easter chocolate sugar kids

I've read parenting books that say studies show sugar doesn't affect children's behavior. They say you should just let them self regulate, and I can't help but think


Have you never been around children??

We let the kids eat as much as they want on easter and halloween. I mean, I remember the glory of incredible indulgence, handfuls of little foil wrapped eggs; I remember that joy. I would hate to deprive them of that. But also - I want them to be able to connect the effects and their bodies. It's amazing how unaware of our bodies we can be. So sure; why not? Let them feel the glorious high of waaaaaayy too much sugar, and feel the crash of it too.

Yesterday we couldn't completely send them to the wolves, so we did force a cheese stick upon each before we let them descend upon their baskets. And I made them drink whole milk (glass after glass, good grief) as they downed their chocolates. There were a few jelly beans but if you're gonna go all out with a huge juicy mouthful of some kind of candy, I'm a firm believer that it really should be chocolate. I did get pastel peanut M&Ms in an attempt to counter the sugar with peanut protein. (In retrospect, I'd say that's like tossing pebbles into the grand canyon.) Clark ate his entire chocolate bunny before 7 am. It was about 7:30 when Frances said, "My tummy doesn't feel so good," and I hugged her and said, "I bet it doesn't." That girl loves sweets.

I hope it pays off in the end. Meantime, we spent a good bit of Sunday afternoon contending with meltdowns. They weren't so bad. A little loud, and somewhat frustrating, but not so bad. We were with a great big family who lovingly included us in their midday feast and one of the major meltdowns involved the four year old's wanting to be the one up to kick in the kickball game though his team was in the outfield.

It's tragic, being a child.

Point is: sugar makes for mini disasters. Anyone who wants proof of this is welcome to join us this halloween.

Not only that. Clark woke last night in a complete panic about an hour after bedtime, some kind of night terror. Poor guy. He was shaking and didn't at first even want me to hold him. I turned on the light so he could see where he was, could see he was awake. It was like he was still asleep and couldn't come out of it although his eyes were open and he was looking at me. He calmed down and let me rock him, but it took him a few moments. It was the worst one he's had in a while.

Later I slept blissfully, but apparently Mitch was up with Clark two thirds of the night. (I don't really know what that was about, but I'd be willing to bet the sugar has something to do with it.)

AND eating so much easter day means less leftover for me to eat. (I really lost control yesterday over the robin's egg malt balls. Hadn't had them in years. I suspect it was a nostalgia craving because my enjoyment of them was much greater than they deserved.) PLUS right now I'm at the tail end of my botox treatment period which means my headaches are hovering these days. Bummer for me easter didn't fall soon after a treatment.... Next one is April 18 yay yay yay! And then - behold! - that coconut cream egg behind the rice milk in the pantry is mine.

By the way, the eggs above we wrapped in rubber bands before dying. Aren't they lovely? 

welcome to 3!

We have a screaming defiant lunatic for a daughter. She won't be three until September but I believe this is what people are talking about when they say three is way worse than two. We're on our way!

Yesterday Frances was pushing Clark in our plastic Fisher Price swing in the backyard while I lugged things in from the car, and then there was screaming. When I got outside the entire swing structure was on its side, Clark still in it. He wasn't hurt thank god, but when I turned to ask her what happened (as if that were unclear), she ran off down the driveway. We've taught her well to stop at the sidewalk and she did stop there to see if I was coming after her, but then she turned and ran down the street. I had to sprint to catch her. She wasn't in any danger since she was running on the sidewalk (and our little one-block street has almost no traffic) but she completely ignored me when I called to her to come back. It's the first time in a while that I've wanted to spank her.

She's been pushing Clark a lot more lately. The hitting has stopped almost completely, but she will just randomly reach out and shove him into a doorframe, into the toy box, into the dining room table where he falls back and whacks his head. I can't wait for him to be big enough to turn around and clock her.

She has some cute traits in this new developmental stage too, but at this very moment of typing I can't recall what they are.

ALSO! I did a little experiment about eating and letting them self-regulate, as the book I posted about previously suggests. It was just this morning and perhaps is not enough data to make a sweeping judgement, but so far I'd say it's a failure. I give Frances a snack mid-morning and usually try to make it something with protein like cheese or these peanut balls I make. Today, however, she found a mini bag of cookies and I told her she could have them. We went to the park a bit later and when it was time to go she completely fell apart. Now maybe the tantrum was just coincidence and maybe it had more to do with her dad's being there and her not wanting their time together to end. (Poor guy is at the end of his term plus is presenting at a conference next week and is crazy busy and often not here...) But I suspect it also had to do with the sugar rush/crash that accompanied her mid-morning snack. Maybe the other things would have upset her also, but I wonder if she wouldn't have been able to handle it better if she'd eaten something else. THIS is why I try to limit her sugar intake. Still, I'll keep an open mind about it for a bit. Besides, I need to actually read the book and not just the article about the book before I judge, dontcha think?