sugar. lots of sugar.
I was such a broken record between December 19, 2014 – January 1, 2015 that I was even annoying myself.
Minutes before the chaos….
The good news is that my nagging wasn’t related to me “politely requesting” Ali move his (choose any one or possibly all of the following) dishes, sugar, fork, cables, orange sweater, or luggage.
No, my nagging was actually related to Maya’s sugar intake.
Fondue at Haagen Dazs: Maya went CRAZY.
Okay, so you’re probably thinking, my God Ameena, do you ever let up on the poor kid? It is/was the holidays and she is/was in London. Can’t you cut her some slack around the chocolate and clotted cream?
Plus, why are you allowed to carb-overload on scones but she can’t have an extra helping or two of dessert?
Several ice cream cones at Fortnum & Mason. With a side of Sacher-Torte.
Well my answer(s) are as follows:
- I fully believe in a having a double standard when it comes to children.
- Whereas I can eat 1/2 a scone and be completely satisfied, Maya’s tolerance for ice cream can rival that of a 200 pound lumberjack.
- This is a serious problem as she is lactose-intolerant.
- You can guess what results when she feels sick.
- You can also guess who has to deal with the fallout when she feels sick (Hint: It’s not my husband).
But after one too many lectures from my husband about giving her a break, I went against every fiber of my being and let her use her “best judgment.”
Hot Chocolate at Paul: Maya finally slowing down.
Which led to Maya eating 18 scoops of ice cream in one sitting.
Which led to a stomach ache.
Which led to me cleaning up the pleasant aftermath between the hours of 10:00pm – 12:00am on December 31, 2014.
On the bright side, I suppose that even if it was from the bathroom floor, at least I can still say I rang in the New Year in London?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
‘Use her best judgement.’ Really? I shuddered, thinking what Sophie would do with that kind of leeway. I’m sorry you spent your New Year’s in the bathroom, my friend.
I’ve learned – the hard way – that asking your child to use their best judgment is highly overrated….
Happy New Year Ameena! I would have gone gaga over that Haagen Dazs fondue too , so in that respect I am with Maya :-). Said that, I am also the nagger in this house ! Nagging both kids ( husband and actual kid) is never easy 😉
LOL…I often say I have two kids as well. Even though Maya is technically an only child. 🙂
Happy 2015!
I always look forward to your funny, witty, delicious, fun blogs! xx
Thanks K! Happy 2015 to you as well!!
This is funny post. Thank you for keeping us amused in zero degree temp. I can’t believe Ali still has his orange sweater. Blessed New Year to Din Family
Zero degrees? It must have gotten chilly since we left London a few days ago!
Happy New Year to you as well Maha!
It’s 9 degrees here. Zero was a figure of speech. Thank you for kind wishes
Oh man, remembering my judgment went it came to eating when I was little, that was a losing battle you faced! Hopefully it wasn’t to difficult (or nasty) of a clean for you! AND, I hope you rewarded yourself with a nice glass of champagne after 😉
Luckily it wasn’t too bad of a clean. Not fun but I’ve had worse. Unfortunately!
I’m the one with no judgement where it comes to sugar intake in our house. ‘Ve been staggering from sugar high to sugar crash all holiday! That fondue looks devine.
Hapy new year. At least it can only get better! 😉
Happy New Year! I hope that 2015 has fewer sugar crashes for you Amanda. 🙂
Sorry you had to spend the new year celebration-time doing that!
Although I am surprised I made it that far in reading this seeing as I lost all focus after you saying half a cone could satisfy you…your daughter and I could have ice cream eating competitions probably:)
Actually, I don’t eat ice cream at all. I eat scones! So half a scone does the trick for me. 🙂
D’oh! Well, still, I am amazed:)
I completely agree with you that we should have double standards when it comes to kids!! Probably not the most ideal way to ring in the New Year, but like you said, it’s still London!! Happy New Year to you and your cute family!
Thanks Fab! Happy New Year to you as well!
Oh man, it makes me so sad to hear kids keep barfing when they get older 🙂 We spent all of winter break dealing with two sick babies so I definitely feel your pain. I hope you ate many, many scones to ease the pain.
They do keep barfing A. So sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Hope the kids are feeling better! Sounds like you could use a scone or two to ease the pain as well. 🙂
I never worried about sugar intake w/ my kids when they were little. Was I a bad mom? For the most part they ate pretty healthy but both have a sweet tooth. Neither was lactose intolerant though so I don’t know how I would have dealt with that. Free reign with ice cream, what were you thinking? Kind of like sending her off to FAO Shwarz with your credit card 🙂 I would’ve put Ali to the task of cleaning up in the middle of the night, after all…it was his idea. After cleaning the mess, he could’ve unpacked his luggage to celebrate the new year! Happy New Year to you.
So on the plus side, Ali did, in fact, empty his suitcase in a timely manner. Thank you Seana for pointing out the positive in this situation!
The cleanup, however, was left to me. Ali doesn’t do barf.
