Sugar!

In one of my last posts, I talked about shopping with Harry at the local market, and how fun it is. I swear, it's like a children's "please touch" museum. Kevin complains about the cost of buying organic, but it's worth it, especially when you have the opportunity to discuss making good food choices and why. The boy who eats nothing will tell us when he "ate some protein" for lunch. He knows what protein is and why you need it. Well, he's not ready to give a lecture on it, and "why" may be an exaggeration, but he knows it is important. He's gone into convenience stores and stated "there's nothing but sugar here!"
Now, he's not warped or anything. He's told people at parties "I'm not allowed to have soda" or "My mommy says I can't chew gum" which is partially true but not wholly. We don't have those things at home (for him), but he has tried soda (sprite) and hated it. Too bubbly. We've even encouraged gum chewing, but he doesn't want it. He also doesn't want sugar cereal. The Today Show will lead you to believe it's epidemic. Everyone has a sweet tooth. Kids won't eat cereal without sugar. Now, Harry is a picky eater, and he does like his cupcakes, but we've never loaded him up on junk. Junk makes kids cranky and unruly. Organic, sugar-free cereals come with pictures of Puffins and Gorillas and even Clifford. And they taste good. If he's happy with an organic fruit bar, why push a candy bar down his throat? He eats candy, but 1 piece at a time. I'll sometimes promise him multiple lollipops, but he gets bored before eating too much. Last week we bought low fat bran muffins and cupcakes. He didn't have a single cupcake. He refused. He wanted the muffins.
So, my point is not that he's a freak, and not that he eats perfectly, and not that he'd ever consider eating a salad, but kids can make better choices if those are theoptions they are given.