Kids and eating "junk" on vacation

[asmit4]

I've got my flame suit on and my popcorn ready....

Do any of you really monitor what your kids eat, not letting them eat "junk" on the trip or forcing them to "eat their veggies" at every meal while on vacation

Someone posted on the McDonalds thread that they were not happy that McDonalds was in all the parks. She is taking 2 kids to Disney in the next year and plans on planning the day so that the kids cannot eat at McDonalds- as in, she won't allow them to eat there while on vacation.

Who here just lets their kids eat "whatever they want" (within reason) while on vacation? I just can't imagine fighting over "eat your veggies, and no McDonalds" while on vacation. The kids are on vacation just as much as I am on vacation. I just don't see the point in arguing over it.

Of course, I would never condone eating 4 ice creams til they throw up, but within reason? Does anybody care?

 

[dbk1029]

It's vacation. Let them have a little McDonalds. I agree in not letting them eat 4 Big Mac's but a happy meal isn't going to kill them (barring food allergies that is).

 

[dunbarfamily]

Ooohhh, this should be a good thread!

Yep, I monitor what they eat. I don't go nuts over it, but I make sure they have a few veggies a day, and hopefully a fruit or two. At home, I aim for at least five, so I don't monitor as closly while on vacation. My kids are very good about eating fruits and veggies, so its not that much of a struggle, and if they did struggle, I'd still tell them they needed to eat at least some of it. But really, my kids are a little strange and actually enjoy healthy stuff for the most part. Not their mom though...give me the ice cream, and no spinach or canned peas please!

We don't eat McDonalds while we are at WDW. The kids don't even ask to. If they did ask, I'd tell them no, that we can eat McDonalds at home sometime.

Oh, I also don't let them have more than one chocolate milk a day. Again, I know it sounds weird, but they don't really care if they have chocolate or white. Honestly, they drink plain water too.

PS, all the above applies only to the oldest two. The baby is totally blissed out on breastmilk only!

 

[*DisMom*]

It's vacation! Now, of course I don't want too much junk food that anyone gets sick. I don't let them get a snack too close to lunch or dinner, but after they eat a pretty good meal, I allow them to have a snack of their choosing!! And if they want a burger and fries for lunch with a soft drink...go ahead! I just make sure they have a good dinner that evening!! When our vacation is over and we're back home, then we will be back to our regular eating...no more mickey rice krispy treats, no more sodas, etc. Food is one of my favorite things about vacation!! It's vacation for them too!!!!

 

[penjen]

We will let our DS have anything within reason. He generally likes fruits and veggies anyway. He does love candy. I may have to watch that he doesn't eat too much of that. We don't go to McDonald's anyway, I don't even think DS knows what it is

 

[Priorityonecb]

My two are weird...they prefer good food over "junk". They cost us a fortune! One won't even drink soda. One is picky only in the junk dept...she won't eat hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken with breading, fries!

So no, I don't monitor at all. They make thier own food choices. If I *had to I would though, I wouldn't want my child eating *nothing but junk constantly. A body needs a bit of fruits and veggies in the diet. No danger there though, my child is the strange one ordering salmon with a side of broccoli!

 

[dunbarfamily]

My two are weird...they prefer good food over "junk". They cost us a fortune! One won't even drink soda. One is picky only in the junk dept...she won't eat hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken with breading, fries!

So no, I don't monitor at all. They make thier own food choices. If I *had to I would though, I wouldn't want my child eating *nothing but junk constantly. A body needs a bit of fruits and veggies in the diet. No danger there though, my child is the strange one ordering salmon with a side of broccoli!

Wow! Good to know I'm not the only one with wierd kids! While mine do occasionally like soda pop, most of the time when they are offered it, they'll ask for water instead!

How old are your kids, priorityonecb?

 

[loriandmatt]

ok, here is my 2 cents since you asked for it....

i have a 12 year old and a 3 year old. at home i keep to a pretty balanced diet. on vaca, i am happy if the 3 year old eats anything with marginal nutritional value. (mcD's would be just fine with me. better than the diet of candy and doreto's that she sees everywhere and wants instead of a meal) the older one is not a problem. he has the appetite and taste of an adult. as others have stated about their own sophisticated eaters...his eating habits cost me a fortune. (he wants a steak at LeCelier or the blackened trout at the Wispering Canyon.)

so to answer your question......does feeding my kids (either of them) junk food (be it McD's, park kids meals, or a bag of chips) while on vaca bother me....not at all. (now mind you, they aren't having pudding for every meal, but a dole whip makes a nice lunch at least one day.)

