meanest mom in the world!

so i read the posts about overweight kids....i do think kids lead by example...my father growing up was poor where food was scarce...so we were told to clean the plate...also everything was flavored with grease....make green beans throw a pound of bacon in it...so ya get the idea.... i took all pops/sodas out of the house...even diet....no snack cakes(lil debbie who) i have food friendly area in fridge...they can have it at anytime! apples oranges grapes celery carrots strawberry/sugarfree whip cream....i know it was greedy when i started...it was so i got these items away from me....but it was for them...i do not want them looking like me! their friends and other family members give them a hard time....they tease them about pops,candy,fast food....like they are deprived.......usually my kids are great and agree they do not want to get as big as i was.....so that gives them some drive! but some days they are begging for mc'ds or a coke...tater chips.....one actually said since we won the tournament can we go get milkshakes....i do not want to reward with food! so instead we do a picnic...that i make...with better food choices..... if friends come over...i did adapt a few times...,because this is what they were use too....but now they all drink my water with a flavor pack in it......they tell my babies that they love comin over...how cool i am to hang with...cause we are always on the go...but they think i am starving them to death...just because i do not offer chips cookies pop and other junk..... so am i the meanest mom ever???

I think you're doing great! I would not cave one iota though when the kids friends come over. They just may discover that they LIKE the taste if REAL fruit (as opposed to cherry flavored candy).  At my house...at our picnics...they get fruit or something that begins with 'sugar-free'! LOL! And you know...NO ONE has gone away hungry or deprived yet!                 Sherri

I am like you...I just quit buying the crap! I refuse to buy sugar! They are on crystal light, juice (less sugar kind), water, or sf. I keep fruit and veggies in the house at all times and only bake for Christmas. If I buy them a "treat" now and then...like once a month...they usually get diet soda or chips. It has been harder for them to find something decent at school (high school) to eat for LUNCH! Salads get wiped out quick there and there are potatoes and breaded chicken, fish, or some sort of sandwich everyday. No fresh fruit...all canned! But yet they took out the vending machines! My kids have noway to get a cooler in their lockers...they have to share lockers and get the drink packets and bottles of water taken alot. So, they normally come home starving! I    t is hard being the bad guy...but the schools here make me look alot better! :)

To a Very Good Mom, I think it's great when kids choose water or cokes. My grandkids know there is no junk food here, they like      they are happy campers. I don't like what my mom and other mothers do 1. Clean your plate,people are starving, so get that plate clean 2. Give kids food (not healthy) to shut them up. I say be a parent and deal with them. I feel thats a start to being not overweight. I think you are doing the right things. Love ya. Hugs & Blessings, Gail

I always loved the 'clean your plate, kids are starving in Ethiopia'! So...if all the kids in America eats every bite on their plate, does that mean that the kids in Ethioia will somehow have enough to eat then???  now..as a kid...when I'd hear my mother say that to my siblings (nope, NEVER had to say that to ME!), I always thought 'so, box it up and send it to them!'.  What I said though was 'here (Kathy, Cindy, Petie, or Becky)  I'll eat it'.

Kudos to you!  I think you are doing great.  Your kids will thank you later.  You are not the meanest mom ever.  The kids who come over probably think twice when they grab that snack cake at home.  You are probably not only helping your own kids, but their friends too.  Keep it up.  You're on the right track. Carol

I have done the same thing as you. Although, my hubby tends to sneak in stuff when he goes to the store.  For the most part though, they eat the same stuff I eat.  I have quit buying snack cakes and junk food for them. Instead I buy them SF jello, fruit, etc.  I dont buy pop anymore only on rare occasion.  They love water though with the flavor packs so that is good.  I dont buy hamburger anymore instead buy ground turkey.  They are adjusting well and they have lost some weight as well. So it just goes to show the foods they were eating was keeping them heavier.  Both of my kids are on the heftier side and I have told them you have to get control of it now or you will be in the same shoes I was in.   I was always one that thought cleaning your plate was a bad idea.  I always said that is one thing that causes obesity so I never made my kids clean their plate. You are doing the right thing, keep it up. They will thank you for it in the end.