Rewarding Kids With Healthy Cranberry Oatmeal Chip Cookies; Is Training Kids With Treats OK?

Last weekend I baked healthy dog treats with which to reward my puppy at his dog training class. My children asked for some of the treats but I refused them. That was stupid. Those dog treats were healthier than most of the food I give my children. I just got hung up on the fact that the recipe came from a doggie treat cookbook. But I did promise my kids that I'd bake them some "human" oatmeal cookies. And last night I made good on my promise.

I followed an exceptionally healthy recipe for cranberry oatmeal chip cookies. And I used dark chocolate chips to boot! My kids loved them. I loved them. They're chewy and sweet and tart and chocolaty - all the right good stuff! But the question remains in my mind. Should I use these healthy treats to train my children? I've had marvelous success training my dogs with treats. But is it okay to train children using food? Keep reading for my musings and the great recipe.

Back when I was a newbie mother I read books on parenting. When my first child (now 10) began to crawl I lost all time for reading so I don't know the current psychology advice on rewarding children. But a decade ago, learned opinions were mixed. Some mothers advised using M&M's for potty training. Pee in the toilet and the toddler gets a chocolate. The advantage of this method was, as in successful animal training, the reward instantly follows the desired behavior and therefore, the child brain associates good things with peeing in the toilet. Other parenting pundits spurned this practice. They said it could lead to a neurotic association of the toilet with food. Plus it could lead to eating disorders later on. Scary warnings for any conscientious parent. But frustrated with diapers, I was game to try anything back then, so I tried the M&M toilet-training trick. In fact I tried it on myself; every time I peed I ate an M&M. But the dish on the bathroom windowsill quickly emptied and Lauren was still peeing in her diaper. We moved on to charts and points which once earned could be used to receive a pre-chosen toy from the toy store. That's how the rainbow-colored horse head on a stick came into our home. Touch its ear and it sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". The dog loved that song and quickly figured out how to work the ear. So I guess music can be a reward too.

But now my kids are 10 and 7. I still use charts and points. Since sibling squabbling has been a problem, I give out points for words or acts of kindness shown. I also reward initiative, such as getting dressed or setting the table without being asked to. The kids love this chart on the door. They've added my name and both dogs so we all get points for good behavior. (We never deduct points for bad behavior because I believe that good done in the past can never be undone.) 

But I don't exclusively reward kids with points. I have been known to wave the promise of dinner at McDonald's as a reward. Some may call this a bribe. Whatever - IT WORKS! So now, should I hold back these cranberry oatmeal chip cookies until the kids do something worthy of reward? Tricky issue. If I set the bar too high, the cookies go stale or I eat them all. Set it too low and we all over-indulge. Careful thought will have to go into figuring out the right balance. I'll need brain-food for this important decision. Better go eat a cookie. Good thing the recipe makes 6 dozen.

I found the cranberry oatmeal chip cookie recipe in the cookbook: Recipes for Sweetened Dried Cranberries written by Linda Urban Hamm. Here it is:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup brown sugar - packed
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 cups sweetened dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

"Mix together shortening and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and add to shortening mixture. Stir in dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes on greased cookie sheets."

Enjoy.

Comments

[women's workout]

Really fantastic idea for our dog healthy diet. For better we can use high quality raw of item. Thanks for nice information.

[Amanda]

Hey...Thanks for pausing to read and comment. I still haven't figured out the training issue. I still use a chart to record the kids' good behavior and reward it with money. But now I'm also charging my kids money for their naughty behavior. Is it okay to get rich off your kids?

[can koozies]

Hey.. I am not much into reading, but somehow I got to read this post on your blog. Thanks for posting it here.

[Amanda]

Glad to hear you make them too. Unfortunately I've had to cut back on how often I make them because for me they are like eating potato chips: I can't eat just one. If they're around I eat them!

[ChiroTouch]

I don't know if it's OK but those cookies are great, make them all the time.

[women's workout]

My mom make the same eatable they are really delicious and awesome.

[jessie]

woooowwww.... loooks delicious ...... mouth watering item

[Amanda]

Right on about the sleep! Couldn't agree more. Not only does sufficient sleep make for happy children, but it makes for happy mommies as well! Keep wondering though why I'm always the first one who wants to go to bed. Truth is, I'm also the first one up in the morning. While everyone else sleeps that's when I exercise and get some house chores done. I can always tell when I haven't gotten enough sleep - I start craving UN-Healthy foods. When this happens, nothing works better than to call a personal time-out and take a nap.

[Chiropractic software]

I agree with “Healthy foods” that another key ingredient for a healthy lifestyle is proper sleep. As we get older, we may need less sleep, but it’s important that the sleep we do get is healthy sleep. When we’re properly rested, our minds and bodies are better able to benefit from the other healthy diet and exercise habits we practice..

[Otehlia Cassidy]

I totally train my kids with food, and not always very healthy stuff sad to say. It seems to work for a few moments. Or until they're full.Lol.