I’ve heard of this new trend when it comes to feeding your children about not giving dessert all the power.
Yes, different ways to feed your children is a trendy subject now. My grandmother is probably rolling in her grave.
Several nutrition blogs I follow suggest giving your children dessert at the same time as dinner, like throwing a cookie beside their broccoli. The idea is that children won’t be obsessed with sugar and will think of food equally.
It seems like a good idea in theory— but so does communism. I feel like it wasn’t so long ago that nutritionists were telling us that sugar was killing our children and now we are supposed to give them sweets before they eat their veggies? I can’t keep up.
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I have a couple of problems with this new movement. First off, it would never work with my children. They’d eat the cookie first and then not eat anything else and dinner would be over.
Secondly, I want my children to know that vegetables are healthy and they should fill up on them first. I want to teach them about food, what is full of vitamins and protein and will help them grow up to be healthy.
Thirdly, I think treats should be treats. There is nothing wrong with having a cookie every now and then. I want a trip to go out to the ice cream stand on a hot day to be special.
I think in general, this generation of new parents overthinks everything. My mom gave us supper and we either ate it or didn’t. I don’t think my mom ever felt guiltily sending us to bed hungry if she offered us a nice dinner and we refused.
I’m not judging parents who choose to feed their children this way and aren’t giving dessert all the power. Do what you’ve got to do. Every family is different. But don’t feel guilty if you choose not to, or you don’t want to follow the latest nutritional craze, or if you can’t afford organic vegetables or you don’t have time to make a gourmet meal every night.
Let’s go back to simpler times and just feed our children balanced healthy meals when we can and not worry if one night a week our kids have cereal for dinner.
The internet is a great place to find meal ideas when you are in a recipe rut, but don’t get stuck thinking you are feeding your kids wrong.
Plus, who knows what new fad will be popping up next.
@MariscaDekkema
marisca.bakker@interior-news.com
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