When it comes to my child's school snacks or ba-on, I go from one end to the other. Meaning, I have this royal debate going inside my head that is driving me nuts. Lately I've become a little numb.
On one end is the progressive, informed, sophisticated mom who will not allow her child to be fed junk and highly processed food and drinks just for the sheer convenience of it. This is the kind of mom who wakes up a li'l earlier to prepare healthy snacks for her child, who has all her ingredients cut-up and ready for quick cooking or heating at the start of the day, and who has mastered her child's eating habits that no ba-on is wasted or left to be feasted on by a less discriminating classmate.
Sure I'm that kind of mom some of the time. Maybe when the moon is blue. But there's that other end where lives the kind of mom who buys her child bags full of junk food, candy and tetra packed drinks enough to last him a week or two. She is budget-conscious and at least more responsible than that mom who just gives her ten year-old money so that he can buy whatever he wants be it junk food, pets or high powered machine guns.
I've been all of the above and that royal debate is still on. Mom No. 1's efforts is laudable and very ideal, but I don't know many working moms who don't have househelpers who can be consistent with this. I'm talking about snacks, not lunch, and I don't think it's fun for the child to be snacking on the same kind of sandwich day-in and day-out. This is where the "trading" usually happens. Que horror! Your child could be snacking on a reheated siopao bought a week ago because he just wants to taste something else other than your mayonnaise and cheese sandwich that he has for ba-on for the last four months.
Mom No.2 like I said is budget conscious so when it comes to school snacks, there's no second guessing, Potato Chips -MWF, Cheese Balls-TTh. Her grocery bill is consistent and she doesnt worry whether the Potato Chips will taste better today and bland tomorrow, or her child's drink having less sugar today and very sweet tomorrow. Mom No. 2 is set for the whole week and her snacking solution works like a well-oiled machine. In a few years perhaps she will just deal with her child's kidney or UTI or sodium problem, but, that's not likely to happen very soon. She will deal with that kind of thing later.
Mom No. 3, has Mom No. 2's problems and more. But her child is happy because he's buying and eating what he wants. He can save some of the money he has and spend some on the things he wants to buy anyways. Mom No.3 is worry free and is even teaching her child how to manage his very own "allowance" early on. She just has to monitor his spending and the food that he ate.... if she has the time. Uh huh.
So there you go...that's my snacking dilemma.
At the moment, I'm working with my child to be the effective Mom No. 1. He makes my life easier because he says what he wants to have as ba-on and I can have it all prepped at the start of the week, no sandwiches, mind you. He wants rice and a light viand. Well and good.
I just don't know how long the moon will stay blue.
No comments:
Post a Comment