It’s all very well to keep your kids sugar-free at home, but what happens out in the REAL WORLD, people?
Like: The world of children’s parties?
Sugar. Sugar happens.
This week on This Glorious Mess, a delicate quandry.
Parent Alyssa stumped us by asking; whose rules do you follow when you’re looking after someone else’s kid?
She was in charge of taking her six-year-old, the daughter of a friend, to a birthday party. The friend’s daughter comes from a sugar-free house of health.
And as soon as they got to the party, she went all Winnie-The-Pooh-in-a-honey-pot-kinda-crazy. She tore around the party throwing jelly snakes and cake into her mouth with the fervour of a Boxing Day sale.
Listen to the dilemma, and the opinions on it, here:
And then, a few hours later, she was sent home full of chocolate. Alyssa said nothing. She skedaddled out of there before the mum even had a chance to look at her precious baby’s dilated pupils.
Whose rules do you follow in this situation? Should you have to follow children who aren’t yours around a party that also isn’t yours, and make sure their blood-sugar remains steady? Are you supposed to hover and push carrots over cupcakes? Spirulina over smarties?
If it’s an allergy, fair enough. But when it’s not, when it’s a “lifestyle choice”, what then?
Andrew Daddo has been in this situation.
So has Holly Wainwright.
And it’s tricky, because should you respect another parent’s rules when you’re looking after their child?
This week on This Glorious Mess, the four word conclusion from our “experts”.
Need more child advice? Ask Mia Freedman:
Got a dilemma too? We can’t help you. That’s the kind of podcast This Glorious Mess is, really.
It’s not for perfect Instagram parents or experts. It’s about the mess and chaos, the dilemmas and weird stuff, and the funny moments in family life. ‘Cos, shit, we’re all in this together.
Listen to the full episode here here:
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What do you think?
Top Comments
A little perspective here - as a responsible person you'd probably keep an eye on them and make sure they didn't eat too much, maybe guide them towards better options or suggest they slow down a little bit if they are hitting the sweets too hard. The title says "I fed a sugar-free child all the cake in the world". That's really wrong and spiteful. I'd hope a person like that never came near my children.
As an aside - my kids generally vomit if they have too much junk food. Really wish this kid had spewed on this inconsiderate carer. Maybe then they would have realised how ignorant they were.
Did the others parents tell you what are the rules? So you would have a chance to discuss it? Otherwise my house - my rules.
Kids can very well differentiate between different rule sets if various set ups like grandparents, friends, school etc.