Do you buy off your kids MM nosh?

amother

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:04 am

chanar wrote:

No… there are no rules or restrictions in our house. Guess what, my kids are not at all nosh obsessed! Here and there they find something in there that they want, they don’t even have to ask me permission to eat it! Before pesach I will empty and sort their boxes cuz by then it will long have been forgotten about…

Glad that works for you, really, but it didn't when I tried it with my kids.

amother

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:10 am

amother [ Starflower ] wrote:

Just because someone makes rules doesn't mean their kids will be nosh obsessed. My children have terrible teeth and sensitive stomachs. They literally get sick from all the candy. So I give them the option to trade it in for something else special. They don't feel deprived because of it.

And the opposite is also true. Just because someone's kid is nosh obsessed doesn't mean it's because of rules. We had to institute rules when one kid drank up literally a whole bottle of soda at the shul kiddush, popped a mouthful of sugar cubes from the coffee station in shul multiple times throughout each tefilla, and ate the whole 3.5 oz chocolate bar he got from his teacher for good behavior in one sitting. He also has the worst teeth with plenty root canals and some extractions, which might or might not be related to his severe sugar cravings.

amother

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:13 am

keym wrote:

Each of my kids have a large box with a lid and their name in big letters.
All of their stuff that they got from friends and teachers goes in there.
I encourage them to trade (with me) the heaviest caffeinated drinks and stickiest candy for chocolate, pastries, and non caffeinated drinks.
It's theirs and no one takes
The snacks they take 1 a day to school and can have 1 after supper for dessert until it's gone.
That takes care of the Chametz mamash.
The candy, I allow them to take 1 each Fri after licht and 1 or 2 Shabbos afternoon. Their stash usually lasts then until mid summer.

They know it's theirs, they know no one is taking it, and it helps them not need to grab everything in sight on Purim.

As they get older, they develop more sophisticated tastes. My teens all gave me their candy in exchange for "my" milk munches, brownie bars, and various yummy homemade muffins. I'm not saying chocolate and pastries are healthy. But it's not blue taffy .

It seems like I do similar to you. I don't force them to trade in anything. It's completely their choice of whether and what to trade. My little ones love the prizes they get, and my big ones use the money to buy stuff they want. The only rule is that whatever they keep, it's only one a day.

amother

Honey

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:25 am

I don’t have too many rules. Works for us. I also don’t mind if my kids have treats. You only live once.
I do think anyone who hides/takes/throws away nosh from their kids mm without their knowledge and consent is a thief.

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:32 am

amother [ Honey ] wrote:

No, parents that hide their kids nosh are not a theif.
Parents do what they think is best for their kids, and you not agreeing with what other parents do doesn't make them a theif. (And everything a child owns belongs to the parents.)
Allowing kids to have nosh whenever they want to, doesn't make one a good parent or a better parent than those that hide the nosh from their kids.

HeartyAppetite

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:32 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Makes sense. My kids are older, 12 and under. There's no way my 10 year old forgets the candy spray his rebbe gave him.

My mother would give us one box from our mishloach manos and let us fit in whatever junk we want. Then we could have one a day. I will probably do that when my kids get older.

amother

Sage

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:33 am

It's not even a discussion in my house. My kids dump all their nosh in to a bag and the bag hangs out in the kitchen until Pesach. Some of it they eat and some gets thrown away/given away before Pesach. I don't put limits or rules on their nosh.

amother

Hibiscus

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:37 am

I used to buy my kids nosh on Purim and also on Simchas Torah when they would get even more nosh. They each would pick out a few things they really want to keep. Now they are older (my youngest is 10) and they don't mind giving it away. They don't like potato chips and some of the candy anymore they get so it's much easier. They basically keep the chocolate and drinks - juice they can take to school, soda they can have on Shabbos.

amother

Starflower

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:40 am

amother [ Honey ] wrote:

A thief? Because you trust your young children to make their own health decisions? How progressive of you.

imanotmommy

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:50 am

I wouldn't call it stealing to make kids nosh disappear, but I would call it untrustworthy (at least from the kids' perspective) and therefore wouldn't do it.
Why can't you just be straightforward?
For kids that you bought the nosh they gave out, it's logical that you're in charge of the nosh they receive. But tell them before purim "you an eat whatever you want until the end of shabbos" "you can keep one box of nosh" "you can keep everything that isn't actual candy" "all the nosh that's out of the nosh area will be taken away" or whatever your rule is.
For kids old enough to buy their own nosh to give out, they should be old enough to decide for themselves.
No opinion on buying their nosh or trading it. This is just my opinion on being honest with kids.

amother

Wheat

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 9:56 am

I used to buy off their junk but then I realized its smarter for them to just take 3 things from their junks to school for snack every day and I try not to restock any snacks nosh junk in the house from Purim to pesach

mommy3b2c

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 10:02 am

I have no idea what they get and don’t get. They do whatever they want . Ironically, I give most of it away before pesach to my cleaning lady. When you don’t make a big deal of things, it’s not a big deal. I wish more people would understand this.

amother

Dill

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 10:06 am

My kids are older (preteens)

I allow them to fill up one bag of their favorite nosh that they will keep, and they have one thing every day.
Then they fill up another (big) bag of anything they want to toss, and in exchange I give them a few dollars.

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 10:28 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Depends on the child. I don't make a big deal about it and my kids usually forget about their stash the week after purim. They're not obsessed with nosh. But I need to put one child's stash out of site because otherwise, he'll eat non stop and be sick to his stomach. He can go from one thing to the next all day long.

amother

Hydrangea

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 11:01 am

My kids don't get free access to all the nosh. The day after Purim we sorted through all of it. Some went straight to the donate pile - stuff that no one wanted or things I refuse to allow my kids to eat at all. Some things they each got to keep separate for themselves but everything else went into the communal bin.

I keep all nosh in a high cupboard that the younger kids can't reach even if they use a step stool. The Purim nosh lasts us all year for Shabbos treats and special occasions. For the week or so after Purim while they're still in nosh mode I'll let them have during the week for dessert after dinner but eventually that peters out.

amother

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 12:41 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

Why smarter?

amother

Thu, Mar 24 2022, 12:42 pm

amother [ Periwinkle ] wrote:

That was my experience too. Some kids and some kids.