to call raisins sweeties?

[biddysmama]

does it really matter?

my mum insists on telling dd (14 months)they are not sweeties when other children are having sweets and she asks for some! and offers her real sweets

I buy the yogurt coated raisins and have been known to call them sweeties. Don't see why it's odd or weird.

If you don't want your little girl to have proper sweets and she is happy with the raisins because she thinks they are sweets then I can't see that it's doing any harm. She's happy because she's having "sweets", you're happy 'cause she's not.

Why would your Mum want her to have sugary sweets rather than fruit? (although raisins are a nightmare for teeth cause they're so sticky)

When I was little my Mum used to give me small chunks of cheese and called them sweets. Never did me any harm - in fact, I'm 32 and have yet to have a filling!

yanbu

She'll soon figure it out herself - call them sweeties until she does.

She'll look stupid in front of her friends calling them this in time to come!!
It's going too far IMO!

Don't call them sweets, she's 14 months old, she doesn't even need to know about sweets. Why are raisins so undesirable that you have to call them something else? they taste good, let them be known as their real name.

How weird. Why are you calling certain foods sweeties to a 14 month old?

I think you are damn clever

We called them sweets, as we said we wouldn't let my DD1 have sweets until she knew what they were. As she thought she was having 'sweets', she was actually way past 3 before she actually tasted any real sweets.

Now, she really can take them or leave them. We don't ban sweets, but she only has them when she asks for them (which probably explains why she has at least 3 easter eggs left over) and only yesterday, I caught her trying to trade her sweets that she was given over for some fruit (strawberries and orange pieces). She is almost 7 and she has been known to do this with the occasional chocolate she gets at school - yes she actually been caught giving away her chocolate at school to get fruit from others!

I strongly believe that her early years of having fruit instead of sweets have set a precedent, as she cannot get enough fruit but is incompletely unimpressed by chocolate and sweets. And, as she has been caught giving her chocolate away at school - its not something she hides behind my back either!

So no, I don't think yabu - I think its a good idea, until they naturally work out what it is, at least!

I totally agree with not giving a load of sweets to a 14 month old, but I don't get the business of calling fruit 'sweeties'. Tell your child the proper name for things.

I must admit to calling the yoghurt covered raisins sweets to my 2 yr old

Not entirely to trick him, i almost think of them as sweets, they certainly are a sugar hit

"Sweets" is a catch-all term for sugary snacks though isn't it?

Seems like a good enough description of raisins to me!

I guess it's another way of calling them 'treats'. Around her 'sweets' are probably linked to 'treats', and they are treats for her. Why not? It's not like her technical language is generally great at 14 months for anything, if she's happy, good.

I met a mum of 2 young kids once (around 4 and 5 years old) and the mum referred to strawberries as 'sports candy'. I was a bit surprised at the term and thought it sounded daft.... we're in UK, not USA.

In terms of raisins being sweets... yes they are sweet tasting but they aren't sweets. There is a difference. Raisins are natural products, sweets are produced in a factory and are made of unnatural ingredients.

Sports candy is a Lazy Town/Sportacus turn of phrase.

I have always just referred to raisins (as well as sweets, chocolate, milkshakes etc etc) as treats.

TLC, not a fan of Lazy Town then

Treats is a better way of describing them - that's what we call all manner of things (dried fruit, chocolate, fudge etc.) in our house as they are nice to have once in a while but not for eating all the time.

I did it. yanbu

well , they might as well be called sweets as they are not good for the teeth.
they are sticky and cling to the teeth.

No of course yanbu-raisons have so much sugar they kind of ARE sweeties!

We just say treats too to mean biscuits, chocolate, raisons etc, sweeties to me means the kind of haribo stuff that we can't have anyway because we're vegetarian.

Convince your DC that celery is a sweetie-now that will impress me

I call grapes sweety fruits - ds loves em. Dont see what the problem is.

You too CAN have haribo - Funny Mix, Haribo, begetarian laydee

Something is not automatically better for you just because it's "natural". Beef jerky is "natural" but it's also rammed full of salt and not suitable for a small child. Belladonna and laburnum seeds are "natural" but highly poisonous. Concentrated grape/apple juice is absolutely no better for you than refined granulated white sugar, yet that's "natural" - actually, sugar is "natural" too. It's a plant product, unlike aspartame.

By contrast, wholewheat seeded bread is highly processed, and is very good for you unless youhave a wheat intolerance.

Please don't get hung up on "natural". it's misleading.

Raisins are really not good for your teeth, they are pure sugar and also stick to the teeth. In fact the dentist I work for gave DD chocolate for Xmas as she said it's much better for the teeth than raisins!!