Now, I said "for the most part" b/c, lately, this summary of our outings doesn't apply to food shopping. Though there are still no tantrums (thankfully, she seems to have been born without that particular gene), these trips are much more tiring and punctuated with a lot of "nos" countered by "but whys" and "pleases". Sometimes, the awful "you're so mean to mes" get in there, too, along with "but __________'s (insert name of choice) mama buys that".
Today, a 40 minute tour through the produce and grocery section of Wal-Mart looking to replenish our school lunch stores, I said no to: lunchables (multiple times), rice krispie treats with rainbow confetti, gatorade, bottled "smoothies", twisty 4 colour popsicles and a whole bevy of other sugary, processed, no nutrition, chemical laden things I can't actually recall, but know were asked for b/c my nerves haven't fully recovered from the sheer amount of negative responses I had to utter.
Now, reading that, you might get the idea that Malia gets nothing "good" and so is begging. Not so. She gets on a regular, albeit not daily, basis- cookies, ice cream, chocolate milk, lollipops etc etc. She gets to have her fast food "fix" (oh why are kids born with the Golden Arches tatooed on their baby psyches?) once every 10 days , or so, but she is insistent about these things that I won't bend on, and especially not for school lunches b/c she sees OTHER KIDS eating them- A LOT. She thinks she's missing something. She thinks their stuff is "cool".
Finally, no longer enjoying a single second of being with her due to the constant "can I have" litany, I stopped the cart and carefully explained what was good for the body and what was not and WHY. She immediately flashed to the Pediatric Dental Specialist's instructions regarding her diet, her teeth (Malia is on a waiting list to have dental surgery to cap/repair all 8 of her back molars, due in large part to poor nutirition in the womb) and said, "Like my teeth, Mama. This isn't good for my teeth, and won't help me grow strong". I said yes, to which she responded "You know a lot of stuff, don't you, Mama?" but that moment of stroked ego for me, was immediately dampened by her next questions, "Well, if all the food I want to have is bad for me, why do mes amis get it? Don't their mamas love them, too?"
Gees.
Yes, kiddo, their mamas love them, but maybe:
a) it's just easy to feed pre-packaged b/c it's convenient
b) they don't actually know how bad these foods are for their kidlettes
c) it's what they were raised on
d) they buy into the advertisements that fool us into thinking we're doing righ by our kids (**aside: I mean, Hello! Have you seen the newest Pop Tarts commercial??? OY!!)
e) it's cheaper than whole, or preservative-free food
f) all of the above
I didn't say any of that to Malia, I just said that yes, their mamas love them and that all mamas are different and basically, she was stuck with me. Thankfully, she replied, "Good, b/c I love you Mama. You're the best".
And, to prove their were no hard feelings, when we got home, she had every bit of her fish, brown rice and salad with a side (at her request) of raw veggies and organic ranch dip.
I gladly allowed it all to be washed down with some low-fat chocolate milk and water. When later she asked for a treat, she got a REAL ice cream (milk, eggs, sugar) bar.
As for the Lunchables- I gave in- well sort of- I cut rounds out of Nature's Way turkey breast, and sliced skim cheddar cheese into thin little squares. I added a baggy of cucumber slices and some whole wheat Ritz crackers. She could now "build" her food, but with a lot less sodium, no chemical enhancements and some whole grain and whole foods in there. I showed her before packing it all up (along with veggies and dip and a Bear Paw for the 2 snacks they eat) and she was uber excited, so win-win.
Now, if I can only get the lunch monitors at school to quit rushing her through her meal, I'll be truly happy with this having to feed the kid, thing :)
4 comments:
Good for you, Mama! I have the same conversations with my boys. They are certainly not deprived for 'treats' and get planty of homemade rice krispie treats and the occasional McD's, but I refuse to buy those darn lunchables. The sodium content is crazy, they are so expensive-you can buy a whole box of crackers, slab of cheese and lunch meat and have lunches for a week for the cost of about 2 of them! It amazes me the garbage some of the parents of my K students send for lunch. Pop, chips, sugary junk. Those things are ok onan 'every now and then' basis, but I never send that stuff to school with my kids. They get something from every food group, and I try to avoid heavily coloured, sugary fruit snacks.
Good for you for the way you handled it!!!!
i hate the lunchables. I get requested everytime he's in the store with me. Finally I just told him that I was never, ever, ever going to buy them because they are the biggest waste of money ever.
seriously. who actually buys them?
Thanks, Claire.
And, Diane, you'd be surprised! I see people loading their carts with Lunchables, individual kraft dinners, and all manner of "convenience foods". On the surface, they seem healthy- but oh the money, too!
OMG, that Pop-Tarts commercial kills me too! If I didn't think pop-tarts were the most disgusting food on the planet I would maybe be swayed by the dream world of that commercial! Yowsa!
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