MOM-ents: Nutritional Information

I was reading in a parenting magazine/blog/website the other day about whether or not it is appropriate to bribe your children.  For example, the promise of a treat at the grocery store for good behavior or Popsicles at home after their rooms get clean. 

Now, what bothered me the most was not whether or not people bribed their kids-to me, I don’t care what you do to get your kid to do what they are supposed to as long as I don’t have to get involved.  The part of the story that really bothered me was when one mom (who is a habitual briber) confessed that it is just easier to get her kids to cooperate with the promise of an ORGANIC sucker. 

Has it really gotten that bad?  Is she convincing herself that bribing her kid isn’t wrong since the candy the kid is eating is organic?  And WHAT THE (heck) is an organic sucker?

I understand that organic is the new vegetarian and that when possible, organic foods are supposed to outweigh (at least a little, sometimes a lot) the health benefits of genetically mutated foods (ya think?), but I think some parents are taking it a little (a lot) overboard.

I try to steer my kids towards healthy food the majority of the time, but if we are at a party/vacation/somewhere special they can eat whatever their heart desires.  I want them to listen to their own hunger cues and cravings and eat whatever will satisfy them.  I think that if I don’t let them eat anything with sugar, fat, or grease, then the minute I am not over top of them, I am afraid, they will be rifling through junk food like a bear at a campground.

I may be wrong, but I think some parents are taking this organic route a little too seriously, and I hope they are not surprised when they catch their kids in their bedrooms with a box of Swiss Cake Rolls that they stole from a friend’s house. 

We try to vary our kids’ foods in our house and you want to know what Ryann always wants to eat?  Pop-tarts.  Matthew’s food of choice?  Blueberries (non-organic, but washed). 

I know their tastes are constantly changing so I don’t freak out if Ryann likes apples one day and won’t touch them the next.  I hope by giving them healthy choices as well as not worrying about whether Ryann has had one or two (or five) cookies at her friend’s house that they will grow up to know that anything in moderation is okay.  Except for bribing.  That you can never have enough of.