 

[Tiger926]

We don't each fast food, period. I don't understand why people are different while on vacation, but for us, we eat well all of the time, whether on vacation or not as it's all about consistency in maintaining a healthy lifestyle for us. Since my daughter doesn't normally eat fast foods, she doesn't ask for them. She wants steaks, grilled chicken, pasta, etc., and water is her favourite drink! We usually only eat table service (very few counter service places meet our needs), no pop, candy, popcorn, etc. Our daughter eats the same way while on vacation as at home. We have food allergies/sensitivities and low blood sugar, so it's imperative that our food intake is good and healthy at all times.

Interesting thread - I sure hope people don't feel the need to trash other's decisions for how they or their children eat.

Tiger

 

[septbaby]

Well, my nephew is 5 and developing his taste buds:

He loves Pizza, so if he coud have it daily! He also loves Mac & Cheese. Sometimes we just want to be sure he eats.

He did devour a McDonlad's fish filet meal at Downtown Disney. We had gone to Chef Mickey's for brunch and he was too excited to really eat enough, so a few hours later he was hungry and he ate the whole meal. We didn't eat again until after Spectro and he was in heaven with an Uncrustable and milk.

He will eat fruit and even chose apples w/o brown sugar and ate them all. He also got the apple slices and caramel, once he ate the caramel and once he did not. At most meals he skipped or ate just a bit of a dessert. At the Pirate party we got so much chocolate treasure that he, with no prompting from the peanut gallery said no thank you to the CMs. We put the chocolate in our room fridge and took most of it home, he didn't even nibble on it too much while we were there.

At AK we all got ice cream, he selected the strawberry fruit bar. On our final morning we were in MGM and I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, he replied ice cream and I obliged. He actually selected an itazakadoozie and ate the whole thing and had the tongue to prove it! When we got back to the resort he ate a full lunch before our ME.

The best thing about him is that he won't over eat, when he is full he stops. Even though I'd love him to eat more veggies, the ability to push the plate away will serve him so well in our society so I'll take that for now. He just had a physical and is right on target for weight and height.

 

[Priorityonecb]

My girls are 10 and 16. The 16 hates soda, she says it burns her throat! Sad thing is, I typically spend more on waters than if they *did want soda!

They do both enjoy popcorn though!

 

[Colleen27]

I've got my flame suit on and my popcorn ready....

Do any of you really monitor what your kids eat, not letting them eat "junk" on the trip or forcing them to "eat their veggies" at every meal while on vacation

Someone posted on the McDonalds thread that they were not happy that McDonalds was in all the parks. She is taking 2 kids to Disney in the next year and plans on planning the day so that the kids cannot eat at McDonalds- as in, she won't allow them to eat there while on vacation.

Who here just lets their kids eat "whatever they want" (within reason) while on vacation? I just can't imagine fighting over "eat your veggies, and no McDonalds" while on vacation. The kids are on vacation just as much as I am on vacation. I just don't see the point in arguing over it.

Of course, I would never condone eating 4 ice creams til they throw up, but within reason? Does anybody care?

I've never found it difficult to avoid the locations that have McD's menus. Its not like there are golden arches towering over the World Showcase! We don't realy eat McDs (or any fast food) in the real world, so McD's is a treat to the kids and if they do want to indulge at Disney, they can. They usually don't want to - DS is working on trying every sushi offering he can find and DD loves the new kids' menus. But when the kids were a little cranky getting to Epcot around lunchtime one day after skipping breakfast, those McD meals with the dessert first (because otherwise it would melt, of course ) was the perfect way to perk them up.

I don't watch what the kids eat at all when we're on vacation. They aren't the type to want enough sweets to get sick on, so I figure there's no sense in worrying over it. They do okay without my input, though, and I'm glad for that because it shows me that the rules we do have at home are sticking. DS has very adult tastes and likes fish and sushi and asparagus (and gets very expensive - he's 9 but travelling as a Disney adult these days), and both kids love the veggie sticks & dip that is on so many of the kids menus. And neither of them like soda when it is hot, so they order milk or juice or water most of the time at Disney.

 

[TANYABETH]

Is a Dole Whip considered a fruit? If so I get about 5 servings of fruit a day while on vacation.

 

[Forevryoung]

My mom is a registered dietician- you can imagine what dinners are like at home Add to the fact that my house is Kosher (follows Jewish dietary restrictions) and it means no bringing precooked food into my house. The only fast food I ate growing up was pizza (NY pizza not Pizza Hut pizza).

Vacation in my family means just that- vacation. If we wanted to eat, we needed to tell them. Eating chicken fingers, hamburgers, and french fries on vacation was a great treat (my mom never served chicken fingers in my house ). We always had/have great dinners (balanced meals).

