Dad Street

I’m an avid supporter of Moms who breastfeed. My wife breastfed O until her milk ran out while she was pregnant with Jake. Now she still breastfeeds Jake at 18 months. I think it’s one of the most wonderful gifts a Mom can give her baby, if she so chooses to do so.

I’m very attracted to my wife’s breasts as much as any man is his own wife. Breastmilk to me, while a nutrient rich supply of food to my baby, has never crossed my mind as something I wanted to try. I’m not sure, I guess I was a little grossed out at the thought of drinking boob juice. Call it a personal thing, I don’t know.

As bad as an idea as I think it is to drink my own wife’s boob juice, the thought of consuming any other woman’s is most definitely worse! No offense ladies. I like boobs as much as the next guy but come on!

So, with all that being said it should come as no suprise to you that I think this story I came across this weekend was worth sharing with you. It turns out there’s a company in London called, The Icecreamists, who decided it was a cool idea to collect a bunch of boob juice from nursing moms and turn it into ice cream! They market it as being organic and free-range. Seriously? Really? What? They monitored their diets to see if they ate everything organic? What? They let the boobs graze in the fields? Oh, I guess the women didn’t wear bras. Yeah, that’s it. That’s what free-range breasts must mean.

Seriously? Really?

What’s worse? Not only did they actually sell it but they sold out!! I’m sorry but you gotta be a sicko to eat ice cream made from the breast milk of some strange woman.

There I said it!

If that’s not bad enough they actually sold each ice cream for $22.50! Did I mention that the breast milk was donated? Okay, forget about the crazies who thought that consuming a mix of who knows how many different womens breast milk. Why would these women donate such a precious thing for free?? Even more importantly, what happened to their babies who wouldn’t be getting that milk? Did these women know they were giving their milk away for free only for it to be consumed by some wacky people (presumably men) at $22.50 a pop?

Well there you have it folks. Breast milk one day, someone’s Sunday treat the next. So whether you’re a freak who enjoys frozen breast milk with sprinkles on top or you’re the type to stick with Baskin Robbins I want to hear from you!

My wife and I are not picky eaters. In fact, there are few things we don’t like to eat. I was actually raised on a somewhat restrictive diet growing up. I was born in a Jewish household where we kept kosher. For those of you not familiar with kosher eating, there’s some basic rules to it. For the most part, you’re not allowed to eat meat and milk together (think, no cheese burgers or meat on your pizza) and you’re not allowed to eat any scavenger. A scavenger is considered to be animals such as shell fish (shrimp, crabs, lobster) and pig product. There were also certain cuts of beef you couldn’t eat as well (cuts that come from the rear of the cow). This has more to do with tradition as things have changed from 6,000 years ago. You don’t see people keeling over dying from eating meat and milk. Unless they eat too much meat and milk. I guess you could eat so much that you’d explode. In my younger days drinking hemp milk (no I never smoked it) I got really hungry afterwards. Once I came down from my milk binging (no I never smoked it) only to realize I’d eaten an entire meat and cheese pizza.

Where was I? I have no idea what I was talking about. Must be all those brain cells I killed drinking hemp milk (no I never smoked it).

Anyway, I think the reason I love trying all kinds of foods now, besides the fact that I just like food, is because I was restricted from doing so as a child. I’ve kind of carried that mentality over to my children as well. At least in terms of wanting them to have a wide variety of foods to try. I’ve always wanted them to be able to experience different culinary delights and delicacies from all over. O has a pretty expanded pallette and likes most foods we put in front of her. When Jake was born we were hoping he’d be just as open to trying new things. That was until we found out about his allergies.

Jake had been eating breastmilk and jarred baby food for the first 12 months of his life. Babies are not supposed to eat eggs, milk, and/or nuts before they turn 1. Well, shortly before Jakes first birthday he tried some milk and he broke out, swelled up, and seemed to be breathing heavy. It scared the living crap out of us! After giving him some benadryl prescribed by my Pediatrician cousin, he was fine.

