will bacon bits ruin the day?

We've been very successful avoiding the dreaded red #40 for quite some time. I was beginning to run out of things to write about. Well, here we go again. We had friends over for dinner. They brought a really nice salad. I served some up for all the kids. She had even called to make sure the dressing was OK for Alex (no dairy or wheat, very thoughtful of our needs). As I bit into the delicious salad with homemade dressing I knew instantly, there were bacon bits. Maybe not all bacon bits have red#40, but I checked the website for Bacos and they definitely have it.

It was a frustrating and defeated feeling. There was no way I could think of to politely stop my children from eating it. It would have made my friend feel horrible. So we ate it and enjoyed it. Maybe the fall-out won't be too bad. I think I felt the effects myself last night. Lindsey was running around naked slapping her rear end saying "booty" over and over again instead of getting in the tub. (You gotta love 3 year olds) I had to fight off strong urges to spank her. Hmm, I've written that before. I only think about spanking her when I have eaten food dyes. Strange to admit that, because I'm pretty opposed to spanking. Well this time I resisted the urge and took away her favorite pajamas that she had put out to wear. That got her promising profusely that she won't say "booty" anymore so it seemed effective. So now I'm really wondering, is it Lindsey that makes me reconsider the "no spanking" philosophy or is the petrochemicals? Something to ponder, I guess.

I'm not sure Lindsey really ate any of the salad because she was having too much fun socializing. I've wondered if Ben is finally a little less susceptible to the effects of the dyes now that he's been off them for a while. He also turned 9 this week. I've fantasized that he will be able to "grow out of it." For most of this year it has seemed like all of my kids react even more strongly to dyes. It's like they have no tolerance for chemicals since they eat mostly pure foods now. Maybe I just see it easier and know the reason rather than blaming it on other things.

So, we'll wait and see what happens.