Unfortunately for my children, this is what their mother turns into during summer vacation. Patrolling the rounds of snack refuse, looking for gross displays of non-compliance. One would think that it is harder to monitor their eating during the school year - not so! They both are creatures of routine, and eat quite compliantly during the year; O son has eggs, turkey sausage, and cinnamon raisin sprouted grain toast for breakfast, A son usually has homemade granola with soy milk, and occasionally turkey sausage or an egg. Lunches are typically almond/peanut butter sandwiches on spelt or sprouted bread, fresh fruit, organic corn chips/spelt pretzels, multigrain bars, etc. Of course, they could always ”trade” at lunch but since we have always eaten weird food by typical American standards, I have never worried about that much. I remember my oldest boy on his first day at a new elementary school telling his classmates that his family eats seaweed. “First of all, dear, it is ‘sea vegetable’ and not ‘seaweed’, and secondly, you might want to think twice before telling your friends about the food we eat.” Nothing like branding yourself as a weirdo on the first day of school.

Ever since finding out my sons blood types, I realized that the BTD would be very difficult for us as a family to adhere to. We do keep a myriad of food choices available at all times but, alas, one person’s bene is another person’s avoid. Sigh. So I have always thought that the best I can do is educate them about what foods are healthy for them and why, as well as emphasize the universal neutrals in meal preparation.

Until summer vacation comes. Until mother sees what food choices they make when they have the time and inclination to do so. And they are at both ends of the extremes with this one. My sweet, darling, youngest one is hyper compliant, not letting one tidbit of honeydew melon (a favorite) cross his lips, while the big, grumpy teenager says, “Mom, I just need food!” OK. What to do. With my O teenager, since we do tend to grow them tall in our household, I understand the “just need food” scenario. But I do strongly encourage him to add more animal protein to his food choices and need to remind him to lay off the carbs. My A son needs a different approach. I do encourage him to eat a little more broadly than I think he would normally choose, letting him know that it is OK to eat honeydew melon once in awhile, just not all the time. He could stand some loosening on many levels and I think enforcing strict dietary guidelines is not at all healthy for him.

I do frequently have a plate of attractively arranged raw, sliced vegetables and fruits placed in a prominent place in the kitchen, so when they come a’grazing, it is the first thing they see. And it does always get eaten. Another strategy is to make the choices for all meals, not just dinner, and to enlist their help in the preparation.

And lately, I have noticed them looking up info in ER4YT, and also asking questions about what is healthy and what not for their blood type. Just today, my type O son asked, “If Grandpa is a type O, why is he a vegetarian?”

Maybe this is all sinking in after all. Perhaps it is time to retire the police uniform.