Tag: sugar

Kira threw a major hissy fit yesterday.  Maybe it was the culminating pressure of being home sick for a week.  Or it could have been the stress of listening to me harp about the post-concussion care list over and over again.  Whatever it was, she snapped.  Here’s what happened:

I got an email from her teacher, requesting that I send a box of sugar cubes and a tub of frosting to school. The kids, she wrote, would be creating igloos to further their study of Alaska.  Kira was delighted as she watched me shove the construction materials into her backpack.

She danced and sang, “We build them. Then we eat them.”

“No,” laughed I.  “You will not be eating them.”

Note that in the above sentence I was using the royal, plural YOU, as in “there is no way the teacher is going to watch YOU–27 eight year-olds–devour handfuls of sugar dipped in frosting and then sit YOU down to a lesson in subtraction.”

This is what Kira heard: “The lucky children of your class will gleefully participate in the ancient Alaskan igloo-eating ritual, but not you my little pretty.  No, not you. Ha-ha-ha. You will be sitting in the corner with a basket of chard and a sign that reads: I am the class goober.  Life is totally unfair.”

Now clearly I have made my case for wanting the children to eat healthy foods.  But contrary to what Kira may want you to believe, I am not an organically-obsessed ogre intent on wringing every last ounce of joy from their childhood.  I follow every healthy vegetable-laden dinner with an equally healthy ice cream sundae (or cookie or slice of pie or leftover piece of Halloween candy.)  Balance, you see, is key.

A recent article in the NY Times floats the idea that an intent focus on teaching kids about healthy foods could send them over the dietary edge.  A kid obsessed with fat, they insinuate, is no different from a kid obsessed with pesticides or vitamins or omega 3 fatty acids.  A kid obsessed, they feel, is a kid in an unhealthy relationship with food.

Forget for a moment that I am on the record in support of obsessions.  Am I “driving (my) kids absolutely crazy,” as Katie Wilson, president of the School Nutrition Association would apparently claim?   Kira probably would concur, but I’m not 100% ready to toss in the tomatoes.  Still, in the interest of appearing open-minded, I’ll concede that she has a point worth considering.

So here is what I am going to do while I let these new thoughts-on-food germinate against my open mind…

I’ll simply feed the kids one sugar frosting igloo for breakfast, and another sugar frosting igloo for lunch.  Then, I’ll follow them up with a healthy, well-balanced dinner.  Moderation, after all, is key.

PS–Hey, today is my birthday. And here is my birthday song:

Happy Birthday to me
I don’t want broccoli
Or anything that’s healthy
Just some chocolate cake for me!