Natalia's First Birthday

     This Sunday we celebrated Natalia's first birthday!
Sergio's parents, sister, niece and cousin from Brasil are in town for the momentous event.
Talk about a green adventure.

     I freely admit, I can be neurotic and paranoid when it comes to my home and my kids.
The wonderful news: my in-laws are really respectful of my green household habits. They dutifully recycle every scrap of paper, plastic, and anything else remotely conceivable. Naturally this means I end up scrounging through the recycle bin and separating trash, but we're getting there.
     In Brasil they live in a rainforest, so water consumption (should I say over-consumption) is what we'll work on next visit. Thankfully, we're not in the middle of a major drought like we were two years ago.

     The bad news: my children have been eating non-stop for the last ten days, with little regard to mealtimes, bedtimes, schooltimes, party times, or any other verifiable time.
Granted, I have very little junk food in my house, but since its been PART-AY time for the last ten days...aurgh. My obsessive compulsions that are generally well-behaved have been unleashed, roaring to the surface every time I see one of the in-laws hand my kids a giant lolliop or a full cup of juice/soda right before dinnertime. To quote Mrs. White from the absurdly funny film Clue: "Flames...flames on the sides of my  face... heaving...breath...breathing...HEAVING breaths..." And so it goes.

     I force myself to step back. Take stock. What's really important here?
I observe from a neutral viewpoint what is happening, and I find myself becoming aware of more than just my steaming brain.

     Like many people (it's not just a cultural thing, although I'd like to make it that simple), my relatives pacify themselves and their children with food. Large slice of leftover birthday cake for breakfast? Check. Bottle of milk with a packet of hot chocolate tossed in to pacify the screaming toddler? Check. Family dinner at the Mexican restaurant with $1 maragaritas to wash away the stress of a gargantuan birthday party and three nights of lost sleep. Got it covered.

     Guess what I realized? I do the same thing. Granted, it's with fine dark chocolate, a luscious red wine, and organic potato chips...but I do it.

     So what? Do we need to work on some things? Sure. But as long as I don't let it become a me vs. them situation-- as long as I can find perspective, I realize my children are not going to die from two weeks of poor eating. And in the meantime, I find connection with my in-laws that wasn't there before. That's a great part of the adventure.