I repeated it to everyone before Emilia was born. I was very proud of it. It seemed like a sacred battle to me. But, of course, I was exaggerating; I knew it too. Nobody, not even the most rigid nutritionists, urges you to eliminate sugar until a child is four years old. Often they stop at the two and do not even suggest deleting it but limiting it, encircling it carefully, and replacing sucrose or fructose with other types of sugars. Not me. I had abolished it. Because pushing the bar a little bit further seemed a good way not to give in too easily to the sugary temptation.
Did I succeed? Not really. I have learned that constantly questioning what type of parent I would be is not a bad thing. On the contrary, I have discovered, slowly, I must admit, that this is also the beauty of this new life.
Because it is a new life and you are also learning everything from scratch. There are no mathematical formulas or schemes to help you out. Instead, you will have to learn to navigate on sight and question even those few certainties you have acquired over time. It looks terrible, I realize that.
And also because as you grow up, as a parent, you learn to manage the sense of protection you have towards your child. You realize that the choices you make seem the best for her or him are actually the best for you. Finally, back to sugar. In some cases, including the first birthday cake that was really disastrous, they suggested to me that perhaps a softer approach might be wise. I was feeling the people around me becoming hostile about it. Emilia, who passed the first six months of her life semi-locked down, did not know what sugar was.
Forbid her to bite into the brioche or the bread, butter, and jam that you enjoy with great pleasure or let her taste it, maybe just a little, but let her taste it? And here I have to add another element that I learned as a parent: children learn mainly through example; they try to do what you always do, and then it is useless to deprive them of something they see you do every morning, sooner or later they will want to do it, and you will give in, losing credibility in their eyes.
