how often does your child get candy? and do you serve 'dessert' after dinner every night?

[Anonymous]

I think, though, with some kids moderation works fine, and with some not so much. No one wants an emotionally charged battle about restricting foods, but, what do you do if your kid begs and begs for sweet treats every day. We found it easier with candy to just cut the stuff out. My husband used to keep a bag in the freezer and eat a Hershey's mini once in a while. But the kids would ask for them several times a day. Moderation (like, having some candy once or twice a week) just seemed to increase the whining, so I asked DH to stop buying them and now its not a problem. They seem to do fine with ice cream in moderation. We have "dessert" nightly which is always chopped fruit. Sometimes there is a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream on top. Sometimes not.

I wanted to point out that those of us that absolutely restrict are sometimes doing it because it decreases the emotional charge around the food by just removing the conversation, not because we are overally controlling.

[Anonymous]

I always have something sweet after dinner -- I don't see why my kids shouldn't. We are healthy. They don't usually get sweets at any other time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll probably get flamed for this, but I feel like even asking the OP's question is creating a problem where there needn't be one.

Last night I took my kids to McDonalds--gasp! And after the junky happy meal (including, gasp, chocolate milk), we all shared sundaes. And you know what? We had a happy, warm family time and not one of us is obese. And the night before at dinner, both kids were scooping up tofu cubes and blueberries as fast as I could serve them. They are balanced, healthy kids, physically and emotionally. I try not to let any particular "treat" (be it candy or TV or toys or whatever) become emotionally charged or forbidden or a power struggle. And it seems to work just fine for us. I would just rather focus my parenting worries on other issues.

I think you've missed the point. OP asked how often your kid eats candy/dessert. It's easy to say "I allow junk food in moderation," but it can be hard to figure out what moderation means. Is it McDonald's once a month? No fast food but ice cream twice a week? Baked goods every day but only if they're homemade? Candy on holidays? It's not always easy to figure out exactly how to keep your kids healthy and instill good habits while still allowing a certain amount of indulgence and keeping some consistency to hopefully avoid World War 3 because we went to McDonald's last night and why can't we go again tonight and EVERY NIGHT WHY WHY WHY I HATE VEGETABLES I WANT A HAPPY MEAL.

OP here.

Thank you 13:13 for restating my question. I already said my children eat candy and desserts (in addition to lots of nutritious food including veggies) - I was not trying to deny them these items, just trying to get a sense of where we are on the spectrum for each. Very interesting range of responses. I especially liked the one where the mom gave her daughter complete control over a set amount for the week. That might work when mine are a little older.

Thank you all.