WEBVTT - Seize the Bebe // Annabel Karmel On Feeding Toddlers! 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:04.200 Welcome to the Sees the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy, 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:06.840 but tired and worn, just some of the feelings when 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.520 baby is born. There's magic, elation, there's chaos and tears, 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.200 but everyone goes through the same hopes and fears. So 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:16.240 this is a segment we hope helps you feel supported 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.360 and valid. The mum juggles real, the good, bad, the ugly, 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.960 the best and worst day. It's part of the journey 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.479 to seize the Babe. I'm Sarah Davidson, a lawyer turned 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:27.880 entrepreneur who hung up the suits and heels to co 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.800 found Macha Maiden, a Macha Milk Bar, become a TV 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:33.720 and radio presenter, and of course host The Sees the 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.680 Ya Podcast. This year, I added motherhood to that list, 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.559 which is the best job I've ever had with our 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.760 beautiful baby Teddy, and this segment was designed to house 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.200 all the conversations we've been having about parenthood. We'll still 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.760 do our regular episodes and just like real life, it's 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.479 a constant balance between our parent identity and everything else. 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.120 I hope you guys enjoy this segment as much as 0:00:54.160 --> 0:01:03.320 I have enjoyed creating it. Lovely Neighborhood, It's been a 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.080 little while since our last Sees a Bebe episode, but 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.040 as always, that in itself is just such an apt 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.319 representation of the Juggle. So many good topics have come 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.080 up recently just in going about my life that I've 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.040 wanted to dedicate episodes two for this segment, but without 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.679 anywhere near enough time to squeeze them in, including another 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.760 episode on the Juggle itself after a little video I 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.760 shared on it when viral, But that will have to wait, 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.720 because what we did manage to squeeze in over this 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.440 past week was to catch an incredible guest during her 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:40.160 whirlwind visit to Australia. I still can't quite believe I 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.959 had the opportunity to sit down with the woman who 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.679 has already revolutionized meal time in our household, which is 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.000 becoming quite the challenge as Teddy enters the wild world 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.280 of toddlehood. When it comes to feeding small humans. There 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.680 is pretty much nobody better to speak to than Annabelle Carmel, 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:00.480 who has published fifty one books on the subjects nineteen 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:05.040 ninety one, had several TV shows, a life changing range 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.680 of delicious already made frozen meals, and now an amazing 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.800 app featuring her easy, healthy recipes, her decades of work 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.480 since well before similar resources were accessible, has earned her 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:20.040 an mbe our equivalent of an OAM, along with the 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.359 praise and loyalty of millions of families around the world. 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.359 I just was not prepared for how difficult it could 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.840 be to simply feed your child once they realized that 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.360 they have autonomy, plus add the overwhelm of meal prep, 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:37.200 balancing nutrition, and simply finding time. But Annabel's frozen meals 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.760 and recipes have been unbelievably helpful, and I couldn't believe 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.160 that not long after I discovered her, I actually got 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.880 to meet her in the flesh. Not only do we 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.160 cover so many of the burning questions that many of 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.760 us have about picky eating, introducing new flavors, determining the 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.080 right volumes, and all that kind of thing, Annabel also 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.400 shares the heart wrenching story that brought her to this point, 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.200 another path ya that she never could have predicted. A 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.239 little heads up, we do touch on the loss of 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:08.440 a child, so please do take care while listening. In 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:10.480 the meantime, I hope you gain as much from this 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:11.399 one as I did. 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.840 Annabelle welcome, so lovely to be I love coming to Australia. 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:21.040 Oh my god, we love having you absolute icon and 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.160 I feel like this is you've been here a month ago, 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.880 you're coming again later in the year. I always thought 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.640 you were Australians. Yeah, I mean, aren't we lucky to 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.639 have you? And I'm so excited to have you for 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.520 so many reasons, not just because you happen to be 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.120 the pre eminent author and expert in an area that 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.000 I've just it's just started to consume my life feeding 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.720 my toddler, So that's one reason, but also because your 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.440 story is so interesting. We've been talking for about seven 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:49.440 minutes and I've already heard one of the most interesting 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:50.600 stories I've ever heard. 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.080 I think the why you started it is always very interesting. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.000 It isn't a path that you ever thought would happen, 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.320 but it just life takes you that some is this 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.840 tragedy that finds your career, which was for my life. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.960 Well that's something that I mean, not necessarily the tragedy, 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:09.800 but the show is all about showcasing the many different, unexpected, 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.320 often and nonlinear pathways to the most exciting. 