Mutiny @ Kid's Christmas Party

I was asked to be in charge of my 4th grader's Christmas Party, so I decided to do things a bit differently. His teacher wanted to do a brunch (which I thought was a neat idea), and parents came cooking bacon, pancakes, and a parent donated 36 Free Range eggs from their farm. We did make candy cane reindeer and ice a cookie (both to go home with the kids), but otherwise, we focused on keeping things (relatively) healthy.

Here are my observations:

1. The child who brought the eggs told me (several times) how much better free range eggs taste, and that he hates eating breakfast with friends whose parents feed them "store bought eggs.
2. We put out Vitamin D milk, Fresh Fruit, and Cheese Sticks and had the kids eat in courses. They all took fruit and cheese first because they were hungry, and we "Preloaded" them without their knowledge with the healthy stuff before we brought out the others. (Which all things considered were still healthy.)
3. The teacher, toward the end, stood near the line and asked that we give several of the students "a little extra" of the good stuff. Her comment to me later was that some kids really needed the breakfast food, and she was glad we had brought it in for them to have enough to eat that day.

So, my challenge to you is: Pre-load your kids- don't give them a choice- you will be glad you did when there are fewer tummy aches!

Kids will eat healthy foods if they are given some choices. Remember, they want the power to choose, but you can control what they are choosing from (chips or cookies vs orange or banana).

Remember the needy this Christmas break, not everyone will be feasting this holiday season.

Just some FOOD FOR THOUGHT!