My Rocket has a sugar intolerance. Unlike mine (which was a health issue) his is behavioural. If he has more than a small amount of sugar, his behaviour is atrocious. And of course, he gets in trouble for it. He also can't control his emotions, so when he gets in trouble he wails and cries like we've just told him he has to sleep outside with no dinner, when in fact we've simply said something like "quit swinging off the balcony while shrieking the theme song of Spongebob Squarepants".
People used to think we were cruel for not letting him have sugary sweet things, so they would sneak them to him behind our backs. I tell you what is cruel - giving him sugary things. Because all it does is end with him in trouble, us with headaches, and him crying his eyes out. GIVING him sugar is cruel.
The point of all this is to say that I - like my parents - have had to be creative with avoiding chocolates as gifts at Easter. It is a tradition now that we give each other shoes at Easter. Really cool shoes, mind you, like Chucks with flames on the sides! This year we went with slippers and ugg boots though because coming into winter we are going to need them!
This year I came up with my favourite idea yet though....
I bought a packet of plastic eggs from the dollar store that flip open for you to put little gifts in:
I already had some packets of Lego that came free in a box of cookies a while ago (so yes, I went and bought about 20 boxes of these cookies when they were marked down!):
I broke up the Lego sets into little pieces and put a few pieces into each little egg:
I plan on hiding these all around our shack for him to find on Easter morning - that way he gets a special Easter themed treat that is not chocolate - AND - we get something to keep him occupied for some time while he puts them together! (AND the whole thing cost a grand total of $2!)
I love these eggs, I think we'll be reusing these for many different things in years to come!
Do you have any special Easter treats for your kids that are not chocolate related?? Please share :)
That's a good idea! How does he handle it like at Monster's bday party when there are so many sugary things? That must be so tough, but you're right, he can't have it if the consequences are so severe.
ReplyDeleteHe does handle small amounts (luckily, and unlike me as a child!) so its more about monitoring what he can eat. He's very good most of the time at assessing what he can and can't eat.
ReplyDeleteWe actually didnt have much sugary stuff at the party - lots of fruit, crackers etc - and he could have a piece of the cake because it was a homemade buttercake. He can have a cookie or two in a day, and I make lots of homemade cakes with fruit for sweetness and no frosting, its easier to monitor when you make it yourself!
Its just about having the alternatives around. Luckily for us we have lots of health conscious friends now who always have healthy options available!
We give things like sand art or crafty things, we even found a Cars themed sand art set this year. We do give him candy, but it is just so that we can split it up between grandparents to take home because he doesn't really eat candy. This year we are also franticly searching for a Sea Monkey, lol. He wants it terribley or a new game for his Nintendo DS. I know this is really long, lol. Something else you could do is get sugar-free candy. We found sugar-free Jelly Belly jelly beans along with chocolates and other things. My DH is diabetic so his intolerance is health-related like yours.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. We really hope to limit sugar for the first few year - and hopefully beyond. It's great to hear what works for people already making it happen!
ReplyDeleteMy SIL puts money in some of the plastic eggs for the kids at Easter, then the other eggs have a bit of candy but I like your LEGO idea a lot. How cool is that!
ReplyDeleteIf you can find the larger sized eggs, little cars fit pretty well in those.
ReplyDeleteWe always did jewelry for Easter when I was growing up, but I don't think that would go over too well with boys! LOL