I'm sorry but I'd rather NOT "Taste the rainbow"

Our journey continues.  In the weeks preceding this past week, Ellie had been finally falling asleep from pure exhaustion between the hours of 9 - 11.  Just to help you understand how bad this is, our bedtime routine starts at about 7 PM.  4 hours worth of bedtime battle.  One night, sinking so low, as to find a flashlight and continuously come downstairs, IN THE DARK, where we were sleeping, to shine the light on her father and yell:  "MY DADDDDDYYYYY".  Last night, although bedtime was not as speedy as the first night, she was in the asleep zone, by 8:15, and passed out by 8:30.  My husband and I didn't even know what to do with ourselves.  We shared a small pie purchased at the farmers market, and watched TV.  Shows WE actually wanted to watch.  Well that's not entirely true, there really wasn't anything good to watch.  But that's an entirely different issue which I will let someone else discuss.

Do you know how these artificial food dyes?  They are created from petroleum.  Yes the same thing that powers our cars.  Well not the EXACT same thing.  But you catch my drift.  What do YOU do when your child is near/around gasoline?  I know I say things like:  "Honey, that is very dangerous please don't go near that".  But, PS, here, go brush your teeth with this BLUE toothpaste that is made from the same stuff.  The same stuff that entire organizations are trying to reduce/eliminate our dependency on, seems to be outside of the realm of discussion even though in it's base form, it all starts in the same place.

How is this even possible?????

I continue to be impressed with the changes that I see in my daughter.  As I can only keep saying, she's cleared, less foggy, more articulate.  I am eager to have her daily caregiver return tomorrow, and dying (har har har) to see if she notices the same subtle, and not so subtle differences.

Please note that my daughter is 3 and a half.  I have no misconceptions as to how 3.5 yos behave.  She will still stumble, and exhibit poor behavior, it is well within reason.  But the expanding behavior has been well outside of normal.  And how about this for a thought.  Is it really normal?  Or is the new normal because TONS of children are reacting in different levels to the same things.  In my reading I've read that children respond differently to the same dye.  So in one child it could cause asthma, in another eczema, and yet others, hyperactivity and I'm sure the hyperactivity is to varying degrees.

I've heard stories about how parents become activists for various things because of the impact on their children.  And while I think it is fairly safe to say that not all children have a milk allergy, and not all children have a strawberry allergy.  Are we really so certain that all of our children are not being impacted in one way or another, to varying degrees to the artificial things we are placing in their bodies with the absolute best of intentions.

Have you ever had conversations with people about "what's wrong with kids today", and "I never behaved that way, I would have been scared to", or "I was scared of my parents and respected their authority".  I would have had these very conversations with you not even a month ago.  While at the same time not realizing just how much I was struggling with the same issues at home.  I consider myself a firm but reasonable parent.  And yet even though I try to be this parent to my daughter, no amount of discipline, positive rewards, behavioral systems, seemed to have any impact on her bad behavior (when she was displaying it).

The hands down worst part about has been the inconsistency of the whole experience.  One day she'd be Dr. Jeckll and another she'd be Mrs. Hyde.  And it wasn't even daily, it might be a few weeks one way, and a few weeks the other.  I can pinpoint the last time we had things under control.  Easter.  Since then it has been one thing after another at varying degrees.  And I had all the excuses under the sun:  "I just returned to work", "Her brother had pneumonia and was in the hospital", "we had to put our cat to sleep", "it's the summer and her routine has changed".  In retrospect it was even longer than that, before then it was things like:  "She's adjusting to me being pregnant", "She's adjusting to me LOOKING pregnant", "she's adjusting to me not being able to do as much because I'm VERY pregnant", "She's adjusting to having a sibling".  There was also an excuse in one way or another over the past 18 months.  And make no mistake, I think children do need to adjust to those things, and they are all major life changes.  But how she dealt with them seemed to at times be over the limit, and most of the time just borderline, but more often than not, it didn't seem within "normal" limits.

Now, in retrospect, I can't help but wonder just how many other children are impacted and varying levels.  I'll admit maybe not every child reacts as badly as my daughter does.  But I just find it hard to believe, when I look around, at all the Ritalin, at all the parents besides themselves over behavioral issues, I just can't believe that there isn't something in our food that is resulting in this.

Some additional information:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/03/13/real-food-tips-7-reasons-i-hate-artificial-food-dyes/
http://www.allergykids.com/blog/serving-up-food-dyes-uk-style/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2012/08/27/living-in-color-the-potential-dangers-of-artificial-dyes/
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/food-dye-adhd
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20439038,00.html
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200806022.html

Two most surprising facts I've learned in the past week:
* The dye at one time used in infant Tylenol is not approved for use in food
* Florida oranges can have dye on their skin (CA, and AZ banned these dyes use)

I think I've probably exploded enough brains for today.  My daughter is asking very nicely and wonderfully that I come outside and play.  And I actually would like to join her.  Good luck.  Check your pantry!  Save your children