Is tonight a treat night?

It's a refrain we hear at almost every meal in our house. Kids want dessert! And I'm OK with that - I want dessert too! We all love 'treats' and as long as we have boundaries and consequences around that desire, it's ok by me! 'Is it a treat night?' is our family's solution to the constant badgering we were experiencing all through dinner (and, frankly, all day long) about treats. Mike and I got really sick of the kids asking us about dessert 24-7, and we got even more sick of the fact that they seemed to think that dessert and treats were their fundamental birthright after eating even one bite of veggies.

We decided to create rules for how treats work in our home. Maybe they'll help your family too! Rule 1: no asking for dessert or even IF there is dessert while dinner is still happening. The instant someone mentions dessert during dinner, they have drained our dessert-giving energy and will not be enjoying dessert that day. Rule 2: not every night is a 'treat night' so it's ok, when it is an appropriate time to ask if it's a treat night, for us to say there's no dessert today, no matter how awesome they've done at eating their dinner or behaving. Rule 3: Once we answer the question about treats, we are not changing our mind and will not discuss it further. Any arguing about treats results in loss of treats! Rule 4: (this one is for mom & dad, not the kids!) NO CAVING!!! As soon as we started enforcing the rules with loving consequences every time the kids broke them, the behavior in our home around sweets did a total 180. It has made our time with our kids a lot more pleasant, and our family a lot healthier too! This week I'll talk about our attitude toward sugar and treats, and how it might be sabotaging our efforts with our kids (even during pregnancy), and we'll talk about some easy ways to shut down the constant whining, fighting and begging for treats from our kids! Tune into the group or check out the Mom-Me Experience YouTube channel to see my coaching videos on treats this week.