I like to think that I'm a laid-back, pretty cool mom. Kidlet falls down? Give him a kiss if he's crying (usually not) and pack him off to play with his stuffed animals. I took him to McDonald's today, for Pete's sake--we shared a meal of Chicken McNuggets and fries, though I did get milk instead of a soda. We're pretty relaxed about food and mealtimes--if he's not hungry, I don't make him eat; if he is, then I'll keep on feeding him as long as he'll eat it. Dutch parenting, I'm told, is usually pretty hands-off, pretty relaxed, pretty go-with-the-flow. I don't know that many new parents, so I can't tell if it's actually true, but the new parents we recently visited actually looked as if they'd slept. For a few hours, anyway.
There is only one area that I am rather strict about: how much sugar the kidlet gets. This is in part because diabetes runs in my family, and horrific teeth in Karel's. I don't want him developing a sweet tooth like Karel's--I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself, but I don't usually drink sweet things (juice, chocolate milk, or soda) and I prefer my sweet things a good deal less sweet than most people do. But also, if he has a lot of sugar, he doesn't take naps, and it's hard enough to get him to nap as it is.
But I don't want him to develop a fixation for "forbidden fruits", as it were--this idea that sugar is bad and therefore he must have it all. I had that same problem with ice cream and other sweet things when I first moved out--it was a few years before I finally was able to control myself around things like cake and cookies. So I do let him have a bit--if the cashiers at the supermarket want to give him a cookie (and it's not too close to his mealtime) then yes, we accept a cookie. Sometimes I make him a sandwich with hagelslag (don't ask me to explain why bread, butter, and sprinkles is so popular here) for a snack. Sometimes I let him have juice for his dinner instead of milk. Sometimes I let him have a cookie. Sometimes. But only a little bit.
I can't figure out if I'm being strict in order to be laid-back. Or if I'm being laid back about sugar within strict boundaries. Either way, I get the feeling that sh*t is going to hit the fan once the kidlet starts day care--especially if they provide snacks and juice.
There is only one area that I am rather strict about: how much sugar the kidlet gets. This is in part because diabetes runs in my family, and horrific teeth in Karel's. I don't want him developing a sweet tooth like Karel's--I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself, but I don't usually drink sweet things (juice, chocolate milk, or soda) and I prefer my sweet things a good deal less sweet than most people do. But also, if he has a lot of sugar, he doesn't take naps, and it's hard enough to get him to nap as it is.
But I don't want him to develop a fixation for "forbidden fruits", as it were--this idea that sugar is bad and therefore he must have it all. I had that same problem with ice cream and other sweet things when I first moved out--it was a few years before I finally was able to control myself around things like cake and cookies. So I do let him have a bit--if the cashiers at the supermarket want to give him a cookie (and it's not too close to his mealtime) then yes, we accept a cookie. Sometimes I make him a sandwich with hagelslag (don't ask me to explain why bread, butter, and sprinkles is so popular here) for a snack. Sometimes I let him have juice for his dinner instead of milk. Sometimes I let him have a cookie. Sometimes. But only a little bit.
I can't figure out if I'm being strict in order to be laid-back. Or if I'm being laid back about sugar within strict boundaries. Either way, I get the feeling that sh*t is going to hit the fan once the kidlet starts day care--especially if they provide snacks and juice.
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