Feb 16 2009
Manic Monday: Candy
Prompt by Mo of Manic Monday .
I haven’t been able to come up with anything for the last couple of Manic Monday prompts, but finally, I’m back in the game. Today’s word is candy.
We managed to get through Valentine’s Day with a minimum of candy incursions into Gus’s diet. MM came home with a dragon’s hoard of candy, which I quickly had to confiscate. So much for the ‘healthy’ drive at her school. She ate more candy last Thursday than she, cumulatively, in several months.
We learned something interesting when we went to Gus’s school though. While he wasn’t bombarded with Valentine’s candy (because he was home sick) it has been suggested to his teacher that he be given Starburst as a motivator. This came from the behaviorist. Because of his oral sensory issues, chewing on something helps him to focus. He likes Starburst. So that seemed like the best choice on short notice. Carrots were another option, but since he tends to hum when he’s eating them (maybe the crunchiness is a factor?) it’s distracting to the other students. Since the Starburst is working, I don’t really want to step on the teacher’s toes, but at the same time, I don’t want him eating candy. He doesn’t process sugar well.
We came to the agreement that she will try to get him to chew fruit flavored sugarless gum (Wrigley’s Extra recently came out with a line) to see if that can replace the candy. If not, I may allow the Starburst, although I will dislike it.
Any thoughts on what he can chew (he likes fruity flavors) that won’t wreck his teeth and send him into overdrive in the afternoons? Ideas would be much appreciated, and I’ll thank you in advance if you leave a comment!
P.S. A word on comments: all comments are moderated, so if they don’t show up right away, don’t fret. They will as soon as I approve them!
The gum sounds good. I’ve never even tried giving my son gum. It’s great that your son knows not to swallow it.
If you’re going to go with sugar-free stuff, what about sugar free taffy? It’s pretty similar to Starburst but may be even chewier. I don’t know if they make sugar free licorice or not, but that could be another option.
What about liquid refreshment? I’ve been giving my son sugar free Kool-Aid juice bags, mostly just for school and outings, because he was gaining too much weight drinking full-calorie 100% juice and I definitely did not want to give him juice with high fructose corn syrup in it either. So, I compromised and now he drinks the 10 calorie juice which I think tastes completely disgusting, kind of like drinking liquid jello, plus it has tons of food coloring in it which turns my son’s poop a seriously neon green color. But, he doesn’t seem to mind any of that and it hasn’t seemed to affect his behavior or learning curve.
I’m assuming they were baby carrots that you were talking about? Would it help if the carrots were shredded or ruffle-chipped? Do you think your son might like dried coconut shreds? It’s kind of fattening, but it does have an interesting texture and it is used as an ingredient for sweets. I’m not sure if it would have any particular nutritional benefit other than just not being Starburst.
The foods my son will work for are potato chips (I know, soooo bad for you) and sometimes graham crackers.