The Toddler Brain Wants MORE MORE MORE

We all have a toddler brain inside of us that wants to feel good, indulge in pleasure, and eat cake.

 

We were at a 5 year old birthday party a Saturday or so ago and my daughter did a stellar job in allowing me to help her regulate her toddler brain when it came to the food offered at the birthday party. We walked around the party when we arrived and she commented on “all the sugar” that was offered. She looked at the table of snacks and said, “I think I am not going to have all the foods in the bags, but I think I am going to have a little cake, and maybe also a little of the fruit.” I replied, “That sounds like a great plan.”

 

She ate a couple pieces of fruit and then went to engage in the arts that were provided at the party. An hour later she said she was wanting a snack and asked, “How about a yogurt or a juice drink?” I said, “Sure how about the juice box?” (The yogurt was sugar flavored.)

She drank her juice and went back to the art.

 

Forty minutes later it was time for cake. We all circled round and sang happy birthday and the cake was served.

 

My man commented, “She is eating a lot of cake.” “I replied, “Do you want to go help her?”

 

Be on Her Team

He started to over to her and I said, “Go be on her team.” He turned and looked at me.

I shared with him that we talked about it and she is open to not having a lot of cake and said again, “Be on her team.”

He nodded.

 

He walked over to her and as he approached she looked up. He offered something along the lines of, “Do you want me to take your cake?” And I watched her easily hand up her cake with a gesture of “I’m done.”

 

My daughter is nearly six herself and we are having talks about how sugar (especially man-made sugars) are designed to be addictive and our brain wants more more more and how it is hard for all of us to stop.

 

One of the most important pieces of conscious food choices is understanding what is happening in our brains and learning how to talk back to our brain to overcome that over-desire we feel when it comes to processed sugar (and screens).

 

“Tools, not Rules”

One of my main goals with my daughter is to catch my own desire to control and restrict her food. Because where there is restriction there is rebellion. The last thing I want is to create a rebel that when away from me over-indulges in processed sugars. Instead, I aim to give her tools to choose foods that nourish her body.