If we wanted a doughnut for breakfast, ok. If we wanted ice cream at 10am as a snack, sure. A soda with dinner, no problem. My mom knew that we would go back to our typical eating habits when we got home and besides, she was on vacation too and not worrying about feeding us was part of that.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I've got my flame suit on and my popcorn ready....

Do any of you really monitor what your kids eat, not letting them eat "junk" on the trip or forcing them to "eat their veggies" at every meal while on vacation

Someone posted on the McDonalds thread that they were not happy that McDonalds was in all the parks. She is taking 2 kids to Disney in the next year and plans on planning the day so that the kids cannot eat at McDonalds- as in, she won't allow them to eat there while on vacation.

Who here just lets their kids eat "whatever they want" (within reason) while on vacation? I just can't imagine fighting over "eat your veggies, and no McDonalds" while on vacation. The kids are on vacation just as much as I am on vacation. I just don't see the point in arguing over it.

Of course, I would never condone eating 4 ice creams til they throw up, but within reason? Does anybody care?

Pass the flame suit please.

My son is free to eat whatever he wants while on vacation.
He's had an ice cream sundae for dinner and cookies and soda for lunch.

We both eat a ton of yummy snacks while in The World.

We've had our share of McDonald's while touring the parks.

 

[the4princesses]

Ooohhh, this should be a good thread!

Yep, I monitor what they eat. I don't go nuts over it, but I make sure they have a few veggies a day, and hopefully a fruit or two. At home, I aim for at least five, so I don't monitor as closly while on vacation. My kids are very good about eating fruits and veggies, so its not that much of a struggle, and if they did struggle, I'd still tell them they needed to eat at least some of it. But really, my kids are a little strange and actually enjoy healthy stuff for the most part. Not their mom though...give me the ice cream, and no spinach or canned peas please!

We don't eat McDonalds while we are at WDW. The kids don't even ask to. If they did ask, I'd tell them no, that we can eat McDonalds at home sometime.

Oh, I also don't let them have more than one chocolate milk a day. Again, I know it sounds weird, but they don't really care if they have chocolate or white. Honestly, they drink plain water too.

PS, all the above applies only to the oldest two. The baby is totally blissed out on breastmilk only!

Congrat's on having your baby at home!
I try to have my children eat well!
Please look at my pre trip!
Thank you,
Kathy

 

[dunbarfamily]

Congrat's on having your baby at home!
I try to have my children eat well!
Please look at my pre trip!
Thank you,
Kathy

Thanks Kathy! It was WONDERFUL to have the baby at home! He was born under water in a birth tub, and before I even left the tub, I told my husband and midwife, "Wow! That was great! I can't wait to do it again!". It totally was awesome. It didn't hurt a bit, and I'll do it at home again in a heartbeat!

Guess I'm part !

 

[the4princesses]

Thanks Kathy! It was WONDERFUL to have the baby at home! He was born under water in a birth tub, and before I even left the tub, I told my husband and midwife, "Wow! That was great! I can't wait to do it again!". It totally was awesome. It didn't hurt a bit, and I'll do it at home again in a heartbeat!

Guess I'm part !

That's great!! I have a friend that has 5 children and she had 4 of them at home!!
She said she would not do it any other way!
Her DH is her coach!
I would like to have another baby?? But I don't think I will because I will be 46 on OCt. 5th. and I never got PG again after my DS5. That's sad!
I'm very thankful for my 4 children.
Go read my pre trip. You will see us!!
Thank you,
Kathy

 

[sabrinadv1]

I have three boys and when we all go I just try to make sure they have at least one good well balanced meal a day. The rest of the day is a free for all. I do that when I am on vacation why can't they? If I want ice cream for breakfast that is what I am going to have. I think that a family vacation is a good time to relax and let everyone destress. At home too much time is spent on all bussiness. Is all the homework done, everyone had a bath, brushed their teeth? I think that it is good to relax once in awhile and just laugh together and have fun.

 

[PatsMom]

DD (now 16) has always been allowed to eat whatever she wants on vacation! Its only a week out of the year (well, three weeks out of the year now). Sometimes she'll choose healthy, sometimes she'll live on frozen lemonade and Mickey bars for a week. If she is full of junk when it is time for lunch/dinner, she'll get a milk and sit to keep us company. Only exception is when we are on the DDP - then she can still order what she wants but we kind of expect her to not snack so much she doesn't want to eat. Since she loves trying new restaurants, this isn't usually a problem. Interestingly enough, given the freedom (since she was very small) to choose, she has eaten her fair share of ice cream and frozen lemonade. But she also typically spaces out her snacks so that she ate a fairly nutritious meal at least once a day, even when she was little.