That's so sad that the 1-year-old was also hooked on soda. Good planning with the proteins. We definitely have to work on the sweets around here. DS had nothing bad for him until he was 2, then it's sort of gone downhill. I partly blame the dairy allergy, because it didn't seem fair that he could have nothing when others were eating cake and cookies at birthdays/snack times, but that's no excuse. It's especially hard when mom is a major chocoholic...
My nephews - I had a rule about no candy in the house. I knew the kids would be breaking it when they would show up for dinner and not eat. I'd tell them "Inspection Time" and I'd have them clean out their rooms for me. We'd go through all their clothing and stuff. I'd know where it was when they would get real slow. LOL. Its was a constant battle, but they can only win at the margins now. When they visit, I get no resistance, and just have had one meltdown, even though their mom and dad still dote on them. One is now 16 and works out a lot and eats right on his own. We'll see about the others.
As to the foster kids - You have no idea. I could write a book on this.
One five year old boy that was with us for 6 months got placed with a family member who was close to the mom. His first comment was, "YEAH!!! Now I can stay up late and eat all the candy I want!!"
