Okay, PepsiCo. I like the idea of pulling soda out of schools. And you can’t get much healthier than water and milk. (Although the bottle is troubling, but I digress as always.) But diet soda? REALLY? With what we already know about artificial sweeteners, Wouldn’t a better policy be to stick with milk, juice, and soda? Do little kids really need to get hooked on artificial junk so early? Not to mention the effect on our environment. For example, did you know that last summer researchers in Germany found that sewage treatment plants can’t extract all of the aspartame that gets flushed –cough, cough, you know what I mean — down the toilet? And unfortunately we know nothing about what those chemicals can do to an ecosystem. And if you’re actually trying to curb obesity, why would you offer drinks that have ingredients that have been directly linked to causing obesity, according to several different studies. Here’s an excerpt from one: “Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).”

Oh, and did you know just having those drinks in schools may hurt kids and their ability to learn and make decisions? A January study out of the University of South Dakota was able to link drinking diet soda with a propensity to want immediate gratification. Those people who drank full sugar soda were more likely to make choices to delay reward. I’ll let the researchers explain: “The finding that a diet soda drink increased the degree of future discounting suggests that artificial sweeteners may alarm the body of imminent caloric crisis, leading to increased impulsivity.” Impulsivity? In school? Not a great thing.

So, PepsiCo: I like your thinking. You’re almost there. I’m really happy that you’re considering the welfare of our kids. I like that they don’t have access to the high fructose-filled soda that you put out. But I can’t give you an A. Not just yet. You’re still at a C+. And my kids? They’ll still be taking their water-filled stainless steel thermos to school. Way cheaper, and way better for their bodies.

p.s. PepsiCo: My husband loves Pepsi Throwback. Why don’t you just do away completely with the HFCS in your sodas? Is it that much cheaper to produce your products using something that’s been proven to cause high blood pressure, affect memory, contribute to obesity, and may increase the risk of kidney disease? Seriously. I’m asking. I’d love to hear your answer. I know you read my blog.

What’s your take on soda in schools? Are you for it? Against it? I’ve seen people on my Facebook page say that they had entire football fields paid for by soda machine sales –shudder, think of all those calories! Who should decide?

Finally, see that little brown button next to this? The one that says TopMommyBlogs.com? Well, you can click it daily and help me move up from my dismal spot in the 200s. Also, are you following me on Twitter yet? I tweet a lot (usually) throughout the day about all things green, crunchy, natural, and kid-related. Pregnancy, technology, and marketing, too. If you’re following me, you already know this. If you’re not, just click through to start listening to my daily banter.

I could picture it. Keira can be willful. My mother probably tried to put her into the car seat and encountered Boneless Crazy Baby. Flailing, screaming, and crying her way out of the seat. As Keira’s mom I have encountered this, too, but I am strong enough and cunning enough to get her to either a) quiet down and voluntarily go into the seat or b) strap her in even as she flails. I prefer option a, of course, but I’ve done b in necessity. It isn’t pretty, but it works.

But as always I digress. I picked up the phone to call my mom. At the same time I saw her car drive up. I walked outside and opened the car door. There she was. My tiny blond angel. Smiling. Waving. I didn’t miss a beat. “Did you give Grandma a hard time? Did you tell her ‘no’ when she told you that it was time to come home?” Keira, bless her little heart, revels in her mischievousness. “Yes, Mommy. I stay there!” And then she laughed. (At least she’s honest.) I looked at my mom with questioning eyes. “I didn’t know what to do so I took her back inside, gave her a drink, and finally got her to come home,” she explained. Wordlessly, I took her inside for her nap. Once inside I had to strong-arm her into a diaper. (She’s in big girl pants all day, but I am still putting the diapers on her when she sleeps. She does NOT agree with this decision.) Within seconds she was asleep. Being obstinate is tiring, I guess.

I walked downstairs and sat with my poor mom. I was going to chastise her, but I decided against it. She had been through enough. Of course, she is a push-over as many grandmas are. Still, I told her the next time she should put her on a time out. She waved me away, of course. I should have known. That’s not her style. She follows the beat of her own drummer. Like grandmother, like mother, like daughter. It must run in the family, I guess. So we can’t really complain, can we?

How do you deal with your child’s willfulness? What’s the best technique to get a kid to listen? I’m open to any and all suggestions!

All the sections on the floor. Chris standing and waiting for me to get started.

