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Parenting
The Conversation Thread
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Parenting
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In my next life I plan on coming back as Suri Cruise. She has a killer wardrobe, attends amazing parties, and, if you judge by recent reports, is allowed to eat all the sweets she wants. Chocolate, ice cream, and a trip to every candy store in every country they visit. Although I'm sure Tom and Katie say she eats well at home, the pictures of her munching on broccoli haven’t surfaced yet.
I have to admit that this only comforts me as a parent. Just like when Suri was spotted all over town slurping on her baby bottle (at nearly 4, way past appropriate baba age), sucking on a pacifier (at nearly 5, way past that age, too), seeing evidence of possible parental slackerness makes me feel better about my own choices.
My sons get sweets, too, of course, especially now that it's summer and it seems against the law not to let your kids have ice cream every day. I’d like to say that frozen treats only arrive after a well-balanced lunch or dinner, and that's mostly true if bribing kids to eat three more bites of hot dog with the promise of a second serving of ice cream counts. But it's hard to draw the line when during the middle of a heat wave, all I want to do is have multiple frozen treats myself.
My pediatrician once told me to look at your kids’ nutrition by the week, rather than by the day. That way, you give yourself a little wiggle room on days when it seems they’ve only eaten junk. And my mom posse seems to have a similar attitude to mine. (No doubt because I really couldn't be friends with a mom whose kids believe that raisins are a special treat.) One friend tries to pony up smaller servings of sweets at home since she has less control over portion size when they're out and about. Another tries to go with slightly healthier treats like organic fruit rope instead of corn syrup gummies. But overall, the moms I talked to said that as long as they felt their kids were getting enough of the good stuff, having some bad stuff occasionally (heck, even frequently) doesn't matter. And while it may seem like Suri gets to have her cake and eat it too, maybe she really is a card-carrying member of the broccoli club and deserves all the treats she gets. Here’s hoping!
