Almost Four Months

February 6, 2014 at 2:55pm

I wanted to write a quick update about how we are managing our "dye free" lives. Has it been easy? NO!

In our day to day life we (the children and I) love to walk to our bank. It shares it's space with our local post office where we get our mail. My children have grown to love the girls at the bank, and I think it is safe to say they've fallen in love with my children. The girls love giving my children suckers-as do most banks. I am so glad to say that after a little online research (what did we do before the internet?!) cream soda flavored dum-dums are dye free! The kind bank girls started saving those just for us! (Thanks girls!)

Thanksgiving dinner was as easy as pumpkin pie! I felt a little awkward and silly asking family what was in each of their dishes. I quietly reminded myself what my little guy was like before. Angry, mean, frustrated, unable to focus. Was it really worth risking him going back to that miserable state, for either of us?

Then came Christmas...you know the horrible holiday of candy canes. What is Christmas without candy canes? I came along the display at Meijer. Way up high sat a few boxes of "natural" candy canes. My heart raced. Might they just be okay for us?! $2.39 the tag jumped out at me, for about 8. Right next to the box of 100 for $0.99. I pulled them down. Looked at the label and was able to put two boxes of them in the cart! Success number one! You want to know a little secret? Those were THE best candy canes I've ever tasted.

A few little moments have stood out in our journey. Several times at the store I've had to take the boys. My three year old has asked for some dyed foods. (Did you know marshmallows have Blue 1 in them?) I've showed him the labels. He has bravely and boldly put them back on the shelf without much of a fuss. I've gently encouraged him with other ideas of "safe" foods. He has told me that dye makes him angry. I can't decide if he has just heard me tell him or if he himself has really noticed, either way I take it as a win!

Daddy is still not on board. He regularly brings home things, usually drinks that contain dye. On a few occasions my son has indeed drank something or eaten candy (gummy worms) that have dye in them. I notice a small change in him for the evening or so. I've come to the conclusion that his body was able to "detox" and can now handle small doses of food dye. Now, that is not to say I have become completely lax, but that things like Birthday cake (which is in 6 days) isn't going to send him to the ER. Maybe next year I can plan better, and get dye free.

I still cruse the blogs, fb and message boards looking for hidden food dye. (pickles for example)  Watching for other lost and confused moms. Sharing our story where I can. Wishing we as consumers could fix this problem of petroleum based food dyes, but until it is a problem shouted from the mountain tops it won't happen.

I will be making this status public, share where you can, with credit please.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/michelle-schwartz/almost-four-months/640002036047731

Petition to make M&Ms dye free:
http://www.change.org/MMsDyes

Food Dyes, our story

November 18, 2013 at 10:06am

I started dreading every morning. I dreaded every single event that included my three year old son. I am a stay at home mom, so as primary caregiver to my three children so EVERY thing I do includes him. He seemed to meltdown over everything. Even getting dressed was impossible. He would cry because he wasn't as fast as everyone else. Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing kept him occupied. He was a restless ball of destruction, angry and frustrated with everything. I was tired. Tired of just trying to survive the next tantrum. What was I doing wrong? Spanking did not work. It only made things worse, much worse. Words were just as worthless. Something HAD to give.

I went to the only place I know where to get answers. The internet.  Someone, somewhere (I wish I remember who) sent me to the blog page www.diefooddye.com. I started reading that if I would just cut out food dyes from my son's diet, his behavior would improve. I didn't believe it, but I decided to try, what did I have to loose? November 7th, 2013 was when I found this wonderful resource. Five days later, I was reaching out to the internet community again. "Is there a withdrawal period?" My son was a wreck! Almost as bad as if I had given him something with dye in it. A quick response assured me it gets easier, and yes sometimes there seems to be a withdrawal period.

Day 9. The realization that something has happened. We had gone to the store that morning. Not a single meltdown, and I had made more than one stop! Impossible. We were at Walmart and had found a "make a blanket" kit. You know the ones, where you cut the "tails" then tie them together. He insisted on helping. He focused on the task at hand for the entire 45 minutes or so, that it took to to finish the project. I wanted to cry. He was back. We were going to be okay!

Day 11. Daddy isn't quite on board, he brought home some orange drink. Usually my son's favorite. We gently told him, "We're sorry that has Red40 in it, you can't drink that. Can we make orange juice instead?" He smiled, and said "Yes." I was amazed.

I'm not going to pretend that I may not slip up; food companies are sneaky, their bottom line is more important than our health and safety. I do know I am going to make every effort to keep him away from food dyes.  I don't want to "lose" my son to wherever he was; stuck behind this haze of petroleum based food dyes. I challenge each of you parents; if you have a "defiant", "strong willed", or "naughty" child. Take 10 days to remove all food dyes from your diets. You may find you really do have a sweet, calm, and curious typical child.