Coke is evil {part 2}

Just kidding in that title:) Thank you for all of the thought provoking comments. I loved hearing all the points of view. They really made me think. It seems that some think I am a Coke prude and some do not. I think it might have been an even split but I did not count. I did want to follow up on a few things.

First, I did not mean to accuse anyone specifically of being a bad parent. I make a TON of parenting mistakes (probably daily). I am nowhere near perfect and I know that. In fact, I think I share a lot of my parenting blunders right here on the blog. I know we are all doing the best we can. I do still think though that is is not a good parenting decision to offer kids COKE (and I mean COKE/Pepsi or caffeinated beverages specifically here). The reason is that caffeine is a DRUG! It is addictive. Many of the commenters said "I am a diet Coke addict." Why would we give our kids an addictive drug? Would you give them coffee? So, while I don't approve of that decision, I will not judge anyone. Really, no one needs that. And some of my best friends give their kids Coke and I still love them!

I know that caffeine is very addictive because I am having to wean my self slowly off of the one cup of coffee I have daily. Otherwise, I will get withdrawal headaches. Why start our children down that path? Sure, they may go there on their own someday but I would like to stave that off if I can. So, I am not sure I made that clear last night but that is one of my big problems with Coke...it's addictive caffeinated nature.

Secondly, a few people e-mailed or commented about how being overly restrictive with food choices (or anything really) can backfire too. GREAT point. I am extraordinarily cognizant of this and think about it a lot. My kids eat healthy because we MUST do so. We don't have a choice which is probably a good thing because I don't have a ton of will power. I would probably make less healthy choices if it did not affect us so much. But we are allergic to junk food. Our family has a combination of the following food allergies (wheat, gluten, soy, dairy, nuts and pineapple). For us, that excludes ice cream, cakes, cookies, crackers, doughnuts, pizza, and almost all fast food. So, I do worry that my children will sneak foods eventually that will make them sick. I do worry that they will feel deprived. I do worry that they will rebel and for Harry the consequences could be life threatening.

We try to balance that by letting them have a gluten free doughnut for breakfast once a week. Coconut milk ice cream is a favorite for dessert sometimes (coconut bliss brand is our favorite dairy, soy and gluten free ice cream). Last night (before I wrote that post) I took one of my children to Baskin Robbins for ice cream while the other two were out with Dave (one who is not allergic to it). We do have potato chips and Fritos (they are corn, salt and oil) sometimes and while those are not healthy snacks...they make my kids feel "normal." I have even managed to find gluten free graham crackers and chocolate so Harry can have s'mores. I say all that to tell you that I am not a food Nazi. I do allow my children some choice and some yummy options. Yes, for the most part we eat healthy. We started that way because we had to but now we see all of the benefits.

Additionally, Dave packs the kids lunches everyday (with their help). But once a week we let Will make his own choices and buy his lunch at school. He has the freedom to choose what he buys and he could be buying slurpees for all I know. I do think it is important to let him spread his wings a bit. That is something I am REALLY working on as I readjust my parenting for the teenage years (more on that soon).

I ate poorly as a child. My parents did not know better and I do not blame them at all. In college, I ate a philly cheeesteak, french fries and a soft pretzel with processed melted cheese every single day. It is a miracle I was not overweight. I did not know better. But when we know better we do better. And now I know better.

I know that my kids are going to make poor choices sometimes and they will learn from them (I hope). We all do. I did. I experimented with breaking rules and unhealthy choices. I just feel passionately that we should have the healthiest foods available for our kids and we should

"train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Proverbs 22:5-7

I know it does not always hold true but shouldn't we at least try?

Oh and one more thing...it is not lost on me that even though we eat pretty healthy, we get lots of colds and viruses. That bothers me a lot. I feel so frustrated by that fact sometimes. Our doctors have told me that just becuase someone gets a lot of colds and viruses does not mean they are unhealthy. And the oppostie is true as well. Just because someone does not get lots of colds and flus does not mean they are healthy either. Overall health includes things like blood pressure and cholesterol and heart rate, aerobic capacity and body fat.

Blogger is not letting me post, comment or moderate ...I keep getting a "bad request message" I am also not able to spell check so I apologize for any typos.