We’re still playing catch-up after the late winter hurricane that hit our area. Personally, I think we were lucky. There are tons of trees lying on houses. One woman had a tree fall on her head. The only thing that happened at our house — mostly a huge outburst — was related to our fence. Almost every single panel fell down. The posts stayed put, so that was a plus. My husband and I put everything back together. It was a bonding experience! And I am proud to say that there was no yelling or attitude. I can’t say the same for the day before, though, when we lost the lights and an outdoor spigot. When the fence blew down it took the spigot with it. We discovered that at the height of the storm when we went out to try and fix the fence. (Stupid idea.) And no, I wasn’t calm.

Slipping and sliding — and in my case falling on my knee and forearm — we went outside to try and assess the damage. There is a six-foot plume of water shooting out of our house. Chris, hoping to stanch the flooding, crawled under the house to turn the water off. It’s a dark, narrow crawlspace. Very scary. I stayed outside in the howling wind and driving rain. And yes, there was screaming and whining. I was terrified. Terrified that something would happen to one or both of us. Terrified we wouldn’t be able to turn the water off. Terrified that we’d leave those two little girls without someone to raise them. So yes, I screamed. A lot. Like, as Chris would tell me later, a crazy person. Actually, I think he may have added an adjective at the beginning that rhymes with “trucking.” So here he is trying to ask me, from under the house, if I can see if the water is moving. (He’s trying to shake pipes to identify which was which.) All I can see is windblown water spraying everywhere. And I panic, telling him to PLEASE come out. PLEASE. We’ll call someone, I promise. I am going inside, I warn. I am scared, I cry. I don’t remember much else because I was truly losing it. I do remember following his direction to go inside and turn a handle in the downstairs guest bedroom. Thankfully, his hunch was right. That valve controlled the spigot. Water off. Calamity averted.

When we got inside, though, I was still a madwoman. Really. We’re both soaking wet. As wet as if we had been thrown into a pool fully clothed. We’re both filthy. We’re both cold. And I lost it crying. All I could think of was how terrible it would have been if one of us got hit by a branch or a downed wire or a flying object. (Just to give you some perspective: Katelyn’s Step 2 Welcome Home playhouse was lifted into the air, smashed through one of the fence panels, and ended up on our front lawn. It weighs 188 pounds, according to Amazon.) And that took me back to my childhood when my dad left for work and never came home.

I calmed down eventually. I explained to Katelyn that I was very scared and lost control. That I was okay and not to worry. That she was safe. We were all safe. We put the kids to bed. Then Chris and I played Rummikub by candlelight. I finished reading my book club book, The Help. And then we went to sleep. All of us piled into the den since — naturally — I was afraid of the large trees surrounding my home. I figured if they fell we would escape harm if we were on the first floor. And the next day I redeemed myself by helping to fix the fence. Was it my best moment? No, but we made it through that storm, right?

How was your weekend? Hope it was less eventful than mine!

Two second later there she was. My little girl riding her bike. Alone. I felt so proud. So amazed. In my mind I heard a link breaking. One of the ones connecting her to what I once thought was an unbreakable chain. You know, the chain that keeps her close by my side.

She grew up a little today. She took one more step towards independence. I am so awed by this process. And so very blessed to be along for the ride.

And since I’m writing: What is it that makes everyone who passes in the car break out in a huge smile when they see a kid learning how to ride a bike. All those smiles, all that positive energy. I’m thinking it’s either they are remembering what it was like to learn how to ride. Or maybe they are remembering teaching their own kids. Whatever. All those smiles become part of what is a truly beautiful memory.

Take the bike riding: I’m out there getting ready to teach and she screams when she can’t get on the bike. She screams when she gets on and the bike falls. She screams when the helmet isn’t positioned right. Once we’re off and riding (and running behind the bike) she screams when a neighbor sees her and cheers her on, “Go, Katelyn!” Crumpling in tears, the kid tells me that she doesn’t want anyone to see her trying to ride. That she doesn’t like it when the nice lady (nice is my word) tells her, “Go, Katelyn.” Then she screams when I attempt to let go and let her ride. I stay calm. I try another tactic, telling her there will be no more yelling or we have to stop. I try and build up her confidence. Eventually, by the end of the lesson, the screaming had subsided. Then we went in the house and she bumped her toe. She screamed like someone had shot her with an arrow.

This morning we had screaming when she couldn’t pick an outfit. She missed the bus because my husband, fed up with the screaming, told her she wasn’t going to school. She had screamed too much and would suffer the consequences. He even called the bus driver and told her not to come.

