Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sweet Tooth

Parenting will likely take up many posts. Having 3 kids means I have lots of opportunity to have opinions - both on my strategies & perhaps those of others.

Many years ago, when I was pre-kid, pre-husband, living life fancy & free, I worked in a retail store for an NHL team that is no longer in existence (although rumour suggests they are returning - we'll see).

We were in a mall and had a front store window facing the corridor. The window was separated into its own space by a row of lockers & we had a lovely lady come and "do the window" for us once a month.

It was likely this season we are currently in - I recall jelly beans & chocolate being part of our display. It was a delightful mixture of candy & hockey - I see the natural blend, don't you?

In comes a man quite suddenly one day, on the heals of his very young (maybe 4?) very husky (at least 20/30lbs+ over what a 4yo girl should be). She was focused & very determined to enter our display and eat those candies.


The other staff & I stood with eyebrows raised as this dad tried to calm his hysterical daughter who by then was screaming & fighting against his hold "BUT WHO IS GOING TO EAT THEM?????"

WOW!

I think the dad finally got her out of the store and I recall thinking of course MY child will NEVER be like that.

Fast forward 15 years.

I have a 3 year old daughter with an insane sweet tooth. Suddenly the table has turned & I am the parent who must be the bad guy, laying down the law for the sake of my daughter's health.

I have 2 boys who will sneak into the fridge for apples & pears. A veggie tray left on our table will be doomed without fail. Then I had a girl.

This girl will climb, will sneak, will lie, will steal all to get her sweet fix!!!

I am the mom with child locks on my UPPER cabinets.

I have found in her closet; yogurt, margarine, honey, brown sugar and then anytime a brother gets a goodie bag (which they tend to forget about the treats in lieu of any toy within), she will lay low, bide her time until they are at school. At this point, I'll find her under a bed or in a closet, a pile of wrappers around her.

I suddenly can sympathize with that father. My daughter is not overweight, but we definitely worry about this obsession that would quickly lead her to poor health choices. We offer her healthy food and an occasional treat and really hope that this is something that will pass.

How do you respond to your sweet toothed child?

2 comments:

  1. Is it the sweets? Or is it the mystery and the game around getting the sweets? I wonder...

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  2. I had a sweet tooth and my mom never had any in the house (we were healthy eaters) and I went NUTS at friends houses when I was given sweets. As soon as I moved out my first purchase was a bag of oreo cookies. I gained weight immediately and was happy to do so just to satisfy my desires for sweet things!!

    I am lucky in that all 3 of my kids like sweets but are not obsessive about them.

    But I would say to not limit her like my mom did with me... she will get them eventually and it took me YEARS to be willing to eat healthy after I left home because I hated it so much while living at home!

    Moderation is the key probably. Hope I don't screw my kids up too much lol.

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