Food for ThoughtThere are highs and lows when it comes to parenting, and it starts right at the very beginning.Getting the baby in? A high.Getting the baby out? Hmmmm…. I can’t pretend that pushing a human being (tiny as it may be) out of your body is fun. But the elation, relief and sheer miracle of it all? That amounts to a high. A crazy, heart stopping, life-defining high.As for the sleep deprivation (and there was lots of it), I am going to have to go with low. Some people are OK with lack of sleep but I am absolutely not one of them. I put the iron away in the fridge, arrived at work with no shoes on and forgot to license the car. All of those are expensive as it turns out, especially the last one.Fortunately for us (and our bank balance) both our girls slept through the night at about nine months. When I say “slept through the night”, I mean from 7pm to 7am, not the “five hours straight” that the books mislead you with. And I know that some people think nine months is a long time but I’d set a precedent by not sleeping through til I was three years old. My Mum jokes that “if you’d been my first, you would have been my last!” At least I think she is joking … …So comparatively (infancy, ear infections and projectile vomiting bugs aside), our children have been great little sleepers. But just as I was feeling confident, we seem to have taken a few steps back.Little Belle has graduated to a “big girl’s bed” which she thinks is the Best Thing Ever. Unfortunately, she likes to tell me how amazing it is at six in the morning.Free from the confines of her crib, I often wake up with her nose pressed to my nose. This isn’t as terrifying as it sounds. Chloe went through a similar phase, and though impossible to describe my initial reaction without some sort of expletive, I have somehow adjusted.Now, when I flick my eyes open to see their baby blues staring back into mine, I just pull them in for a cuddle.Of course no two children are the same, and though Chloe would quite happily settle in for a snooze, Belle likes to have a conversation.Yesterday, obviously not content with, “Hmmmm?, wha..? jusafewmoremins …” as a response, she occupied herself with depositing random items into the bed. And so it was that I woke up twenty minutes later spooning a torch, a toothbrush and a box of tampons.Whether that was a low or a high, I am not quite sure. Kids are ridiculous, and hilarious, all at once. Tempted as I am to put a gate on their door, I would rather be woken by them than an alarm clock — and I would miss their little arms wrapped around my neck.The completely unfunny part of parenting though, and the all-time low for me, revolved around fussy eating. My two each had their moments — and tested my patience to breaking point.It’s only natural that as a nutritionist, I care a huge amount about what my children eat. So when they don’t like, or choose not to eat, something I have lovingly created, it’s a bummer. Especially if they liked it the day before, or like all of the ingredients separately — just not in a new combination.But, I did notice very early on, that keeping family meal times stress-free was key. If I was relaxed, so were the children. So though honesty is always the best policy, sometimes being relaxed did mean being a bit sneaky. For us, that meant hiding protein left, right and centre. Mine were wolfing down their fruit and veg, but fish or chicken was next to impossible.I have to say though, that when it comes to client issues, vegetables are the biggest problem. So, while I have some great protein tricks up my sleeve, I thought you might appreciate some tips on vegetables more. And I do love this recipe — a Bermuda classic upgraded on so many levels.Mac ‘n’ Cheese is, of course, a staple in plenty of households, and the cheese sauce provides a really good vehicle for hiding yellow/orange based vegetables.This recipe is based on one by Jessica Seinfeld in her great book “Deceptively Delicious” but I did double the vegetable purée. The original uses half a cup which serves four. And, I wasn’t sure that one-eighth of a cup of purée was worth jumping up and down over.One quarter though is much more significant — especially if it’s something your child doesn’t eat normally. Mine are pretty good with butternut squash, but have taken a recent aversion to peppers. So my version combines butternut squash purée (a familiar taste) with yellow pepper. Pumpkin also works well here.In addition, and this may go against the mainstream for children, I would actually recommend using full fat dairy versus low, or no fat.Studies now show that the calcium is much better absorbed in the presence of the fat, as is the vitamin D (which is a fat-soluble nutrient).So, if you are choosing to have dairy in your child’s diet, I think a moderate amount of full-fat dairy is fine, especially if it’s organic.I do feel strongly about organic animal products — avoiding growth hormone and antibiotic in the food chain seems intuitive to me. I understand if you worry that it’s expensive, but you don’t need to serve mac ‘n’ cheese with any other meat or fish — the protein content is fine as it is.So, save some dollars there, and just serve it with some vegetables that your children do like (frozen are fine.) If possible, use whole-wheat or brown rice pasta too — but pick your battles, and make your changes gradually.Any type of upgrade is at least a step in the right direction. Let me know how you get on.The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the Managing Director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a Registered Dietitian. For details, please go to www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda