Day 5 - It gets worse before it gets better

Today is Day 5! I am so proud of myself for sticking to this 100% for 5 days. I have never stuck to a diet for 5 days without cheating in my life, and I sure have been on enough of them. Its a lot different when the health and happiness of your child depends on it.

I wound up taking $72 worth of pantry items back to Wal-Mart, and I stocked up the house with FG approved basics for only $30 out of pocket.

I then went to Earth Fare and wow! I love that place! I signed up for their e-mail newsletter which got me a coupon for a free organic chicken, and then I signed up for their text alerts which got me a $10 off $25 coupon. I found amazing, approved sourdough bread there, called Rudi's, among other things. Pretty much everything in there is approved, sans salicylates.

The food hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. Geeking out my shopping guide made getting through Wal-Mart fairly easy, and for the most part I am familiar with the approved foods. A lot of it is just switching brands - instead of buying Kraft American cheese, I buy Land O Lakes white American. Instead of Mission tortilla's, I buy Azteca.

Meal planning has been no more challenging that it ever was, considering I really, really do not like to meal plan.

Lunches are going very well thank-you-very-much Laptop Lunch box! It really doesn't matter what I put in there, if it is in that fun, colorful bento he will eat it happily.



I am also a terrible mother at lunch time - I let him eat lunch in the floor watching tv. Breakfast and dinner we sit down together but lunch, whatever.

Behavior

So here's a quick rundown on his behavioral changes. Day 1 was typical. Awful, eery second of it.

Day 2 and 3 he was really good! It was like, briefly, I had a totally different kid. He didn't tell me "I hate you" or call me stupid for two whole days! This was HUGE!

For those two days, we were able to read books for the first time in months without me getting frustrated and him getting in trouble.

I actually enjoyed spending time with him, for the first time in a really long time.

Day 4 and today, Day 5, were rough at times, but still better than pre-FG. On Day 4 a friend came to visit with her nearly 2 year old son. In the past, we have always had to hover and stay extra vigilant because Henry would be mean and push the little one down, or take toys away from him or yell at him and make him cry.

As soon as my friend walked in the door he said to her, "My mama has figured out that there is petroleum and bad stuff in a lot of the food I was eating and we have stopped eating it and now I can be good!"

And he really was! He was kind and gentle with the little boy, and shared his toys happily. I just about cried when he was showing off a new helicopter that he got for Christmas and then handed it to the little boy and said "here, you can play with it now."

Thinks declined a bit as the day wore on, and I have decided that he is quite sleep deprived. So, he was in bed asleep by 8:30 last night and as I type this at 8:55 tonight he is in bed, but still talking to himself.

I am still so excited, and so very certain that this is the key to getting him back. I am excited for each new day, knowing that we are one day closer to detoxing his little body of the chemical overload he has been exposed to for far too long and getting our sweet, smart boy back to a good place.