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.040 Well, this is definite've very non linear, and I. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:17.760 Think most of them are and people will walk into 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.200 your life right now and see you know, you're a 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.360 mum yourself, You've got two girls getting married, you're traveling 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.760 the world, you've got three dogs, fifty one books, six dogs, 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:30.520 six three children, three children, two marriages in a year, 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:35.240 fifty one books, an app arrange in supermarkets around the world. 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.240 And it's easy to think that you knew you'd end 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.760 up here, or that you always had it all together. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:44.279 But I think revealing the many chapters that came beforehand 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.400 is reassuring to others perhaps who haven't faund. 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:48.200 A lot of it was not planned, It just happened. 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.839 Yeah, exactly, exactly, So I would love to start there. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.839 You had, I mean even a whole career that unless 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.200 you googled you, you wouldn't know from your current pages that 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.360 you started as a musician, or that you know you 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.159 had whole life before the chapter we walk into today. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.200 So take us back to the very beginning. How did 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:06.080 it all come around? 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:08.479 Well? I started off as a musician, so I was 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.360 for twelve years as a professional harpist and singer, which 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.160 I absolutely loved. Music was my life. The half was 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.600 a difficult instrument because many of you may not know 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.320 but apart from the strings, there's southern pedals with three 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.480 different notches, so it's quite complicated, but it's a good 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.880 training for anything else. It's like me and patting your head, 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.960 but worse. So I did that for many years, and 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.040 I probably would have continued to do it had it 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.840 not been for me getting married. Actually I played Cinderella 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.200 and PANTOMI I did crazy things about half I heard 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.839 from the kitchen, and I learned classically and did many 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.599 conscerants travel over the world, and I loved it. But 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:47.239 it was a trashity that happened to me. It always 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.479 wanted to have children. Took me over two years to 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.760 get pregnant, and then they gave Birsta Natasha, my daughter, 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:54.880 and I was over the moon. And then one day 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:56.880 I looked at her and she didn't look quite right. 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.600 Her eyes were like rolling back and her hands were twitching, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.920 and I just knew there was something wrong. And I 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.359 called a doctor and he didn't really want to see her, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.400 but after a lot of persuasion, he agreed to see her. 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:08.160 And when I took him to see her, he just 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:10.200 gave me a selecture about first time mothers and how 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.600 they worry about their child, and they're much more robust 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:14.880 than you think they are. And I came home thinking 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.560 I should never have taken him, and almost embarrassed. But 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.600 the next morning she looked worse and she projectile vomited 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:24.120 and it was awful, and I took her to another doctor, 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:25.640 and nine o'clock in the morning I was on his 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:27.960 doorstep and then he examined her, and then he said 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:29.560 I've got to go and see another patient and left 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.440 me for ten minutes, and actually hadn't gone to see 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.240 another patient. He had already decided in his own mind 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:37.599 there was something seriously wrong with her. And when he 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.440 came back into the room, he said, I didn't go 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.960 and see another patient. I tried to get her admitted 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.440 to Great almost at Hostital, which is the best hospital 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.680 for her. Couldn't get her a bed, but take to 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.080 Saint Mary's and they'll do tests on her. And that 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:51.400 day they did the tests, and at five o'clock they 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.880 took me into a room after doing a cat scan. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:55.880 They told me she'd never be normal again, or she 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:57.480 might die, and they were transferring her. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:58.640 To Great Ormond Street Hospital. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.520 So I stayed there are five days and five nights 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:03.120 and on the fifth day, they told me that they 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.040 wanted to have a meeting and you know in your 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.200 heart of heart's what it's going to be. Yeah, And 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.360 they basically said, the thinking part of her brain had gone, 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.080 what did I want to do? And of course, what 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:13.400 do you want to do? I mean, you can't keep 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.200 a child alive like that. So they push in my 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:19.000 arms and for four hours she didn't actually die, and 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:20.880 then she died, and it was just terrible. And you 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.080 go home and you're not a mother anymore, and all 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:24.960 her things are in the house and you just like 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.920 your whole life is just gone. And for me, music 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:29.480 was not what I wanted to do anymore, and I 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:31.440 wanted to work with children, but I didn't really know 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.400 what that's going to be until my second child was born. 