Of all the children my son has ever encountered in his five long years on this earth, the ones who crave sugar the most are the ones who are denied it by their parents.  I for one don’t blame them.  If I have to eat one more gluten free, honey-flavored oatcake that is disguised as a birthday cake I might start packing my own b-day lunchbox.  The kids who are banned from sugar are the ones who become crazy for the stuff; it’s the forbidden fruit or Butterfinger if you will.

That being said, let me give you my parenting philosophy or the philosophy that I think I should have but sometimes don’t due to a raving type A personality.

“Moderation in all things.”  A guy named Terence about 185 B.C said this.  He also coined, “ What is done let us leave alone”, brilliance sheer brilliance.  We can learn from this man. 
Let’s consider the advantages to this approach to parenting.

Holidays
No longer a six week frenzied, life threatening crazed extended shopping trip in which you bankrupt yourself three times over trying to find a pink Nintendo D.S.  No longer holiday –party filled, lampshade on your head, collapsing on the floor after present opening, husband sending out a search party, can’t see you beneath the mounds of present, can’t hear your calls for help above your children’s spoiled whiny implications that they didn’t get as much as The Joneses next door did because their kids got a trampoline and a mini Escalade with a radio, their own cell phones, Ipods, WII’s AND two thousand dollars in cold hard cash.  Rip OFF.
I only use the words rip-off because I once heard a very rich spoiled girl tell me that she got ripped off at x-mas…. girl please, you’re lucky I didn’t rip those toys out of your hands and donate them to a needy cause (O.K. so that’s a little harsh for a small child but I once got a pair of roller skates and a robe and thought Jesus had come down and personally blessed me with his generosity, so hearing a child who actually does have more toys then God call Rip-Off is too much for me.

Clothes Shopping
A couple pairs of pants/shorts/or skirts; six matching tops; a winter coat, one sweater; two pair of shoes- one for dress and one for play, a bathing suit, six pairs of socks and a package of days of the week underwear- good to go for at least another year. 
Moderation shopping doesn’t have anything to do with showing a small child what you hope to buy.  Moderation shopping doesn’t involve the word choice.  Moderation shopping doesn’t actually even involve children as it is done alone at the discretion of the parent and hence a good time is had by all.

School
School in moderation includes NOT signing up for fifty-three committees including the auditorium chair reupholstery committee; the basketball court repaving committee or the cafeteria window covering committee.  It does not involve a science fair project to rival Louis Pasteur or researching for sixteen hours straight for a genealogy project known to the common man as a crayoned family tree.  It DOES involve dropping the kids off, picking them up and a few field trips in between.  School in moderation leaves lots of time for shopping in moderation.

Food
The food pendulum swings far and wide.  Food is most often Not practiced in moderation.  Either families never glance at a nutritional label, triple the suggested serving size and use fifty percent of their gas allowance in a drive through line or they are Food Nazis.  Food Nazis never allow a grain of sugar, a drop of corn syrup or god forbid some good old-fashioned food dye to pass their child’s sacred lips.  Neglect your child this and I promise you they will be the ones shoving Snickers bars in their pockets at every play date or class party.

Moderation- Teach it to your kids.  Learn it for yourself.  Anything in excess …..is just too much.