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Sport Snack Losers

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on November 5, 2013

What is the one thing you have done as a parent that labeled you as a loser?
Was it the day you sat outside the Kindergarten window on your child’s first day of school? Or was it when you attempted to tell a joke to a car load of teenagers that was met by rolled eyes and snickers?
Or was it when you forgot the sport snack?

As the dietitian mother scorned when she brought orange slices to games, I found that the only thing I could do worse was to forget the snack completely.
This is a cardinal sin!

A parent can never, ever, ever forget a sports snack! . This is a hundred times worse than bringing a healthy snack! Do you recall the times you drove an hour to get to a sport only to remember that your snack is back home sitting on the table? Of course this never happens when the game is played two blocks away.

And what are the favorite snacks that popular parents bring to games?Well, juice boxes or the occasional can of regular soda pop get a lot of applause. Never mind that each child comes to the game with a bottle of water. But water bottles will never make you the popular parent.

Add to the unhealthy caloric beverage a solid snack. Popular snacks include Candy bars, fruit roll-ups, granola bars, and of course cupcakes! There is always one mother in the group who comes to the game with the cupcakes decorated with team colors or holiday themes. These moms are never popular with other moms. But they are not loser moms to the other kids. They are the popular moms who not only bring the favorite snacks, but have cheerful smiles and don’t even looked tired or worn out doing it.

Parents interested in promoting good health encourage their children to do sports. Sports provide them with an opportunity to socialize with friends, burn calories to reduce obesity, and elevate endorphins to ward off depression. But adding unhealthy snacks adds unnecessary calories, cholesterol, saturated fat, and sugar that they do not need. It negates the positive of doing the sport!

The next time the subject of after game snacks comes up, become the most popular parent to the parents. Suggest that each parent bring their own cold water bottle for their child. And have each parent provide their own healthy snack for their own child. This will save parents time, allow kids with allergies foods they can eat, and increase the chance of kids getting healthier snacks.
And best of all, it will eliminate forgetting the snack and being the” loser parent”.