a peek inside the fishbowl

This past week we said no to junk food. This wasn’t an “official” tip from the Know More Do More tip jar, I chose to do this on my own. And I am so glad we did! Ditching junk food for a week allowed us to take stock of what we’re eating and get an honest perspective on (a) where the junk food comes from and (b) how we end up eating it. :)

As I mentioned at the end of last week’s post, I asked one of the girls to help make a list of the junk foods we were going to banish for the week. Then we stuck it on the fridge.

I thought this would be dead simple, but we did have a few hurdles to overcome.

• I had just made a batch of jello popsicles and they were just waiting for us in the freezer. This isn’t something they get to eat every day, but I did get some complaints. So I made fruit and yogurt smoothies and DIY lemonade for cool substitutes on warm days.
• We had just been to the Candy Store and there were a couple baggies of our favourite candies sitting right on the counter. I had to put everything away because if it’s out in the open it’s top of mind. And likely to be eaten.
• We still have Easter chocolate, can you believe it? The Easter bunny left a little too much sweet stuff and we’ve all gotten in the bad habit of grazing the candy bowl. Ugh. Had to put that away too.
• I didn’t know this at the beginning of the week, but both girls had a junk-food related fundraising events at their schools. Gah! One girl had two opportunities to buy popsicles on two separate days (money from sales going to cancer) and the other had a popcorn fundraiser. Popcorn wasn’t on our list of junk food, but this was caramel corn and thus had to be reclassified. That being said, I was incredibly proud of the girls. The popsicles were refused (although I wish the money had been given in lieu) and the popcorn was carried home to be eaten another day. To summarize: Both girls had to face a class full of kids eating popcorn and popsicles and they said no. (YAY.)

Anyway, we did it. Although I have to admit that Friday night was a stretch. We went out to a restaurant for pizza. Both girls had a glass of chocolate milk. We ate and drank with pleasure BUT when the server brought the bill on a little tray with eight hard candies I swept them into my purse. Cue the chorus.

“OH MOM.”
“What?”
“The candies are so small!”
“I know, but we’re not eating candy this week. Remember our list?”

There was grumbling, sure, but they had to admit, there was a list. There was no arguing with that.

Anyway, we found some good things to substitute as fun snacks this week; fruit, nuts, crackers and cheese (the girls LOVE cheese curds), and buttered hot air popcorn.

At this point I have to ask you a question. Do you ever wonder if you are overfeeding your kids? When the girls were small I found it hard to know how much food to serve our girls. I worried about feeding them too much, or not enough. It’s tough! How should we feed small humans who are growing every day?

I’ve written about my issues with snacks before, but when Emma was five I learned the best lesson about snacks EVER. And I wanted to share it with you.

Emma was attending a local co-op preschool. Each month I had to come in and help in the classroom (all the parents take turns doing this) and provide a mid-morning snack for the group on that day. We were given a list of suggestions of what to bring. No problem.

The teacher, a 25-year a veteran of the preschool scene, told us how much each child was to be served. I tell ya. It wasn’t much: one small glass of apple juice, two crackers (I don’t know what they’re called – the square ones that come in sleeves), one slice of fruit, one slice of (real) cheese. AND THAT WAS IT.

At first I scoffed. How could this be enough food? But you know what, it was fine. Kids could have more fruit if they wanted, maybe an extra cracker, but they usually didn’t. I had been looking at this snack thing all wrong. The midmorning snack isn’t supposed to be a meal, it’s a pit stop on the road to lunch. And if you overfill little tummies you run the risk of the kids not eating their meal. And we want them to eat their meals. The same idea applies for the after school snack. If you give your kid a granola bar at 4:30, don’t be surprised when they won’t eat their dinner an hour later. Our kids are not in danger of starving.

The Pre-school Snack Incident has remained in the back of my head ever since.

If my kids are truly whiny and hungry right before dinner I’ll put a bowl of raw carrots or red peppers on the dining room table for them to munch on while they’re cleaning up and setting the table. (Since the veggies were going to be part of their dinner anyway, no harm there, right?)

Phew. I feel like I have exhausted this topic for today. If you’ve got anything to add on the topic of kids, snack and junk food I would love to hear it. :)

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Hello DNTO listeners:

• You can read about The Trust Experiment here. You already know how it ended, but I recommend checking out the comments to get an idea of how the project progressed and to see some of the great discussion (and many questions!) this project generated.

To my friends and Fishbowl readers:

• Chatting with Sook Yin Lee about this project was a real thrill! If you missed today’s show you can listen to the podcast over here once it’s posted. ETA: The “enhanced highlights” version of the show is already on iTunes. Look for “Who do you trust,” released May 1, 2010.

Piper is just over four months old now. I’ll tell ya, it’s been one huge déjà vu. Having a puppy is exactly like having a toddler in the house again. They both:

1. 1 … demand your attention.
2. 2 … eat and poop a lot (the where and when of which can be quite unpredictable at first).
3. 3 … are cute.
4. 4 … inspire conversations from random strangers. Ownership is an open invitation for unsolicited advice and feedback, whether it is welcome or not. It can be a whole new world of judgement on your parenting skills! e.g. Collar v. harness? Pacifier v. thumbsucking? Co-sleeping.
5. 5 … are very fun to shop for. Snacks! Gender-specific fashions! Tiny beds! Squeaky rubber toys!
6. 6 … have toys which have the potential to take over the living room.
7. 7 … look adorable in sweaters.
8. 8 … are unlawfully photogenic and make your heart melt.
9. 9 … don’t need expensive things to keep them amused. Ice cubes, toilet paper tubes, cardboard boxes provide hours of entertainment.
10. 10 … have small teeth that fall out.
11. 11 … chew things. And many times they are chewing Those Very Things You Don’t Want Them To Be Chewing.
12. 12 … slobber.
13. 13 … sometimes need to be put behind “bars” for their safety while you make dinner.
14. 14 … won’t let you brush them if they don’t want to be brushed.
15. 15 … give you a nip every once in awhile.
16. 16 … test their boundaries.
17. 17 … misbehave.
18. 18 … need to learn how to play with nicely others (otherwise you’ll be breaking up fights at the park forever).
19. 19 … need to nap.
20. 20 … need to learn to communicate. And a major part of our communication with them has to do with cajoling or consoling: “Don’t do that.” “Eat your dinner.” “Give that to me.” “Come here.” “Did that big dog scare you?”
21. 21 … may be afraid of the vacuum cleaner.
22. 22 … won’t take their medicine (the taste of which needs always needs to be disguised as something else i.e. bacon or bubblegum flavour).
23. 23 … have selective hearing. Take, for example, the word “cookie” and the response that comes with it when you’ve whispered it to your spouse in the basement.
24. 24 … need to be housebroken. (“Housebreaking” and “potty training” are essentially the same thing, aren’t they?”)
25. 25 … can be very vocal, whether it fits the situation or not.
26. 26 … love their parents and look to them for guidance.

(Got any to add?)