I recently watched a video of a little girl being offered every kind of sweet treat imaginable—chocolates, candy bars, lollipops. She pushed them all away and lit up only when someone handed her a bowl of broccoli.
The caption read: "These parents are superheroes."
And honestly? They probably are.
But what about the parents who want to raise their children that way but simply can't, despite their best efforts?
When C was two and a half, she had never tasted chocolate. She didn't know what candy or lollipops were. I was secretly proud of that. I felt like I had successfully kept the "sweet monster" at bay.
Then reality stepped in.
One day, we were at a store, and the shopkeeper offered her a candy. Being the well-mannered child she was, she simply gave it to me. This was a bit of a surprise to the shopkeeper. I put it in my purse and she forgot about it. I remember feeling extremely proud that day.
Unfortunately, it isn't allowed to end in such a simple way :).
I started seeing a pattern soon. Everywhere we went, someone offered her a treat. At shops. At family functions. At friends' houses. Even visitors arriving at our home. They offered or brought chocolates. And I started wondering, why and how have we linked sugar with kids?
For a while, I managed to distract her and quietly stash the treats away. But curiosity eventually won. She wanted to know what all the fuss was about.
And once she discovered that chocolate was sweet, there was no going back.
When I occasionally refused, the responses were predictable:
"Oh, she's just a kid. Let her enjoy."
"Poor thing. Why are you restricting her?"
"You're stopping her from enjoying her childhood."
But why do we automatically feel sorry for a child whose parents don't want them getting addicted to the sugar high at such a young age?
What exactly is so beneficial about candy?
Most candies are little more than sugar, colours, flavours, and preservatives. They're designed to be irresistible, not nutritious.
Yet somehow, the parent who limits them is often viewed as unreasonable.
The irony is that I don't even have to leave my house to encounter these debates.
When she was younger, I was fairly strict about sweets and screen time. I still am, but it was stricter back then. My mother on the other hand believed that everything is fine in moderation. Chocolates, ice cream, junk food—nothing is off-limits as long as it's occasional. I agree with this theory now, for a tween. But for a 2-3 year old?
No, don't get me wrong, I understand her perspective.
Grandparents show love differently.
My parents, my in-laws, relatives, friends—many of them express affection through treats. Refusing every chocolate or candy can sometimes create more tension than it's worth.
So yes, despite my best intentions, my daughter gets her share of sweet treats.
And that's exactly my point.
Parenting doesn't happen in a vacuum.
We all have our ideals. We all imagine the habits we'd love our children to develop. But we're also raising our kids within families, communities, cultures, and social expectations. Sometimes compromise becomes part of the journey.
Yet society has a funny way of judging parents from both sides.
Try to limit sweets, and you're accused of being too strict, too controlling, or of depriving your child.
Then a video appears online featuring a child who happily chooses broccoli over chocolate, and suddenly everyone applauds the parents for their discipline and commitment.
So tell me:
If my daughter chooses chocolate over broccoli, does that make me any less of a superhero?
Or does it simply make me a parent doing my best in the real world?
– The Mother Duck Says 🦆
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