Why does our culture have us believing we can’t do anything ourselves? We need pills and programs and all the special tools to do it right. It reminds me of an article I read in a Parenting Magazine.

I shouldn’t have even picked it up – after all, we sent the baby of our family to college last weekend – I have no need to look at a magazine geared toward new mothers. But this headline caught my eye: “Accessories Every Good Mother Should Have” so naturally I wanted to do a mental audit of the equipment I had used with my children to ensure I could be labeled a “good” mother:

1. Baby Knee Pads – to be worn by those in the crawling stages. (Really? You mean the excess fat God purposely placed on babies’ knees that has worked perfectly since the beginning of time is not sufficient now?)
2. Pee Pee Shield – a plastic cover placed over a boy during changing so they don’t spray into the air. (Ok . . . I realize that happens – I raised 3 boys along with my 2 girls and I found if you change them fast enough you can usually avoid this but if this is an issue, I say grab a piece of Tupperware … problem solved.)
3. Shoe Strings – to be carried in your purse so if you go to someone’s house that is not baby proofed, you can tie their cupboards together. (I could not even type that without laughing!)

Ok…enough. Give me my bad mother badge and I’ll be on my way.

What makes me angry about this is the same thing that makes me angry about nutrition – they are both really quite simple, but the media and businesses prey on our insecurities that we can’t do it alone and we have to have the latest program, pill, gimmick, piece of equipment, etc. to be successful.

But we CAN do it alone -- we don't need pills, fads and promised quick fixes. I’m finding all we need to do is educate ourselves! There are many, many avenues to learn about nutrition. I’m fortunate to have Toni, a nutritionist from Alegent educating me but you can contact Alegent and they can guide you to numerous helpful classes and websites. They have awesome people over there! The more I learn, the more I realize how easy it is.

What’s not easy is shopping for a baby shower gift which I need to do! I think I’ll start in the Tupperware aisle – I’ll be the one with the “Bad Mother” badge on!