What Goes Down Must Come Up

My kids and I spent last week on vacation in a San Diego beach house with my brother and his wife and their two kids. It was great. Too much food, too much sun, too much activity, too much fun. And yet, somehow my brother managed to squeeze in a trip to the comic book store with my son. Needless to say, there were major uncle points scored.

When they returned, I was in the kitchen doing something - shaking cocktails, washing dishes, solving a Sudoku puzzle. I really don't recall. What I do remember is my brother's concern:

Your son is sick. He's about to throw up in the bathroom.

I sighed. I guess I'd sort of expected this to happen at some point. My son hadn't exactly been making the best food choices all week.

Don't get me wrong, I feed my kids plenty well during the half-time custody they're with me. Their mom and I are both firm believers in putting good food in front of them, then letting them decide on their own what they want to eat. No broccoli tonight, but a double portion of asparagus tomorrow? No problem. No rice tonight, but pasta later on in the week? By all means. In sixteen years of parenting, I've seen first-hand that a healthy diet balances out over the course of a week.

For the record, we're a fairly athletic family. I've run marathons and cycled centuries. My daughter plays club soccer and runs track. My son plays club lacrosse. Both kids have been on championship teams.We follow sports like Serie A Soccer and the Tour de France. Between their mom's house and my house, they've learned to eat a diet that adequately fuels competitive sports.

But vacation means no worries, and my son threw caution to the wind. Despite spending his week boogie boarding, body surfing, walking through Sea World and the Zoo, and playing non-stop with cousins - activities requiring a week's worth of real food - he had hot chocolate in the morning, french fries at lunch, an ice cream treat in the afternoon, and more of whatever he wanted at night. Mix that with days in the sun, and probably not drinking enough water, and the result is predictable enough.

Aren't you going to help him? my brother asked.

Help him throw up? Um, no.

Sometimes what goes down must come up. Lesson learned. I hope.

This is an original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post. Photo by Nutmeg, some rights reserved.
David Mott authors the blog Dad's House - Dating and Parenting by a Single Dad.