Pop-tarts as her birthday gift. 11 year old's request.

24

Replies

  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.
  • I'm asking for Pop-Tarts in my Christmas stocking!
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.

    I agree. But she's not getting any of those for her birthday. She's getting a tablet for Christmas but she doesn't know that yet.
  • Wildflower0106
    Wildflower0106 Posts: 247 Member
    Nope, this seems about right. Definitely a good thing that she sees them as a treat. She probably said it because she can't access them easily so a birthday is a good excuse to get them!

    Food should never be called a 'treat'. If it becomes a reward or a treat, you're setting them up to use food in the wrong way later on, e.g. as a comfort or a 'reward' after a hard day, argument or any stressful/emotive situation.

    A treat and a reward are two different things. The words are not interchangeable, they have different meanings.

    OP: Sounds like your kid is developing a health relationship with food. You should be proud! Learning moderation ate her age is great. I always thought that if I would have learned it at a young age, I probably would have been able to control my weight better as a young adult.

    to this day the one thing I ask my mom for on my birthday is for her to bake me an apricot nectar cake! I have a couple of slices once a year and it tastes better than any cake or cookie I might have throughout the year.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 475 Member
    My only concern would be how incredibly lousy they are...especially when you live in France and could go to a Patisserie! I know, I know, what you can't have, you always want the most. My son doesn't ask for food for gifts, but his loving Grandma, ever concerned about his serious sweets deprivation, buys him a box of sugar cereal for his birthday. I usually end up throwing it away. The Kraft Macaroni and Cheese she sends him home with? We all enjoy that.

    It is a balance. Who knows if we are doing the right thing. God knows my kids loves all the junk I don't buy and have at home.

    We go to a boulangerie/patisserie every day after school - They get to buy one thing.
    Despite the rows of chocolates, eclairs, tartes, etc... These girls order:

    1) a mini quiche - This one hates sweets
    2) a cookie - nothing special

    Kids are strange. I'd buy the Tarte au Citron or Religieuse every time. Still have one every once in a while ... So their 4 o'clock is what they like.

    Good for them - I admire kids innate ability to know what they need. I don't encourage it enough by making them eat when they aren't hungry or things they don't want (guilty of that all the time). I DEFINITELY would not have your willpower everday though! Walking by is one thing...window shopping is a favorite pastime, but actually going in? And the smells? Ahhh, Millefeuille, Tart au Caramel, or just a Croissant. I get fat just thinking about it.

    Thanks for the vicarious pleasure.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.

    Yeah, refusing to buy a child an ipad isnt negligence OR sheltering them from technology. Are you sh!tting me.
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 442 Member
    Nope, this seems about right. Definitely a good thing that she sees them as a treat. She probably said it because she can't access them easily so a birthday is a good excuse to get them!

    Food should never be called a 'treat'. If it becomes a reward or a treat, you're setting them up to use food in the wrong way later on, e.g. as a comfort or a 'reward' after a hard day, argument or any stressful/emotive situation.

    A treat is not the same as a reward. A treat is a special thing we might have some times on a special occasion. A reward is like payment for doing something right.

    I agree food as rewards should be avoided but...saying you should never call a food a treat? If no foods are "special"...then are all foods ok all the time? Or do you subscribe to the "I only ever eat healthy foods and never indulge in anything yummy if it's not good for me" philosophy? Is cake allowed on birthdays? Or all the time? Or never? If its only allowed on birthdays...is that not a treat?

    No, it's not a 'treat', it's just birthday cake. My issue is attaching words to foods that invoke emotions which, in my opinion, gives food more importance - or more power - than it should have. Food, at the end of the day, is there to nourish us and keep us alive. Yes, some foods taste better than others and some definitely shouldn't be eaten everyday because they're bad for us.... and we call these 'treats'?

