Mommy, what's that?

I was standing in line at the grocery store when I heard Kai say, "Mommy, what's that??" in the sweetest little sing-song voice ever. He was point to (gasp) doughnuts...powdered sugar covered doughnuts!! Worse yet, I had some on the conveyor belt for work. They were buy one, get one free! I was already mortified at myself that I was buying them for work. What was I going to do?


No, I do not buy my children everything they ask for. Honestly, I almost always say no if there is any pestering or whining. I learned a valuable lesson. One, it was not worth sneaking them. Two, I am still taking baby steps. Now, I could have taken the "you can't always have everything you ask for" route. Or I could have just said "no." Or I could have given in because it was just easier. Did Kai get his doughnuts?

In the end I decided that I would buy a bag for him. It was a special treat. The only other time he has had a doughnut is at church (that I am aware of). Yes, it was just a bag of doughnuts. However, I am trying to avoid giving him junk food, not raise his awareness of it. He is also extremely sugar sensitive, even sensitive to fruit sugars. I still want him to be able to teach his own body what to prefer. In my experience so far, even cutting out processed sweets for a short period of time has had profound effects. I shared one doughnut with Kai the next afternoon and I ended up with a nasty headache. It didn't seem to slow Kai down one bit, but it definitely reminded me how much better I felt without it.

While I would prefer that he always asks for strawberries and apples, I feel that being realistic is important. I have to remind myself that it isn't always worth being legalistic. I don't eat perferct 100% of the time either.  He was so excited that I actually bought them, and it brought a little sunshine to his day. He is probably none the worse for it, and maybe one day he will choose something healthier...right??