NEIGHBORS: ON THE GROW PREVIEW
Nicole L.V. Mullis: Losing the junk food battle
We were up north on vacation with my family — Grandma, Grandpa, six sets of aunts and uncles and three cousins.
Junk
food? Are you kidding? It was like renting four gingerbread cottages.
Getting my children to eat well was less of a challenge than an
impossibility.
My youngest, a junk-food junkie, was in heaven and by the second day
had a canker sore, sour stomach and grumpy disposition. I don’t think
water crossed her Kool-Aid-stained lips, much less a vegetable.
I
tried to make her eat a good breakfast. I gave her apple juice, a
vitamin and a choice of cereals out of a multi-pack. Of course, she
skipped over the Cheerios and went straight for the Lucky Charms. Three
seconds later, she was out the door to Grandma’s cabin, leaving behind
the vitamin, the juice and a bowl of soggy Lucky Charms minus the
marshmallows.
Yes, my daughter ate marshmallows for breakfast — and not just any marshmallows — the ones filled with food dye.
I
couldn’t compete with Grandma, whose cupboards were barfing out fruit
snacks, M&Ms and small cans of Coke. Grandma also managed to make
two batches of chocolate chip cookies with my daughter’s “help.”
Copyright ©2007 Battle Creek Enquirer.
Originally published August 25, 2007
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/NEWS01/308250007/1002