... of the J family, I have a pair of grievances to air that date back to Easter. (I would have blogged it sooner but the next day Mom and I headed off on our annual vacation.)
We were sitting at the table at Mr-Sis's house for the annual Easter J-family gathering. The Bear was rambunctious: nothing too unusual for a 17-month-old child who is outside his usual haunts and among a whole lot of people he really doesn't know. Still, he's standing up on his chair, generally being excitable. And here comes Mr-Aunt with a giant bunny-shaped sugar cookie (I am not exaggerating when I say this thing was the size of my hand), which she proceeds to hand directly to my child and announce, "Here you go!" I said immediately, "Please don't give him that." And of course, she got offended and acted like I was being ridiculous.
Listen, I know all about people with crazy food issues, and I recognize that she intended to be kind. But there were several problems here. Problem the first: Mr-Aunt hardly knows my child. The fact that she is related to Mr. J hardly gives her the right to skip the basic step of parental clearance. We are not close, and for all she knows, he has a serious food allergy. What the hell is she doing handing a kid anything to eat without first asking one of his parents if it is OK? Would you walk up to some kid in your child's classroom or at the pool and hand him or her an edible item? I think not.
Problem the second: this cookie was massive. It was easily more sugar than he has eaten in his entire life to date. I'm all about special treats, but if the Bear were 7, this cookie would have been a very large treat. And as it happens, I am trying really hard to limit his sugar intake. I am a philosophical subscriber to Twinkle's theory that if you let children have a sweet treat every so often, they won't freak out when in the presence of candy. But Bear is only 17 months old, so that usually equates to me breaking one or two bites off of something and handing it to him. And in so doing, I have observed that (like me), the Bear has a massive sweet tooth. And since he is only 17 months old, I don't expect him to have a lot of self-control. Hence the need for parental involvement in doling out goodies. And finally, I don't have any idea where this cookie came from or what is in it.It's Easter, there are plenty of choices for a little sweet something, and I would really rather not load my kid up with chemical-laden crap.
This is par for the course with the extended J-family. They don't think they need clearance for anything because "it's family." I don't care if you are relatives, you still don't get to override my choices for my child. Respect some boundaries, people.
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