I find the less we limit sugar, the less appealing it is to kids. I feel like every Halloween I see posts about different ways to limit candy or throw away candy or slowly distribute the candy but so far we’ve just put it out in a bowl and let the kids take it if they want it and after about 2-3 days they become completely blind to it and forget it even exists. This seems to happen with most things! That being said my 2yo won’t stop asking for a bowl of sprinkles instead of eating a meal so what do I know.
YES!! Every holiday I dig out the previous bag(s) of candy from the cabinet that they didn't want (and weren't exciting enough for the adults) and toss them out. Let the kids have their fill until they forget about it. Rinse, repeat!
I've found that sugar can pull double duty, especially as a sometimes treat that is conveniently not in the house all the time. Popsicles make being sick less of a bummer, a brownie has paused a meltdown AND gotten a kid into the car for a non-preferred outing... Idk, I like the way that an enjoyable food experience can make the standard parts of life less irritating. That probably makes me a bribery parent, though I try to not make the casual relationship known (more "here's a brownie. Let's get in the car." And less "the brownie is contingent on your cooperation."). Ymmv for sure, but these days I err on your side, thinking that some good for the soul sugar memories can hopefully blunt the appeal of the least nutrient-dense forms of sugar when kids inevitably taste them at someone's house. Solid spongebob-based wisdom here!
My father was a type 2 diabetic and my mom was more determined than she’s been about anything else in her life to pass down her eating disorder — so ours was a household petrified of carbs, fat, or really even joy more generally.
Wouldn’t you know it — genetics, the number done on my metabolism from an adolescence and early adulthood of disordered eating, getting COVID, whatever it was in the end — I am now type 2. But ironically, managing my own diabetes has paradoxically started healing my relationship to sugar and to food more generally. Eating “to my meter” (continuous glucose monitor) has released me from so much terror and value judgments around food. Now I just know how to plan accordingly if it’s a day deserving of a Sweet Treat.
Not to say I may not find that well of terror hiding within myself in a few weeks when, hopefully, my kid is born safe and healthy after a pregnancy filled with the mental fatigue of managing diabetes despite the placenta’s best efforts, but. I’d like to think I’ll chart a different path complete with Duncan Hines box mix on the birthdays.
When I was a toddler, we had a music truck that came through our neighborhood in the evenings. But it wasn't too long before I came home from a friend's house excited to tell my parents that the music truck sold ice cream!
Last summer at our family reunion, my cousin was telling us about how his wife is very strict with their one-year-old's diet and doesn't give him anything with sugar or salt. Later he looked over at the high chair to see his baby clutching a cookie, with a big smile and chocolate all over his face. "Hey, who gave you that?" We all turned to see my two-year-old standing on a nearby chair, with a cookie and a smile of his own. I guess he took pity on his poor deprived cousin!
In theory, I believe in moderation. In practice I am way too far on the permissive end of things when it comes to sugar and other unhealthy treats. I'll be at the homeschool meetup listening to the other moms discuss their aspirations to cook even healthier homemade meals than the ones they already make and then my kids come ask for food and I'm doling out nutella sandwiches or hot dogs topped with chocolate chips.
We have an amazing bakery in our little German village. When we have time to kill, I’ll sometimes take my two daughters there and we’ll all share some nice German pastries. As far as sugary treats go, these seem like the best case scenario—at least without requiring me to bust out the baking supplies.
I’m not a professional nutritionist and speaking on a purely personal anecdote of N=1 but I remember my palate gradually changed as I grew older wrt sugar and sweetness.
I almost always liked black tea growing up but I used to put 3 cubes of sugar in it but after I was like 10, my palate gradually adjusted and ended up being just fine with the sweetness of milk.
I am pretty sure not everyone follows this path but a lot of ppl do at the same time - so hopefully many parents are not too neurotic wrt sugar consumption of young age kids?
(As a side note, I still feel like it’s hard to find “appropriately sweet” stuffs in the grocery store in US… I still find most of grocery store cake sickeningly sweet even if I still like overall sweet stuffs. I think this is another reason your suggestion of making cake together sounds great!)
My 6yos love to ask if they can go on a "coffee date" with me. This consists of a run to Starbucks where we sit at one of the cafe tables for a few minutes and they eat their cake pop (maybe with a lemonade or hot chocolate if we're feeling fancy) while we talk one-on-one and I sip my coffee until they're ready to go home. It takes all of 20 minutes, 10 of which I'd have spent to go to the drive-thru anyway if we're being honest. And reminding them at bedtime that we can go on a coffee date soon seems to help when they just want a little more time with Mommy instead of going to bed. It's one of my favorite little rituals with them, which we try to do once a month or so. Tomorrow I get to take my smaller twin for a coffee date after his ENT appointment and not gonna lie, I'm kinda excited.
