What Do You Mean You Don’t Want Cake

If I posted a picture of the inside of my mouth, you would clearly find not one sweet tooth, but many.  Doesn’t matter what it is – from a dessert to a wine – my motto is “The sweeter, the better.”  So I’m not sure how it is that my kids ended up with better eating habits than me.  Miss M (5 1/2) will occasionally eat a cookie or some candy but offer her a piece of cake or a cupcake and she politely turns it down.  Miss K (4) on the other hand, will gladly dive into any pastry but given the option of a happy meal or a salad, she’ll pick a salad.  Even on days when they get a bedtime snack, they are excited to be treated to a Yoplait yogurt.

So for the past two years, when Miss M was snack helper at preschool, she usually chose one of two things to bring for the class.  Either cheese sticks or yogurt.  I kid you not, she hardly ever would take cookies – even on her birthday.

Our routine was pretty regular; I would take her to the store and allow her to pick a snack of choice.  As an example, I would ask if she wanted graham crackers, goldfish or yogurt and she would quickly say “Yogurt”.  We would head to the dairy aisle where she would promptly select enough Yoplait Dora, Diego, Blues Clues or even Trix yogurt packages to serve all her classmates.   And from what the teachers told me, it was always a hit.

Well, Miss M is in Kindergarten now so being ‘snack-helper’ is no longer part of our routine but we do need to keep a supply of yogurt on hand to pack in her lunchbox.

We were at the store the other day and Miss K begged to get Yoplait yogurt.  I had just packed the last one in her sister’s lunchbox, so she scoured the stack and said “This one is different.”  Thankfully, I had a coupon in hand (compliments of the Family Review Network) to test out Yoplait Kids yogurts.  Normally I stick to tried and true flavors, but since the purpose of the coupon was to test their products, I figured now was the perfect time to let her explore.  Fortunately, we haven’t run into any that they won’t eat so I shouldn’t be too concerned.  I’ve included a link to a $1.50 off coupon, so don’t be shy about trying out something new.

We haven’t tried any of the Yoplait yogurt drinks yet, but I’m certain they will be as much a hit as the regular yogurt.  Some people may scoff and say that kids just want it because of the character ‘endorsement’ on the package. I think my girls just recognize the Yoplait logo because when they run out of “their” yogurt, they are more than happy to request one of mine.  Regardless, if it takes flaunting a Nick character to get kids to try a healthy snack, then so be it.  Sometimes, just getting them to try something outside their comfort zone is the biggest challenge anyhow.

I’m proud that my girls are developing healthy eating habits.  I hope that even as they are exposed to unhealthy foods along the way, they will continue to gravitate toward healthy alternatives like Yoplait yogurt.