a few years wiser

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Juicy Juice.

as a young mom i had a big head and i just knew i was going to do things COMPLETELY different from what my mom did.
my mom is UBER healthy.
growing up i wanting so desperately to drink soda and eat fast food, i also remember thinking "so help me if i see another veggie burger or soy milk box i am going to scream!" i remember going to other people's homes and wanting to gorge myself on anything that was not allowed in my home.
so... i vowed (before i had kids) that i would let my children have soda and junk food. yes sir-ee i was going to let it be in our home if they wanted it.

oh boy.
then i had kids.

fast forward 10 and a half years of thrown in the game of motherhood and a little more of a deflated head.

uh kids need to be guided in what they eat.
duh.
mom was right. well to a degree.

see i've learned that going extreme in either direction will sort of cause issues. and power struggles.

so i've tried to adapt.

i do not buy junk food to sit in my home.
i do not buy sugar filled soda to sit in my home.
because if it's there it will be devoured.

i try to have an array of fruits in our home, and we grow our veggies in our own garden. but i do buy pizza once a week as well and we go to the store to go get ourselves a treat for a good's days work.

i'm trying to be more balanced so my kids don't feel the need to gorge themselves on junk when they get the chance, but also to have balance so i do create somewhat healthy individuals.

something i won't budge on is the sugar filled soda in my house. nope. uh-uh.

so when i was asked if i would like to participate and try out some products by juicy juice (the all natural sparkling apple drink, and the all natural 100% juice boxes) i thought i'd give it a shot.

i was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in my home and read the back of the label "all natural, no artificial ingredients, excellent source of vitamin C" and last but not least "NO ADDED SUGAR".
well alrighty then.

i handed it out to the kids. would they like it?

"MOM!!!! you got us soda?!!!!" explained the 10 year old as he took a swig of the sparkling drink with huge eyes. (and looking around to the other kids in a "mom finally broke!!!" look)

"nope. this stuff isn't like the other stuff. this is okay to drink in our house."

well juicy juice sent us a whole box of each of them. and within the first day i had to lay down some ground rules. because even too much of a good thing can be bad for us. can you say case load of drinks drunk in a day and tummy aches to be had later on? :)

i look at it as a win win situation this sparkling apple stuff and i.

kids enjoy it and think it's just as cool as soda...and i KNOW that it's way better than soda.

see mom, i'm not killing your grand kids like you thought i would! ;)
oh and have i told you lately how sorry i am for all the stupid things i did and said as a kid to you?
yeah i'm learning first hand...and i'm reeeeeeally sorry.
you were right when you said "just wait till you have some of your own."
nicely played mom nicely played.

now here's an awesome thing that blogher and juicy juice are doing for my readers!
would you like some yummies from juicy juice?

well here's the deal leave me a comment telling me what you've learned throughout the years of parenting or as life gives you experiences to make you wiser. are you realizing your mom was right?

for a chance to win:
$100 dollar visa card
AND
a basket full of yummies from juicy juice!!!

here are the official rules:
BlogHer.com Juicy Juice 2010 official rules
please only ONE comment per household.
this giveaway will end sept 30, 2010.

BlogHer.com Juicy Juice 2010 Round-up page
oh and check it i'm not the only one giving stuff away...check out the round up page (link above) for a chance to enter for these cash and basket prizes elsewhere as well!!!!

and thank you juicy juice for this wonderful opportunity!