Welcome to Scrooge it!
29 Jul
Welcome to a new feature on The Wellness Bitch called Scrooge It!
Here at Scrooge It!, we’re not rich, like Scrooge McDuck, nor greedy like Ebenezer Scrooge, but we sure do know how to spoil a good time.
Who cares if our worthwhile recommendations are for the greater good? Who cares about our noble intentions?
Try as we may, there’s no avoiding the buzz kill. We’re party poopers.
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I know I have at least one other mom on my side with this Scrooge It installment (non-toxic mom, you know who you are.)
Scrooge It! Sugary Crafts from School and Camp
My kid came home from camp today with a Fruit Loop necklace. Nice! At least it was colorful.
I have my babysitter so well-trained that she got it off his neck faster than you can say “bursting with fruit flavor.” It sat on the kitchen counter waiting for me to be the bad guy when I got home. My guilty conscience weighed heavily on me for about 30 seconds before I threw it away in the trash. (This is the same guilty conscience that rears it’s ugly head every time I throw away one of my kids’ projects.) More than guilt, I was annoyed. And slightly pissed. Annoyed that they couldn’t choose a craft un-related to food…I’d even settle for colored macaroni necklace. And pissed that once again I have to be the bad guy saying no to something my kid comes home from school/camp with. Do our educators really feel like our kids are so deprived at home that they need to stuff sugar down their throats at school? Or are they just not thinking?
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Well the good news is that the Fruit Loops will not likely decompose any time soon
True, and you know what, I didn’t even take the time to smell it. http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/07/16/stinky-chemical-in-kelloggs-cereal-identified/
I very strongly believe that parents should be the one giving kids treats, not schools. The problem is food companies are continually blurring the lines between treats and food while also doing deals with schools to carry these mutant treat-foods — flavored milks, sodas, Snapple, breakfast cookies, super-sugary cereals, cereal bars, fruit snacks….
So now many people have trouble seeing the difference between a snacks, treats, and meal food. Many people surely believe that Froot Loops are a healthy breakfast food — they are fortified with vitamins, they have added fiber, and they are a part of this nutritious breakfast (cue shot of toast, juice, and, milk — which is a more nutritious breakfast w/o the Froot Loops).
I sure am with you! In fact, we had the exact same incident at my daughter’s camp a few weeks ago. The director is aware of my “insanity” and notified me ahead of time that the kids would be putting fruit loops on licorice string for their cooking project. There were so many things wrong with this, one being the fact that this hardly seems like cooking. I offered to send in the Whole Foods Rainbow Rings as a less toxic replacement for Fruit Loops. Then I sweetly offered to research cooking projects that don’t involve candy and sugar cereal, and volunteered to buy all the non-toxic ingredients and come to camp and help with the project. I don’t know why they had a change of heart, but they decided not to do the activity….so I’m the ultimate party pooper! Luckily the 3 year olds don’t know the difference….