She’s at school, of course. He drove her over at 9 a.m. I am drained for the day and it’s only 9:44 a.m. I have no idea how to get her to stop screaming. We listen to her. We talk to her. We reason with her. She gets plenty of love, affection, attention, and care. And still she screams. The girl who cried wolf comes to mind. As does the fact that my mother often told me that if I continued to cry over nothing eventually no one would believe my cries anymore. Great. Wonderful. My mother’s prediction — some day I would have a child who would drive me as crazy as I drove her — came true.

We’re going to go to the library tonight, I think. We’ll be taking out that old fable and reading it. Several times, perhaps. And then we will set up a behavior chart to try and curb this noise. Can you tell I’m trying so hard to be positive and proactive? What other choice do I have? Thank goodness the little one could fall off a bed or walk into a wall — yes, she’s done both — and barely give a sniffle. I don’t think I could stand the yelling in stereo.

Do you have a screamer? What’s your kids most annoying habit? How do you deal with it?

My doctor admonished me, telling me toddlers were sometimes like puppies. They would keep eating for the sheer fun of eating. “Cut her down to one bowl. That’s all she needs,” my doctor said. She said she didn’t want Katelyn, who from birth had always been 95th percentile for height and 50th for weight, to end up at 95th percentile for both height and weight. (That month she had crept up to 75th percentile for weight.) I listened to my doctor’s advice and watched Katelyn’s weight level out at her next check up.

When I told some of my friends they questioned my doctor’s advice. Cutting back her breakfast was tantamount to putting her on a diet, they said. If she was hungry she obviously needed the calories. I thought about it some more and decided my doctor was right. A 15-month-old should not be eating three bowls of dry cereal in the morning. Heck, a 15-year-old shouldn’t be doing that, either. Turns out my doctor may have helped us dodge the obesity bullet.

Harvard University researchers this month published a study that says that risks for obesity may start while a child is in the womb, which is why obesity prevention should probably start then, too.

According to research, moms who gained more than the recommended amount while pregnant had kids who — at age seven — were 48 percent more likely than their peers to be overweight. This varies depending on how much a woman weighs before she gets pregnant, but it’s typically between 15 and 35 pounds, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Whether or not they got gestational diabetes also impacts childhood obesity.

Here’s where my doctor helped me out: Researchers found that babies who gain a lot of weight during their first few years and are disproportionate — they might be in the 25th percentile for height but the 75th for weight — often end up being overweight as children. Starting solids before four-months-old, and not sleeping enough were two other obesity risk factors that were identified, too. (We didn’t have these problems since Katelyn had the thrust reflex until six or seven months old, and she’s always been a phenomenal sleeper unlike her mom, thank goodness.)

Today Katelyn is still on that 95/50 percentile ratio. Her sister is, too. I won’t stop them from having an occasional second bowl of cereal if they want it, but Katelyn especially very rarely wants it. Every once in a while she’s ravenous in the morning, but most days she’ll rush out the door after eating her cereal telling me she’s full. (Usually as I am trying to get her to eat a little yogurt, too.) I think it’s because she’s in the habit of eating about the same amount every day. So thank you, Doctor, for letting me know I was making a mistake. Thank you for not being afraid to tell me the truth. One day Katelyn will appreciate it.

What do you think about limiting what kids eat? How about solid foods? Is there such a thing as giving kids food too early? Let’s hear it.

Anyway, it’s Friday, and this week’s Friday Favorites has nothing to do with the above thinking-out-loud, but it was on my mind. Figured I’d ask everyone what you did for your child’s second birthday. Keep in mind that Katelyn had a giant second birthday party complete with a gorgeous dress, tiara, and about 25 of her closest friends. And now on to the things I really liked this week. A lot of these things are stuff I came across in my journalist life. I’m getting some really interesting press releases these days. The blog has made it into a few databases, which makes my life easier. Please note: I did not get any freebies. I have to buy everything I like below — and probably will be. Just wanted to provide full disclosure. I just liked ‘em, so I am writing about them.

This cool t-shirt. Again, no, I didn’t get a free one. I’m just writing about it because it’s cute. I’m not really a slogan kinda gal. My clothing is writing-free, but this t-shirt, which makes GREEN into an anagram is just really cute. A little expensive for my taste, but cute, so I thought I would write about it.

A green toothbrush. I brush twice a day like the rest of the world. I have switched over to a eco-minded toothpaste — finally — but I was still brushing with the same plastic-going-to-end-up-in-a-landfill toothbrush that I always used. Then I found Radius and its eco-friendly toothbrushes. Cellulose (made from wood pulp) handle. Nylon bristles. Cool design. The fact that you pick whether you want a lefty brush or a righty brush sealed the deal for me. (Yes, the entire family falls into the lefty category.)

