A while back, some cookbooks were published that featured recipes with hidden fruits and vegetables. It didn’t matter that they were eating brownies with spinach in them, as long as they were eating something healthy. At least, that was the theory, anyway.
The author of a newly published recipe collection has this to say about the other books:
As a mother of twins and a food professional, I was appalled by this deceptive and sneaky idea. Not only are we teaching our kids to “eat your brownies, they’re good for you” (in a country where a third of kids are obese or overweight and perhaps the first generation to not outlive their parents), but we are lying to our kids and signaling, either implicitly or explicitly, that vegetables, in particular, are so yucky, they have to be hidden. That’s the worst idea I’ve heard since manufacturers decided to add trans fats to everything edible.
I can see her point on the vegetable thing, but I take exception to the “appalled by this deceptive and sneaky idea” comment.
Lying to your child has a long, grand tradition in parenting, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to let it end on my watch.
What parent hasn’t said to their toddler, “Oh, I’m sorry honey, the park is closing now. We have to go!”
Or, “Mr. Scruffles is at a big, beautiful farm, where he can run and play in the grass all day long!”
Or, “Mommy and Daddy weren’t hurting each other. That was just a very special hug.”
Those are just a few of the classics, there are almost too many to mention here. Now I’m not advocating that you baldface lie to your child at every opportunity, but there is no doubt that there are many occasions where a touch of untruth makes everything run that much more smoothly.
Each parent is the best judge of exactly how much information their child needs, given their age and developmental stage. Sometimes the entire, detailed truth is too much for them to handle, and a bit of finessed omission helps a child deal with a situation, rather than causing them to have nightmares for weeks. Parents must wing it as best they know how, and I’m given to thinking that they usually get it right.
Although to this day, I still wonder why we never went to visit Mr. Scruffles at that farm.
