Mom, Can I Have a Cookie?

A few years ago, I lived next door to the Super-Mormons. With two kids in close age with my daughter, they would rotate between "our house" and "their house". Dad was Elders Quorum President finishing school with three kids under 5, homeschooled by mom. The first time they came over to play, they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw we had a television, and then flatly proclaimed that they don't have T.V. because it invites the devil.

I couldn't help stating with a big smile and wild eyebrows "Well, the prophet is on T.V. every General Conference, so you can choose some good stuff too!" *wink*. It was kindof cute and innocent and disturbing all at the same time.

Apart from being deprived the inane joys of television, these kids also lacked the joys of sugar. On one particularly intense play-session, I invited the kids to refuel with some milk and graham crackers. It was the day I forever changed their lives, or their taste buds.

From that day on, they couldn't step foot in my house without seeking me out to politely ask me if they could have a brown cracker. The little darlings didn't even have a name for them.

"I'll get you kids a snack after playing for a while, alright?" and then I would send them off to play with my daughter. Ten minutes later, my daughter would appear alone and ask for a graham cracker.

"I'll get you all some later, just go play right now alright?" and she would run off, unphased.

Ten minutes later: "Mom, just give us a cracker". She was more annoyed at being interrupted with her pretend sessions. Although she didn't have the words for it yet, I could tell what she was feeling at the constant interruptions from her sugar-deprived buddies: Get over the brown crackers already!

And so I'm left wondering, as a mom, a Fat Mormon Mom, what is the best sugar policy for my kids?

For myself, I grew up in a house that always had chocolate chip cookies. I'm sure I snarfed them down at some point, but I remember that eventually I stopped eating them. They were available, so what? I had better things to do.

My husband was the oldest of seven kids. Their mom locked powdered sugar up in a cabinet, because her kids would literally spoon powdered sugar, brown sugar, or table sugar straight into their mouths if she didn't.

Consequently, he would constantly appear hungry-eyed whenever he played with his next door neighbor, the one who always had popsicles in the freezer. He couldn't say hi without asking for a popsicle. He would check out the new toys, play around, but in the back of his head he knew there was an entire bag of popsicles for the taking, and he couldn't leave without getting one.

Now I'm not saying that either of these policies work for everyone. My mom always made cookies, and I was busy running, jumping, skipping, and twirling to notice. But now I'm the mom, and if I make cookies for my kids, I usually end up behaving like the jittery sugar-starved neighbors I used to laugh at. Okay, yes I have things to do, laundry to fold, but that cookie keeps smiling at me.

So what's your policy?

In overhauling our nutrition to be more healthy, should we fear the cravings of our kids?

Will the constant deprivation of sweets make them food freaks when they finally leave the house and go to college?

What do you think?