Fit Moms Fit Families!

For those of us who are “health freaks” (my daughter’s term for me) this time of year presents a challenge. Do we micromanage our kids or do we let them have free reign with all of the candy?

When I was growing up my mother chose the free reign route. We walked long and far trick-or-treating and came home with a little less candy than my kids manage to get. We kept our loot in our bedrooms and ate it at our leisure or in one big bingeing feast.

I try to take a path that is somewhere in-between; although my kids would call it micromanaging. I let them have more candy than usual for the first couple of days and then we back off to 1 or 2 small pieces as their daily desert. Using this method, we always have some left over by the time the next Halloween rolls around. Yet, I teach that creating a healthy household means not having junk food in the house. The occasional treat can be had by going out or buying in small portion sizes for the weekend.

I’m not sure which method is better. My 11 year-old daughter still asks me before she eats anything unhealthy. I think I should be teaching her to make her own choices: “Honey, do you think you should eat that?”

Healthy habits are probably just like anything else we teach our children. Maybe we should have tighter control when they are younger and loosen up as they grow older. Giving them complete free reign and hoping for healthy bodies and a small dentist bill is probably too much to ask of young children. However, we need to teach them to make their own good choices as they grow older.

Indulge some. Have fun. Find a balance. Happy Halloween!

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