I wanted to share a little story with this list to illustrate why I don't worry about not having food restrictions. For Christmas Beck received a huge 3 lb. box of chocolates and Dane got this big smiley face bank full of tootsie rolls. To this day Dane's bank is still full of candy and Beck's box has had 5 pieces eaten out of it...1 by Beck, 1 by Dane and 3 by me.

On the day the boys got the candy their cousins would not stop asking them "aren't you going to open that?" "Don't you want to eat your candy?" "Can I look at the candy again?" And on and on. My boys just kept shrugging and saying "No...I want to play with my games right now." or "I'll look at it when I get home." Or some such things.

The point I'm trying to make? It's just not an issue. I never could have made a box of chocolates last from Christmas to New Year's when I was a kid....I'm having trouble with it now! LOL My boys have never felt deprived of candy, or felt that there was something taboo and mysterious about it.

I also recently threw away a bunch of Halloween candy...everything Kirk and I didn't like and wouldn't eat. :o) For the boys the fun was in the trick or treating...not the actual candy. They came home that night...looked it all over....separated it out...then put it all back in the bag and barely touched it again. Their Christmas stockings are still full. And the Christmas bags (like a filled stocking from my parents) are still full also.

My boys regularly turn down ice cream, candy, cookies, cake, etc. People have actually been hurt by the boys turning down "special treats" they have bought for them. Would they always choose an apple over a cookie? No...but neither would I. But I do know that I don't worry about them being greedy about candy or gorging when I'm not around. I don't worry about them wanting to spend their money on candy and junk....like I did when I was a kid.

I know that we all have to make the decisions we feel are right for our own families...but for me...I know that not having food restrictions has worked in a positive way for us.