nights that she woke up, a cheese stick got her back to sleep in no time. It took less than five minutes to lay down with her while she ate, and then she immediately went back to sleep. That meant that I could go back to sleep myself! Life was good! But then there were the mornings on which her disposition was utterly horrendous. I remember holding my breath when she came down the stairs in the morning, waiting to see if she had a smile or a scowl on her face. The smile meant we would start the day on a good note. A scowl meant that we were in for a looooooonnngggg, difficult morning (if Clara wasn't happy, NOBODY was happy)! Over time, it wasn't just the mornings in which Clara's disposition became abominable. There were explosive episodes throughout the day. She could transform from content, playing child to a sour, defiant, stubborn, unreasonable monster. She defied us; she had to have things her way (or not at all), and she was oblivious or irreverent to where she was, who she was with, or whatever the activity was at the moment. It was a state of being, and when she got this way, it felt impossible to get her back to "normal." It always took a long time. Of course, she wasn't like this all the time either. She was often funny, silly, sweet. And there was no doubt that she was smart. She was mechanical, always wanting to know how things worked, extraordinarily verbal, and always "seeing" things that seemed beyond her age. It was like she had two personalities, and the dissonance between them made me extraordinarily uncomfortable. As a parent, I couldn't help asking myself, "what am I doing wrong?" I hadn't connected the dots; I didn't know it was food related. I thought it her personality, and I wondered, "If she's like this now, what will she be like when she's 18? 25? 50?" I fretted about her future. I didn't know what to do. Feeling rather desperate, I started posting Clara's behavior on the Radiant Parents list. It was the best thing I could have done. Over time, I gained a whole new understanding of what Clara needed. A clear picture emerged from the scattered dots. Keep her FED; don't wait for "empty." Give her a bedtime snack with protein. If "empty" happens, fill her up first; handle the discipline later. Each tip that I learned and employed helped Clara's coping mechanisms and our family life. Clara is now four. She wakes up smiling every day. She loves to make people laugh by doing silly little dances, making funny faces, and saying funny things. Her creativity has blossomed through her stories, paintings, coloring, and new inventions. She can concentrate on an activity for hours. She hardly ever scowls. The secret? I make sure she is fed regularly every day: three meals and three snacks, with protein at each one. Is life perfect? Of course not. Do I mess up? Yep. But now I know how to fix the mistakes. If Clara becomes frustrated, I know "empty" is near. If she wakes up in the night, I know a snack will put her back to sleep. If she decides not to finish her breakfast, I know that an early snack will be in order. When we go out, I always bring water and a snack. These adjustments are so simple, so manageable, so do-able. Our journey has been long, it has had its up and downs, but it has been oh-so-worthwhile. I no longer fear my daughter's moods or fret over her future. I am thrilled that the solution was food, just food! It sounds unbelievable, but it is absolutely true. Jennifer ******************************************************************** ** Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
Read the testimonials by clicking here. ******************************************************************** ** Radiant Recovery Seminars **
I am getting really excited about our annual four-day ranch held in Albuquerque May 19-22. Radiant Ranch is the highlight of the year. Most of the liaisons come and we all have a blast. Ranch only has a few slots left, so if you are thinking about coming, NOW is the time to sign up. I have posted a schedule of the seminar if you want to see what we will be doing.
******************************************************************** **  David's Corner **Since we are doing kids this week, I thought you might like to hear about a new book we found. Kathleen has been working with the author who wrote a book called "Mommy, I'm Scared". It is for parents who are trying to sort out how to handle the TV issues in their home. Kathleen thought a companion book for kids would be great. So...:-), now we have it. It is called  Please send questions and suggestions for items you might like to see in our store. YOU are building our store. Tell me what you want and we will sort it out. Thanks David ********************************************************************  Ok, this week I want to give you a little preview of the new book. Little Sugar Addicts is scheduled for release in July. If you are thinking about getting it, I would go ahead on over to www.amazon.com and put in a reservation. My hunch is that as soon as it hits the book stores, it will be sold out. By preordering a copy, we make a statement about interest and value. We are not going to be carrying it in our store since the publisher does not count books I sell as 'real' sales. Here is a peek at the Index and the Introduction. I am REALLY excited about this book. It feels like OUR story. You helped me write it. I am excited to hear your thoughts. Little Sugar Addicts
Do you have a smart, creative, compassionate child who is also spacey, inattentive, cranky and sometimes obnoxious? Are you coping with constant colds and ear infections in your children? Is your child getting tubby and suffering at school because of it? Has your doctor told you that your child is pre-diabetic? Have you put your son on medication for ADD? I know that you really care for your child and you know something is not right. The contradictions simply make no sense. Your child can be sweet and loving - or fearful, cranky, out of control, moody, depressed, or destructive. And this same child has moments of being enchanting, funny, gifted, tender, compassionate, loving, and creative. There are moments when he touches you deeply - and times when you would like to trade him in for a new model! The pain you feel at seeing your gentle and loving child turn willful, frightened, or out of control is beyond words. The rage you feel in the midst of the power struggles terrifies you. Sometimes it feels as if you are living with a split personality. The changes in behavior simply make no sense. You wonder what is behind it and you simply do not know what to do. You feel as if everyone has something to say. And much of it is aimed at you. If you would just get your child straightened out, things would be ok. You want to be a good parent. You work hard at it, but you are tired down to your very bones. You cannot imagine struggling with one more fight to get chores done, to finish homework, to not eat junk, to get to school on time. You don't want to struggle like this. You want your child to be happy and well adjusted. You wonder if drugs are the answer. Maybe you have tried them, and they didn't work, or didn't work for long. You wonder about diet. You have tried making "healthy" meals, but your children refuse to eat them. They announce, "I am not eating that!" and stomp away. You have bargained with them, you have pleaded, you have prayed - and things have not changed. I am convinced that what you are experiencing is a function of your child's biochemistry and diet. It is not about your parenting skills or some flaw in your child's character. It is not a psychological disorder. Your child may be sugar sensitive. A biochemical imbalance can cause these problems. This is not your fault. It is not your child's fault. Sugar sensitivity is an inherited biochemical condition that affects how the brain and body function. Mood swings, erratic behavior, inability to concentrate, low self-esteem, fatigue, crankiness, and overweight are all connected, and can all be driven by the biochemical imbalance of untreated sugar sensitivity. These behaviors are not a result of your parenting skills. The contradictions you see in your children are driven by what and when they are eating. If a sugar-sensitive child skips meals, eats late, has a lot of sugar, eats refined foods, or doesn't get the right nutrients, he will be erratic, moody, unable to concentrate, chubby, cranky, dramatic, funny, wildly energetic, temperamental, or spacey. This is not about taking him off of sugar or taking out food additives, this is about designing a food plan that heals the reason for the problems. It is about going right to the cause rather than trying to deal with the symptoms. This is about healing biochemistry by changing the food. Changing the food has an effect beyond anything you can imagine. The program I will outline for you is based in very specific science and has been tested for many years. It has had an extraordinary impact on thousands and thousands of families. It's like getting the big-kid equivalent of the 'easy baby'. You know, the one that smiles, sleeps well, plays well, goes everywhere and rarely fusses. Steady food and steady routine brings out the easy kid. Even our high energy, intense kids are closer to their 'easy' selves. ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2004. Published in Little Sugar Addicts. Three Rivers Press. |