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A SUGARY RIDE

A SUGARY RIDE

Mom always gives her young kids a piece of candy to keep them quiet when situated in their car seats while riding in the car.

She is conscientious when it comes to her youngsters having the best.  She knows to protect them should any kind of hazard on the road put them in harm’s way.

“I don’t fool around when it comes to my kids’ safety, health, recreation or anything else that would make them suffer,” she said with great pride and a very noticeable I know what’s best attitude.

Mom told me she had paid upwards of $300 for each of the Britax Advocate Click Tight car seats her candy-sucking offspring are strapped into as she drives them hither and yon.

It’s been years since I’ve been the overseer of a kid in a car seat so I know nothing about this Britax Adocate of hers that cost as much as a car I purchased back in the 60‘s

Things have changed a lot since the “old days,”  but the ills of what candy does for – or better said – against, children’s teeth has remained constant in the minds of many parents.

We been told by the elders, and maybe it isn’t true at all, that candy is too much sugar, it rots teeth and it causes cavities.  Another question is raised  about this safe and quiet ride in the luxury car seats, and that is: how okay is it for her to bribe the kids with sugar?

The American Academy of Pediatrics says it isn’t okay because “If you position candy as the ultimate goals in your child’s mind, then it can be detrimental by causing a reward relationship with food.”

Heaven forbid!

Reports say with one in three American kids being classified as obese, childhood obesity has become the number one health concern of parents.

But Mom has her eye on everything that provides safety for her kids.

But the truth about this ride in their luxury seats is that it isn’t just candy that’s keeping her kids quiet; they’re working the latest electronic gadget that’s keeping young  thumbs busy to the constant sound of their jaws perpetually sucking up sugar.

This Post Has 4 Comments
  1. Candy ? that’s horrible .

    No electronic devices either ~ just let them look around at the world going by .

    -Nate

  2. My grandson weighs more than 40 lbs. and isn’t age 3 yet. He’s not at all obese; his dad is tall and the tyke is the height and weight of a 5-year-old. I say this because he is, like very single member of my family, a bit stubborn. He can easily climb in his carseat by himself, and once he gets there, it takes no bribing to keep him sitting quietly. But it does take a bribe to get him to get in by himself. I can’t lift him except in an emergency, and I wanted to encourage him to get in by himself, so I keep a container of goldfish or trail mid in the front seat. He climbs in the car, gets a drink of water and grabs the container, hands it to me, gets in his carseat, sits, and I give him some goldfish. The container goes back in the front seat, I strap him in, and we are good to go. Is this a harmful bribe? I don’t think so; I think of it as more of a routine. For a long time, I was the only one he would cooperate with in getting into the seat by himself. Again, once he’s in it, there is no problem with his behavior.

  3. Like you it has been a long time since I’ve worried about car seats in fact when I was raising my own there were no car seats. There were no rules and yet the children sat in the back seat, and guess what we talked sang songs, and played road games we interacted.
    I cared for a girl not to long ago and my job was to transport her to her activities while Mom worked. again she knew the car would not start unless everyone was buckled up. We sang songs went over the alphabet, talked about the day.
    Funny but since I wasn’t familar with the electronic games we didn’t have them. We ate when we got home, there was always a small bottle of water for her to drink. So kids can enjoy the ride without candy and or electronic games.

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