Sunday, October 18, 2009

No, my kids don't want it!

Please leave me alone. Let me change that, I want this to be more direct and sound less like a request and more like a command... LEAVE ME ALONE!

To the bank teller: No, we don't want the suckers and really it would have been better had you not offered us the suckers because now my kids are going to be whining about not getting suckers for the next 10 minutes. Maybe you want to have them for those 10 minutes, but whatever you do don't give them the sucker because it is bad for them and we don't live like that.

To the Sunday School teacher: While it is great that my kids are memorizing scriptures, can we encourage them to do that with out bribing them with junk that makes them wild and unruly, contributes to obesity and makes them think that food is a reward for good behavior. Let's find a way to encourage our kids to be good because it's the right thing to do, not for sweets. We can even call it 'being Christ-like' because I don't think Christ was bribed for his behavior.

To The Home Depot: OK, popcorn is better than the pure junk they get elsewhere, but really I would like to choose what to feed my children. I would choose a low fat, low salt diet and your popcorn was none of the above. When I need your help making my kids sick, I'll ask.

To the random lady who gave my kid a piece of candy to calm him down: Thanks...I think. He cried even harder when I took the candy away from him. I would far prefer he cry than deal with the consequences of him eating the candy. You see his crying was short lived, but after the sugar and artificial junk in the candy he will be unruly for quite some time and it contributes to poor health for the rest of his life.

Unlike most people, I'm trying to raise healthy children. I want them to eat right and not be loaded up on junk food. I believe in moderation with junk food and in my opinion a moderate amount is only slightly different than NEVER. I want them to have a good relationship with food. That means that I don't want them to think of food as a reward or something they use to comfort themselves. Food is something that you eat in order to give you health. How about if you be the parents to your children and I'll be the parents to mine.

Thank you

(FYI, this stemmed from nothing anyone who reads this blog does, this was just a thought that seems to drift in sometimes.)