Kids’ TV presenter, writer and first-time mum Muireann ní Chíobháin is learning that less is more when it comes to what babies really need, writes Ellie O’Byrne.
AS THE creator and presenter of kids’ cookery shows like RTÉjr’s Dig In Diner and TG4’s Bia Linn and Whiz Sa Chistin, Corkonian and gaelgeoir Muireann ní Chíobháin has years of experience with spreading farm-to-fork wisdom to children.
Muireann has recently collaborated with GIY (Grow It Yourself) founder Michael Kelly and illustrator Fatti Burke on the Know-it-Allmanac, a colourful month-by-month kid’s guide to growing and cooking your own seasonal, sustainable veggies.
The author and presenter, alongside her husband, Dublin City Centre GP John Maher, is ready to get stuck in passing a sustainable ethos onto her own first-born little boy, Tommaí, who is eight months old.
“When I collaborated with Michael on the book, I very much did the cookery and recipes side of it; he’s the grower. With the GIY movement, he’s also very much an activist. I’m a big believer in making any little changes you can make.
“I grew up between College Road in Cork City and the Dingle Peninsula, where my dad is from. My mother was always really into growing and we always grew herbs and salads. Then, we’d spend all summer in Dingle and I worked in Tigh Áine on the Blasket Islands, where they grew everything for their café in the garden.
"I learned to cook over the seven summers I worked there and really grew to respect the idea of seasonality: if strawberries aren’t in season, maybe you should be thinking about using something else. That’s definitely where I got my love of cooking and making up mad recipes.
“If you’re into food, eventually you come to the idea of seasonality anyway because you realise that the vegetables that come from far away are not as good as what you get locally.
“Even with all the kids’ shows, I don’t think I was really aware of how difficult it is for working parents to make sure their kids are eating well until I had Tommaí. The amount of work that goes into doing things like batch-cooking healthy food for them is amazing. I’m really committed to it, but I can see it’s going to be really difficult when I’m back in the swing of all my jobs again.
“Tommaí’s favourite foods are cauliflower and turnip; anything mashed up lovingly by your mother and spoon-fed to you must taste great, but he really loves cauliflower, I’ve no idea why. We did this approach with him where you give them all the strongest-tasting vegetables first, so now he thinks root vegetables are amazing.
He had spinach and he had broccoli and then eventually I started giving him carrot and he was like, what is this delicious sweet thing?! He loves his food, so weaning has been a real treat so far.
“I felt very guilty about the amount of plastic that comes into your world when you have a baby. We made a conscious decision from the beginning not to buy any new plastic if we possibly could.
“We threw it out to a few friends that we were trying not to buy first-generation plastics for Tommaí so all his toys are hand-me-downs that have been gifted from friends and relatives. When he grows out of them, we’ll clean them really well and pass them on to other people.
“I bought things on Done Deal too, and cleaned them myself; I think people have this real fixation that when you have your first baby, everything has to be new, everything has to be perfect, but then everyone’s going out and buying these heaps of new things.
“The amount of things that people tell you you’ll need to have when you’re having a baby that you actually don’t need at all is amazing. When you’re a new parent, People say, ‘You have to have a..’ and it’s always some gadget that’s really expensive and completely not recyclable. I really struggled with that.
“I’m breastfeeding, which really cuts down on waste in the first few months, but there’s a huge volume of plastic when it comes to the weaning process too: all the cups and bottles and spoons.
“I think I bought him three vests to put into the maternity bag and other than that, we’ve been really lucky. The fast fashion for babies is crazy; it’s all white cotton and when you think about how much processing goes into those tiny little clothes that eventually end up completely stained with God knows what, you really have to think to yourself, ‘is it worth buying brand new?’ I really don’t think so.
“I’m thinking of making the transition to reusable nappies at the moment. People say you’re mad, but I’m at the point where I feel like I was led by other people saying, ‘oh, you won’t have time, you’ll be a new mom.’ Now I’ve learned that babies are so explosive that everything goes in the wash anyway.
"We always have things steeping anyway. Reusable nappies have come a long way from the towelette and nappy pin that was around when we were young; they’re really advanced now. So I think if I was having another baby, I’d definitely want to give them a go.
“I feel really lucky because being self-employed, I’ve been able to work from home and have this time with Tommaí, which has been wonderful.
“We live in Dublin, but we’re actually going to be making a move down the country in the next few months to try and live the dream. Part of us longs to be part of a community, and as much as I’ve loved Dublin, I think we both really miss that village feeling of knowing the people who are around you.
"Having a baby made us long for that again. My husband is from Waterford, so we’re hoping to move to the South East. We’ll get somewhere where we can actually have a proper vegetable garden. I’d like to have some hens too.”
The amount of things that people tell you you’ll need to have when you’re having a baby that you actually don’t need at all is amazing.
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December 12, 2019 at 03:30AM
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