Teach Your Children Well

Things are going well, but I am facing new & different challenges all the time. Lately, it's been...how do I help my kids avoid the pit falls & bad habits & twisted thought processes towards food that I have cultivated over the years? My poor kids have had to "experiment" along with me; the hardest being the last phase of no sugar. I didn't make them go off it completely, but I got very strict with them about it. I only let them have sugar 2-3 times a week, or on special occasions. I tried very hard to make desserts for them with no sugar, and some of them were quite tasty. Others just plain STUNK!!!! They survived and I hope there was no lasting damage. I most of all want to teach them what I think I am FINALLY learning....all food is good in moderation, eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full. Seems simple, but yesterday for dinner, they both claimed they weren't really hungry, so I let them have a few carrots & some popcorn. Hhmmmm...I mean, anyone who has met my kids or fed my kids knows they eat plenty, so I'm not worried about them starving. But then today, Corrina claimed she was hungry at 10:30, after she had eaten a bowl of cereal at 8:00, so I let her have some apple with peanut butter. She had a small snack around 2:00 & was hungry at 4:30, so she had some vegetarian chili a 1/2 hour before Tony & Cassidy had dinner. It was already made, so it's not like I went to a lot of effort, but I normally kind of feed them on a schedule...you know, like cattle :) I told her she needed to wait until lunch & she reminded me of my own words---how could I argue? I either believe it or I don't. I guess I just don't necessarily trust her instincts to know when she's really hungry or just wants food. I just don't want to mess them up (well, as much as I can help it)

Then, I started thinking about how my eating habits began, and it was definitely as a kid. I don't blame my mom at all, because I'm sure she did what all moms do, which is try our best with what we have/know. But, we were always able to go back for "seconds" & I did pretty much regularly. I know I never stopped to consider if I was "full". My mom is a fantastic cook ..nothing fancy, but good "home cooking". Her thinking was that, as long as it was "healthy", it was ok. It's not like I was a huge kid...slightly plump, but not huge. I understand her thinking: she grew up on a farm, always worked hard & had a great metabolism. I, on the other hand, was an asthmatic kid who couldn't do much physical activity at all. So, we could eat plenty of "good" foods, but "junk" food was extremely rare & kind of taboo. I'm not trying to complain or lay blame, but I think it's important for me to think about the messages I send my daughters. I mean, I don't want my kids to grow up on Twinkies & devil dogs, but there's got to be a balance for them. Do I let them eat when they say their hungry, or make them wait for a certain magic "lunch hour"? I mean, I ate a breakfast of left-over chicken pot pie at 10:30 this morning, because that's what I wanted. I know I have to limit their sweets & junk, because they would eat that 99 % of the time :) They are kids, after all. But, you don't have to tell a newborn or a toddler to stop eating...they know when they've had enough. Unless we keep forcing more on them or bribe them with it. Oh, well...I know it's not a huge dilemma in the grand scheme of life. But, if I can help them learn from my mistakes, that would be awesome.

Jane, good job skipping your bedtime snack. You're right, it will still be there tomorrow. God bless to you all, Dianna