    How is giving you or your child something that is bad for their health a 'treat'? I don't 'treat' my son by giving him things that will rot his teeth or damage his health. I bring him to the playground, cinema, do arts & crafts with him.... You get the picture! Don't get me wrong, he eats 'junk' and I've never banned any food because that causes more problems again, but it's 'only' chocolate/candy/pizza or whatever. It's just food. As a result, he views it that way and can take or leave it.

    Edited to say sorry if I'm coming across as being a bit pedantic, it's just an issue that's very close to my heart.
  • Wetterdew
    Wetterdew Posts: 142 Member
    Funny story: when I was about 11 years old, one of my best friends gave me pop tarts as a joke birthday present. I unwrapped it and saw a box of them, which I had never even tried before. Taped to the underside was some money, it was a good laugh.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    I have mixed feelings - my daughter, 11, was asked by her grandfather what she wanted for her birthday (that's always a horrid question, btw) and answered:

    - fencing gloves
    - climbing shoes and/or a belt
    - pop-tarts


    Pop-tarts?!?

    Have I been raising my kids wrong? I know Pop-tarts are very difficult to get here in France so when we travel to the US we load up. Then they forget about them and the boxes sit in the pantry until I find them and eat them all. Slowly. Over time. They don't really desire them. But I'm now concerned that I'm depriving my kids. She didn't ask for the latest Asterix and Obelix book or an IPod or a phone (well, she asks for one every other hour). Too little pop-tart in their lives? I'm trying to raise them in an inclusive sense of various cultures so I brought back weisbursts and knodels last week. We buy Kefir too.

    Pop-tarts. Poor kid. I can see the scenario ... Years from now, "life was so hard with my father, we had to ask for pop-tarts as birthday gifts"

    My own father knows how to deal with these kinds of questions. He wrote back, "What flavor, what shoes and glove sizes?"

    I'm going to have to bring extra gummi bears next time I come from Germany.

    Maybe your daughter is awesome and is not being selfish by letting dad eat all the pop tarts? Maybe shes just asking grandpa for some of her own?

    Youre seriously overthinking this

    Maybe I'm seriously overthinking this?

    I'm thinking maybe she just likes pop-tarts.
  • FerretBuellerr
    FerretBuellerr Posts: 468 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.

    *sigh*

    Get your kid a book. Or an interactive toy that requires more than putting their fingers to a screen. Something that stimulates their mind, motor skills, or both. Maybe it's just me, but giving a young child a technological toy like a tablet or iPad is like setting them infront of a TV all day instead of actually playing with them - silly and somewhat lazy on behalf of the parent.

    I don't have kids, and I'm in no way an expert on child development apart from the psycology classes I've taken, but damn...why does a 3 year old need a tablet? I just don't get it. They have LOTS of time to become accustomed to technology, and we've already become a society EXTREMELY dependent on technology, and that is foolish to be that dependent on anything, in my opinion. At least dependent on something you don't necessarily need.

    I would rant more, but, I will probably just look worse than I already have.

    OP I think you're doing a fantastic job raising your daughter, and I think that's adorable that she asked for Poptarts. I would think it's strange too, but since it's something she doesn't get very often, it makes sense in my mind why she asked for it. Reminds me of the Dutch chocolate letters my mom would always put in my stocking for Christmas - that special chocolate treat I only got once a year, or on a special occation.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    You might be overthinking this. She's 11. When my grandson was 11 he put "a $100 bill" on his Christmas list. :ohwell:
  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 770 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.

    My god, you're right! It's right up there with not feeding or interacting with your kids.
  • I'm guessing your daughter sees pop tarts like I see Belgium or Swiss chocolates. A delicious treat, but with no international good market within walking distance, and I'm not fond of ordering food from amazon, difficult to come by. I'd let her have them, explain that they are treats, and talk about the serving size. I know that Belgium and Swiss chocolates compared to American milk chocolate has a different serving suggestion-especially when looking at the calories.
  • ktsimons
    ktsimons Posts: 294 Member
    Nope, this seems about right. Definitely a good thing that she sees them as a treat. She probably said it because she can't access them easily so a birthday is a good excuse to get them!

