mom31257 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 some sweets in your house (hot cocoa mix, ice cream, etc.); do you kids have to ask for it? At what age, if any, do they no longer have to ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 My 12 yo still asks, my 16 yo doesn't. I wouldn't care if my 12 didn't ask, either. The rest of the hatchlings still ask. When I see them making good food choices as their default, they get free run of the kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 DD10 still asks unless everyone else is having some and then she can just tag along. She will stop needing to ask when she can be trusted to NOT eat ice cream just before dinner. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 That is a really good question!! I am going through this a little right now. I think that besides the "eating too much of the wrong stuff" there is another issue and that is "knowing your fair share". Currently we are going through this with non-sweet things. Like tea--yes you can drink it--but when it gets low, make more. When you go back for seconds, take 1/6 of it, not all. I had a BIL that lived with us for a while. He loved to eat all my vanilla ice-cream with chocolate chips on it. I would go to make "emergency" chocolate chip cookies and there would be none!! Grrr. Or I would make brownies and there would be no ice cream (well- some since the container was there). So I don't know the answer about when they can have freedom with sweets, probably when they can be responcible with the amount they consume and courteous of the others in the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 DD10 still asks unless everyone else is having some and then she can just tag along. She will stop needing to ask when she can be trusted to NOT eat ice cream just before dinner. :D :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 They can't have chocolate after dark. They can't eat sweets before breakfast or within an hour of dinner, but otherwise, they are free to eat what they want when they want. We talk a lot about food and nutrition. We have a large variety of food allergies along with some hypoglycemia and diabetes in the family so education about nutrition and food choice is important. We aim for healthy and balanced diets along with informed choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Our kitchen policy is more about timing and less about the actual food. No, my kids do not ask before they eat anything in our house, unless the item is running low and they ask if anyone else wants some before they finish it, etc. That said, they also know time for snack, sweets, treats, etc. is afternoon snack time/tea time. As each of us gets the afternoon munchies, we prepare a snack for ourselves. Thinking back, I prepared snack for my kids until they were ages 6 & 9 (still preparing for the 6yo, so I just made for both dc at once). We had discussions about what a serving is, where that label is on the box, about how many calories a reasonable snack should be, etc. Sometimes if I saw them piling their plate with too many goodies, we would revisit portion size and put some back. Now at age 11, my dd has friends over who can't believe she can just go into the kitchen, offer them a snack and prepare it, with no permission from me. If it's snack time, and I have snacks in the house, then I guess it's OK to eat said snacks at snack time :confused:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Anyone at my house who can clean it up well enough that I can't tell they've been there can have the run of my kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate CA Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 some sweets in your house (hot cocoa mix, ice cream, etc.); do you kids have to ask for it? At what age, if any, do they no longer have to ask? Hot cocoa is a different thing. We don't have it very often (I buy the big box from Smart & Final) and I have said they can have one a day. The time they have it is up to them. Ice cream is a different story - they all have to ask for that as we don't have it very often. Cookies are usually made by a big child, but they ask to make them and then we eat them pretty fast! LOL So it is a mixture of things. My children usually ask because I like them to and sometimes we save things for certain times or events and they know that. My oldest is 17. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 In the interests of fairness (one person not eating all of it), I put limits on these things. If they want more, they have to ask. The general rule is 1/day unless I've said otherwise. If I make brownies or cookies, it's usually 2/day unless you ask and I say yes. Each of the kids actually has a snack allowance of $2/week. They have no limits on the snacks they buy except that once it's gone, it's gone. My 13yo usually buys a bag of chips. My 16yo usually buys a box of ice cream bars every other week. Nobody can eat anybody else's personal snack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 DD12 knows she can have one sweet after lunch and one after dinner. At any other time she asks. (Or sometimes just "announces" to see if I will say anything. :001_smile:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) I expect free run of the kitchen will come at a later age for our clan merely because finances and family size dictate that sweets/treats must be limited as a whole. One pie = one snack. One batch of cookies lasts us about 24 hours. A container of ice cream would be 2 or 3 snacks. A bag of chips lasts one meal. Therefore, if one or two dc were eating treats when the others weren't, the others would most likely not get any