There are so many drinks marketed to children that are made using artificial sweeteners, colourings and flavourings, or which are packed with high amounts of sugars. None of which are good for your little ones to consume in excess. Experts are constantly telling us about the dangers of high sugar consumption and we all know the horror stories associated with chemical sweeteners. Thankfully there are alternatives to these highly coloured, sweetened and flavoured drinks that kids will still enjoy drinking. One such drink is milk.
When I was a little girl, milk was still delivered in pint bottles from the milkman - two a day, but three at the weekend when mum would make a big rice pudding to eat after our Sunday roast. It was one of my jobs to go and fetch the milk from the front doorstep. You had to do it early or the neighbourhood blue-tits would come and peck through the silver tops to pinch the cream on top. The tell-tale little holes would let you know if you were too late. After the milk was finished and the bottles were empty, they would be rinsed and returned to the doorstep for collection - recycling at its best. Silver foil lids would also be washed and put into the arts and crafts box ready to be stuck onto a cardboard box to make a robot's eyes or the buttons on the control panel of a rocket ship.
A glass of cold milk is something that is just so quintessentially reminiscent of childhood. An after school drink of cold milk and a homemade jam bun would quench your thirst and fill you up until teatime, giving you the energy to play outside until mum called you in to wash your hands.
On a cold winter's evening a mug of warm frothy milk for supper was just the thing to tide you over until morning, aiding a peaceful night's sleep. I still remember my mum's frother - a long handled, metal disc with holes in that was plunged up and down into a tall pyrex beaker. The milk would froth up a treat under my mum's hand, making a foamy drink. A sprinkle of cinnamon on top made it seem very sophisticated.
As a child of the seventies, I remember the days when everyday at playtime we were given a small, foil topped, glass bottle of milk with a straw. Unfortunately for us, the crates were often left outside all morning, which on a cold day was not a problem. But in the summer, the heat would cause the milk to get warm and start to spoil. It really was the worst thing. Thankfully, the girl sat next to me seemed to quite like milk on the turn and she would happily drink it for me, meaning I could show my teacher my empty bottle and be allowed out to play. My eternal thanks goes to my pal Sonia! It wasn't long before the free school milk stopped, giving the nickname 'Thatcher Thatcher Milk Snatcher' to our infamous PM. To be honest, given the food safety standards in play during the seventies, she may have done us all a great favour (but I doubt my mate Sonia would have agreed with that).
Nowadays, much has changed, but one thing that remains the same is our national love of milk. The glass bottles that the milkmen delivered daily have been replaced by convenient family sized plastic bottles from the supermarket, which we pick up with our weekly grocery shop. Cravendale is the brand that I trust most, to provide my children with the freshest, purest milk available. Each glassful tastes as fresh and clean as the first.
Freddy had a fantastic few days last month when his cousins Addy and Dylan came to stay at our house. Keeping three little ones fed and watered is made considerably easier by having a couple of 2 litre bottles of Cravendale chilling in the fridge. When playing hard, little ones sometimes need refuelling. When they got hungry, a cold glass of milk and some cut up fruit or some quartered peanut butter sandwiches filled them up perfectly, providing them with a satisfying and nutritious snack. Seeing the three of them sat together, in the midst of a dressing up game, glugging down their milk made a lovely picture of childhood.
My nephew, 5 year old Dylan, is the biggest milk drinker ever. He can't get enough of the stuff and will happily gulp it down by the glassful, giving himself an impressive white milk moustache in the process. I was glad I had stocked up on Cravendale! A love of milk definitely runs in his family because his big sister's first word, and the word she repeated incessantly as a toddler, was 'Moo' - her word for milk. She was permanently attached to her black and white cow print sippy cup, shouting for her much loved moo and supping cup after cupful of the white stuff. It certainly must have given her a good start in life - as she is now at Oxford University training to be a doctor!
Cravendale is dubbed the 'Milk Drinker's Milk' because of its pure, fresh taste which is great for drinking. It is by far our favourite milk on the market, which I put down to the fact that it has been filtered giving it that all important long lasting freshness. It stays fresh for seven days in the fridge so thankfully there is no fear of Freddy;s milk ever tasting prematurely cheesy (unlike the school milk of my childhood!)
“This post is an entry for BritMums #MilkDrinkersMilk Linky Challenge, sponsored by Cravendale”
