Toddlers and Treats

So, a couple years ago if you'd told me I'd morph into one of "those" moms I probably would have either laughed or been a twinge offended. Yet here I am...

It's a funny thing, giving treats to young children. I've always been frustrated by those parents who maintain on iron control over what their children eat. I mean, some pizza, a sucker, a little ice cream or popsicle is NOT going to hurt them! Soda is also ok, when introduced at an appropriate age and consumption limited. As I deal with Gavin though, I find that viewpoints I held as a non-parent I don't really go along with anymore.

My son will soon be 19 months old (a teething, sassy, defiant cutie pie). Over the last 19 months I've figured out that a child's obsession with sweets is a learned behavior, completely dependent on when and how much parents give their kids. I've seen pictures of babies clearly under 1 year old (8 or 9 months old maybe?) sucking on candy canes, lollipops...can we say "cavities" before the teeth even come in?? I was horrified.

I'm not trying to be hypocritical or anything, because I love sugar myself, but I just don't get it. There is NO nutritional value in candy or most sweets so why give it to them? Why introduce something early on which will only bring on earlier temper tantrums when you have to say "no." Also, I may be a little hyper-sensitive to this but obesity (which I firmly believe is a genetic trait) runs in my family. I'm that much more paranoid about establishing healthy eating habits now with Gavin so that hopefully he'll avoid all that.

Why do I bring this all up? It's been on my mind lately to bring dessert into the picture for Gavin. I mean, I LOVE dessert. There's a plate of brownies currently staring at me on the desk in front of me at work (I brought them in to share). Oh and ice cream....mmmm, ice cream. The problem is, I want to make sure Gavin still gets good nutrition at meals so I'm not cutting back on his portions really. So if I don't cut back on portions but still give him a treat that he's not demanding, I risk the all-dreaded blowout diaper (NOT a pretty sight or smell for you non-parents out there). My semi-solution this weekend was to bake a Gingerbread Apple Crisp. Fresh fruit with an oatmeal crumb topping made me feel good about just giving him this as part of his meal instead of as an extra at the end. Between Gavin and I though, the crisp is long since gone. ;)

I learned this morning though that my son loves candy, courtesy of day care. Last week at their Valentine's party he had a jelly bean and apparently wanted more (um, duh, who wouldn't??). It just makes me feel even more that I need to maybe not be so up-in-arms about sweets. Maybe give him a little brownie at lunch or do more crisps or cobblers to incorporate into breakfast or dinner.

It's such a crazy line to walk and I'm really trying not to step off on either side!

p.s. I've known this a long time but it's fun to be in the mom position instead of the child position this time: dried fruit can often taste like candy. Gavin gets super excited over raisins. Dried papaya and pineapple are also very candy-like dried fruits. Yay for sweet nutrition! ;)