My Snobbish Children

I used to talk about people on foood stamps - how all they used to buy their children was fruit drinks and hotdogs. Now, as a mom of three children under four, I realize how expensive it is to buy good food for your children. Juice alone (100% juice, not juice drink or juice cocktail) cost anywhere from 2 -3.49 per 1/2 gallon - more expensive than gasoline! Now if you've only got a few hundred for the MONTH and trying to feed three little ones, forget it. You're picking up the cheapest stuff possible to make that food stamp last. It's such a shame because the poor nutrition these children are receiving is directly correlated with their performance and their basic ability to perform in school - who the heck can think straight on a belly full of fruit punch soda and a honey bun, where child in the next seat has had oatmeal, bacon/eggs toast and orange juice for breakfast. How sad that No Child Left Behind doesn't cover breakfast foods also.

That being said, the family attended a storytelling session sponsored by my local Mocha Moms. The refreshments included a choice between fruit punch w/ .02 percent juice (but oh, so sugary sweet and good, admit it!!!) and apple juice. I tried to pour some of the fruit punch for my children - since they only have 100% juice at home, i figured they would appreciate the surgary goodness. Heck , no. "Mommy,I want apple juice. I don't want red juice". I had to shake my head and my nearly empty wallet (well, my husbands nearly empty wallet). They won't eat canned spaghetti- Now they're Don Coreleone, right? "We want hot pasta, mommy. Can you boil some water?" Oh, how about McDonald's? "No, mommy, can you cook us a burger?". For lunch- How about a baloney sandwich (my secret vice, along with the sugary goodness of the red juice) " No mommy, can I have natural peanut butter and jelly?"

Yes, my crunchy, nutrition oriented children resist my attempts at tempting them with