My kids eat plain popcorn – so what?

My kids eat plain popcorn.

I know, it’s a shocker right.  But they do.  What’s more is…. they actually enjoy it and think of it as a treat.  And I don’t try and tell them otherwise.

Then this video pops up on my Facebook timeline from What the Redhead Said.

It turns out I am not alone in feeding my kids plain popcorn.

Though by some of the comments you’d think I was feeding them poison.  I mean PLAIN popcorn.  Who would do that to these poor kiddos?

Well I would.  I do.

Sometimes I put cinnamon on.  Sometimes I sprinkle sugar.  Sometimes I bung a bag of microwave popcorn in.  And sometimes, they just get a treat.

Because you know.  Everything in moderation and all that jazz.

It’s not a crime to want your kids to enjoy a range of food, to indulge in the pleasure of eating and trying new things.  Does it matter whether they eat plain popcorn, fruit kebabs, hummus and veggies, pizza, chocolate, olives, cheese or crisps?  Not really, again, a balanced diet needs a little bit of everything.

And I certainly didn’t realise it was a crime to do these things FOR YOUR OWN KIDS.

Because at the end of the day – who cares what Jane down the road is doing for her kids.  Not your kids, not your parenting, not your problem.  Scroll on by.

And snacking shouldn’t be encourage?

Once you get over the hatred of plain popcorn you move onto the whole issue of snacking.  Which is apparently the downfall of the world.

I’m not sure about your kids, but mine are HANGRY when they burst through the door at home.  They need to eat and they need to eat now.  Heck, I’m not sure about you but *I* need to eat when I get back off the school run.

They won’t wait until 5pm, granted we are home by 1:30pm.  Even if I try to make them wait for dinner the tantrums, the whining, and the all out world is ending behaviour ruins the afternoon.  For us all.

So we snack.

We sit at the table and we snack together.  Sometimes my eldest will read us the latest in Biff and Kipper’s adventures (oh the joys), sometimes we just have a chat together.

Because, you know, in our house food is about spending time together.

And yes, it’s not always idyllic.  There are still fights and getting down and I don’t like this Mum.

And yes, they often whine for treats.  Which sometimes they get, and sometimes they don’t.

Parenting: You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t

I mean, at the end of the day, if you don’t like something someone else does, just move on.

You feed your kids gummy sweets covered with fluff from the bottom of your bag?  Go right ahead.  Not my issue.  You want to make fruit kebabs for yours?  Great.  Go for it.   You want to bottle the essence of unicorn fart in a bottle for your precious?  Good luck to you.

Parenting is hard enough as it is, let’s not make it harder by turning on each other.

Less judgement, more support and heck, maybe even a bowl of plain popcorn to share?