    Food should never be called a 'treat'. If it becomes a reward or a treat, you're setting them up to use food in the wrong way later on, e.g. as a comfort or a 'reward' after a hard day, argument or any stressful/emotive situation.

    A treat and a reward are two different things. The words are not interchangeable, they have different meanings.

    OP: Sounds like your kid is developing a health relationship with food. You should be proud! Learning moderation ate her age is great. I always thought that if I would have learned it at a young age, I probably would have been able to control my weight better as a young adult.

    to this day the one thing I ask my mom for on my birthday is for her to bake me an apricot nectar cake! I have a couple of slices once a year and it tastes better than any cake or cookie I might have throughout the year.

    OHHHH, I would ask for that too, if my mom could cook!! LOL Sounds awesome!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.
    Yes. Because since none of those things even existed when I was 3, I have no idea how to use them now.

    What is the Internets things people keep talking about? Smart phone? Does it talk to you and make you dinner? Eh?
  • mrsamanda86
    mrsamanda86 Posts: 869 Member
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    My son would get laughed at SO HARD in his face for asking for those things lol

    My kid is the same, wants pop tarts, so I buy them, and then they sit in the pantry for a WHILE until I make him eat them just so we can be rid of them lol

    You'd laugh in your kids face for asking for an ipad? My 3 year old neice has a tablet.. Sheltering kids from technology is pretty much negligence.
    Yes, I would. Very loudly in fact. And then my husband would join me in the laughter. My son plays on my phone and the xbox and the computer when we let him, but I don't see him needing his own ipad at 6 years old. He will also not have his own cell phone until he is old enough to get a job and pay for it. We MAY get him like a prepaid one to give him ONLY when he's going out somewhere, but that's about it. Kids don't need hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of technology to learn, or to play. It's called reading some books, playing with some toys, and going outside or to the park. We have more than enough electronics in our house, and my kids both know how to use them(6 and the 3 year old) but they aren't just going to be on them enough to compensate for spending the money for them to have their own.
  • haha when I was 11 I asked for beanie babies... She just probably equates pop-tarts with things she loves and would want! :)
  • KeViN_v2pt0
    KeViN_v2pt0 Posts: 375 Member
    I have mixed feelings - my daughter, 11, was asked by her grandfather what she wanted for her birthday (that's always a horrid question, btw) and answered:

    - fencing gloves
    - climbing shoes and/or a belt
    - pop-tarts


    Pop-tarts?!?

    Have I been raising my kids wrong? I know Pop-tarts are very difficult to get here in France so when we travel to the US we load up. Then they forget about them and the boxes sit in the pantry until I find them and eat them all. Slowly. Over time. They don't really desire them. But I'm now concerned that I'm depriving my kids. She didn't ask for the latest Asterix and Obelix book or an IPod or a phone (well, she asks for one every other hour). Too little pop-tart in their lives? I'm trying to raise them in an inclusive sense of various cultures so I brought back weisbursts and knodels last week. We buy Kefir too.

    Pop-tarts. Poor kid. I can see the scenario ... Years from now, "life was so hard with my father, we had to ask for pop-tarts as birthday gifts"

    My own father knows how to deal with these kinds of questions. He wrote back, "What flavor, what shoes and glove sizes?"

    I'm going to have to bring extra gummi bears next time I come from Germany.

    Maybe your daughter is awesome and is not being selfish by letting dad eat all the pop tarts? Maybe shes just asking grandpa for some of her own?

    Youre seriously overthinking this

    Maybe I'm seriously overthinking this?

    I'm thinking maybe she just likes pop-tarts.

    h7CC387FD
  • I like her list. It's activity based with a side of yumminess. You can't go wrong with that.
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 442 Member
    I have mixed feelings - my daughter, 11, was asked by her grandfather what she wanted for her birthday (that's always a horrid question, btw) and answered:

    - fencing gloves
    - climbing shoes and/or a belt
    - pop-tarts


    Pop-tarts?!?

