What's more important to you? Doing what is right for the child or letting the child cherish a new experience to be part of her circle?

Ichu now has a new routine where she plays with her apartment friends for atleast an hour in the evening. She comes back right on time for her dinner all sweaty and hungry. Good for me, she happily gobbles her food whilst detailing every single moment that happened downstairs at the play area. Mind you, she is such a story teller. The other day, Momo told me that kids were sharing packet of Gems and polo in the middle of their games and when they innocently tried sharing it with Ichu as well, Momo impulsively stopped them from giving it to her saying she is too young to be eating it. He then went on to say how Ichu was extremely calm and continued to play after drinking water from her bottle. It broke a piece of my heart picturing her standing there watching others eat and wondering why she is not a part of that experience. Tears started rolling down my cheeks thinking, Am I a little too crazy to be this adamant about her diet? I could just let her have all the sugar and chocolates. We don't have a TV at home ( well it was a conscious decision) so she barely knows anything about chocolates or other kids related advertisements. When she spots a TV at a relative's place she says there music in it and we happily play some Music MOJO hits which has least editing and is less stimulating.

I still don't give her refined sugar instead I choose panakalkandam. This is a personal choice and I would like to continue this till she is old enough to choose what is best for her. I read through the ingredients list like a strict teacher every single time we go shopping at a hyper market. It's appalling to see the amount of preservatives, emulsifiers, added sugar in every packet of food items these days. The Funnily the amrutham podi they give from anganwadi has 20 % of sugar while wheat stands at 45 %, bengal gram at 15%, ground nut at 10%, soya at 10%. It will always be a big No for Ichu. So yeah I always choose healthier options for my family and it's been a drastic change.

In my defense, I hope every single decision I make today can bring good health for my family. Someday it will be all worth it. Ichu is worth it. Not that my plan is full proof, but atleast I know I tried my best reading and researching everything possible.

She will definitely be a part of her circle or more so a change maker in her circle if I can guide her in the right direction. Please say yes na....

To be or not to be....