Nummy Treats

While I am not against kids drinking juice and eating treats, I admit that I don't really have them in my house. I don't ever buy juice for two reasons: 1. it makes my kids hate water, and 2. Matt will drink it all before the rest of us even get a chance. I don't keep baked goods or chocolate of any kind in the house for only one reason: mom will gobble it down in mass quantities until it is gone and before anyone else even gets to see it.

So while I feel badly sometimes that I don't have a chocolate chip cookie or M&M on hand for my boys at opportune moments, it really is better for us all and it is one area that I feel I do well with. My kids drink a lot of water and think a cookie is one of the most special treats there is.

So imagine a world where a toddler rarely has a sip of juice and only gets chocolate for special occasions (poor kid!) Now imagine this same kid has a week of his life where everywhere he goes, people are giving him juice and cookies and donuts and treats of all kinds!

For the first week of school, I went to more "getting to know you" activities and functions than ever before. That's great. Helpful even. What isn't great is the spread each and every one provided my innocent toddler: tables and tables of treats, just there for the taking! Jack. was. in heaven! He even developed a new word to describe his delight: nummy treats!

No longer is water what he wants when thirsty; he will first whine for a good, solid ten minutes for juice before collapsing in dehydration and finally reverting to the dreaded water. Grapes and yogurt are no longer dessert in his mind. He learned that treats such as donuts and muffins exist!

Jack is still a great eater. He still loves yogurt and grapes. I still don't keep juice or chocolate in the house, (or Nutella anymore either! I will eat it by the spoonful! Delicious...) but Jack has learned what a "nummy treat" is now and there is no going back. It ends up working well for me, though. I now have a great excuse to stop at Starbucks on the way home from the gym after dropping my big boys off at school. Jack and I sometimes just need our fix of "nummy treats!"

Sometimes My Better Judgement Is Wrong

One of Matt's coworkers gave us his seats at a soccer game tonight. Very generous of him, but I am betting he doesn't have 3 kids 6 and under that he takes with him every time. My first reaction was, "Uh, thanks but no thanks!"

My attitude toward going only worsened during the day today. It... was... hot today. We laid around the house, attempted to play outside for a bit, getting on each others' nerves, watching the clock waiting for this darn game to begin. I truly almost sent Matt with the big boys and stayed home with my little one. It's just too hot for this nonsense. And I'm not even much of a fan of any sport!

Well, I'm glad I went against my better judgement on this one. We had a blast! I was happy because I got to get out of the house and actually do something and even happier that I got to eat a giant, salty soft pretzel with extra cheese sauce. Ben and Mitchell were happy to see the giant stadium, sit in the second row, eat junk food, guzzle Gatorade, yell and boo, and sit next to "Mad Cow" who had his face painted crazy, a giant silver hoop through his nose, and constantly shouted obscenities at the opposing team.

I admit, for the 15 minutes of so I actually got to sit and watch the game, (before the food ran out and Jack needed something else to do and we had to spend the rest of the time cruising the concessions, making friends, eating food, jumping up and down stairs, and being amazed with anything out of the ordinary) I actually enjoyed watching it! It really makes a difference to be in the second row, surrounded by lunatics, actually able to see what is going on!

We left before it was over. A true fan of the team would have found this experience quite frustrating, as they would not have been able to actually watch the game, but our attitude of "let's just try it out for as long as it lasts to see how it goes" worked out perfectly. We knew it would be overambitious to try to stay for the whole game, so we stopped buying more junk food and left while we were still ahead.

The boys are still talking about "next time," wearing their old soccer jerseys, and playing soccer matches with their ugly dolls (with plenty of chanting, cheering, and unusual rules.) It's getting almost as wild as the real thing...

Sometimes, mom's desire to stay cool and comfortable makes us miss out on fun (although sweaty) events such as tonight. I guess I don't always know best.