Snack time! Wait! What do you have there! Sorry. No.

Geetle and Pookie are in Kindergarten. Different classes, different schools. One thing they have in common is the need to take a small snack to school each day. Pookie’s teacher asks that we send healthy things, but does not seem to worried about it in the end. I know for a fact that one of Pookie’s classmates has a bag of Cheezits, a Gatorade and 2 bags of fruit snacks for lunch every day and that is just fine. Food issues are common in children with autism, although Pookie eats like a horse. A culturally diverse and inquisitive horse. She knows they need to eat and that each kid has their own issues. She leads quietly and figures we parents will have to be trusted to balance a healthy diet with our child’s other issues.

Geetle’s teacher wants healthy snacks only. But nothing that has to be eaten with a spoon, like yogurt or applesauce. And nothing that requires preparation. And nothing that may be a healthy version of a traditionally unhealthy food. And nothing that takes longer than 7 minutes to eat. But, other than that…go wild!

So, where does that leave us? Crackers, cereal, raisins, granola bars and nuts. Actually I expect to be busted on the granola bars soon, since a granola bar is just a socially acceptable candy bar. Just as a muffin is just a cupcake with a good P.R. agent. I have some 100% juice fruit leather. Can’t send it. No “fruit snacks” allowed.

Its funny because what we are really fighting here is the IDEA that the snack might be unhealthy. You can send a 500 calorie piece of homemade banana bread loaded with oil and sugar, but not a 100 calorie pack of Oreo Thin Crisps. Prepackaged Peanut Butter Crackers are OK, even with their Trans Fat, but some 100% juice fruit leather is not. I know what is healthy. I am responsible for their entire diet. I would not let her eat candy for snack but I do allow granola bars, low calorie cookie packs, etc. I am on top of it. I swear. If her Tuesday snack is a bit questionable (which for us means Veggie Booty or Trail Mix with M&Ms) then she is probably having Mahi Mahi and Sweet Potatoes for dinner.

I understand, I guess. She is trying to simplify it for the kids. If it looks healthy it is. If it does not, it is not. But, wouldn’t it be better to educate them right from the bat? Even at age 5 they can understand about portion size, sugar, fats, etc. If we do not teach them this soon, they will be doomed to repeat that whole 1990′s Snackwell Cookie fiasco in which people consumed mass quantities of the cookies because they were “healthy.”

By the way, Geetle won a “prize” at school today. She is not sure how she won it. The teacher said the whole class got one and it was from the Principal. It had a masking tape label on it with her name, in perfect De’Nealian script. She thinks it was because they earned so many “High Fives” last week. Her prize? A can of Sprite. She wants to give it to Uncle Mark, since he is the only person she knows who drinks “lemon soda.” Geetle herself never touches the stuff. Hurts the tongue, you know. She also came home with 2 packages of fruit snacks, because today was TJ and Allison’s birthdays. On her birthday, screw the fruit snacks, I am sending Ding Dongs.

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