Shayla's mom and I have pledged not to give processed sugar to our 35 mo. old baby girl except on 'special dispensation'. We do give it to her on these occasions, but are almost immediately sorry for doing so. Ice cream has been the treat of choice, but we are quickly narrowing it's use in the allowed regimen. It's really remarkable how profound and quick the metamorphosis can be!
It takes all the calm out of her and replaces it with this mania that will not be controlled or lulled into the background. She becomes defiant in the extreme, and actually garners more behavior modification protocols for herself than she ever otherwise does. It's amazing how much of a different effect this substance has on children.
This discovery is prompting a further evolution in her diet because not only do we care for her, but we also care for ourselves as well. If Shayla is happy, then we are happy also. Fruit sugar does not seem to elicit the same type of behavior in her (that I've noticed), however she cannot consume that to uncensored levels either without ill effect. All sugar must be monitored. The when and how much is very important.
I found myself earlier tonight vowing once again that 'sweets' need to be monitored with religious attention. Yes, we paid for it tonight. She was given ice cream in the early evening and she turned out to be a Non-stop incorrigible chatterbox all the way to bed time. Five or six hours of this cranketty crank crankyness makes one (as a parent) think long and hard about when, where, and how much to dole out when it comes to sweets. It's easy when you've had a rough evening of it with your little Satan-possesed sweetheart to decide that they will never again, so-long-as-they-live-under-your-roof (kind of rant) know the taste of the evil white stuff, but we all know that is like waging a war against oxygen---Ain't gonna happen. :) Censorship, I think is the best policy, and what a good behavior modification leverage tool this could turn out to be!! :) That may sound like irony, but I've got news for you. It is when you look up close, but when you stand back and look at the bigger picture...it isn't. We've got to give the 'devil' his due, so we'll work with it.
I've heard of parents waging a holy war on sugar, but how exactly does that all play out? I mean, let's face it. Your kids are not always going to be with you--school, daycare, friends' houses, by themselves (later on), etc. You could go totally gray just lightly thinking about all the protocols that would need to be put into place and then monitored and kept up with. ....The sugar police...Yuk. We don't want to be those people.
We hope that we can teach our child a sense of moderation as time goes by. We have to outline that now by presenting good, consistent rolemodeling in the routine dietary. Perhaps some of that will become habit for her later. Perhaps by filling the need to teach her about good dietary habits we shall learn about it as well.
It takes all the calm out of her and replaces it with this mania that will not be controlled or lulled into the background. She becomes defiant in the extreme, and actually garners more behavior modification protocols for herself than she ever otherwise does. It's amazing how much of a different effect this substance has on children.
This discovery is prompting a further evolution in her diet because not only do we care for her, but we also care for ourselves as well. If Shayla is happy, then we are happy also. Fruit sugar does not seem to elicit the same type of behavior in her (that I've noticed), however she cannot consume that to uncensored levels either without ill effect. All sugar must be monitored. The when and how much is very important.
I found myself earlier tonight vowing once again that 'sweets' need to be monitored with religious attention. Yes, we paid for it tonight. She was given ice cream in the early evening and she turned out to be a Non-stop incorrigible chatterbox all the way to bed time. Five or six hours of this cranketty crank crankyness makes one (as a parent) think long and hard about when, where, and how much to dole out when it comes to sweets. It's easy when you've had a rough evening of it with your little Satan-possesed sweetheart to decide that they will never again, so-long-as-they-live-under-your-roof (kind of rant) know the taste of the evil white stuff, but we all know that is like waging a war against oxygen---Ain't gonna happen. :) Censorship, I think is the best policy, and what a good behavior modification leverage tool this could turn out to be!! :) That may sound like irony, but I've got news for you. It is when you look up close, but when you stand back and look at the bigger picture...it isn't. We've got to give the 'devil' his due, so we'll work with it.
I've heard of parents waging a holy war on sugar, but how exactly does that all play out? I mean, let's face it. Your kids are not always going to be with you--school, daycare, friends' houses, by themselves (later on), etc. You could go totally gray just lightly thinking about all the protocols that would need to be put into place and then monitored and kept up with. ....The sugar police...Yuk. We don't want to be those people.
We hope that we can teach our child a sense of moderation as time goes by. We have to outline that now by presenting good, consistent rolemodeling in the routine dietary. Perhaps some of that will become habit for her later. Perhaps by filling the need to teach her about good dietary habits we shall learn about it as well.