I find the less we limit sugar, the less appealing it is to kids. I feel like every Halloween I see posts about different ways to limit candy or throw away candy or slowly distribute the candy but so far we’ve just put it out in a bowl and let the kids take it if they want it and after about 2-3 days they become completely blind to it and forget it even exists. This seems to happen with most things! That being said my 2yo won’t stop asking for a bowl of sprinkles instead of eating a meal so what do I know.
Yes! My older kid lost interest in it after a week
YES!! Every holiday I dig out the previous bag(s) of candy from the cabinet that they didn't want (and weren't exciting enough for the adults) and toss them out. Let the kids have their fill until they forget about it. Rinse, repeat!
I've found that sugar can pull double duty, especially as a sometimes treat that is conveniently not in the house all the time. Popsicles make being sick less of a bummer, a brownie has paused a meltdown AND gotten a kid into the car for a non-preferred outing... Idk, I like the way that an enjoyable food experience can make the standard parts of life less irritating. That probably makes me a bribery parent, though I try to not make the casual relationship known (more "here's a brownie. Let's get in the car." And less "the brownie is contingent on your cooperation."). Ymmv for sure, but these days I err on your side, thinking that some good for the soul sugar memories can hopefully blunt the appeal of the least nutrient-dense forms of sugar when kids inevitably taste them at someone's house. Solid spongebob-based wisdom here!
My father was a type 2 diabetic and my mom was more determined than she’s been about anything else in her life to pass down her eating disorder — so ours was a household petrified of carbs, fat, or really even joy more generally.
Wouldn’t you know it — genetics, the number done on my metabolism from an adolescence and early adulthood of disordered eating, getting COVID, whatever it was in the end — I am now type 2. But ironically, managing my own diabetes has paradoxically started healing my relationship to sugar and to food more generally. Eating “to my meter” (continuous glucose monitor) has released me from so much terror and value judgments around food. Now I just know how to plan accordingly if it’s a day deserving of a Sweet Treat.
Not to say I may not find that well of terror hiding within myself in a few weeks when, hopefully, my kid is born safe and healthy after a pregnancy filled with the mental fatigue of managing diabetes despite the placenta’s best efforts, but. I’d like to think I’ll chart a different path complete with Duncan Hines box mix on the birthdays.
When I was a toddler, we had a music truck that came through our neighborhood in the evenings. But it wasn't too long before I came home from a friend's house excited to tell my parents that the music truck sold ice cream!
Last summer at our family reunion, my cousin was telling us about how his wife is very strict with their one-year-old's diet and doesn't give him anything with sugar or salt. Later he looked over at the high chair to see his baby clutching a cookie, with a big smile and chocolate all over his face. "Hey, who gave you that?" We all turned to see my two-year-old standing on a nearby chair, with a cookie and a smile of his own. I guess he took pity on his poor deprived cousin!
In theory, I believe in moderation. In practice I am way too far on the permissive end of things when it comes to sugar and other unhealthy treats. I'll be at the homeschool meetup listening to the other moms discuss their aspirations to cook even healthier homemade meals than the ones they already make and then my kids come ask for food and I'm doling out nutella sandwiches or hot dogs topped with chocolate chips.
Great guest post!
We have an amazing bakery in our little German village. When we have time to kill, I’ll sometimes take my two daughters there and we’ll all share some nice German pastries. As far as sugary treats go, these seem like the best case scenario—at least without requiring me to bust out the baking supplies.
Great post!
I’m not a professional nutritionist and speaking on a purely personal anecdote of N=1 but I remember my palate gradually changed as I grew older wrt sugar and sweetness.
I almost always liked black tea growing up but I used to put 3 cubes of sugar in it but after I was like 10, my palate gradually adjusted and ended up being just fine with the sweetness of milk.
I am pretty sure not everyone follows this path but a lot of ppl do at the same time - so hopefully many parents are not too neurotic wrt sugar consumption of young age kids?
(As a side note, I still feel like it’s hard to find “appropriately sweet” stuffs in the grocery store in US… I still find most of grocery store cake sickeningly sweet even if I still like overall sweet stuffs. I think this is another reason your suggestion of making cake together sounds great!)
My 6yos love to ask if they can go on a "coffee date" with me. This consists of a run to Starbucks where we sit at one of the cafe tables for a few minutes and they eat their cake pop (maybe with a lemonade or hot chocolate if we're feeling fancy) while we talk one-on-one and I sip my coffee until they're ready to go home. It takes all of 20 minutes, 10 of which I'd have spent to go to the drive-thru anyway if we're being honest. And reminding them at bedtime that we can go on a coffee date soon seems to help when they just want a little more time with Mommy instead of going to bed. It's one of my favorite little rituals with them, which we try to do once a month or so. Tomorrow I get to take my smaller twin for a coffee date after his ENT appointment and not gonna lie, I'm kinda excited.