This question came from my 3½ year old a few months ago. Silence filled the car. “Uuummmmm.” Silence was NOT filling my head. Where is this coming from? I didn’t even know she knew the word “healthy” yet. How do I respond to that?
(Now don’t tilt your head and begin to think that she probably heard it from us. That language- good/bad/healthy/unhealthy food- is not used in our house. I am a dietitian working with clients in recovery from eating disorders- I have a heightened sensitivity to this topic. When my husband jokingly asks me what food he should cut out to help him lose weight, I tell him “nothing, everything is ok in moderation.” When my mom said my 3 month old had cute “chubby cheeks”, I told my husband that we weren’t going to allow that kind of talk around our kids. My husband told me that I was going to need to relax since this is a very common comment about babies.)
I finally came up with a response to my daughter’s question. “Of course they are! What made you ask that question?” My daughter then proceeded to educate me on how fruits and vegetables are healthy and they help us grow but that there are some foods that aren’t healthy and we shouldn’t eat them. “I just want to know if I can keep eating cookies.”
This little conversation changed the course of my afternoon. I was planning to go to work, see a few clients, and since I would be done early, I would wait out traffic at the gym. During the drive to work, I somehow turned my frustration with my daughter leaning about unhealthy foods into “I need to buy a piece of equipment so I can continue my woodworking.” I know. It was a great idea! After I saw my last client, I drove to the local woodshop/store that I mentioned in my earlier post. I had been thinking for weeks about what piece of equipment I would investment in first. While at work, I mentally narrowed it down to a planer or a jointer. I don’t think it mattered, I was going to buy one of them. I did no additional research on a model or cost or anything.
Luckily for me, a very nice gentleman found me wandering the machinery aisle. He reminded me of my dad in that he seemed to know a little (or a lot) about anything that I might ask. After I explained that I had some unfinished wood that I would like to be able to use, he recommended a planer. He showed me a model he recommended for a small garage workshop and I said I would take it. He asked what I intended to do for dust collection… I think he knew I hadn’t gotten that far and helped me select a Dust Deputy and even helped me find the connectors to be able to set it up completely. This was not how I had envisioned buying my first piece of machinery but it happened. Luckily for me, it all worked out. I met some wonderful people (see first post) and learned several lessons along the way. Now, how to put this thing together?!