A spoonful of sugar...

I write an editorial every fortnight for the Newspaper.
Originally I shied away from the job because, after writing almost every other part of the paper I thought, the last thing people would want was me writing about myself and my own ideas and opinions on top of that.
Instead, I find people stopping me in the street and saying the nicest, most inspiring things to me about the editorials I write.
Thankyou - to those people. When, one day, I finish writing for a living, I might just go on writing for love because of the confidence they have given me.

And, because often what I write I hate and then go back to years later and find seeds of inspiration in, I've decided to include some of my editorials in my blog.
Happy reading...

This morning I passed three little girls, all in a row like ducks, on their way to school...and every single one of them had a packet of Burger Rings in her hand.
All I could think was, somewhere, a primary school teacher was cursing those little girls’ mum.
You see, I know what happens when you feed kids that stuff - I’ve done the research, I’ve even experimented on my own little darlings.
I can tell you honestly that, when it comes to my kids, a can of Sprite equals two Caramello Koalas equals just five or six jelly beans...and it all equals demon-spawn tantrum hell for me.
What really surprised me though, when I started tracking the rubbish we were putting into our pre-schoolers, was that the canned pineapple on home-made pizzas can also send my kids troppo.
White bread hypes them up like fairy floss and some frozen vegies have more sugar in them, weight-wise, than Arnott’s Biscuits.
My father once overdosed the kids on boiled lollies and a five-day visit was over in just two-days.
On the other side of the coin - my sister-in-law tongue-lashed me once in a supermarket line-up because my "poor, neglected children" didn’t know what Tic Tacs were.
I stand by my choice though - I’ve got enough bad eating habits of my own. That’s one thing the kids aren’t going to inherit from me.
We all get the letters home about healthy lunchbox snacks - but if you really knew how much easier your life would be with a sugarless child, you’d throw those Tim Tams straight out the window.
But don’t take my word for it - test the theory yourself. Just one week of salad sticks and fruit snacks, pita breads and meals made from scratch. No softdrinks, no lollies, less cheese, less bread and no canned vegies.
Then, if it works for your family, here’s some hints to help you beat the sugar-induced Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde syndrome long-term.
Make your own food from scratch - not only is it better for you, its cheaper and you can always freeze off favourites.
Involve fussy eaters in growing their own vegies and fresh herbs. With shade and water you can grow capsicums, cucumbers, tomatos and snowpeas - and they do taste better.
Keep a big pile of ‘safe’ snacks like fruit, muesli bars and those crunchy soy crisps in an easily-reached cupboard that the kids know they can graze on any time of the day.
My kids have a cooking night with their Dad once a week and will always eat their own creations, even if it’s something new. But my advice...buy a two-handled mincing blade so littlies’ fingers are never near the knife.
Grab a healthy recipé book and make cooking dinner a family time. When you attach those good, social feelings to great, healthy food - well...you’ve already won half the battle.