Taking Candy from a Toddler
Nothing's cuter than cake all over a kid's face.
Though it seems impossible during the holiday season, I’ve heard of parents who don’t allow their kids to have any sugar. I’m not talking about kids who are diabetic or have an allergy or something like that. I’m talking about when a parent forbids it. Which sounds pretty respectable in theory, but I can’t figure out how it plays out in real life. When their kid is at a birthday or holiday party, do the parents sneak the kid out the back just before the cake or cookies are served?
Pretty much every time I take Laszlo to a birthday party, someone asks me if it’s okay if they serve him a piece of cake. Um, yeah. Why do you think we’re here? We brought you a present. So really, the least you can do is give us a piece of cake. Few things are sadder than a kid at a party who can’t have dessert. Though it sounds like a good way to get back at your kid for something. “Hey, Laszlo’s being a jerk today. How about we take him to a birthday party and make him watch other kids eat cake?” Or, denying your child sugar while the other kids chow down is also a pretty good way to get your kid to hate you, if that’s what you’re going for.
Maybe the fear is that as soon as a kid tastes the sweet sweetness of sweets, they’ll start snorting the floor, scrounging for fallen bits of of sugar like a crack head who’s stash ran out. But creating a forbidden mystery around sugar sounds almost as dangerous as serving your kids a daily chunk of rock candy: Everybody knows that the one of the best ways to get a kid to do something, is to tell them not to do it.
With a smattering of alcoholics in my extended family, I was served so many dire warnings about the dangers of alcohol my whole life, that by the time I went to my first party with beer, I drank it until I puked. This was the stuff my parents had warned me was so awesome that I should never touch it, so of course I was going to drink as much of it as I possibly could, once I finally got my hands on the stuff.
As a parent of a child with a food allergy, I can’t imagine choosing to restrict his diet much more than is already necessary. If my son comes across some (nut-free) cookies or cakes at a party or a play date now and then, I don’t see what the big deal is.
Assuming the sugar doesn’t create some kind of illness in the child, what’s the harm once in a while? We seem to be living in an era of extreme parenting rules: Babies who only wear cloth diapers. Kids who only eat organic foods. Kids who never watch TV. Part of it seems like an identity issue. People like to be seen as a certain type of person, whether it’s “environmentally conscious,” “healthy” or “smart.”
Maybe it’s crazy, but I guess I’m into moderation. If you’re into using cloth diapers, I’m sure Mother Earth will give you a pass if you take disposables on a trip. Your kid won’t get cancer or develop breasts early if you sometimes serve them conventionally grown food. And studies have shown that TV isn’t as bad for kids as we thought (unless it’s “Sponge Bob,” I think? Okay, my facts on this one aren’t that clear.) I’m sure you’re a good mom even if you break your own rules once in a while, assuming you’re a mom who tries to have some well-intentioned rules in the first place. Nobody wants their kid to be a sugar junkie, but totally forbidding it is probably just going to make that possibility higher.
We always have sugar in the house. Goodies are a common thing in our family. My three kids are of healthy to thin weights. They love fruit and veggies. I have seen, on many occasions, my kids turn down the sweets, or only eat some, so they can have healthy options. I feel that is doesn’t become something to gorge on if you know you will get it again. So far so good, and my oldest is 14.
I couldn’t have said it any better….everything in moderation…or balance, as I like to say. I have a friend, now a Mamma herself, that was deprived sugar as a child…because of this, one day in the mall she was face down on the floor, sucking a piece of gum off the ground…
I gave my kids sugary treats. My youngest is 7 and she knows the candy can wait till after she has had “healthy” food but she really doesn’t eat a lot of candy in general. her 7 yr old friend isnt allowed a lot of sweets and she comes here and attacks my M&M dispenser like a fiend! I have to hide the stuff when she comes.
we still have a large bowl of Halloween candy sitting on the table for anyone to grab… I will end up donating it to the sugar junkies at work to make room for the Christmas candy that will sit until Easter =]
Not only could banning sugar from a childs diet cause the mental, or spychological aspects allredy mentioned, but I would think that, If a childs body isn’t allowed much sugar, when sugar finaly is introduced, their body will not be able to absorb it or handle it as well as a child who has regular small amounts of it. Then on Easter, Christmas or Halloween, when they get to have more than the every day amount, they won’t go bonkers on an insain suger rush.
Baby SiriusI love your! Come back for me! Because Chris? Please! ich wusste nicht?
Sirious: Ich habe dich gesucht! Und porque
Porque nadie me dio information de esto? Es solo una fantacia, no? Got es solo una fantacia! Ich wollte mit Ihn in new York spreschen und spielen, aber da war eine Frau mit Ihn ich glaube Sie war seine Mutter sehr Nervos?
Aber ich habe Sirious gesehen en New York aeropuerto! Ich creo es sola una trampa von dir No? Chris.ich spiele weiter!
Yo sigo esta fantacia como loca! Porque?
Es solo una fantacia!
I dont allow my kids sugar on a regular basis. They dont drink anything caffeinated unless we are out to eat and same goes for candies and sweets. We get ice cream a few times a month, and candies and cakes on special occasions. Im not crazy about not letting them have it. But my 3 year old acts like a raging lunatic the second he is handed candy; before it is even in his mouth! I tried not being uptight about it, and his behavior only gets worse.