Let Them Eat Cake!

... and cookies. And chips. And chocolate. And even sugary cereal.

Yep, that's right. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that I believe, absolutely, that we should let our children eat some junk. There are very, very few "forbidden foods" at our house and I have no intention of changing that.

Why?

Because I believe that most things lose their allure and appeal if you're allowed some exposure to them. Case in point-

When I was a little girl, my father was the director of engineering for Nestle... the CHOCOLATE division. We had boxes of chocolate bars in our house. Bags upon bags of chocolate chips and mini candy bars. I can remember friends of mine and my siblings staring wide-eyed at the array of sweet treats in our pantry closet. And you know what? I like chocolate. I did then and I still do. But I have never once in my life "needed chocolate" or been unable to control myself with it. I don't think I've gorged on the stuff even once. I can take it or leave it.

And so my kids sometimes eat cheese puffs. Or frosted cheerios. I offer them dessert after almost every dinner (assuming they ate reasonably well). I don't sweat it if I find out their snack at preschool that day was doughnut holes and not applesauce. Whatever. (My one exception? My two preschoolers do NOT drink soda. Ever. But I do let them have chocolate milk or even, on occasion, Capri Sun...)

I should probably make it clear that none of us have any health problems in this household. We're also all healthy weights. I can certainly understand that some families have special circumstances to keep in mind...

Friends and family and even my kids' teachers will tell you-- I've raised good eaters. They eat a whole range of flavors and textures and no one has ever called them "picky". They love all sorts of different healthy foods and don't turn up their noses just because they've been exposed to Lucky Charms...

I'd say our laid-back approach is working just fine. Let them eat cake.

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