Modern Mother Obsessions

Modern mother obsessions are dominating my life and I think I need to just get off the crazy train for a while and chill?  I'm not talking about monochrome children's bedrooms or KMart hacks or anything as exciting as that.  I have no problems with that sort of carry on.  It's things like BPA, 'That Sugar Film', and the global plastic pollution crisis that haunt me nowadays.  I admit it, I'm very impressionable and socially concerned so the mantra of the eco warrior mums and the paleo health coach types have changed the way I run our household.  I have reached the point where the other day my kids were terribly thirsty and I'd forgotten their drink bottles but I refused them a bottle of water on the grounds that it wasn't BPA free and bottled water is the devil that will destroy our planet.  Mid rant I looked around at the countless families at the indoor playground I had brought them to for their last day of school holidays and realised I was literally the only one with the weight of the world on my shoulders and they were all enjoying their sugar laden, plastic wrapped fun without lectures and anxiety.  I realised I was becoming a bit of a monster.

It all started with sugar.  The anti-sugar movement started around the time I was planning a family.  I have an issue with it, it's like crack cocaine to me and I struggle daily with my addiction.  I decided when my oldest child was born to try and limit her sugar intake as much as humanely possible.  For the first 3 years of her life the only lollies she knew were marshmallows and chocolate (dark Ghana, of course!)  and they were a very special treat.  I loosened up when I had my second child and she has a sweet tooth because of it.  When "That Sugar Film" came out last year I was suddenly joined by many of my mummy friends and all the things that had slipped back into the household were suddenly poison and we all swapped fabulous raw food alternatives and refused to buy cookies and pasta sauce for our kids.  I've relaxed a bit since then but I'm still trying to find my balance.  Plastic seems to be the latest reason to hate on each other as humans and parents though and I have inadvertently been pulled into the whole thing without even realising just how far I've fallen.  It started with litter free lunches at school and progressed to being paralyzed with indecision at the grocery store because it is near to impossible to purchase anything nowadays without some form of plastic packaging.  I already use e-string bags for shopping and have just ordered reusable produce bags.  I try to compost everything I can and I avoid glad wrap now wherever possible.  When I started to get anxiety about how to buy meat without plastic and whether or not we needed bamboo toothbrushes I knew I was falling too far down the rabbit hole, too fast.  I need a break.  It's shopping day tomorrow and I'm seriously considering taking a time out and giving my kids the most amazing fortnight of their lives.  I just want a holiday from it all and I don't care if I get judged and hated.  Tomorrow there will be muslei bars and plastic toothbrushes in my trolley!  Damn the man mums!  I'm taking back the power.  For a fortnight at least.