Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

I’m about to confess something to you now and you may be shocked. Or you may NOT be shocked. I might be a little offended if you’re not shocked. Ready? I sometimes let my kids eat junk for breakfast.

I’m certain that is a shock for some, but not many. If you know me at all you know that I LOVE sugar and have passed that trait on to my children. But I digress…

This morning, the 11yo said to me, over his total junk breakfast, “I hope they have Pop-Tarts on sale at Meijer this week, because we’re just about out.”

Now you may be thinking, “Why does she let her kids eat that for breakfast? It is total waste of calories and fat, and it has no nutritional value?!? And really, to be honest, they aren’t that good! If she’s going to let them eat junk, have a donut!”

Yes, I agree. Donuts are better than Pop-Tarts, but donuts don’t last as long; the Pop-Tarts are full of all those yummy preservatives so they have a much longer shelf life. I prefer not to purchase things with a short shelf life because they have to be eaten too quickly, thereby causing me/us to all the junk within a short period of time instead of spreading out the calorie consumption. I will say short shelf life is fine for fruits and veggies. I actually prefer that, because the same principle applies – there’s no time to let it sit around while you debate over whether or not to eat it or a junky snack. You choose the fruit or veggies before they expire – NO food is thrown out in this house!

But instead of simply seeing a child who likes to junk-food up his breakfast, here’s what I see: “Wow! Not only does he notice and acknowledge that something is getting low, e is also making me aware of that fact. In addition, he is hopeful that said item is on sale…mostly because he knows that if it’s not on sale, his chances of the item making it into the cart and thereby into our house are slim to none.”

And thrilled though I was, I pushed him a little further. “And what would be better than Pop-Tarts being on sale?”

“Ummm…if they’re on sale and we have a coupon?”

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! I HAVE taught him something!