Worst Mother in the Whole Wide World!

 I'm the worst mother in the whole wide world. Why?

 Because I won't let my son have all the broccoli, carrots, and celery he wants to eat.

 Because I let him have ONE macadamia nut if he is especially hungry between meals and he can only have it ONCE a day. Not every time he's hungry, no only once.

 Because when his sister tried to eat part of one of his carefully calculated to the nearest tenth of a gram meals, I pried the food out of her mouth and fed it to him anyway.

 Because we instituted a new house rule. Until Owen is off the Ketogenic Diet, everyone is not only allowed, but strongly encouraged to lick their plates.

 Because I am absolutely dreading Halloween.

 Because one of the older kids saw Owen chewing something when it wasn't a mealtime, I panicked thinking it was a piece of paper (he'd been coloring) and then said "Oh Thank Goodness! It's foil, not paper", like chewing a piece of foil is a good thing.

 Some parts of the Ketogenic Diet are becoming a lot easier. We've learned several time saving techniques for preparing his food. I'm not messing with recipes so much anymore since we have a nice variety of things he'll eat now. We've also figured out the easiest ways to get his medication and supplements into him. Some parts are still REALLY hard.

 Like not letting him eat as many veggies as he wants. It's not that hard to tell your child he can't have cake or candy. Not letting him have vegetables just feels wrong.

 Like listening to my son cry for over an hour because he's hungry and not being able to feed him because he's only allowed a certain number of calories and they have to spaced out evenly to prevent blood sugar issues. He's allowed to have one " free" food a day. "free" foods consist of one macadamia, Brazil, or walnut. Three hazelnuts or 3 small black olives. That's not much of a snack if you are really hungry. Next time you feel really hungry, try eating one macadamia nut and see if it helps.

 Like having to feed him every last tenth of a gram of each and every meal even if it dropped on the floor or ended up in his sister's mouth.

 Like learning to ease up on rules. It drives me nuts when the kids lick their plates (come on admit it your kids do that too sometimes). Owen has to eat every last crumb and drop of oil from his meals. We have little spatulas to scrape his plate with, but sometimes that makes him gag, so we let him lick the plate. Some of the other kids wanted to know why they still weren't allowed since we don't want Owen to feel any more segregated than absolutely necessary. So, I made the executive decision to just let EVERYONE lick their plates until Owen doesn't have to.

Like dreading one of my children's favorite holidays, knowing it's not going to be much fun this year for Owen. I'm trying to make sure it's still fun for everyone else, but I really just want to skip the whole thing. I'm setting up some special things for Owen, but I know he's going to want M&M's.

 Like being scared to death all the time that he's going to put some non-food item that isn't allowed in his mouth. Paper is a carb. Normally I wouldn't be worried if a child chewed a piece of paper, but for Owen it could be a huge problem. Foil is not a carb. I'm pretty sure it's a choking hazard, unlike paper, but the paper is a lot worse than the foil right now.

I'm pretty convinced that Owen thinks I'm the worst mother in the world some days. The good news is that the diet is making a difference. We've still had a few seizures, but they've been shorter and milder. He's been a lot less "foggy". Owen is starting to count and say the A,B,C's again. He's not falling as much. His eyes aren't as clouded looking as they were. His fine motor skills are even getting better. I guess I'll just have to keep being the mean mom for a few more years!