    Have I been raising my kids wrong? I know Pop-tarts are very difficult to get here in France so when we travel to the US we load up. Then they forget about them and the boxes sit in the pantry until I find them and eat them all. Slowly. Over time. They don't really desire them. But I'm now concerned that I'm depriving my kids. She didn't ask for the latest Asterix and Obelix book or an IPod or a phone (well, she asks for one every other hour). Too little pop-tart in their lives? I'm trying to raise them in an inclusive sense of various cultures so I brought back weisbursts and knodels last week. We buy Kefir too.

    Pop-tarts. Poor kid. I can see the scenario ... Years from now, "life was so hard with my father, we had to ask for pop-tarts as birthday gifts"

    My own father knows how to deal with these kinds of questions. He wrote back, "What flavor, what shoes and glove sizes?"

    I'm going to have to bring extra gummi bears next time I come from Germany.

    Maybe your daughter is awesome and is not being selfish by letting dad eat all the pop tarts? Maybe shes just asking grandpa for some of her own?

    Youre seriously overthinking this

    Maybe I'm seriously overthinking this?

    I'm thinking maybe she just likes pop-tarts.

    Lol!

    Issue resolved, me thinks ;)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I think it's awesome. It means it's a rare treat to make that list.
  • ThatSoundsHard
    ThatSoundsHard Posts: 475 Member
    Kids are hilarious!
    Poptarts is probably the best thing I've ever heard included on a birthday list.
    Bahaha! I like her birthday list much better than my 6 year old's. Her list includes a smart phone, an iPad, and a laptop! :noway:

    This is scary! Ipads, smartphones and laptops. That's crazy!
    Lol. My little girl is going to be 6 soon and her list does include a tablet. Not an ipad, mind you, she doesn't know what apple is.I don't think I'd ever buy her something that expensive. But it also includes other things like a toy phone to call Cinderella with, a toy samurai sword and stuffed puppies and kitties.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    What is it about pop tarts? She lives in the country that invented pastries, but yet she craves pop tarts. I need to get into the pop tart cartel.
  • tmpecus78
    tmpecus78 Posts: 1,206 Member
    if they fit her macros, I see nothing wrong with it! :drinker:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    What is it about pop tarts? She lives in the country that invented pastries, but yet she craves pop tarts. I need to get into the pop tart cartel.
    I was never much into them, personally. And they have gelatin, so I can't eat them now, anyway.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    You need to start importing Pop-Tarts and selling them for ridiculous prices. That's what I learned from this post.
  • How about instead of buying poptarts at the store. Offer her an afternoon of making her own poptarts with pie dough and fresh fruit that you mashed up (i.e. apples and strawberries) that way you can control the sugar. There is also sugar free frosting out there you could dilute and drizzle lightly over the tart. They also have those mini fold over pie thingies. tell her she can make healthier choices by making her own without the chemicals. She'll have a great time cooking with you and learning also. You can also freeze them for later http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=pocket+pie+molds&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3480125210&ref=pd_sl_1m8tggnhcz_b
  • rainunrefined
    rainunrefined Posts: 850 Member
    I think you are doing it just right! She sees the Pop tart as a treat. What better time to expect a treat than your birthday? And who better to indulge a little girl than her grandfather. I think it's sweet.

    Exactly!
  • j75j75
    j75j75 Posts: 854 Member
    Seriously?? Fencing gloves and climbing shoes?? You are definitely doing it right. Most kids here in the US are asking for smartphones, tablets, and other electronic gear that just adds to their already sedentary lifestyle...
  • tmpecus78
    tmpecus78 Posts: 1,206 Member
    Poptart-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-600x532.jpg

    Best Thing Ever.

    I'm flapping right now! :love: