Pearl 30: Hope Wins the Battle With Fear Every Time ... If You Have a Plan.

Dearest Gehrig and Eliana,

My darlings I miss you so much.  You got to visit with your Granny a few weeks ago but I had to stay home to do taxes.  You will learn about those someday and that will be soon enough....trust me.  But you are coming down for "Camp PK" at the end of June and I can't wait to see you.

Your Aunt Bits and Uncle Sae came up for a long weekend visit over Memorial Day and we had so much fun.  Aunt Bits is 25 weeks pregnant with your new cousin.  She will be arriving in early September and I know you three will get along famously.  She will be the third camper in the family and you will have so much fun when you come down to Texas in summers future.

I have to tell you, your Aunt Bits looks absolutely fabulous.  They say all women with child have this special look about them, but Brittany is positively glowing.  She is radiant, fresh and full of hope.  In fact, we had a discussion about hope and what it means to expectant parents.  Your mom had that exuberant hope before you two were born.  And every couple who are about to become mom's and dad's for the first time have it....along with a little fear as well.

Above almost all else, expectant parents are hopeful their children will be born healthy, but a little fearful, despite all positive signs, that something might go wrong.  They are hopeful the new little person they are about to bring into the world will be beautiful, even though they are fearful that, at first, they might be a little beat up from their passage into this world.  

Parents are hopeful their children will be intelligent and bright and able to master advanced algebra, even though they are fearful the child might inherit their woeful lack of math skills (not talking about your Aunt and Uncle, of course).  But most of all, parents are hopeful they will be good parents and not totally botch the job of rearing this new citizen of humanity, even though they are fearful that life has provided so little training on how to accomplish this most important of all assignments.  Which kind of brings me to my next pearl.

Thirtieth Pearl:  Hope Wins the Battle With Fear Every Time...If You Have a Plan.

Brittany and Sae are very hopeful.  They have done their homework.  They have a game plan for their new offspring which is well researched, solid and quite doable.  They know, by today's standards and enlightened thinking, what will serve their baby best.  It starts with a healthy diet. 

Their plan will restrict the child's intake of processed foods, refined sugars and fast foods.  Controlling the intake of those items, which has made 60 % of the children in the U.S. obese, is critically important.  They are fearful, however, that it will be difficult to control the older their baby gets.  How do you deny a child that sugary birthday cake at a toddler friend's party?  How do you not give in to the Chicken McNuggets® from the golden arches at the end of a hectic day of shopping?  Indeed, how do you control the poor choices that are available to them even within the seemingly safe confines of the school cafeteria?  And we have not even addressed the sugary fear associated with Halloween, the chocolate Easter bunnies and the almighty power of the Coca-Cola Company.

All it takes is hope and a little preparation.  Fear can be overcome by offering the child healthy alternatives.  Making certain they develop a taste for wholesome foods before they are introduced to the hoard of unwholesome alternatives.  Fresh fruits instead of sugary snacks.  Fresh cooked vegetables instead of processed foods.  Make sure they have their good fats and lots of protein (vitamin B12 and calcium are the biggest concerns for infants and toddlers). It is a good plan and the hope of it overcomes the fear of the alternative.

I know all you two care about at the moment is when will your next play date with your friends in the sandbox at the park be and if Curious George will be a re-run or new adventure tonight after dinner, but all of those are just hopeful things with no fear in opposition.  Aunt Bits and Uncle Sae have much more to be fearful of, but they have a plan and are most hopeful and HOPE will prevail.

I love you both, bunches and bunches.  God bless you,

Grandpa Jud