Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I hope everybody is enjoying this special day. I had a wonderful time with my family. I did notice, however, that every celebration centered around food- and not healthy food. I started the day with brunch at IHOP. As a "treat", my children shared strawberry pancakes (pancakes covered with strawberry syrup and drowned in whipped cream and syrup). My son, Zachary, and I went to get haircuts where our hairdresser gave him a lollipop. He was very sweet and got one to give to his sister when we got home. Then we went to our family's Mother's Day party. Our hosts had bowls of M&Ms placed all around the house. You can imagine how my children were all over them. Even I was unable to monitor and curb the chocolate intake. The meal was served: mini pizzas, chicken nuggets, and French fries for the kids. After the meal, I saw that the kids were all congregated around the M&Ms again. By the time dessert was served, I had lost all control. My son immediately went to the chocolate cake. My daughter looked at all of the desserts and asked for fruit. I was elated. But when we got her to the kid's table and she saw everybody eating cake, she began to cry for her own cake. After my son's first slice of cake, he asked for another. I immediately told him that he had eaten enough junk for the day and that he would get a bellyache if he ate anymore. My mother immediately butted in. "Joanna, it's a special day. Can't he just have one more piece of cake?" I said, "No- he has had enough" but my husband piped in, "C'mon. It's Mother's Day". I couldn't win. Zachary had a second piece of cake. And then, you guessed it, "Mommy, I want a cookie". I said no and again Doug said, "Well- he didn't finish the second piece of cake". Despite my protests, my husband handed him a cookie. I will note that he took one bite and then put it down.

What a frustration! It just is not healthy for children to eat this way. I guarantee that children growing up in the '70s did not eat three pieces of cake. I am sure that mothers back then were not bullied into allowing their children to overdose on chocolate. How has this society gotten so out of control? How has three slices of cake become the norm. And it is not just Mother's Day. It seems there is always an excuse for this kind of behavior. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, etc. And then there is mommy's birthday, daddy's birthday, grandma's birthday- and everybody else in the family. Don't forget about all of their friend's birthdays. It really doesn't end.

Children will keep on getting heavier and heavier unless we take a stand. This binge eating is not acceptable. We must be stronger for our children's sake. It isn't easy- even I fail from time to time. But we can't give up the struggle.

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