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.320 But that was also not straightforward at all, because I 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.160 got pregnant, thank goodness, within four months. But I took Clomid, 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:43.880 which is fertility drug, so it could have had multiple babies, 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:44.840 but ended up only being. 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:45.880 Pregnant with one. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.480 And my doctor went away and then he came back 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.120 just in time. When I called him to say that 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.960 I was in labor. He said he'd be at home 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:57.400 and it was very early stages. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:58.080 Don't worry. 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.600 Then I called him again half an hour later and 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:02.880 I couldn't get ahold of him. And I called him 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:04.840 again because my waters broke, and again I couldn't get 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:06.840 a hold of him. So I went upstairs get my 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:08.480 things to go to hospital. And the head came out. 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:11.560 But this is bad enough for any mother, but for 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.920 a mother whose child had died one year previously, it 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:16.920 was like, oh my god. And I was thinking all 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:18.760 the time, if I lose another child, I really won't 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.680 want to go on. And I called my husband and 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:23.160 I said I'm having the baby and he said it 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.400 was stupid. And then he saw and the head was blue, 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.360 and he thought the baby was dead because the baby 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:29.040 wasn't breathing. 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:30.200 But what do we know. 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.280 The baby can't breathe till the body comes out. We 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.320 learned that later. So I went on all fours. It 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.880 was kind of just a natural instinct to do that. 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:41.720 And the baby came out on the staircase, on the staircase, 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.480 half on the staircase, still attached by the corse. I 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.720 couldn't get the baby really close to me, and then 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.080 I said, you better ring the hospital, like see if 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.240 somebody can come. And I was left there for two 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:52.360 and a half hours and no. 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:53.520 One came at home. 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.480 Yes, and even worse because we'd sold the house and 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:58.360 the carpet was pale yellow and it was not pare 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.040 yellow by the time the baby woud been born, and 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.520 it would look like a murder had been committed anyway. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.440 Then a doctor came, but not my doctor, and he 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.560 cut the cord because we would not have known what 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.240 to do. And then my doctor arrived and he kind 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.280 of said, like, must have been a wonderful experience for you, 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.440 just you and your hospital. I'm thinking this was definitely 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:19.040 not a wonderfully experience in any shape or form. And 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.599 then my mother rives at the hospital when I was 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.280 eventually taking to hospital and told by the nurse and 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:24.840 no one had give him birth there, but someone had 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.080 given birth at home, and she didn't think that was 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:28.679 me because we hadn't called her, because she would have 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.920 been like flapping around and made things twenty times worse. 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.920 And I'm sat up in bed with a dress, my 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.560 boots on covered in blood. Doctor's immacurate. My husband's got 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.400 blood all over him, Like what has been going on here? 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:42.079 Anyway? 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.240 That was the birth of Nicholas, and he was an 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.360 interesting child. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep, he was difficult. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.640 But obviously I was so happy and over the moon 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:52.440 to have a child again. It was the only thing 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:56.160 that would help me. And he wouldn't eat very much, 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.679 so I was very vulnerable having lost a child, thinking 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.280 that I I really want this child to eat. So 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:03.800 I started out making recipes for him. And I was 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.040 writning a big playgroup at the time with mothers and 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.080 children about eighty months and babies came to it and 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.440 I was testing out all the recipes on them and 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.800 they said, Wow, these receipees are amazing. And after about 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:15.400 three months they said to me, you know what, you 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.520 should write a book about feeding children because these recipes 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.679 really work. And I thought, I can't even type if 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.280 I'm going to write a book. But then I thought, 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:26.880 you know, this is a great way to kind of 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.120 you want to make some sense of like why this 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.640 child was born, why this child died, and give something back. 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.360 And I just thought, for me, it's a therapy and 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.400 for me to give something back and help other children 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.480 is what I want to do. And I spent two 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.440 and a half years researching child and nutrition, came up 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.400 with my first book, sent it to fifteen publishers, and 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.840 every single one of them either did not answer. 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:49.360 Or turned me down. 