Eat. Sleep. Exercise. Laugh a lot!

A contemporary in the UP College of Law school sent me a message in response to my blog entry regarding Hotdogs and bonding with my kids. She raised certain concerns about healthy options and the proper diet for children and that hot dogs aren't exactly ideal for our kids. I could not agree with her more, thanks Ipat, for your concern.

Her email message gives me the opportunity to clarify some matters that may have been misunderstood or may be misunderstood by the readers.  I do not recommend hot dogs as part of our children's regular diet. We go to the convenience store infrequently. In fact, 

sharon and I  are very conscious of what our children eat. We refrain from giving our kids junk food such as chips, candies and other food items with little nutritional value. We do not allow the use of MSG as well. Both my little ones are asthmatic and are therefore prone to allergic reactions to certain food items. Hence we are very careful with what it is we feed our kids. Of course, once in a while we allow them some 'liberties'. they are after all little kids and well they do need to experience the 'little kids stuff' including chocolate candies, burgers etc. etc. 

We lived in the province for nearly two years when Miel was born in 2004.  It was in the province south of Manila that I found out that small town markets get their supply of pork, chicken or beef in backyard farms instead of the usual corporate farms that supply meat items in Metro Manila. Backyard farms as a rule, I am told, feed their livestock with vegetables and fruits in the area. This is in contrast to corporate farms which again I am told feed their livestock with feeds complete with anti bacterial medication and growth hormones necessary for 'greater yield'. In other words, more often than not, backyard farms have the tendency to go organic while corporate farms do not.  

After nearly two years of living off vegetable and fruit feed livestock in the province, I could actually taste the 'unnaturalness' of 'inorganic' livestock. It is difficult to explain but there was something somewhat synthetic about the taste of non organic food items.  Hence it got me thinking about what it is we are feeding our children.  Could it be that all these serious illnesses can be attributed to the food we eat? The debate on the healthy options rages on of course. 

Nowadays, we try to provide our little ones with natural food items as well as organic vegetables and other foodstuff.  They are not allowed to drink soda or coffee or tea as these items may have high contents of either sugar or caffeine.  I happen to believe that quite a number of diseases may be traced to the food we or our children eat or fail to eat. Hence the need to be particular about diet and of course, exercise. 

My kids are into sports as well. KC was into soccer, lacrosse, swimming and dance.  Frankie, we have enrolled in gymnastics and Miel is enrolled in ballet classes.  Indeed, exercise and eating well is the way to a healthy life.  

We also ensure that the kids get enough sleep. Bedtime is 830 PM. We read somewhere that for children 6 years and below, the hours of 8 to 11 PM are quality sleep hours that are irreplaceable. We want our little ones to be fully rested and 10 hours is a must. We also laugh a lot with our kids, instill humor as a necessary ingredient in daily living and we monkey around with them regularly. Laughter, as they say, is the best medicine.

Eat well. Sleep well. Get a lot of exercise and laugh a lot. Simple yet extremely important life lessons in a very complicated world.

Thanks, Ipat for the feedback. It is most insightful and very welcome.   

K