Coffee for kids

A couple months ago I took a trip to New York to shoot a commercial for Happy Family . . . a brand of organic snacks for kids. I wrote about the trip here, but have been anxiously waiting to see the final cut of the commercial I shot with them They wanted me to share a funny story about getting my kids to eat something healthy, so I shared the way I used to convince my kids that green juice in a coffee cup was actually coffee. My cofeeshop ruse worked out pretty well for me when Jafta and India were small. I’m not a coffee freak, but a few times I month I like to go sit in a comfy chair, sip a sweet drink, and listen to a soundtrack of Joni Mitchell wannabes. And I found that if I split some dark green veggie juice into small coffee cups, my kids will sit quietly for a while, too, feeling important with their grown-up “coffee” in a cup like mine. This all came crashing down when Jaftta ran ahead of me as we walked in the door of a coffeshop when he was about 4. Before I could make it to the counter and give the barista a pleading, “help-me-out-dude” look, Jafta was there handing the guy a jug of juice and calling it coffee. And the barista totally sold me out. The jig was up. Not only did the barista ruin my lie, but now my son knows a piping hot sugary chocolate drink is available to him. Which means my coffee shop days are over. Here I am telling the story, with some creative interpretation from a team of improv actors: I love it! This was so much fun to watch with the kids. I am such an improv fan, too. These actors were so talented. All of the skits they did were absolutely hilarious. I would like to meet with them monthly and have them re-enact my parenting foibles in hilarious skits. Weirdly, they didn’t seem into this idea. Have you ever told a little white lie to get your child to eat something healthy?   This post was sponsored by Happy Family. Watch their facebook page for all of the Bright Side stories.