Shoes for my pedis. I get pedicures. I got a really nice spa package for my birthday this year that entitles me to one every other month. Anyway, I usually drag a set of red flip-flops with me. They are big and annoying and dirty, so when I saw these foldable flip-flops that are also made of 90 percent recycled materials I was intrigued. And at $15 they don’t break the bank. Seems like a nice addition to my manicure kit. (I bring all my own supplies including eco-based top and base coat as well as files, cuticle nippers, and a pumice stone. Too freaked out about germs to do anything else.)

Non-plastic wrap wrapping. We have no plastic wrap in my kitchen. At all. Or plastic bags for that matter. Drives the husband crazy. I tend to put stuff in the covered Corningware I have or in a Pyrex bowl that also comes with a cover. When those are in use I put a glass plate over a regular bowl to keep food fresh. Works, but not the safest option. Which is why I will be ordering CoverMate Food Covers this weekend. These are reusable, washable hair-net-looking things that stretch over plates, bowls, and other food serving dishes. The nice part is that the ones I will be ordering are sort of free, too. The company’s PR woman sent me a nice offer for my readers, and you know I am getting in on it. CoverMate is currently running a special promotion. Pay $3.95 shipping and handling and you get a sample pack of all four CoverMate sizes along with a $1.00 off retail coupon in case you want to buy more. They are BPA-free, dishwasher-safe, and reusable. I plan on getting one set and hand-washing them so they last for a long time. I will still use my Pyrex and Corningware first since CoverMates are plastic, but they will be nice to have when everything is in use.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ve already written Monday’s post — a story about toddlers and dieting. Also, Tuesday should be about food allergies. And don’t forget about the Celestial Seasonings give-away. Check out Tuesday’s post and then scroll down a bit to enter to win a nice, big basket o’ tea. Finally, see that little brown button to your right? A little ways up the page? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? Can you click on it? I need to move up in the rankings a bit. I’d like to be closer to 100. Right now I am close to 200. You can click once a day, which I did not know!

Okay, maybe it’s not the writer in me. Maybe it’s the part of me that likes to be liked that prevents me from doing a Wordless Wednesday. After all, photos are extremely subjective. They are what they are, but not really. You can infer a lot from a photo. You tend to blend your own experiences with what you’re looking at to create your opinion.

For example, I was going to post a photo of me feeding Katelyn a bottle. The breastfeeders in the audience might immediately form a negative opinion. That baby is only two-months-old, you might think. Why isn’t she nursing? The dads might be bored. Nothing interesting here. The people without kids might click immediately away. Those who are dealing with infertility might also click away, but for a different reason. And those who know me well might feel like they wasted their time, too. They’ve seen that photo already. Probably five years ago, actually. Who cares?

I guess the interesting part of my fear of Wordless Wednesday is that it proves without a doubt that I am someone who needs to be liked. Yes, I’ve talked about it before on this blog. Nothing new here, either. But maybe what is new is the fact that you now all see how the inner workings of my mind go. Maybe you didn’t realize just how deep the fear goes. Now those of you who are my friends understand why I sometimes have difficulty hanging out with you alone. I am still so insecure that I feel I might be boring or say the wrong thing. It’s also why I work so hard. I can’t be a regular writer. I have to be Super Writer, with as many assignments as physically possible. For those who don’t know me as well: It’s why I always say I will help, even if I don’t have the bandwidth. (And in my defense, I am much, much, MUCH better at saying nothing so I don’t disappoint.) It’s why I will go out of my way to do an online radio show even though I have two back-to-back interviews immediately following and my daughter’s Daisy troop meeting, which I am running myself, immediately before. It’s why I make sure I am tweeting a lot. (People tend to unfollow when you’re silent for a while. An unfollow is a tangible reminder that someone doesn’t like you anymore.)

Okay, so here’s the deal. This week I am going to take a new photo. Something that means something to me and me alone. And I am going to post it next Wednesday. An online therapy of sorts. Get ready, readers. I’m starting to break out of my shell!

Get with a group. Having friends is fun, but it can also help you stave off the common cold, according to a study published in Scientific American Mind. When you spend time with good friends your immune system gets a boost, a good excuse to go out for a drink or spend a little time gabbing, no?

Wash your hands. Almost seems stupid to call this one out, but boatloads of researchers agree: Washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent illness. Make it a habit to wash your hands as soon as you come home, and wash after shaking hands or before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Eat your veggies. Lots of them. A summer 2009 study found that pregnant women who ate at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily seemed to moderately reduce their risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection (better known as a cold).

