Yes, I absolutely DO hide food from my kids, and from my mother as well since she lives with us. First, let me explain about my mother. She is a fantastic person, I love her to bits, but she is morbidly obese and has absolutely NO will power when it comes to food. Example? I came home with a couple of family size bags of Doritos. She spotted her favorite flavor, which happens to be my younger DD's favorite flavor as well. She took it to her room and ate the ENTIRE bag. Yes, just sat down and ate the whole thing. I remember as a kid she would try to get me take part in her late night overeating binges. I was skinny as a rail back then, so I guess she figured I wasn't at risk of getting fat? I dunno, but we had this absolutely HUGE tupperware bowl back then, and I do mean HUGE. Big enough to use in a restaurant, THAT kind of huge. Well, my mom would fill 2/3 of the way up with pudding. Enough pudding for a family of 6, easily, and she would serve me a larger portion than I could possibly eat, but still not really making a dent in the bowl, and then she would sit down and eat the rest all by herself. I used to get sick on the pudding after a few bites, so she would take mine and finish it. I spent my entire childhood and early adulthood watching her do this, and hating it. She will readily admit that she has no willpower. But, I don't feel that I should be punished just because she can't control herself. So from her, I hide things that we both like, cause it sometimes takes FOREVER for me to finish treats.
Now, my kids? They just don't understand the meaning of the word NO. I hate that. For example, Schwann's came 2 weeks ago. Great, it was a 90 degree day and I wanted some ice cream or frozen treats in the house cause we have no air conditioning. So, I bought a 24 pack of ice cream sandwiches, a 24 pack of bomb pops, and a 24 pack of these creamy fruit bar things. The fruit bars were for my mom, I can't eat any form of sugar alternatives, not even Splenda, as they make me sick as a dog, so it has to be REAL sugar, or corn syrup for me, lol. Anyway, I allowed each kid (I have 2 girls) an ice cream sandwich since in the time it took me to rearrange my small freezer, they started to melt in the heat of my kitchen. I enjoyed a bomb pop. Later that night I had an ice cream sandwich. Less that 3 days later, everything was gone, except about 4 bomb pops buries at the back of the freezer that the kids missed. Seriously, EVERYTHING was gone. Did they ask permission? No. Am I mad? Absolutely! The plan is, to get a freezer with a lock. We had one a long time ago but we didn't bring it with us in the move since it was on it's way out at the time. Once I have that freezer you can bet that all frozen goods will be put on lockdown. Only if they ask will they get something. They eat my ice cream, even though it isn't really one they like, eat my chips, drink any and all pop in the house if I bring it in, all candy, etc. So I started hiding some of it in my room. The kids usually know where it is though, and they will ask to get some, but when my back is turned, they STILL clear me out. I don't have a lot of money, the kids know this, and having any treats at all is special, but being that they are kids, they are in the constant mindset that there will always be more. My weakness is Lindy truffles. Those things are $5 a bag and that bag may have only 10 pieces in it, if I'm lucky, but I love them, and I will buy myself a bag so that I can have a truffle a night, or every other night. Last time I bought truffles, they found them. That was it, no more truffles for me. A few weeks ago I found the really big, thick Hershey bars on sale, and I bought 3. My mom discovered first that I had them, so I had to change my hiding spot as she finished off a whole bar by herself. I had bought them to use for smores when my friend comes down this weekend. Well, my younger DD is a Hershey's addict. I swear she has a radar and just KNOWS when I enter the house with it. Well, she figured out that I had it, and asked for some. I allowed her two blocks since they are so darn thick and huge. That's almost as much as a full normal sized bar. She relished it of course, but she wasn't done. I moved my hiding spot to the top of my entertainment center, where my mom wouldn't think to look, but I guess my DD caught me hiding it because 2 days later, BOTH BARS WERE GONE! I didn't get any at all, and now I have graham crackers and marshmallows, and no chocolate!!! So I told her, that's it, I'm not buying it anymore. At least, not until I get a locking cabinet of some sort. Maybe when I finally get my first guns and I buy my first gun cabinet , I'll store some off limits without permission treats on the top shelf with the bullets.
As I type this my older DD is throwing a fit in the kitchen because she wanted to make a PB&J sandwich, but she couldn't find either of the 2 jars of PB that I had bought. Yup, grandma took them into her room and ate them. Sigh* See, here there is a reason to hide foods. I love my family, but I feel like I get taken advantage of all the time. I have to invest in a freezer and locking cabinet SOON...
