The Social Hierarchy of Snacks

There once was a boy who took homemade graham crackers to pre-school. You already see where this is going, right? The crackers were dusted with a bit of cinnamon and sugar and were made with real Graham flour. The boy and his mother had made these several times before and they were good. Seriously, they were. At school that day, the homemade graham crackers were passed out to all the little children, two of whom commented that they tasted like dog food. When the boy told his mother, she cried, they never made homemade graham crackers again and she promised him that from that day forward, he could take SpongeBob Cheez-Its when it was his turn for snack.

The above is a true story and it marks the beginning of the mother’s trip down Snack Balance Lane. It also marks the end of her using her son’s snack day as a time to stand up for proper nutrition. Some may say it is when the mother sold her soul to all things Great and Refined but this is untrue. SpongeBob Cheez-Its at snack time do not have to be a slippery slope to white bread and marshmallow fluff sandwiches or a daily dose of hot dogs. They are however, non-descript, wallflower-type snacks. Most kids like them and apparently, they do not taste like dog food. This is a good thing when your kid is the snack guy.

As children grow and enter school and other settings where there are large groups of their peers, social standards are important to them, gaining percentage points as the years roll by. Trying to fit in with your peers does not mean that children will eventually grow up to be sheep or lemmings. Learning to be part of a crowd and thereby discovering how you are different, or how you would like to be, is an important part of becoming a mature adult. Raising a child to mature adulthood should be done with proper nutrition but be careful the battles you pick. There is no reason your child should suffer socially because you are personally offended by the existence of Fruit Gushers. Establish good nutrition early on so that it is a common theme in your household and explain why good food is good. Let them make disgusting choices at the grocery store occasionally. That way when they visit their friend’s house and are offered a Pop-Tart, they won’t fall onto the floor and weep with joy. They will quietly relish the contraband and be capable of playing it cool.

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