jeo13

This is so hard. I agree with the posters recommending separation of safety issues from sugar and TV, and picking your battles. We experience something similar with my MIL, but to a lesser degree (I’m confident she would respect our wishes about school). When our kids (ages 7 and 4) stay with her, they’re pumped full of sugar, stay up super late, and watch way too much TV. It’s become something very joyful for my kids even as it’s a source of deep frustration for my husband and myself, so we have backed off and started picking our battles. We’ve had some success with sending snacks with the kids — we think part of the issue is that it’s easier to give a sugary snack than to prepare a healthy one. We have also started sending games for the kids to play outdoors and telling them that they should go outside and play these games. It works about 60% if the time, which is better than 0% before. We also suggested to Grandma that she walk them to a nearby coffee shop. Of course they get a sugary treat there, but they also get time away from the TV and exercise. She likes this because it occupies the kids for an extended period of time. Win/win. We’ve also started sending activities that our kids love, and even keeping toys at Grandma’s so they have things to play that don’t involve screens. We’ve had to start thinking creatively! Good luck!