1
I'm reading a book that makes the case for not allowing your child to have sweets before they're two years old. (I haven't read the entire book yet, so don't consider this a wholehearted endorsement.) His claim is that your child learns their comfort foods before that age, and then they're rightfully suspicious of new foods after that - so if they're used to eating lots of healthy foods and green veggies at every meal, they won't be so crazy for processed sugary foods later on. He does note that our bodies are hardwired to like sweet foods, so it's not like they'll never eat them, but it's not like they'll refuse to eat anything but them.
We really like the concept of not giving Miriam any sweets before she's two... but is is really possible?
2
I asked my parents if they thought it was possible. My kind mother raised her eyebrows and said "Well, I think that would be challenging." My blunt father said "No. She's got to eat her grandma's chocolate chip cookies!"
And my father-in-law? Has recently taught his fiance's grandchildren to demand dessert after every meal. The four year old keeps asking for tiramisu.
Does anyone else get the feeling that the grandparents are going to be the hardest part of getting your kids to eat healthy?
3
Okay, I guess I could be part of the problem, too. I've got to curb my snacking. I recently was shoving my face with munching on some craisins when I glanced down to see Miriam staring at me and moving her mouth like she was chewing. Pressure is on, folks. She's watching!
4
Since I know it's not realistic to never have treats, I'm trying to figure out how to make healthy treats more appealing. I've decided those Sunsweet Ones are just the thing - individually wrapped prunes! It's like candy!
Okay, you might be rolling your eyes right now. But I've been buying them for a while, and it's starting to work on both my husband and me. He'll toss a few in his lunchbox, and when I'm trying to avoid temptation I'll pop one in. If we act like they're a yummy treat, surely she'll think they are, too. Right?
5
But I don't know that the trick-or-treaters will agree. I decided this year we should hand out a healthy snack. After all, if I'd like my daughter to receive something other than candy for Halloween, surely other parents would, too. So I announced to my husband that we would be distributing raisins for Halloween. And maybe we could get bouncy balls or some other cheap Oriental Trading junk that wasn't even edible. And he announced that we may as well just turn off our lights and not celebrate Halloween at all. Ahem.
So the candy basket at our house is now a compromise consisting of raisins, pretzals, Crunch bars and M&MS. What do you think we'll run out of first?
6
The other sweet I've been dreading? Birthday cake. I've worked so hard to make sure Miriam eats healthy foods for this first year, and the thought of suddenly giving her cake and (even worse) frosting just makes me cringe. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what to do. Do I make a cake with whole wheat pastry flour and cream cheese frosting? That would be a bit better, but let's be honest - whole wheat desserts are just not the same. Do I do that for an individual cake for her and make an unhealthy one for everyone else?
Finally I voiced my concerns to my husband, who had a great idea. Homemade ice cream sundaes! He'll make homemade vanilla ice cream - while it does have sugar, I feel much better knowing that the only other ingredients will be good quality milk and cream and vanilla. I'll make homemade chocolate sauce and brownies for the other guests to use with their sundaes. And we'll provide a variety of fruit for everyone to add. Giving Miriam a little ice cream topped with colorful bananas, strawberries, and blueberries will still seem festive, and it won't be quite so obvious that I'm turning into one of those crazy "my child can't eat that" mothers.
7
Confession: With all this talk of sweets, I just swiped a mini bag of M&Ms from the Halloween basket. It's naptime, so she doesn't have to know.
Okay, it was two bags.
My daughter is doomed.
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