Sunday, 22 June 2008
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The perils of school
My oldest son started school in December 2007. He needed speech therapy and some help with his social skills, so finally after 5 months of evaluations, a meeting, and waiting, he was able to start school. It's been great for him, but there was an unexpected side effect from school. He was exposed to some things that I would have rather he not be. On Fridays most weeks, as a special treat the teacher would show Disney movies. Cars, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and some children t.v. like Dora. I don't have a problem with Disney movies per se, it's all the marketing that bothers me. Dora, Lightning McQueen, and Buzz Lightyear paraphernalia are all over the place. I'd really prefer that my children not have a room decorated like a movie character. Fads change so fast. There's no way that I am going to change comforters every year based on who the movie character du jour is. I don't like trendy stuff. Typically when I take my children to Walmart, I steer clear of the toy section. I hate dealing with the gimmes. We don't buy a whole lot of toys for our children, just for their birthdays, typically we buy them a soccer ball or a bike or trucks or something that encourages them to be active. Where we have lived for the past 7 years, there is a paved area for riding bikes, a quad where children draw hopscotch grids in brightly colored chalk, a concrete climbing toy, a sand box, and lots of grass and flowers. I'm amazed by how much fun my children have with a bucket and sticks and shovels. When they were younger, we would take nature walks and I'd point out the squirrels, the birds, the bugs, and the flowers to them. Now they just want to ride their bikes and explore for themselves.
The other problematic thing that children are exposed to are preservatives. It seems like there are always birthday parties where parents put together goody bags full of candy. Every week my son would be learning a new letter and the teacher would have snacks on Wednesday, and on Thursdays and Fridays there would be some lunch. D is for doughnuts and Dorritos. B is for burgers at Burger King. I is for ice cream. I try to keep processed foods to a minimum, and sweets are typically cookies or cakes that I made from scratch. I guess there's only so much that a parent can protect their children from.
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Comments (3)
If I have a kids I think their rooms will be filled with books and not with things that deal with fads. Of course, the colors used and the details will be a demonstration of their personalities, but I have seen how peer pressure can start really early.
@CarmenDeBizet@xanga - All of the boys in B's class were wearing Cars sneakers. My husband found a pair for him one day at Payless for $5 or something like that and he started wearing them when he started school. But yeah, there is peer pressure even from that young age, these are boys ranging in age from 3.5-4+ years. As far as the kiddos rooms, I really wanted to try to make a quilt for them just so that they can have something original and not so mass marketed. Not that I have a ton of free time on my hands, but anyways...
I so agree with you on the whole processed food issue! I'm also a bit weary of sugar, so I try to limit his intake of that. My son is only 14 months old, and in Holland, where we live, lots of kids that age eat cookies every day, and sweet jellies and such on their sandwiches. I try to buy wholesome foods (healthfood store) that only contain sugar that is naturally there - like in preserves with no added sugar, for example.
It irks me that the daycare people don't seem to care so much about my rules - or even their own! The kids are supposed to get cookies only once a day, after their afternoon nap, but one day I was late in bringing my son to daycare, and lo and behold: they were having cookies with their morning fruit snack! These things just drive me up the wall... if they say they're going to have rules, they should stick to 'em!