Good Grief Guru

Posts Tagged ‘health’

“I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts”, sings Merv Griffin on the 1950 Freddy Martin show.

Alexis and I have lovely coconuts too.  Five to be exact.  They surround my computer and I can’t think of a better way to write.

Alexis has been hooked on coconuts ever since our trip to Cuba, in 2010.  Tetra packs of coconut water are stocked in our pantry at home.  Here, in Barbados, we buy the freshest kind, green coconuts right off a palm tree.  Each morning I cut open a hole in the top of a green coconut.  We insert a straw, and hydrate.  After we’ve had our fill of the good stuff, I scoop out the coconut jelly for an extra treat.

Back home in Canada we buy the small, brown, hard coconuts.  I put one in a plastic back, tie a knot, and Alexis and I take turns slinging the coconut on the frozen floor of our garage.  Smash!  We hurl the bag until we can feel the coconut has cracked into little pieces.  These serve as our snacks for the remainder of the week.

Coconut water not only tastes great, it has a ton of health benefits too.  I love bringing my daughter up on coconut water instead of sugary drinks, and she loves it too.

Here’s to coconuts!  Eat, drink, and be merry.

I can’t protect my daughter from everything.  I know that.  But there are decisions I can make now that will help equip her to live the healthiest life she can live as she grows up.  One of the things I focus on a lot is her health.

For that reason, I rarely allow my daughter to eat sugary treats.  In fact, I use every sugar coated opportunity to teach her the sour facts about not eating well.

Now that she is accustomed to my refusal of permission towards junk food, imagine her surprise when we were at a friend’s house this week, and I handed her a bowl of ice cream.

At first, she gasped, then she screamed, and finally, hands over mouth, she stood next to her bowl in unbelief, too bewildered to eat her melting ice cream.  Her reaction alone was dessert enough for me.

After the shock wore off she dug in, savouring every delicious scoop, knowing this moment would not quickly come again.

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