17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Sunday, April 16, 2006

A lesson in sugar...

This past Easter weekend, I learned a valuable lesson. No, it was not about the resurrection, teaching my children reverence in sacrament, nothing related to the Easter holiday at all. Here is the lesson I learned:

DO NOT GIVE SMALL TODDLERS A LOT OF CHOCOLATE IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. There, that's the lesson.

We celebrated the commercial Easter on Saturday with Easter baskets and an egg hunt around 11:00 AM. The kids apparently ate more chocolate than we realized between their baskets and the hunt (we were distracted by the friends we had over) and were overloaded. Especially DD (she is 18 months old). Around 12:00, both kids melted down which was fine because it was naptime. It took 2 1/2 hours for DS (3 years old) to calm down sufficiently to take a nap. He was totally wired from the sugar. It took DD nearly 4 HOURS to relax enough to sleep. She would scream, yell, cry, sing, cackle...and repeat...for 4 hours. I went in there about 10 times and one time I swear she was possessed and speaking in tongues - it was totally weird. It sounded like Polish... Then she would lay on her back and kick the crib wall AS HARD AS SHE COULD. I seriously thought the crib was going to break. DH and I rolled our eyes at each other and threw up our hands. Good grief, will it ever end?

When the kids awoke from their naps they BOTH begged for candy, chocolate, anything sugary. To which I responded with a big fat "NO". There were a lot of tears (just from DD) and tantrums. My head was ready to explode. I ate their chocolate to make up for the pain.

Then I called a babysitter and we left at 7 PM until 11 PM. It was fabulous.Lesson learned: Do NOT give these people candy or chocolate...especially if you ever want them to sleep again. Learn from me...please...save yourselves...

posted by chloe @ 4/16/2006 09:54:00 PM   add to kirtsy


14 Comments:

  • I watched a segment on 20/20 (ABC) about sugar highs and how they are a myth. Of course I take all news media with a grain of salt...but if that is true... I am wondering if this was something to do with the caffeine in chocolate as opposed to sugar. I don't notice caffeine affecting me when I eat chocolate, but for a little body it probably has an affect. Maybe next year it will be all about raisins and carrot sticks!
    posted by Blogger Kage at 4/17/2006 04:31:00 AM  



  • *lol* Sugar highs are NOT a myth. I don't know where the scientists are getting that. Chocolate was never a big deal for me in terms of highs-- my fav. Halloween candies are Smarties (called Rockets here in the Great White North), Sweet Tarts, Gobstoppers and the like. If you give me enough of those I act drunk. Some of it could be psychosomatic but then how do you explain how crazy my 5-year old goddaughter went with just one roll of Smarties?? (Um, maybe more than one but not a lot!) The American Academy of Pediatrics says the craziness is caused by the excitment of the group and it's just kids being kids and their parents attributing the crazyiness to the sugar intake. My goddaugher and her mother were visiting us for the day. There were 3 adults and the one kid. She was not being over-stimulated; she was playing with model horses. I was on medication that was making my mouth taste horrible so I got out a pack of Smarties to cover the taste. The girl wanted some, I asked her mom, permission was given, candy was eaten and suddenly we had a manic giggler on our hands who was unable to sit still. No one had riled her up, she'd just been sitting there while we watched a DVD and suddenly she just lost it. It wasn't dinner time, nap time or bed time. The only thing that had changed was the sugar. It's not much as scientific studies go but it's enough for me! :)
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 4/17/2006 08:39:00 AM  



  • Funny you should mention the raisins Kage. DD went to a Easter party with friends where they dyed eggs and then had a hunt. instead of candy, they had raisins in the eggs (great plan, in my estimation). DD told the mother, "Raisins aren't treats!" Ugh. I have a sugar-a-holic on my hands.
    posted by Blogger Belle at 4/17/2006 09:39:00 AM  



  • I very seriously considered asking that my daughter NOT be given any candy in nursery, but I didn't.

    1--I didn't want to be one of THOSE moters, who has special instructions for everything and looks down their noses at the way "regular" people raise their kids
    2--I thought--it is nursery! They will have their snack and maybe the leader would have it be a little less nutritional than normal, but it won't be a big deal

    WRONG! Partly because we had so few people at church yesterday, my daughter got much more than her fair 19 months-old share of candy: 6 plastic eggs of jelly beans and a little basket of chocolates (from primary).