Drink your milk. Milk is one of the best sources of vitamin D. A February 2009 study found that those people who were deficient in this vitamin were 40 percent more likely to report being recently sick. “People with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu,” according to the study. While more work needs to be done to make a direct correlation between vitamin D and wellness, getting your recommended daily allowance of the stuff certainly can’t hurt, right? Here’s a good chart to see how much you need every day. (Scroll down a bit to Table 2.)

Do you have a cold? If so, drinking tea — but not too hot since it can increase the risk of throat cancer — can help you feel better. Tea — green tea in particular — contains antioxidants, seems to reduce the risk of diabetes, improves bone health, helps reduce the risk of periodontal disease, and just plain feels good.

Want to win a big basket of Celestial Seasonings teas? Please leave me a comment telling me what symptoms you usually get with a cold along with your name and email address. One reader will win the following:

• Four wellness teas to ease symptoms associated with the cold and flu – Sleepytime Extra, Echinacea Complete Care, Tummy Mint.
• Two green teas to support a healthy immune system year round – Authentic Green Tea and Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea
• A mug, soothing lip balm, honey sticks and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear
• The book “Herbs for Health and Happiness” by Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

This gift is coming to one of my readers courtesy of Celestial Seasonings — I am not being paid for this. It was just a cool offer so I thought I’d pass it along.

So…tell me about your worst cold. What was it like? How do you usually deal with a cold? How do you avoid them? FYI about the giveaway:
Contest ends at noon pacific time on 3/17/10. Winner will be determined by random.org. Winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

The mean sheep that butted Keira. And Keira.

We all make choices for our kids. We try and make the right ones. Sometimes the choices work out okay. Sometimes they suck. I am just back from the emergency room because of a few choices I made. I am sad and upset.

We went away to Woodloch Pines this past weekend. We had been looking forward to it for a while. A vacation with some of our closest friends and their kids. We almost didn’t make it because of a huge snowstorm, but we finally got up there. We had a nice weekend until the last hours of the last day. There was a petting zoo. Keira, who is animal-crazy, got to ride a pony, see some cute bunnies, and pet a goat. With horns. She was just standing there when the goat head-butted her in the cheek. She instantly started crying. Keira has my tolerance for pain. The kid can take tumbles that would make even the most stoic kid cry and she doesn’t say a word, so the fact that she was crying made me realize how bad it must have been. The goat got her cheek, thank goodness, instead of her eye. He hit her hard enough to make a small scrape. Tiny, tiny, tiny. Woodloch’s EMT checked her out. She checked her for signs of a concussion. Then she washed the area on her cheek, put antibiotic cream on it, and bandaged her up. Keira instantly went back to her usual cheery self.

When we got home, however, Keira refused to go to sleep. She kept crying and screaming. We must have gone in about a dozen times between 8 and 11 p.m. I got nervous thinking “head injury” and called my pediatrician. She called me right back. She wasn’t worried about the not sleeping thing. She was probably just upset to be in her crib and alone when she had been in a pack-and-play with Katelyn in the bed to her right and Mommy and Daddy in the bed to her left. She was, however, worried about tetanus. Keira hasn’t had that shot. She was going to call me back, she said, after consulting with an infectious disease specialist. She did. She had some bad news. Keira would need a shot of tetanus antibodies — human antibodies to the disease. One of the main causes of tetanus is animal feces. The sheep, no doubt, had been rubbing his head in the dirt, which probably contained a little animal poop.

So today we spent five hours in the pediatric E.R. trying to figure out if we would go with medical advice or go with our guts, which said it was overkill. We felt pretty good after the attending physician said she thought it was over kill. But then she spoke to that same infectious diseases guy who said that we were both wrong. She needed that injection, and she needed it quickly.

We had to decide so I asked a lot of questions. I even got the drug insert that came with the injectible. I read it several times. (“This contains no preservatives.”) My husband read it. We agonized over the decision. In the end she got the prescribed treatment. She didn’t say a peep when they gave her the shot in her upper arm. She was actually jazzed that she got a bandage. And now we’re home.

I question three of my decisions after this happened. First, my vaccination stance. Second, the bright idea to take her to see the animals. And third, the decision to give her the antibodies shot. I don’t know if I made all the right choices. I only know I made the choices that I did based on the information I had at my disposal. I do know that we will be avoiding petting zoos from now on. Stupid sheep.