Sweets for Your Sweetie

     What is it about giving sweets to your little daughter that seems so natural? These little angels, so the logic would go, deserve everything sweet and wonderful! Would I feel differently if I had a boy? I can't say for sure, but I suspect so. (Should a future son of mine ever read this, no offense, OK?)

     When we first introduced Elsa to candy, she must've been around 18-20 months old. She was pretty uninterested at first, but we eventually ended up cultivating an as-needed sweet tooth to benefit us by using jelly beans for bribes. Uncooperativeness, all of a sudden, could be dealt with by using a single, fruit flavored, sugar coated piece of gelatin. Brilliant. So we used them sparingly. Sparingly because once I located the stash, all jelly beans disappeared. That, friends, is my burden, and a whole different discussion.

     Well guess what, turns out Elsa's sweet tooth has gone from as-needed to gotta-have-it. Of course she's over 2 years old now, so we're not terribly surprised by how exciting candy can be. But I'm starting to realize how easily a treat loses it's luster when it's handed out too often. As a rule, we don't keep candy around the house. That said, movie nights at home with Joli usually find my 2 other friends, Mike & Ike, in brief but glorious attendance. But Elsa spends more time with her older cousins now, and it is simply more commonplace at this point for candy to be available to her.

     I can't control, nor do I think I should be trying to control, what Elsa eats when she's away from us. And let's be honest, she's 2, so she doesn't spend too much time away from us as it is. But I do think it's important for Joli and I to keep hard core sweets, the kind with no real redeeming health benefits, to a minimum. That way, they will still have the "exciting" allure they did before they became expected. Grammy & Pops will still be slipping her M&m's, and that shop owner in town will still give her candy corns whenever she walks in. For heaven's sake, Halloween is just around the corner! So no, I'm not worried about Elsa "missing out on childhood" by not having constant access to sweets. Rather, I feel like I have a responsibility as a parent to equip her with sound eating habits and a genuine appreciation for the sweet things in life. Good habits start early...so do bad ones.

-B