We had determined it’d be best to take him to his own Pediatrician by the house for a full check up. I didn’t mention erlier but Jake also has eczema. From what we’ve been told children who have eczema usually have food allergies associated with them. The good news, from what we were told, is that children often times outgrow both the eczema and the allergies. the Dr. told us to try again when he turned 2.

So, we’ve been avoiding all things milk, eggs, and nuts since we found out.

Well for the most part.

There was that one time I accidentally gave him Egg Nog. Yeah, the kind with milk and raw eggs. Crazy thing was, nothing happened! Then there was that time the other night where we thought, “let’s get all experimental on his ass and give him peanut butter”. By the time the second kid comes along you ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen? We’ll just take him to the ER” and you become a little more loosy goosey than you had with the first. Well, his cheeks broke out and back came the Benadryl.

So, now I sit here and hope that he outgrows this thing! I can’t even imagine him going through life not being able to eat these things. It’s only going to get harder once he goes to school and is around other kids. He’ll be tempted to eat things and of course he’ll be uknowingly presented with foods he can’t eat. From a logistical standpoint it’s hard even now at home. We have to think about what we’re making for dinner and when we’re out it’s tough going to that Pizza Joint.

Now might be a good time for us to reconsider our diet as a family too. I’m not saying I want to turn into a Herbivore but there’s a lot of good dairy free diets out there that I’m hearing about. Do you have children with allergies? What are some of your favorite resources for finding recipes, etc.? I may just have to research some and post those here.

September 22, 2006 was a very special day for us. Afterall, it would be the birth of our first son. He was the cutest little thing in the world. He had long red hair and was very exciteded! He was born alongside 12 other siblings. Oh, did I mention he’s a dog? No, my wife didn’t give birth to a dog nor did she give birth to 12 others. He was born the old fashioned way with a Mom and a Dad Dog…no human intervention. Okay, where’s this post going? That just got a little weird.

Anyway, we paid him so much attention. This was two years before O was born and 3 years prior to Jake joining us. He was all we had and we loved every moment with him. He was in many ways our son and we certainly treated him like he was our baby. Often times you’d think he was a baby! He couldn’t control himself when he was a puppy and would go everywhere in the house. He ate like a mad man and required special baby (puppy) food. He was our little boy!

When we found out we were pregnant with O a sudden rush of guilt came over me. I didn’t want to lose the relationship we had, the closeness. He was a huge part of our family and one we’ve had for two years at that point.

Think things change when you have babies?

Well people told us the dog would take a backseat to the kids and I just didn’t want to believe it. Not that I thought I wouldn’t spend the needed time with our “real” children. Only that I thought the time would be there (or I’d make the time) for him too. Time? What time?

What led me to write this post about our boy, Cody, was that sense of guilt again. No, I’m not looking for a pity party from anyone. Truth be told I haven’t made the time to take him on the walks he deserves and to give him that special attention he deserves. Yes, the kids give him attention but usually it’s in the way of hair pulling, tail slapping, eyes poking, trampoline bouncing on kind of way. You know…all the ways we parents just love seeing our little ones treat our pets.

He’s a total attention hog too. Oh yeah, he’ll come right up to you and put his head right on your lap. Then when he wants to be pet he’ll put his paw on your lap. He knows what he wants and he has no shame in telling you about it. It’s probably a good thing too because I need that reminder that he needs love and attention just the same.

Cody might not be a child and may not quite have that same place in my heart that O and Jake do. However, he is my boy, my first boy, and I love my little guy. Hopefully, “coming out” with my Slacker Daddy admission will be enough to remind me that there isn’t just two, there’s three. He deserves that love and attention we gave him when he was the only one. Now to find that extra hour in the day!

I Scream For Ice Cream: Unless It’s Made With Breast Milk!

He’s Allergic To Milk, Eggs, and Nuts?

Neglecting Your First Born (dog)