My husband and mine's family's think we're mean for all of our rules. We have three and a half year old twins and a two year old. Bed time for our girls is 7 pm. every night, I do NOT fix separate meals for my toddlers, they can eat what I fix or wait till the next meal. We limit sugar and processed foods and only give them water and one cup of milk a day for drinks. They can only have a snack in between meals if they actually ate their main meal. We adhere to a schedule "most" days. They are not allowed to get away with being snotty or rude. I expect them to hold the cart when we're shopping so I know where they are at all times (working on this will my two year old, seriously, she's like a super fast sheep! Better not take my eyes off of her! ) our families always try to give them lots of sweets when we're not watching, they try to defend or excuse bad behavior for them, and contradict us and question our parenting. I'm just so tired of it! They all say how sweet and well behaved our kids are, and how unpicky they are about food. So why aren't they backing us up?! ALL the other kids in the family are total brats that no one wants to babysit and whine about everything and anything while mom and dad try desperately to please their ungrateful child. (All the other kids in our family are boys) then they look at us and say things like "you have no idea, girls are easy " or "wow,your kids are so good/ well behaved/ happy you got lucky because girls must just be like that " then they turn around and question why we won't let our three year old have a doughnut after refusing dinner, while there seven year old (that won't eat anything except maybe a bite of corndog fixed especially for them) is smearing doughnut frosting in their five year olds hair because they "didn't get the biggest doughnut " Any one else feel my pain?

Edit: water is unlimited for those that were upset, milk is once a day (actually strawberry milk) :)

I always put three different foods on their plates for meals, a protein, a veggie or fruit, and a starch. So there is really no excuse for not eating at least something off that plate. Sundays we usually go to the park, have cheeseburgers (my kids favorite at the moment) and have a icecream cones. So yes, there is some treats in moderation. My kids are genuinely happy and joyful! And I enjoy them!