The Primal Parent

Another Sweet Holiday

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Wasn't there some kind of religious significance to Easter? Didn't Jesus hand out candy to all the children of Bethlehem or something like that?

Oh joy. Another candy-centered holiday approaches and with it another obstacle for primal parents. Many of you are asking yourselves if you should allow your kids to indulge in a couple of peeps and maybe just one Cadburry egg, or should you throw up your arms and say, “Hey, it’s just one day a year! What’s the big deal?”

Before you go making an impulsive candy purchase this Easter, get some perspective on the damage you might be doing.

There are five sugar loaded holidays per year, plus birthdays and other commercial holidays. There are also bad days and warm summer days; there are vacations, friends, and family. All of that means sugar and all of that adds up to at least one (probably quite a bit more) refined sugar day every single month.

That’s just too much in my book. I knew way back when I was pregnant that I would have to come up with a plan for holidays and birthdays. My first approach was to put it off… We didn’t trick or treat until Evelyn was three and she didn’t have a birthday cake till she turned four. She didn’t care. She was a baby. But by the time she was really paying attention I knew things had to change. I feared that if I deprived her of sweets and festivities, she’d end up making up for lost time later so I came up with a comprimise.

That Halloween we started a tradition which we now follow on each sugar-centered holiday and nasty cake filled birthday and it doesn’t include florescent candies or long lists of fake ingredients.

Evelyn went door to door collecting candies in a pumpkin basket just like all the other kids. Her excitement grew with each colorful addition to the basket and I feared what was to come. At home we walked over to the trash can and, with tear filled eyes, she dumped out the cheap, food coloring and corn syrup laden candies.

Then we headed to the health food store to pick out a bag full of whatever goodies she desired. She cried that first time, watching all those sweet goodies go to waste, but over the years she’s gotten used to the routine and thinks it’s fun. She gets to collect candy twice and even gets to pick out her favorites. Now, just because the ingredients are “natural” I don’t think they’re healthy.

Sugar isn’t healthy.

So I didn’t let her run off to her room with a pillowcase full of candy like my parents did. I kept the bag in the cupboard and she got a piece each day for a few days until everyone eventually forgot about it. (Our last bag of Halloween candy is still up in the cupboard and still pretty much full.)

This Sunday we are going Copper Mountain Ski Resort for Colorado’s Largest Easter Egg Hunt. Of course there will be tons of candy but we’ll come prepared (maybe with some of that old Halloween candy!). Afterwards we’ll snowboard off the sugar rush and focus on our fun-filled day of adventure!

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5 Comments

  1. Wow. That’s amazing that she goes for that! It’s got to take some strength of will on her part. But I guess if you’ve raised her this way then it’s probably normal for her. I’ve been wanting to quit sweets in my house because I know the sugar and food coloring is horrible. Maybe switching to health food brands would be a good start.

    • Yeah, kids can get used to just about anything. The important thing is to be tolerant. The whole candy cravings and special diet can get frustrating at times but remaining calm and positive is key. And that’s a whole lot easier when you haven’t got sugar pumping through your veins!

      Switching to health food brands at first is a great idea. Inching into a healthier way of eating is a smart move for older kids. They think they’re entitled to the foods they’ve always eaten, so it would be a shock to suddenly prohibit it. Bring natural options into the house. Stop shopping at the grocery store. Soon they will see food a little differently and eventually you can make even bigger changes.

    • Another idea is to make sweets yourself with stevia and/honey. There is a cool recipe on the SweetLeaf Stevia website for chocolate candy.

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