Antonio Maltezo's Pick
Preventative Measures
by Anna McDougall
You'll need a quiet room, with little or no distractions, to pick up on the subtle undertone of insanity--the hysteria, paranoia, and insecurity coursing through this loving mother's best intentions.
Early in my marriage, I layered our blue ceramic fruit bowl with oranges, bananas, kiwis, nectarines and occasionally, a tropical sampling of papaya or pineapple. Once I became a mother, it was necessary to reassess everything. I embraced this new role, recognizing that my purpose in life was to provide our children with every possible opportunity for a healthy and successful future.
After reflecting on the excessive starches contained in the banana, I moved this item to the "treats" menu along with grapes. Unless they are seedless and halved, grapes are a terrible choking hazard. Plums have been abandoned since they irritate the overactive bowels of my son.
I continue to be perplexed by society's love affair with the kiwi; this attraction must be based solely on its novel appearance as opposed to the bitter flavor. And the effort required to peel that tiny fruit must certainly outweigh its nutritional benefits. Oranges are the same way! Young children need assistance to peel oranges and may, after consuming one, require a toothpick or a string of floss.
Finally, our family has dispensed with these distractions and now seeks the one perfect fruit that is healthy, convenient, affordable, tasty, and available year round: the apple.
I encourage our children to eat apples the way they come off the tree: unpeeled and uncut. You will not find me in the kitchen working to make a Braeburn more appealing, more edible. Nor will you be served caramel sauce, whipped cream, or flavored yogurt for dipping slices of a Pink Lady. They are perfect the way they are and if not for the simple appreciation of its natural beauty, then for reasons of convenience, a child must learn how to take care of themselves and eat a piece of fruit without mechanical or human assistance. The flesh of my daughter's apples will never brown in her bag lunch; other mothers think they are doing their children a favor by dipping each slice into a dish of citrus juice in the early morning hours.
With over seven thousand varieties catalogued world-wide and nine available from any grocer in town, there is bound to be an apple for everyone. My sister tells me that her girls can't eat apples, that they "bother their stomachs" She's allowed those girls to turn on all apples having been fooled by the tartness of the abundant and inexpensive Macintosh we grew up on. How did it come to this? Didn't she care enough? Was she not thinking of the future? I have encouraged my nieces to try another variety, but it seems I am too late.
Following my swim class, I collect little Joshua from the child care room and walk to the grocery store to pick up perishables for the coming week. These include dairy items, breads, fresh vegetables and apples.
I am committed to making apples a key component in the daily diet of my children which is why every week, I fill my grocery cart with a minimum of twenty four apples; this count is spread across five or six varieties depending on the selection offered by the particular grocer. Exposing children to a range of alternatives encourages their imaginations, helps them understand that the world has much to offer, and teaches them that their needs as well as their dreams, as unique individuals, can be fulfilled.
I try not to let my preference for sweet varieties bias my shopping. Sometimes I need to go to a distant grocer to wake me up, lest I drift into my pre-mothering habit of picking up one five pound bag of Yellow Delicious. I know that I am empowering my children by allowing them to discover which apple will suit them best. I remind myself that it is much easier to develop good habits from the start than to retrain ourselves as adults, correcting the mistakes made in our youth.
On and around the first of the month, like today, the seniors come out in numbers. I pay close attention to their selections; I assume many of them have sugar content and texture in mind when they shop. I wouldn't expect they buy many thick-skinned Red Delicious, for example. My mother's diabetes and dentures have forced her (for the first time in her life) into a position where she must consider her meals carefully. Today her choices are far more limited that they were when she was my age.
A woman about my age pushes her toddler by me in an otherwise empty cart. Obviously having come from work, she is dressed in an up-to-the-minute styled black suit and has one of those gorgeous new handbags Oprah featured on her show last Christmas hanging from her wrist. She's probably a lawyer. Or a financial planner. Or some equally intelligent and productive profession. I watch as she pulls her cart over beside a garish Macintosh display and confers with a palm pilot. I consider nudging her cart towards the smaller tray of Empire apples, a wonderful hybrid born from Delicious and Macintosh. Before I can formulate a plan, she absent mindedly grabs a paper carrier full of Macintoshes and drops them in her cart. I want to go over, shake this woman, and say, "Give your girl a chance!" But when she passes by me, I just smile and chastise my impulses. I need to remain focused on my own children; they only have one mother, one chance.
You never can predict the way a child's taste buds will develop. One of my daughters absolutely loves Granny Smith apples. Honestly. I was shocked that an eight year old child would choose a tart green baking fruit over a sweet Gala. But there you go, I would never have known, nor would she, if I hadn't been doing my job, offering my family a full selection.
Anna McDougall is a business graduate of the University of Calgary and a former sales and marketing professional. She now raises her children full time while writing fiction and creative nonfiction from Calgary in Canada. Anna's short prose pieces have appeared at several e-zines including Salome Magazine, Verbsap, Flashfiction.net, Mad Hatter's Review, Heavy Glow and Pindeldyboz.