Alan & Brenda Leonard

1/19/03 12:26:

> He said he thought maybe so. That when kids have eaten "too much" sugar (by
> the parents' reckoning) that the parents LOOK for any "bad behavior" to prove
> that it was too much.
>
> I think that in a season when parents have changed rules and it seems like a
> holiday or something very new and different, that that alone might be enough
> to excite them. Any freedom a usually-limited kid gets is going to be
> stimulating and exciting. Maybe that is what causes the heightened mood.

This is certainly my experience. We go through regular changes around here
with Dad home, Dad home plus holidays, and Dad gone, and I see different
behaviours that come with eat "season". Some are good things, some are more
problematic.

In particular to Rebecca's issue, I see a couple of things: it's been 4
months that have included Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
Not the calmest 4 months of the year! Furthermore, changing the rules and
living calmly inside those new changes is one thing, but when outsiders like
grandparents and all make a big fuss that "WOW, you can have CANDY", it's
suddenly a much bigger thing. You might ask them to tame it down a bit, and
make sure they're not treating candy like it's anything more than another
food.

I bought two huge toblerone bars (400 grams each) at the after-holidays sale
a couple weeks ago. One was unwrapped so we could admire its size, and both
Tim and I ate a piece. That's all that's happened, and I've always had a
huge sweet tooth. But now that I've stopped torturing myself about it and
eating candy when I want it, I don't want it often. I just gave a way a
bunch of cookies that were going stale. The neighbor kids think I'm
wonderful now. ;)

brenda