    Really, I know people were only sharing their love, but candy is SO unnecessary for a toddler.
    posted by Blogger ESOdhiambo at 4/17/2006 09:48:00 AM  



  • The Sugar high is a myth? Exactly what kinds of kids were those people studying-- genetic mutants?

    I will totally buy that caffeine plays just as big if not bigger roll in boosting the craziness, but a pack of Smarties and a bag of jelly beans definitely wreaks havoc on my family. Jacob didn't even have very much candy yesterday (I think we did pretty well--only one small bag of Jelly beans was consumed the whole day, and 4 adults helped!), but still, Jacob didn't wind down from the sugar until well after 10:00, 2 full hours ahead of when he usually goes down.

    Next they will be telling us that kids don't need moms--oh, wait, they've done that one already.
    posted by Blogger Heather O. at 4/17/2006 10:23:00 AM  



  • There is no way that sugar highs are a myth, at least in small toddlers. Just visit my house :)

    The interesting thing I have noticed today (the day AFTER much chocolate was consumed) is how DOWN my kids are. DS has been sitting on the floor now for 2 1/2 hours reading books and watching TV - poor kid doesn't have the energy to move. My DD just ASKED me to go to bed: "Nigh-nigh peeeeese?". And its only 10:30 AM.

    I think that they are crashing from their weekend sugar high. DH and I decided that today we will rid our house of ALL Easter treats (save a few select pieces for ourselves, thank you very much) and chalk to weekend up to a lesson learned.

    Sugar highs are NOT a myth.
    posted by Blogger chloe at 4/17/2006 10:43:00 AM  



  • Hey...I am not saying that I buy into it. They also interviewed a Doctor who said you could get your daily water intake from eating a slice of bread (and other foods). That your body would extract the water from the food you ate. I looked online but couldn't find the story...marian could probably find it in 7.2 seconds.

    I know carrie thinks sugar and Princess do not mix. I am sure that is probably why my Pukey has "mood swings" b/c I allow her to eat sugar. But she also eats a lot of fruits and veggies, so I figure it balances out.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 4/17/2006 12:57:00 PM  



  • A dietician I used to work for explained a little bit to me about how you can get hydrated from certain foods, I've heard that mint can quench your thirst, and I won't let my patients who need thickened liquids eat watermelon (it's basically water, and easily aspirated.) But a slice of bread? This I gotta see.
    posted by Blogger Heather O. at 4/17/2006 01:56:00 PM  



  • Okay, not sure if this is exactly what Kage watched, but here is a sugar story but I couldn't find the doctor with the water/food theory - sorry to let you down Kage!
    posted by Blogger marian at 4/17/2006 03:42:00 PM  



  • well done marian, that is definitely the story. The water and food thing was on another food myths segment....you did not disappoint.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 4/17/2006 04:01:00 PM  



  • I know this is off the topic, but Marian can seriously find ANYTHING. She once Mapquested me home when I was stuck somewhere in Utah...and she was in Vermont. She probaby works for NSA or the CIA and we just don't know it...yet...

    He he he. I'm on a sugar high right now...
    posted by Blogger chloe at 4/17/2006 05:13:00 PM  



  • Actually, to be annoyingly specific, I googlemapped you home - i'm not sure I could have done as good a job with Mapquest, doesn't have the smooth screen drag feature that Google Maps does. Now we're WAY off topic...
    posted by Blogger marian at 4/17/2006 05:35:00 PM  



  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 4/18/2006 02:00:00 PM  



  • Chloe,
    I love the "speaking in tongues" part. LOL.

    Michelle,
    I loved the days when raisins were considered a "treat". We are way beyond that here as well. But I can still convince Princess that homemade frozen yogurt pops are popsicles.

    I do think that sugar can have bad effects on children - physically and psychologically/behaviorally. I don't have any research article to back up my beliefs, just mu own personal observations. That said, I am still not one of the moms who never lets their kids have sugar. I just really try to monitor it. In a little body, a little sugar goes a long way.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 4/18/2006 02:01:00 PM  



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