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.040 No, they did, and everybody thought every single book on 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.080 feeding babies had never sold well. It was such an 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.559 uncommercial subject to write a book on. It could not 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.720 have been a worse subject. I eventually found a book packager, 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.640 and that meant that my royalties were terrible. But it 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.320 got published and it's sold five million copies. 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:09.000 That book. 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.599 It was eventually published by a random house, being a 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.520 random House and Simon Shuster in America. And I guess, 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:17.920 so that book hadn't done well, that wud been the 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.600 end of my career as a writer. But I've now 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.240 written fifty one books. I mean, who's counting, but a 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:23.880 lot of books. 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:25.920 I am, that's a lot of books. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.320 And what I've done now is actually developed an app 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.600 which is amazing because it has thirteen hundred recipes on 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.920 it and it takes you through every single stage of 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:41.040 your baby's development, from the very first foods to finger foods, 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.120 to fussy eating, to how to cope with allergies. And 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.040 that is an incredible resource for parents and it's been 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.160 very popular and we've been developing that and that's become 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.320 what I call my fifth child, my app which I love, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.640 and now I have. Yeah, I have three healthy children, 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.680 my son who's married, my daughter who just got married, 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:02.680 and another dog is getting married in two months time. 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:05.120 So hopefully there will be babies next year. 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:06.079 Oh my gosh. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.480 I want very much, obviously, because up until then, I've 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.600 had dogs, and every time I don't have a grandchild, 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.640 I get another puppy. So I'm counting now six dogs 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:14.960 at home. 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.800 I can't believe it's since the post where I saw five, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:18.880 there's been another one at it. 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.880 Well, I've bred my dog. I saw they were pennies. 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.480 My dog out to a friend's dog and they had 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:27.439 four puppies and I kept three of them, and it 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.480 already had two dogs. And there's her the three puppies. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:31.800 So there's six dogs in my house. 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:33.720 Oh my gosh. I mean you love to keep busy. 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.120 I love how these eighty five projects going on at once. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.640 Don't cook book, of course, I did How to Feed 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:42.240 Your Dog, And for the first time I let my 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.079 dogs eat while I was cooking, which they could not 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:47.040 understand because normally I say you can't have that. And 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:48.880 it's funny because to do the pictures, they used to 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:50.719 put peanut butter on their nose. They would lick their 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.439 lips and it would look like they're really enjoying it. 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.720 Mind you, they are pretty indiscriminate eaters, And when I'm cooking, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.880 I have these like at least four dogs drooling that 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:01.959 hoping that I'm going to like drop something on the 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:03.240 kitchen floor that they can eat. 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:09.040 Goodness. I mean, I thought you were extraordinary. I thought 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.559 you were an extraordinary gift to society and parents everywhere 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.880 before that story, but hearing the background of where someone 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.320 came from adds just so much depth, I think to 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.360 your appreciation of everything they've achieved. 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.680 I think why you do something is so important because 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.840 you know, as you know, business is not easy, and 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.760 however successful you are, there's so many pitfalls. And because 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.320 at the end of the day, I did it all 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:35.000 for Natasha. It just drives me through anything that's bad 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.280 because I know that what I'm doing is giving back 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.960 and helping parents to give their child a healthy diet 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:41.960 the will last and the rest of their life. Because 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:43.640 children make up their minds by the age of five, 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.040 what they're going to eat basically, and one in three 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.040 of us will die from a doubt related disease. So 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.040 what you give your children now? I always say like 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.560 it's giving them a longer life and a better quality life. Oh, 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:56.760 I mean it is so important. I say, what you 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:58.679 eat today which terms your future tomorrow? 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:03.600 Which it does. That's scary. But also well, my children 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:04.200 love salad. 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.440 I make this amazing salad dressings, and they hated their 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.920 school food and they took bottles of this like Japanese 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.320 style dressing school with them, poured it over their food, 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:14.920 and that anything they would eat with that dressing, and 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.640 then all the other children wanted to have it at 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.120 school as well. I was making It was like a 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.280 factory at my house making this salad dressing. Which is 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.000 they still love it now, Oh my goodness. So not 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.520 biscuits or cakes, but salads. 