Kiddo's class having a Pizza Party (help/advice needed)

[SlyTed]

Hi All,

 

I am hoping that i can get some quick and much needed advice.

Tomorrow my daughter's kindergarten class is having a class celebration sponsored by the PTO for collecting 2000 Box Tops for Education.  They will all be treated to Little Caesar's Pizza and their choice of Juice Boxes (Hi-C or Capri Sun, most likely) or water.

Tomorrow is also our family's day 4 on our first Whole30.

 

Now my daughter M. has been a real good trooper so far, on day 1 (Sunday) we needed a few things from the store, and we only had to tell her one time that we could not have any samples because of our challenge and reiterated why it was important that we were quitting sugar and processed foods.  Yesterday, she was actually ill with a stomach bug, but still managed to stay Whole30 compliant with some fruit and eggs when she was up to it.

But tomorrow, I am not so sure of.  Peer pressure is a beast.

Heck, it would be HARD for me right now to not go for a pizza party and people goading me with pizza - but I have developed tools to help me deal with environmental pressures that I don't think a 6 year old possesses.

Even beyond the peer pressure though, there is just the crummy fact that she is going to be the only "have not" if she doesn't partake.

 

Should I just plan on foregoing her Whole30 until the summer starts in 3 weeks?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

 

[Munkers]

For a kiddo that young, I'm not sure that I would stress too much about 100% compliance on a Whole30. I think this would be a good opportunity for discussion about moderation and why some food choices are better than others. It sounds like you've already started that conversation with her so keep at it. You can always tack on a few days to the current challenge so she gets 30 un-interrupted days on the plan.

[SlyTed]

I did see in an other post some one had said that they convinced their children after reading Eat Like a Dinosaur, where there IS a special mention on Pizza Nights - I think that we will give that a try tonight.

I also think that you may be right about strict adherence for youngin's

 

I just really don't want her to grow up with feeding a sugar dragon as a part of a reward or merit system. (You know, like me and her mother did)

[Munkers]

I think you're on the right track to taking care of potential sugar dragon issues by your food choices at home and modeling good behaviors for her. I think that our experiences at home are what really stick with us into adulthood. In my case, growing up, my school did birthday balloons for all the students which was a really big deal back then and I loved going to school and getting my balloon, but balloons are not a big deal for me these days. What's a big deal now is having my family (well, family of choice) come together and share a meal because the family dinner was the one thing that always, always happened for birthdays or any other celebration. I had pizza parties at school (and ice cream and cookies and all the other junk foods that kids get), but those were isolated events compared my family's celebration traditions.

[Hannlib]

My kids eat mostly w30 compliant dinners at home, but do not do w30. We talk a lot about choice but there's no finer way to make something ridiculously desirable than by banning it. IMHO. I would not limit a child's diet in this way unless I was trying to isolate allergies. Being left out of social food experiences sucks. I wouldn't wish that on a child.

[SpinSpin]

I love Eat Like A Dinosaur---specially now since my 4 yr old is into dinosaurs. If the need for pizza comes up--because for me on whole 30 or not, real pizza is not a friend of mine--my blood sugars are way to hard to control and it takes 2-3 days for me to be back where I want/need to be--we do meatza. Imagine if you will a 2 pound slab of ground beef seasoned with italian spices and bound with a couple eggs and smooshed onto a jelly roll pan. Prebake the meat 'crust' for about 20 minutes or so at 350. Drain the juice, and top with desired toppings and bake again till all yummy. Very good! Hubby was skeptical at first, because 'back in the day' he could polish off a whole large pizza on his own and he was only able to eat one square with a salad on the side. You could also do individual pizzas on hamburgers (we buy frozen burgers at costco that are just ground sirloin and loin of beef for quick dinners). I have contemplated baking them from frozen in the oven and then do your typical toppings and have a salad with it. 

 

Like other posters have said, I would use this as a lesson in making good choices for your daughter, and let her have her pizza. Maybe have her choose water over the juice packets/boxes?

[SlyTed]

So I found this on the main Whole9 site : whole9life.com/tag/kids/

 

With that and all the great advice here, my wife and I mulled it over and decided to let her have pizza tomorrow (gross as Little Caesar's is), and we had a good discussion about good food choices.

As an added bonus, we got to stress how one of those good choices was the spaghetti squash and meat sauce we were having for dinner. 

[Munkers]

Hooray! I'm glad that you and your wife found a solution that felt right for your family. Hope your little one enjoyed her party and doesn't suffer in post-pizza tummy troubles.