Have you considered the Peanut Butter?

We sometimes have trouble with Brooklyn. She is a very energetic girl, always running from one thing to another, lots to do and not enough time to do it. Try to stop the tornado long enough to eat dinner, go to bed, or even for something as simple as requesting a "please" or "thank you," and her whole world tilts... And not in a good way. We struggle with temper tantrums, taking baths or showers and bed times. One might think she was 2 or 3, but our girl is 6, a "big girl" by society's standards. Don't get me wrong, I can allow a certain amount of childhood to shine through and I know better than to expect her to remember all of the rules all of the time. But we struggle.

During a particularly bad week during preschool, one of her teachers suggested that we take a look at what she had been eating, and Se if anything had changed. We noticed that she had been eating a lot of peanut butter lately and so we cut it back and she settled down. We have recently noticed her behavior to be a bit manic again and have to wonder, what is she eating. A friend posted on Facebook that food allergies can sometimes manifest themselves to look like ADHD or ADD. Interesting thought. Given our trouble with B, she suggested that we look at the top 4 ingredients in what she eats. If there is something that shows up a lot, cut it out of her diet for a week and see how she responds.

I finally got around to checking the labels on the peanut butter. Our house is a house divided. Rob prefers Skippy, claiming that if Annette Funicello sold it, it has to be good. I prefer Jif, because of course, "choosy moms choose Jif.". So we have a lot of peanut butter to check. Imagine my surprise when I saw that all four jars (two Skippy and two Jif) had two main ingredients.... Roasted peanuts and SUGAR. Seriously!?!? Yup, sugar. I'm pretty sure I've nailed our problem right there. Or, at least found a good part of the problem.

Somewhere along the line, Rob introduced B to peanut butter on her pancakes and eggs (a big "yuck!" for me). Already enjoying peanut butter and jelly for lunch, it would seems that B gets a lot of extra sugar in a day. So, needless to say, we will be switching things up a bit. A little less peanut butter, I think, and maybe a little more turkey and cheese or something. Now I just need to convince B that it is o.k. If you hear screaming, it is probably her throwing a tantrum. Wish me luck.