Barbara Rodriguez - The Organic Nannys Guide to Raising Healthy Kids: How to Create a Natural Diet and Lifestyle for Your Child

The Organic Nannys Guide
to Raising Healthy Kids

The
Organic Nannys

GUIDE TO RAISING

Healthy Kids

How to Create a
Natural Diet and Lifestyle
for Your Child

BARBARA RODRIGUEZ

with Eve Adamson

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

Copyright 2012 by Barbara Rodriguez

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210.

Designed by Brent Wilcox

Set in 11.25 point Kepler Std-Light by the Perseus Books Group

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rodriguez, Barbara.

The organic nannys guide to raising healthy kids : how to create a natural diet and lifestyle for your child / Barbara Rodriguez with Eve Adamson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-7382-1489-4 (pbk.)ISBN 978-0-7382-1530-3 (e-book)

1. ChildrenNutrition. 2. Natural foods. 3. Food habits. 4. Parenting. I. Adamson, Eve. II. Title.

RJ206.R664 2012

618.92dc23

2011042717

First Da Capo Press edition 2012

Published by Da Capo Press

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

www.dacapopress.com

Note: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or Da Capo Press. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. This book includes many stories about my clients and their children. In order to protect the identities and privacy of those children as well as their parents, all names and other identifying details have been changed, and in some cases, details from several different clients have been combined into one, or inspired by, but not directly based on, real events and people. Barbara Rodriguez is an experienced nanny, but not a medical professional. No information in this book is meant to replace the advice of a personal physician or other health care professional. Before making any drastic changes in your childs life, please consult your childs doctor. Barbara Rodriguez, Eve Adamson, and the publisher assume no responsibility for harm incurred based on any information or interpretation of information in this book.

Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail .

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This book is dedicated to my angels in heavenmy parents, and of course, my Tata. You are missed.

Also to my soul sister Annie, and to all the amazing children, mamas, and nanniesmay you carry the organic message.

I am so incredibly grateful to the extraordinary people who helped make my dream come true.

First, my heartfelt thanks go to my incredible agent, Sarah Jane Freymann, who believed in me from the start and guided me with her knowledge and deep intuitive wisdom.

I am deeply thankful to Eve Adamson for bringing her talent to this project. I knew from our first conversation that she was a sister in my organic revolution and understood my philosophies. I am grateful for her friendship and her hard work.

Thank you to Jamie Babbitt, a wonderful writer, singer, and great friend.

I am also grateful to my editor, Katie McHugh, for her ongoing support.

I appreciate all my beautiful little clients that have touched my heart and made me smile. I am grateful to have shared in their lives. And to all my furry clients, you still live in my heart.

I want to acknowledge all the beautiful people in my life who have inspired and held me together: Susan and Sierra, Anne Dial, and Tommy, Paula Murphy, and Chix Nana, Melanie Banks, LeAna M., Emily L., Cynthia F., and Roxie, Chrissy and Maria, Anne Wilde and her bro Scottie, Sheila, and Angelique, Frank, Nene, Buddy Allen, Taresa, and Brody, Barbara Muncy, Karen Garcia, my teachers Gabrielle M., Natalia Rose, Louise L. Hay, Mama Maria Rodriguez.

And to my mentors: Julia L. for the wisdom and Kenny for the Husband; Bethenny F., you inspired the dream; Nicole K., thank you for the words Beautiful Barbara; Eva Peron; and John Lennon and the summer of L.O.V.E.

And finally, to Chris, Andre, and my fabulously organic NickiI love you!

Our children are all on a journey and constantly blooming.

The Organic Nanny

M y name is Barbara Rodriguez, and I am the Organic Nanny. For more than twenty years, I have taken care of children as a profession. I have worked with a wide range of culturally diverse children ranging in age from eleven months to sixteen years old, and Ive forged unique and lasting relationships with them all. I work within a rich and privileged worldmany of the children I work with have celebrity parentsbut I believe all children can benefit from the changes I help my clients realize. Those changes are all, at their essence, organic, and by that I mean natural, life-giving, and in harmony with the spirit and essence of the individual child. Organic food, organic relationships, and an organic connection with the Earth can revitalize and optimize every childs life.

In my work as a nanny, Ive seen many different kinds of children, but I see some common themes, toostressed-out parents and stressed-out children, chronic allergies and illness, anxiety, a short attention span, poor health habits, estranged relationships, insomnia in both children and adults, hyperactivity and depression even in preschoolers, a sense of entitlement, disregard for others, a deep lack of self-confidence, and generalized unhappiness. I see childhood obesity and children seeking desperately for something they cant findsomething they often mistake for junk food. Many are prone to colds and ear infections. Sometimes they cry for no reason they can understand. I see underachievers who are unable to pay attention. I see anger, sadness and isolation, and families who have forgotten how to be together in the same roomwho can barely look each other in the eye.