Every child looks forward to devouring a slice of cake for their birthday. Serving cake for birthday celebrations is a tradition that has been popular in America for decades, if not even longer. Now, one stepmother, 34-year-old Lara, has come under attack from furious Reddit users after she revealed that she refused to buy her six-year-old stepdaughter a cake because the food item was too “unhealthy” for the little girl.
Because Lara wondered if she might have gone too far when forbidding her stepdaughter, Gwen, from getting a birthday cake, the stepmom turned to Reddit to share her story about how she was trying to force the six-year-old girl to make “better choices” when it comes to the things she puts into her mouth.
In the Reddit post, the stepmom claimed that the girl’s biological mother, who is also her primary caregiver, does not prevent the child from eating any junk food or fatty items she wants. This has made the stepmom very concerned for Gwen’s health since it does not seem like her biological mother is doing everything in her power to ensure the girl grows up to be a healthy individual.
Now, Lara claimed that she would be giving Gwen “low-fat ice cream” instead of a full-fat birthday cake. She hoped that by downgrading the birthday treat, she would be able to offset some of the “garbage” the girl eats while she is staying with her biological mother throughout the week.
“It makes me sad for this child and her health, so I try to teach Gwen about healthy eating and moving around during our weekends with her,” Lara said.
Because Gwen spends the majority of her time with her biological mother, she does not eat very healthfully. Instead, she spends only every other weekend with her father, stepmother, and her two stepbrothers.
“We are a healthful household, and we teach moderation and controlling how much we take when we have treats,” Lara wrote on Reddit. “However, Gwen is only here two weekends a month, and her mother has the exact opposite attitude. In all honesty, that woman’s blood type is probably ketchup. Similarly, Gwen is about 20lb (9kg) heavier than a six-year-old girl is supposed to be.”
Lara wants to teach her children, including her stepdaughter, how to choose healthy foods to eat so they don’t grow up battling obesity and other health complications related to a poor diet in childhood.
“I ask my kids if they want to make a healthier choice whenever I see them reaching for a treat from the pantry.”
Although Gwen’s birthday fell on one of the days she would be spending at her father’s house, Lara refused to let her eat cake. Instead, she denied the girl one of the main joys of the occasion and served up a healthier alternative dessert in the form of low-fat ice cream.
“We were talking about what kind of cake to have when I asked Gwen about the healthier choice. My reasoning was that she gets all of that garbage at home, and it’s just not good for a growing girl,” Lara said
Gwen’s mother threw a fit when she learned her daughter wasn’t served cake.
“She said Gwen started crying because she really did want a cake but didn’t want to make a ‘bad choice’ – she also accused me of fat-shaming her daughter and said I owe Gwen a cake and a big apology.”
Lara added, “I’m just looking out for a child in my care. I never said she couldn’t have cake – she should have told us she wanted one.”