- Sammy may only have one bite of any candy, dessert, or other sugary sweet treat.
- Protein for breakfast every day. No more cereal for breakfast.
- Every day, including weekends, Sammy gets dressed immediately after waking up.
As Sammy has gotten older, her reaction to too much sugar has gotten more severe. The other day, I let her have a cup of hot chocolate (half a package of the powdered stuff) with no food to go along with it, and she was a monster until the moment she took a bite of yogurt. Then she became totally normal. The very next day we attended a birthday party, and since the children were only given about 10 minutes to eat their pizza, Sammy probably only managed to have 3-4 bites. (She'll take up to an hour to eat a meal if we let her.) Then they had cupcakes. Within seconds, the birthday girl (who ate 2 cupcakes!) turned from a sweet, calm little girl into some strange spastic creature who couldn't stop pointing and grunting and laughing maniacally. Sammy's version of the insanity was to throw a fit about getting her coat on and continue the pissy behavior for the next hour.
I noted a long time ago that Sammy's major shift into the tyrannical threes came at the same time she started school. Since then, I've noticed that the snacks at her school are always some form of carbs and sugar. Crackers and fruit, usually. I tried the "protein for breakfast" rule early on, but I gave it up because of the time involved in cooking eggs or sausage in the morning. But I think it's worth another shot.
And the getting dressed thing. Lordy lordy. That girl takes so long to get dressed, even when she is cooperating fully. She was 20 minutes late to the birthday party because she just wouldn't put on her pants. (Of course, she was exactly 20 minutes late because I had told her that if she made us more than 20 minutes late, we weren't going at all. I know she can't read a clock, but she can sure read her mommy.) I figure that it's best to get this particular hurdle over and done with before anything else, and when there is the least pressure to get out the door. Thank god for timers! They turn an hour long battle into a 20 minute bore, but I'll take it.
Hahaha. I could apply these three rules to my husband, right down to the getting dressed part. :)
ReplyDeleteTo save time in the mornings, you could make a bunch of poached eggs or baked eggs in a muffin tin one day a week, keep them in the fridge, and reheat as necessary. I made baked eggs recently with bacon wrapped around them and cheese on top. Very yummy!
Heather, Thanks for the tip on the eggs. I'll try that! I've never baked eggs before, so it should be interesting. The bacon and cheese will be great for variety.
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