Two heads
25 May
The wellness bitch almost reared her ugly head yesterday at my son’s baseball game. Two women, a mother and a grandmother, were sitting behind me. The grandmother shows up with a big bag of “fruit marshmallows” as a snack for her grandson. The conversation went like this.
“I brought some fruit marshmallows for Joey’s snack.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Joey likes marshmallows.”
“Yeah, I figured he would be hungry. I had to have a few myself though.”
(At this point, I have to turn around to see exactly what a “fruit marshmallow” is. Any guesses? I’ll give you a hint: There’s no fruit involved.)
“Well, marshmallows aren’t so bad for you. They don’t have a lot of sugar.”
“Oh, a little sugar never hurt a kid anyway.”
There’s so much wrong with this picture, I don’t even know where to begin. But the primary foul rests with the word SNACK.
WAKE UP. A snack is a light meal. I brought my kid a snack to the baseball game, too. A bag of sliced organic apples and a thermos of water.
Not only are fruit marshmallows NOT a meal; their effects will be the polar opposite of what you are trying to achieve by bringing your kid a snack! Same goes for the McDonald’s Happy Meal the mom on the other side of the bleachers brought along. (Kudos to the mom next to me who brought a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread; a step up.)
Fruit marshmallows, no matter what brand, are at best SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, and GELATIN (and that’s when they’re homemade). When they come from a bag that’s been sitting on a shelf for months, they likely contain preservatives. And when they’re labeled “fruity,” they also contain food coloring, known for causing hyperactivity and other symptoms in kids.
Why didn’t I say something to the two women? The grandma seemed like an angry broad and the last thing I wanted to be was one of those moms that gets into a fist fight at their kid’s baseball game. You’ve got to choose your battles wisely.
That Grandma asked if my kid wanted a Marshmallow when he was crying. I politely told her no thank you, he’s in time out for running away from me. BUT I wouldn’t have wanted to feed him junk food to get him to stop crying anyway.
Of course I admit to being embarrassed when my french fry connoisseur was begging for McDonald’s, not Burger King because “booger king fries are yucky!” Um, they are both yucky! It was a heads up to work on the post game dinners we have been having.
Carol Anne, even my kids will beg for McDonald’s french fries when they see the big yellow arches or another kid enjoying them. My mom indulges their cravings every now and again so does my husband, so they know what they taste like. That salty goodness is a memory that stays with you. In fact, my mom tells the story that the only way she could manage my middle brother’s late night baseball games was to bribe my youngest brother with McDonald’s. So it’s an age old trick!
If you figure out a tactful way to tell someone the food they’re giving their kid is crap, let me know. Every week at soccer I watch parents of 3-year-olds give their kids colored gold fish, apple juice, cookies, and gatorade as snacks during soccer.
I don’t happen to think kids need to stop playing soccer to have a snack (it only lasts an hour) and it just teaches bad habits to let kids snack during the activity. Water, yes, absolutely. Fruit before or after, sure. But processed dye- and sugar-filled snack “food” — no way.
One poor little boy is so distracted and all over the place. His mom is always offering him colored goldfish and apple juice. I so much want to tell her how much that isn’t helping him, but how do you say it without causing a scene?
Well, while I have a hard time handling the “fruity marshmellows” on any level, I’m a little less judgmental of the McDonald’s Happy Meal … and here’s why:
When we go to soccer, it’s an all-day thing. We trek down to Edison for the homeschool soccer practice, then hang at the playground until as late as 3. There have been days that I just didn’t have it together to pack a lunch and get out the door on time, so the alternative? Grab Happy Meals at the McDonald’s near the park. Otherwise, what? The kids are going to either miss soccer while I scrounge up lunch, or not get to stay for a day of active play and socializing because I find McDonald’s disgusting and objectionable on so many levels?
For me, it’s a trade off sometimes. I try not to make it too often, but I figure the good stuff I’m giving them on a regular basis will balance out the occasional crap. God, at least I hope it does!
Mmmm…I don’t know Angela. I have to challenge you on this one. This is not to say I don’t sometimes choose normalcy and socialization over poor food choices. I definitely do. (At most birthday parties, for instance.) But I think what you’re describing is not really healthy food choice vs. socialization. It’s healthy food choice vs. mom’s sanity. Which is also something I fall victim to. As in: “Tonight’s breakfast for dinner!”
That being said, buying McDonald’s because it’s easy can turn into a pattern very quickly. As Fooducate.com blogged yesterday, “this isn’t 1957 where a family would go out to celebrate a birthday at McDonald’s once in a few months. We’re talking about daily visits to fast food joints… When you’re treated daily, it’s no longer a treat.”
If I let everyone off who said to me “but I don’t have the time,” I wouldn’t be called The Wellness Bitch.