A Cone a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Probably not the dentist, though.
It’s Julie! Here in Vermont, the last day of school was Friday, so we are in REAL SUMMER this week. Yes, I’ve color-coded our family calendar with the different camps and their rotating drop-offs/pickups, work travel, doctor’s appointments, and even some vacations. It looks like a kaleidoscope of ambition, hope, and perhaps delusion?
Each color represents hours of brain power and thoughtful planning, yet one tiny thing, like a questionable bug bite, can take the whole day down domino-style. Speaking of, my daughter missed the first two days of tennis camp because of PINK EYE; the 3rd grossest childhood illness behind Hand Foot Mouth, and lice. Ah, the lazy days of summer.
Make sure you catch today’s new Parenting is a Joke episode with Neil Gaiman. He reassures us that AI will never be able to raise your child, let alone create stories that make you think. He also talks about how recently his 7-year-old son asked for ice cream and, when the answer was no, his astute son dressed up in disguise as an “ice cream inspector.” His creativity was rewarded with…ice cream.
I am an “ice cream most nights” person because I genuinely love ice cream. From the Hood soft-serve at our general store to fancy French honeycomb pints to the maple creemees at the local farm stands – all of it. I love it. I love it as a treat, I love it as a reward, I love it to sweeten failure - all of it.
When I was pregnant with twins there was an unspoken understanding with my local soft-serve spot that the height of the swirl grew proportionately with the pregnancy.
But the other reason I’m supportive of an ice cream lifestyle is that my daughter’s pediatrician recommends that she eats ice cream every day. You heard me right, 1 out of 1 doctors recommend a daily dose of ice cream. At least for now.
My daughter, a twin, was born tiny at 4 pounds. After a tough time in utero, she also had a tough first 6 months. She continued to hover just above the “failure to thrive” diagnosis my husband and I dreaded at every nurse’s visit. I even went dairy-free while I breastfed, which was a true sacrifice given my husband calls me “lactose intolerant-intolerant.”
Over the years, she has continued to clock in around the one percentile on the growth chart. We’ve tried everything to put weight on her - daily protein shakes, avocados as part of every meal, peanut butter all the time. When she was at a real standstill with growth, the doctor tried various elimination diets to see if she had a slight allergy. We eliminated dairy for a year, which was no fun for anyone.
Well, at least I THOUGHT she was dairy-free. But on her last day of Kindergarten, she told me her favorite part of school was Fridays because that’s the day they got chocolate milk.
She never seemed to have any issues on Fridays, so, apparently, not an allergy.
The doctor agreed, so last year we re-introduced dairy slowly. I asked about ice cream, and she said, “Yes, she still needs to gain weight, so if she likes it, she can have ice cream every day.” I knew I liked that doctor.
So when our general store opened its ice cream window last month (my solstice) we got big cones on opening day. And the next day, and the next day.
You can almost see the soft-serve window from the elementary school parking lot. So naturally, every day after school, ALL the kids ask if they can get ice cream. Almost every day, I answer YES! And when I get a sideways glance from a parent, I want to yell, “I’m not a pushover mom! I HAVE A DOCTOR’S NOTE!” But, mostly, I just give a little shrug and a guilty smile. I watched one mom give me a sideway glance while handing her kid a banana and loudly declare, “You had ice cream yesterday, so I’ve got some fruit and seaweed strips for you today!” To which the child smiled and ate them right up.
I’m joking. That kid collapsed in a fit of tears.
My daughter’s 7th birthday is around the corner and her goal is to hit 40 pounds, which qualifies her for a “big kid car seat.” I think she can do it, especially because she just discovered Oreo ice cream.
She thinks she’s lucky that we let her have ice cream so often. And I’m not going to get in the way of that notion. She’s earned it.
Grab your own frozen treat and listen to this week’s episode of Parenting is a Joke with Neil Gaiman! And if you missed it, listen to earlier episodes with Kristen Schaal, Christine Taylor, and Tig Nataro. Coming up we have the hilarious Rachel Feinstein, and Washington Post columnist and humor writer Alexandra Petri!