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.880 I have personally found it surprising that toddler feeding and 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.080 nutrition has been one of the most difficult parts of 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.640 this parenthood. And I wasn't expecting that. You think it's 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.320 going to be behavioral or sleep or whatever, and of 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.240 course sleep is difficult, but you think they'll want to eat. 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.520 They need to eat. For survival. You just don't think 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.280 it's going to be so difficult or that they'll be 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:43.960 so discerning. 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.400 It's genetic that they're fussy. It's actually nothing to do 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:49.200 with you. You can have two children, one who eats 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.320 well when he doesn't eat well in the same family. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.240 That's not to say you can't do anything about it, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.040 but you are born that way. It's not your cooking. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:02.240 Oh well, I'm very but I mean already in our household, 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.600 you've been just such an incredible You've empowered us so 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:11.800 much to minimize the trauma of meal time and to 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:13.080 be able to I mean the way that you have 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:18.200 recipes that hide veggies, like you're targeting every parent's problem 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.880 area and making it easier and removing obstacles. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:22.840 When I read my book, every said babies really like 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:24.760 bland food. And I put that to the test because 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.800 I'm thinking, I don't like bland food. Why would they? 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.600 And you know what, they didn't. They like things with taste. 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:31.920 And we have like one of our most popular meals 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:33.720 here as a butter chicken, which is, you know, a 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:34.400 curry chicken. 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:35.080 But they love that. 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.120 And in a way, making meals like that are good 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.760 because you can't really add salt before one year, but 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.520 then garam masala and a bit of like curry paste, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.080 which is delicious. You don't need to have salt. So 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.360 it's a good way to get children to eat something tasty, 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:49.960 and they do like tasty food. So all of my 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.600 recipes can be eaten by the whole family. Really, yeah, well, 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:54.480 I don't have to cook separate meals. 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.119 We're also in that chapter where I mean, he absolutely 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.840 adores your bolonnaise, but he won't eat the full serving, 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:01.800 Like I'll warm the entire thing up, and so I 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:03.640 just finish it. Absolutely, it's delicious. 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.440 It's my hidden bolonnaise has got mushrooms, capsicum like, coushat like, 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:10.800 it's got so many different vegetables. Now we make that 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.040 embark at home. I absolutely love it. It is the 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:18.600 best bolonnaise ever. But it's like vegetables. It's fantastic. Yeah, 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:20.560 but they're all blended, and what. 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:22.160 You can't see you can't pick out. It's great. 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:22.520 I know. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.720 I love that. Half your technique is a hiding things 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.080 from the toddlers, which is amazing. But before we get 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.280 into the practical questions, of which I have many for you, 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:33.640 I do just want to highlight the fact that this 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.800 is a show about joy and we don't often speak 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.800 about the interaction that has with grief, and the fact 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:44.480 that tragedy and grief can be worked through and you 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:48.400 can find moments of joy and obviously an incredibly purposeful 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.000 journey that helps so many others. And now it's easy 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.160 for you, easy one. Not easy, but I mean now 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.160 you can speak about it in hindsight. But I'm sure 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.040 at the very beginning, before you knew that the book 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.240 will be successful, before you were a multi million best 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.760 selling author, it was very hard. 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:06.520 You were taking break. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:08.240 I can't even explain what it felt like. Was it 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:09.919 felt like something pressing on your head, It was a 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.760 physical I don't know. It was just hard to function 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.280 at all, and you just imagine you'll never have children again, 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.000 or whatever happened to Natasha would happen to another child. 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.480 And it's a very bleak, dark period and it was 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.760 really really hard, and I just felt They offered me 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:27.880 counseling and I said, no, I just want to hold 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:29.520 a baby in my arms. I knew that that was 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.000 the only thing that would help me. Know amount of 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.879 counseling would help, and more parents than you imagine have 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.520 lost children or had a miscarriage, which is also incredibly 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:40.880 emotionally upsetting. And I think you either drown in it 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.800 or you think I'm going to do something to mark 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:49.000 the fact that I had this child and make something 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.560 happen from her short life. And I think that she 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:56.000 will have helped many children to have better quality lies, 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.879 because without Natasha, without what had happened to me, I 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.160