Happy New Year Friend!
Oh my goodness, that’s no fun, Ameena 😦 You must have been so exhausted after (and Maya too, for that matter)! What a rough start to 2015! (Although that pic of Maya with the fondue is too cute 🙂 )
Hope this week is better!
A very Happy New Year to you Jessie! 2015 is going much more smoothly than how it started. 🙂
Happy New Year! Sorry about the vomit. (I feel like I write that to you more than anything else, along with “Sorry about Ali’s behavior.”) I wish you were going to London again while I’m there. Or Paris. I’ll also be in Rome if that entices you. I’m almost certain we’ll meet in Europe before we meet in our own country. Because scones.
Fingers crossed that I make it back to London this summer…it usually happens but because of work I never plan very far in advance.
And yes: Because scones. 🙂
18 scoops? I’m impressed with her abilities (seriously)
Me too!! I think she’s impressed us all.
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oh my poor girl! did she say “ill never eat ice cream again!” haha…and of course men wouldn’t do any of the clean up 😛
Funny enough, Maya didn’t say anything about avoiding the ice cream! Even when she was barfing…not a good sign.
first of all a big high five to Maya for eating 18 scoops..#mindblown im so sorry about the post-icecream party, hope shes learned her lesson a little., maybe? im a little bummed that we missed each in NYC, hopefully we on my next trip we (meaning me and Maya) can go for icecream 😛
Would love to see you on your next trip! Any plans to come back soon?
Maya will happily accompany us anywhere there might be sugar…
Wow! The fondue thing looks amazing. I am the same with the double standards. I rarely let my teenagers drink soda but I am a Diet Coke junkie. I’m a huge hypocrite. Kudos to you for relinquishing control and letting her decide. Whenever I do that with my kids I spend the entire time practically biting my tongue trying not to interject my opinion about what they should or shouldn’t do.
I bit my tongue CONSTANTLY. Because I know I’m right and giving Maya (or Ali) autonomy makes me nervous. 🙂
How does 18 scoops fit into that tiny little body? OMG. I REALLY hope she learned her lesson so you can stop nagging and she can find out for herself that there are limits to how much sugar should be consumed.
I don’t think she’s figured it out because we’ve had the same issues before! So frustrating. Like banging ones head against the wall sometimes…
omg maya jani!! hysterical as always!! loving the fondue pic….never seen that many icecream scoops, amazing!! and paul was my absolute fav spot all over paris….funny they’re such a chain! i’m sure maya is on full detox now, glad she learned her lesson….sometimes letting them use their own judgement is the best way….i’m 100% w you on the double standard w kids, so classic! xx
She doesn’t learn though Nadia…she just barfs and keeps right on going overeating her ice cream!!
Miss you by the way!
That photo of Maya with the fondue is brilliant!! Are you still in London? Hope you’re having a great time 🙂
We are back home in NYC now! Wish I was still in London. 🙂
Fondu at Haagen Dazs!!!???? We did homemade Fondu for New Years and it did not look like that. Hahahaha!! I was cracking up over this of course. And it’s always the men that say give them a break, and it’s always us saying…. “see, this is why we don’t give breaks.” ::) Love it Ameena, Happiest of New Years to you. Love ya,
Shauna xoxo
I’m sure your fondue was fabulous Shauna, which is how you do everything!!
Happy New Year to you as well😀
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Oh bless! Living with a wife who is lactose intolerant and therefore loves all things creamy (
)I can imagine what you have to live through with Maya! Can’t believe how much she’s growing up from these pics by the way – such the grown up young lady now 🙂
I’m lactose intolerant but really only miss clotted cream! So sorry your wife has the same issue…
It’s ok – she’s found great alternatives such as soya milk and lactose free cream which is so good I’ve said she might as well use it for all of us – I can’t taste the difference!
I love how the healthier pieces of the Haagen Dazs fondue set are on one side while all the ice cream scoops are on the other 😛 . Love Maya’s expression in that pic too 🙂
LOL P! I didn’t notice that until now. 🙂
So funny (kind of!). My 11yo has a big sweet tooth too and has ice cream almost nightly but I keep it to a couple of scoops. I love ice cream but I never want it in the winter. Too cold!
Somehow it’s too cold to walk home from school, but Maya has no problem having ice cream in the same temps. 🙂
Happy New Year, here’s to more of your funny stories of family life and less time cleaning up after too much dairy. As you saw from my photo, even when they grow up they lack ‘Best Judgemant’ ! GG
Poor girl, lactose intolerance is awful. I’m also lactose intolerant and although I have cut dairy out of my life I still crave the one off dessert. But I do so with the help of Lactase Enzyme drops, specifically Colief which can be bought of the shelf in the UK. Try them, they might allow the poor child to enjoy her ice cream. Hope the little one is feeling better now x
I am lactose intolerant as well and the enzyme tablets don’t work for me, unfortunately. I haven’t given them to Maya yet though, thanks for reminding me to give them a try! And thanks for the comment. 🙂