Washington State Extension Service has a program to teach nutrition in grade schools. My son brought home a questionnaire for the parents designed to measure the effectiveness of the program. One of the questions read:
"I (we) wash my hands before eating or before handling food. Yes or No?"
Really? Come on.
I did scan the nutrition info that was sent home. These flyers were mixed with assorted school news, ads for summer camps and sports programs, finished homework and assorted miscellaneous. I often wonder how many trees were sacrificed in order to fill my childrens backpacks with information that loudly proclaims it's importance. I seem to get almost as much homework as my children do. But back to the nutrition survey. . . It was poorly written and allowed the respondents to rave about the benefits of the program. It did not provide any room for any additional feedback. I was quick to infer that if the parents didn't read the nutrition information that was sent home in the kids' backpacks, they only had themselves to blame for their childrens' poor nutrition. Really? Come on. Have you seen the school lunches? Apparently, the government subsidized lunch program hasn't been reading it's nutrition information. That canned nacho cheese sauce I've seen in the lunch room is just plain scary.
We are surrounded by information, now more than ever. If knowledge were all that was lacking, we'd all be living happier, healthy lives and making tons of money by virtue of our superior knowledge. We're left to do the best we can with what we've got. Knowledge alone doesn't solve problems. It takes action. Action is often required of all parties involved. My washing my hands (and I do by the way) is not going to improve the school lunch program or eliminate the sale of energy drinks at the high school.
So what does this mean to me and to my Just 10 today?
I had to look inward after I got past my initial irritation at being asked about my hand washing. I'm intimidated by all the responsibilities to process, digest and take action when it comes to all that seems to be expected of me as a parent. I get upset when I receive yet another piece of paper that claims to be very important, "Parent response required". When did I abdicate my responsibility for determining what I consider important?
Yet, I felt irritated because for a time I felt inadequate. I questioned my parenting because I don't implement all that I know about nutrition when it comes to feeding my children or myself. I felt dumb. I got lost in my "oration from a soap box." (I still think my points extremely valid, by the way.) I felt defensive because I wasn't applying all that I know. I also felt overwhelmed by all I felt I should know and should be doing. I was "shoulding" all over myself because some one in the Washington State Extension office wrote up a survey asking me "If I wash my hands."
All this angst over my not applying the nutrition knowledge I do possess may be understandable, but it isn't helpful. If the school/state should send home information indicating that parents should be serving Twinkies and gum drops at every meal because sugar intake is correlated to increased focus and retention of information, it would still be up to me to decide what I would serve my family. It would be up to me to take what ever knowledge I possess and to choose what action I will take. That was true when I woke up this morning and it'll be true when I go to bed tonight. All, this talk about food is causing me to feel hungry. Lock up your Twinkies!
No comments:
Post a Comment