He had to eat carrot sticks!!!
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He had to eat carrot sticks!!!
| Tue, 11-01-2005 - 10:29am |
With the help of Coleman's preschool we've been keeping him off of milk products successfully. I send a box of juice and a healthy snack with him to school each day. My husband was talking to his APE teacher and found out that one of the parents had brought homemade cupcakes to school and Coleman really wanted one but he had to eat carrots because that's waht I sent with him that day. He cried and didn't understand why he couldn't have one! I feel so awful! Poor kid. We've decided to go ahead a let Coleman have snack with the class but just replace the usual milk box with juice. I just feel so bad! Anybody else run into things like this with diet changes?
-Alicia

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Edited 2/19/2008 7:33 pm ET by littleroses
Yes, it is a definite issue. I have allowed the kids to eat what the school offers because thier diet isn't terribly restrictive. I have found that an occasional cupcake doesn't have that horrible an effect, but tons of candy or many days in a row of it does. The only time it makes a huge dramatic difference is if I let them have a full soda. OY! (Nothing like coca cola with sugar, caffiene and red dye) But other wise I balance it out. Kids need to be kids too. If it did make an immediate obvious difference I would be different.
However, it can get over board with sweets daily, etc, especially around the holidays. In that case I do have a couple ideas. First, is to buy some special packages of favorite treats that are diet friendly and ask the school to keep them in class as options for those "surprise" parties. There are options for lots of treats at health food stores. I have found poptarts, cookies, etc that are yummy and diet friendly. I know of a couple favorites that I rarely get due to price, but I can send in for those impromptu occasions.
Next, when you know of a party coming up, send in a diet friendly version of cupcake, cookie or what ever there is. Do a little research and find what he really likes.
Last, I pack multiple choices in the lunch per day too. Some of the kids favorites are dried fruit, organic cliff bars, homemade muffins that are diet friendly, and yogurt. I have found an organic version of gogurts in the tubes. I freeze those and send them in. They love them. I even have recipies to make granola bars, Jello, etc.
Renee
I have a friend who makes her son GFCF cupcakes and cookies when she knows that another child will be having a birthday.
We have the same problem too, although less now that Eric is in the public school's autism preschool class where there are several other gfcf kids and the teacher is pretty saavy about it. When Eric was in a private preschool I had to always monitor the food and stay on top of the teachers to be sure he wasn't "sharing" what other kids brought.
As for bday parties, I have an additional idea about cupcakes. If you make some gfcf cupcakes, make a couple of batches and freeze them. They freeze well and thaw quickly. Eric's teacher does not mind keeping some in the school's freezer in case of bday party "emergencies." I always send enough so Eric can share with a friend too. Provided the school cafeteria does not mind, this makes it easy for the teacher and your little one can partake of a treat along with all the other kids. I also gave the class a couple of bags of gfcf snacks (Robert's "veggie booty" and "tings") to keep in the classroom and told the teacher to feel free to share with other kids. I periodically re-furbish. I found if I make things as easy as possible for the teachers, they usually comply.
Just an idea, the school may not go for it, but it's always worth asking!
Katherine