or get much less. What is starting to happen, though, is my 9yo will ask to make treats for the family. Then we all partake. So, that's how our treat policy will probably look in the future. If someone is making treats, we partake at treat time. Treat time is usually in the evenings, but sometimes after lunch. Edited November 16, 2011 by 2squared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 We believe in self regulation. The philosophy might not work for everyone, but we found once they got sick from eating too many cookies, they will forever self-regulate themselves afterward. My children can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. If it's in the house and they can serve themselves, they can have it. - just like when I was a kid. OTOH, my dh was raised in a very strict sugar policy house and he still can not self-regulate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Yes, I have them ask. There are certain items that are without question accessible, such as cereal, granola, peanut butter, fruit, crackers, cheese, nutella (lol) .... I tend to leave the healthy items on the list of the unmonitored. I suppose this comes from my own badly taught food practices. I try and encourage the better choices by placing obstacles on the sweets. As for the age, I think it will be somewhere in their latter teens where the asking is not required. By then, they should make good choices. :) I still fuss at my oldest for trying to snack before dinner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 I'm sure that I sound like a food Nazi, but our kids ask pretty much before eating *ANYTHING* in our house. We are on a super tight budget and if someone eats something without taking into consideration what I might need it for OR that they've already had their "share", it just does not work. I don't like it to be like this, but it's the way it is. There are a few occasional exceptions, like when I buy something in bulk at Sam's Club like granola bars or fruit snacks and they can have those at snack time without worrying about shorting someone else. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 ds 8 has a little plastic drawer thingie in the sewing room where I keep snacks that he can have "whenever" (granola-poptarts-crackers-etc) but usually asks for things that are kept in the kitchen....sometimes he'll get it on his own w/o asking and as long as it's not right at mealtime it's usually OK-now he would have to ask for hot cocoa since he can't use stove by himself..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friederike in Persia Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I'm sure that I sound like a food Nazi, but our kids ask pretty much before eating *ANYTHING* in our house. We are on a super tight budget and if someone eats something without taking into consideration what I might need it for OR that they've already had their "share", it just does not work. I don't like it to be like this, but it's the way it is. There are a few occasional exceptions, like when I buy something in bulk at Sam's Club like granola bars or fruit snacks and they can have those at snack time without worrying about shorting someone else. LOL It's similar in or house, not because of money but because of availability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 We have three good, healthy meals a day, prepared by me, eaten all sitting down together. I do not allow any snacking in between meals, I don't believe it to be at all necessary. That's the way I was brought up and I'm healthy, energetic and have never been more than a few pounds overweight in my life. I'm very happy for the kids to help me prepare food. Some day one of them might prepare a whole meal (I won't hold my breath though :D), but it would be a meal for us all to share together. We don't do 'grazing'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I'm sure that I sound like a food Nazi, but our kids ask pretty much before eating *ANYTHING* in our house. We are on a super tight budget and if someone eats something without taking into consideration what I might need it for OR that they've already had their "share", it just does not work. I don't like it to be like this, but it's the way it is. There are a few occasional exceptions, like when I buy something in bulk at Sam's Club like granola bars or fruit snacks and they can have those at snack time without worrying about shorting someone else. LOL Similar to our house too, but not because of a super tight budget - just because they are used to asking. My oldest will ask for a glass of iced tea and I'll say "Of course, you don't need to ask." She'll respond with "It's just a habit." :D I think it is polite of her, but not necessary. Although, I did have to put a limit on the Halloween candy - for ALL of us. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Though I don't require it, both of my boys (12 and 17 yo) ask. I think it's an old habit, and I appreciate it. Even my husband will often ask something like, "Are these M&Ms intended for a recipe?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I'm sure that I sound like a food Nazi, but our kids ask pretty much before eating *ANYTHING* in our house. We are on a super tight budget and if someone eats something without taking into consideration what I might need it for OR that they've already had their "share", it just does not work. You don't sound like a food Nazi. You sound just like me, which seems rather normal from over here. :001_smile: This isn't how things worked for my childhood, but we only had two kids. Having a larger family has been an adjustment for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.