Mommy's Project 52:42 Sharing

This week I tried to take pictures of my kids sharing.

The conversation goes like this.

Son: "Mom, what are you doing?"
Me:  I'm trying to take pictures of you and your sister sharing.
Son:   "Why?"
Me:  "It is the topic for my blog post this week."
Son:  "Why don't you just write sometimes we like to share and sometimes we don't."

In the early months of this year, they seemed to share quite effortlessly. As my daughter has developed speech, things have changed.  She uses her words to tell us all the things that brother has taken from her. Simple car rides have turned into backseat squabbles over who looks at what book and on and on.  It would seem at 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 sharing is not so popular. Sometimes they like to share and sometimes they don't.  Right now, we are more NOT sharing.

I have been thinking about this since my son does construct complicated play area with trains and his toy figures.  He will have spent an hour setting it all up and it can be all undone by sister in 10 seconds or less.  I know that frustrates him.  On the other hand, I have also seen him watch sister pick a toy up and for no other reason than her new interest decides he must have it to add to his play immediately.  Even harder for him is toys that were originally his when he was younger are really now appropriate for her to play with but he still wants to claim them as his own.  It has not really been a problem until the last few months so I am working on the family guidelines for what has to be shared and what is yours alone. What are your guidelines for sharing toys?

One of my favorite pictures of the two of them - November 2011

Sharing limited snacks - January 2012

Coloring on the same picture - February 2012

Brother ran off with the toys.

Waiting to try again at sharing the pool toys - May 2012

Frequent expression in the car these days - April 2012
(yes, I know her top buckle has gotten low, constant struggle)

Yes, I found one! Sharing colors together - May 2012

Mommy's Project 52:41 Entertaining

Mommy's Project 52:40 Natural

Natural means existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind. Natural also means a person regarded as having an innate gift or talent for a particular task or activity. These definitions are from the dictionary.


It is the first definition of natural applied to food products that confuses me.   What does the word "natural" or "naturally"  mean exactly on the package of a food product?


According to the FDA, they do not have a definition of the term natural.  However, they have not objected to the use of the word natural if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavor, or synthetic substances. 


I went to the pantry and pulled out the first handful of items that I found labeled with the word natural.

  
The use of the word natural made the most sense on the pineapple chunks.  I get the difference between "in its own natural juice" as opposed to the others on the shelf labeled heavy or lite syrup.


I thought the Juicy Juice would also be a good use of the label natural.  I try to buy juice boxes that are actually juice.  However,  I am confused by the statement that it is 100% juice and then in much smaller lettering below, it says "from concentrate with other natural flavors & added ingredients."  If it is 100% juice, then how can there be anything added? 

The rest of the stuff is definitely processed snacks in one form or another and would not fit the dictionary definition of not being caused by humankind or existing in nature. The goldfish, the Dora fruit snacks, the Fiber One bars  and the Graduates Yogurt melts all use the word natural or naturally in the label.  


The truth of what is in these snacks is in the tiny print of the ingredient list.  I have to admit that I do not spend a lot of time reading the list.  My excuses are that the print is so small it is hard for me to read and I am busy with two kids while shopping therefore I am making quick decisions based on what I can easily read on the label. 


Except for the pineapple, I don't think the natural label actually resulted in a healthier purchase.  I guess if I want natural, I should go check out the local farmer's market.  What do you look for on a label when shopping?