"special occasion" news and stories

This Halloween, parents across the country might try to limit their kids' intake of candy from their Halloween haul, forcing them to limit themselves to one or two pieces a day. But does this teach children the wrong lesson about food? Some experts say that it does. This practice raises up the candies above the level of normal foods and they become something special, something coveted, something to sneak pieces of and hide the evidence. Such habits can set a precedence that will last for the rest of kids' lives and lead to problems with compulsive eating in the future.

Instead of making candy into this exotic and much-desired item, some parents let their kids eat as much candy as they want on holidays like Halloween. They eat fairly balanced meals the rest of the time, but on those few special occasions the kids can go all-out if they want to. This teaches kids to regulate their own intake (especially if they accidentally eat themselves sick once) because they know that indulgence isn't something to constantly be sought out. The kids aren't focused for the whole day on that one piece they will be permitted after dinner and are much less likely to binge eat when they actually do have free-access to treats.

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Apparently, some "experts" want Mother's Day to be canceled on the grounds that there "should be no such thing" and mothers should be appreciated every day. True enough, but in my experience, everyone likes to feel special sometimes, and having one day that is a little extra special is a very enjoyable thing. It's like treating yourself to an ice cream cone on a hot day instead of just having a Coke to cool down. It is possible, however, that things are getting a little out of control - especially when it comes to dining out.

Mother's Day is the most popular day of the year for dining out, followed by Valentine's Day. I've already speculated as to why this is, but that's not the issue. The issue is where people are eating. I remember walking down the street to have a pancake breakfast with my mom, or perhaps driving out to the beach to be near the water. I was definitely not paying $70 per person for a prix fixe menu, as touted in my local paper by some establishments, nor do I intend to in the future. It's not that my mom doesn't "deserve" that, it's just that Mother's Day is about spending time with your mom and appreciating her, even if it's just over a cup of coffee.

Are you taking your mom out to eat this year? Is it somewhere really "special" or just somewhere you can enjoy her company?

I can sort-of understand the $99 chocolate bunny for sale on the Neiman Marcus special occasion desserts website. Though I'm not completely sure what "semi-solid" means, the bunny is 19-inches high and weighs almost 5 pounds. And $35 for egg-shaped chocolate chicks is not entirely unreasonable because they have been painstakingly hand-decorated with colored chocolate. I have to draw the line on exorbitantly priced desserts somewhere, though, and the set of three chocolate eggs filled with marshmallows, graham cracker and caramel does not seem worth the $80 price tag, especially considering the additional $17 shipping fee. The most unreasonable dessert is a six-inch square cheesecake, wrapped in chocolate "paper" to look like a present, that retails for $190 plus $27 for shipping. Did I mention that the cake only serves 6 people?

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