Lisa and I have done a pretty good job at keeping the kids away from certain things like video games, massive amounts of television, and Middle Eastern beheadings and stonings. But one thing that we had a pretty good grasp on, but the reins are slowly loosening is sweets.
We never introduced anything very sweet to the kids. The version of juice that they know to be is basically 98% water with a splash of apple juice. All of the sweet snacks has always been the stuff you find in the baby aisle like crackers, cereals, and baby powder (it's amazingly sweet!). And to this day, the kids have never had a chocolate bar or any other candy you may find in the candy aisle.
I don't want to sound like Sugar Nazis, but we figure as long as we have a strong grasp on what they eat, we might as well let them eat as healthy as possible. But we are okay if the kids eat something sweet at school, a friend's house, or a special celebration like a birthday or the equinox.
The one thing that the kids were introduced to and really love is ice cream. Towards the end of last year, I think we were at a restaurant up in Sacramento and our dinners came with a scoop of ice cream. The kids were really curious about it, so we let them take a bite. And another bite. And then the bite became a first step towards an audition for The Biggest Loser.
Since then, we would occasionally let them have some frozen yogurt. At first they only liked vanilla; they did not like chocolate because it reminded them of something that squeezed out of their butt. But now they really enjoy mixing vanilla and chocolate together. I suppose their new favorite flavor is mulatto.
Trouble arose when the kids started to ask for ice cream all the time. If we passed by an ice cream or frozen yogurt store, they'd ask for ice cream. If we pushed them down the frozen aisle at the grocery store, they'd ask for ice cream. If we walked by an obese man in a large, white parka, they'd ask for ice cream.
We refused to give into their constant pleas for ice cream. An idea I came up with was to give them something that looked similar to ice cream, but steamed cauliflower in a waffle cone did not work out.
Our ultimate solution was to designate Saturdays as Ice Cream Saturday. So once a week, after they eat dinner, they receive one small scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt ice cream. It has worked out really well because not only does it solve all our ice cream problems, but the kids now know one day of the week. The way it's going, I can teach them the days of the week with Apple Fritter Sunday, Cheesecake Monday, Creme Brulee Tuesday, Popsicle Wednesday, Chocolate Cake Thursday, and Broccoli Friday. Hell, you have to feed them some vegetables, right?
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