by Shashank Gokhale

Created on: April 21, 2008

Kids eat ice cream so much faster than regular food

One of the headaches that most parents face is getting their kids to eat nutritious food. Yup, you got it, fruits and vegetables. I am still waiting for the day when my daughter will say to me - well, whine, but that's a story for later "I'm hungry. I want to eat some carrots and bananas". Noooo, I'm so used to hearing by now "I want some chocolate milk" or "I want a chocolate sandwich", peppered every so often with the "I want to eat ice cream right now". And this desire for junk food apparently seems to start in the morning. What are parents supposed to do?

First is the reasoning phase. "Dear, if you eat junk food on an empty stomach, your stomach will start hurting." Of course that hardly ever happens in real life, the stomach hurting that is, not the futile attempt of the parents to reason with a child.

Then comes the bargaining. "Okay, okay, I'll make a deal with you, if you eat everything I give you, then maybe later we will go get some ice cream." Little do we parents know that a child will hinge on every word that is a promise from the parent. Hours later, when you are winding down, and feeling happy that you got your kid to eat healthy food when you have forgotten the promise that you made to your kid, and are about to do something for yourself like read a book or lie down, you get to hear a small voice in the background, a nagging voice "You promised if I ate what you gave me, we would go and eat ice cream" You realize then that your tactic of making deals is always going to get the better of you. You quickly think up a new strategy. Whoever said parents don't learn from their kids.

Next plan. "We will go eat ice cream on one day of the week, but you have to be good and eat properly the rest of the week, and eat what we give you." Sounds good, right? This plan will definitely not fail. Or so you think. You keep your promise and every week, you take your kid to eat ice cream on that one day, say Friday, of course assuming that throughout the rest of the week the diet of vegetables and fruits is accepted without fuss. This routine goes on for a couple of weeks, and then, one fine day, a day which is not the designated Friday, your kid whines "I want to eat ice cream today. If you take me for ice cream today, I'll eat good food tomorrow and all the days till next Friday." Yup, your kid can make deals too, did you think you were smarter than your kid? Grow up! Anyway, getting back to the situation, initially

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