Sunday, September 7, 2008

It's hard to say, "No" all the time

I'm used to telling my kids, "No, you can't have that." on a daily basis. I do it without really thinking about it much anymore, but sometimes, it's just hard.

Today, when I dropped Lindsey off at Sunday school all the normal precautions were in place. The sign up sheet has her name listed in bold "no food coloring." I attached the extra alert clip to her clothing and let the staff know she should not eat the M&Ms or the red licorice. I said OK to sugar cookies and white frosting. It seemed simple and safe.

Then I picked Lindsey up after service and saw the bowl of frosting on the table. It was more yellow than white, a difference most people don't notice. A small difference makes a big difference sometimes. I'll watch and see what that little dose of yellow food coloring does over the next few days. She hasn't spit or hit since the last dose wore off.

It's ironic that I checked Pillsbury's website last week for frosting ingredients. I knew that even the white frosting lists artificial coloring (red #40 and yellow #5). I knew when I dropped her off I should have just said, "No frosting." But sometimes, it's just hard to say "No," so I didn't. Oh well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My children also react to artificial food dye's. I also hate to say no so much. Last Sunday we ate dinner at Outback. My family devoured 4 loaves of the bread. It looked very dark but a I took a chance. We came home and went to bed as it was late. After I put the kids to bed I researched the bread and discovered it is made with RED and BLUE dye. the next several days I dealt with crying and tantrums with the two youngest and my older child was very irritable. My aunt had read that dye can take three days to get out of your system. I have found that to be pretty accurate. Thanks for starting this blog. People need to be informed about this. Before I discovered the connection I dealt with so much more emotional behavior from my children and I just thought it was normal.

Ann (mom of three)

food dye diaries said...

Thanks for your comment, Ann. I've also heard the brown bread at the Cheesecake Factory contains red #40. I'm continually amazed that someone thinks we need color in things like bread. It's absurd!