disorganization boyscout: Everything in Moderation ? Even Junk Food and TV ? Simple ...

Everything in moderation.

I?ve both heard and said this phrase many, many times ? I?m guessing you have too

It is true, you know.

Well, OK? maybe not EVERYTHING. But I think this phrase definitely applies to things like eating junk food and watching TV.

For example, we had friends growing up who were never allowed to watch TV at home ? and I?m sure you can guess what they wanted to do every time they came over to our house. Even if we had a new game or if it was a beautiful day outside, all they wanted to do was watch TV.

We had other friends who were not allowed to eat ?junk food?? ever! So of course, whenever they came to our house, all they could think about was?eating sweets ? and they went crazy. My sisters and I would have one or two cookies, they would just keep eating cookies. It?s all they could think about.

No, I?m not saying we should all sit around watching TV and eating junk food all day ??I?m simply trying to make the point that everything in moderation can be OK.

Obviously, my parents were not perfect ? Dave and I won?t be either ? however, we?re not planning to make any extreme rules for our children like ?no TV? or ?no junk food?. We will most certainly have times when the TV is turned off and times when we say no to cookies and candy, but we won?t completely ban them all together.

Why?

Because we both enjoy watching a little TV and eating our favorite fast food? and we both feel?that everything in moderation is probably OK.?

Are you sensing the theme of this post yet?

We know lots of parents who vow to never let their children watch TV or movies, never eat at McDonald?s, never eat anything with high fructose corn syrup, never eat anything other than organic produce, etc. etc.

Obviously, I don?t know everything about parenting, but whenever the word ?never? is used, I pretty much disregard anything that comes after it. So while I smile and nod, realizing that these parents are just trying to protect their children, I also know that it will be nearly impossible for them to follow through on any of their statements.

Will their kids actually be harmed by eating a handful of McDonald?s french fries or watching one TV program?

Nope.

Will their kids grow into horrible people if they take one bite of ?non-organic? produce or eat a few chocolate chip cookies?

Not a chance.?

We?ve already let Nora chew on a few French fries and she?s swallowed more than a few bites of ice-cream ? and her doctor continues to rave about how healthy she is at every single check up.

And I?ll be honest, we watch a fair amount of TV.

Since she rarely ever takes naps, TV is one of the only ways she will sit quietly for even a few minutes.?She absolutely loves almost any show on PBS and she dances non-stop to the Baby?Einstein?DVDs.

I used to feel bad about letting her watch TV ? I felt like I should be able to keep her entertained on my own. But after days and days of no naps, there isn?t much you can do with infants to keep them occupied all day long. We go outside as much as we can, but when it?s raining or freezing cold, my options are definitely limited.

So I?ve cut myself some slack and realize that watching a couple Baby Einstein DVD?s each day is not going to kill her ? and if that?s what it takes to save my sanity, that?s what we?re going to do!

I suppose some of the biggest lessons I?ve learned in my first year of parenting are?

there?s a pretty good chance nothing will happen like I thought it would
I have to be OK with this and willing to change/alter my plans {still SO hard for me}
stop stressing, everything in moderation is just fine

Nora will not grow up to be a horrible person because we let her watch TV and she will not be unhealthy because we let her eat junk food.

Period!