Written by Rabbi Faith Friedman Cantor
Originally published on her blog, “Musings: A Little Bit of Everything,” February 24, 2012
I thank God every day.
I am blessed with an amazing husband, and four beautiful children. I love my job, I live in a nice house, my extended family is supportive; overall, life is good. In fact, life is great!
But life is not without curve balls.
For the past month, Gavriela has been attending “food school.” She is two years old and gets 95% of her nutrients from pediasure. For reasons we do not understand, she never learned to eat solid foods. In fact, according to her amazing therapists – she does not know how to chew, and having things in her mouth produces for her anxiety.
Now, if you know David and myself — we are no strangers to food. We like food. We love food. We love to eat, and both of us enjoy cooking. And we have a child for whom eating is a source of pediatric anxiety.
This is huge –
Eating is social.
Eating is a mtizvah.
Eating is a part of Jewish culture and identity.
Eating is done at birthday parties, play-dates, shopping trips.
And Gavriela still does not eat! (Read more…)