Rotting their brains, and their teeth....and a side note.

Yep. They're not feeling 100% and this morning both kids are getting an extra dose of Tom & Jerry, I love the wit and irony of old cartoons. They're also going to enjoy sugar free suckers this morning. It's my special mommy routine anytime we go to the doctors office. They leave with a sweet treat.

I laugh to myself when get eye rolling from other moms or a dropped jaw when handing over a sugar free sucker (they look no different then sugar suckers) to my toddler, and anyone who knows us will too... we aren't ones to let the TV be the babysitter, or allow alot of candies and treats. Dessert = sliced fresh fruit or a small cup of yogurt each night with dinner in our house. We're pretty obsessive about allowing treats on one weekend day for the kids - and weekend treats are usually a frozen yogurt 'ice cream' cup, or 100% fruit frozen pops, or sugar free candies. Hey, neither of the kids really care! They're getting a treat!! A big deal is going to Krispy Kreme for 1 donut each!

I've been told 'that's blackmail' or 'you'll spoil them', I've even been told 'you shouldn't reward them for a doctors visit, that's part of life'. Ok. So not only is that a matter of opinion, but do I worry that when my kids are grownups that they'll expect a sugar free sucker when they leave the doctors office? Not really! Even so, as a grown up, I feel like a small morsel of goodness after I've been poked an prodded at the doctors office. I would agree with 'spoiling' and 'blackmail' if it were "I'll give you a sucker if you say thank you", or "I'll give you a Hersey kiss if you kiss this photo of your dead grandfather" (that example is from this past weeks SuperNanny)

**side note about SuperNanny, let me be the first to say that 90% of the time I admire the ways that Jo offers parents to create structure and consistency, and have found some of her ideas useful in our home. For anyone who watched this episode... I agreed with most everything Jo suggested, and thoroughly enjoyed the 'can you believe this' look Jo throws the audience when the parents are doing something that didn't even seem to have common sense applied... however, I disagree with how Jo plays a role in a power struggle over food. I feel like with eating and drinking, since it's a basic need, it's imperative that we're allowed to feel control over our basic needs. Can you MAKE a kid become a member of the clean plate club? Sure. What's the point though? We used to fall into this trap, because to a degree that's how some of us were raised... but we now only require a 'no thank-you bite' on foods that our kids may not like or even be familiar with. Our result? We have a 9 year old who eats sushi, every veggie known to man, and orders Subs at Subway that are loaded with mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, etc! I feel it's partly because we've never made food an issue, and we've really never held him down to only the things we enjoy, we offer a variety to try. I'm sure there is a success rate with the 'I'm the boss and you'll eat that because I say so tactic'. I think Jo's approach will show results for now, but will it prove to cause binge eating or a closet junk food addict when the little girl is no longer under mom's watchful eye?? Maybe not, but I think it becomes a greater possibility when you cause food to be a source of power. As a mom, I'm in the mind set that it's an unfair approach to raise our kids like we need to prove to them we're the 'boss' of them. Isn't our long-term goal to give our kids the power to succeed, choose, and move forward in life? Doesn't it seem a bit backwards to strip them of it then? Children who feel powerless has led to obesity, depression, suicide, and mass school shootings.
Now, let me clarify, we're not the parents who throw caution to the wind, and say go play in the street because we know you'll make the right choice about when it's safe - that's far fetched, and giving our kids choices and power has it's boundaries, those boundaries revolve around our children's safety, that's where parenting and guidence step in. So, no - our kids don't jump on their beds freely, or play in the streets, or even use the stairs as a snow sled slide (Nanny 911 episode, don't get me started on that one!) but we do allow them to say their full when they eat.

Ok - done w/ that rant. Why do I watch reality TV???? I record these two shows, sometimes it's humbling to have that dose of reality that says your situation isn't unique, or even so bad after all!!