Tuesday, September 20, 2005

How much irreparable damage am I really doing?

See the cup that The Duckling is drinking out of? It has a straw. Finally, my nearly two year old daughter has learned to use a straw.

She came to me yesterday with an apple juice box, which, might I add, she has NEVER had before. She found it in my stash in the kitchen, I tried to give it to her MONTHS ago when she was sick so we still have some extras hanging around.

"Jooose?"
"Honey, you don't drink juice."
"Jooose?"
"Alright."
I go to the kitchen and grab the cup that she's drinking from in this photo and fill it with water. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't want juice, she just wants to drink out of the straw.
"Here's your juice, baby."
She manages to slam back three cups full of "joose" (water...) through her straw.

Then, she pees for the second time ever on her potty.

Do I feel bad that I'm lying and telling her it's "juice"? She's happy. She's drinking water.

Someday I SWEAR I'll reintroduce her to real juice, but for now it's nice to know that she doesn't know about the sugary sweetness...watered down or not, it's still not water. I know it's impossible to shield her from the evils of sugar forever, but soon enough she'll figure out that the Oreos I eat after dinner are indeed cookies and not rutabaga, as I've been telling her.

mama, who isn't really sure what rutabaga is but is sure that it's not hurting to tell that little white lie to The Duckling...if in over three decades I've never been exposed to rutabagas I'm sure she won't either...