I've noticed that some of my friends' children really don't seem to care when (or if) they eat. My nieces and nephew never seem to be interested in eating; something else more interesting is always going on. I can see how this might be frustrating, since we know we need to get some nutrition in our kids.
But then there are kids like ours. Oh my. The moment their eyes open in the morning, they are asking for breakfast. Lucy walks around saying, "Cheese? Cheese?! Cheese!" Nate wants to know if it's time for pancakes yet. Not very long after they eat a very full breakfast, they start asking questions about when lunch is. On weekends, Lucy eats her large breakfast (example: 3 Trader Joe's pancakes, 2 cheese sticks, half a banana), then 20 minutes later she's trying to charm Jon into giving her some of his. (She kisses and hugs his leg and makes puppy dog eyes at him.)
The worst hour of the day is the hour before their dinner time. They follow me around, asking for food, when's dinner ready? what time is dinner tonight? what are you going to make? pulling on my leg. It's getting a bit better, but some days I wish our kitchen had a door so I could lock the children out while I get their food ready!
I really don't think the issue is whether or not I feed them enough; they eat a ton and also get a morning snack and afternoon snack.
So I guess it's hard no matter which way your kids are: if they are not interested in food at all, you struggle during meal time to get them to actually eat (but the rest of the day is easier); if they are food lovers (e.g., Nate & Lucy), meal time is great because they're happy and they eat like little piggies (but the rest of the day can be torture if they're always asking for food). How are your kids?
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5 comments:
Ezra is also in the piggy camp. :)
Both my kids love food. :)
Miles and Eli are never hungry, well they don't ever say they are. They eat alright, Miles eats great, once it's on their plate they eat, but food is just not a priority for them. Funny how different each kid is, I know Sara sometimes has to leave her house just to stop Averie from wanting food, too funny!
Katie, I totally relate to the dinnertime thing!! I DREAD it! I try to do as much dinner prep as possible during quiet time/nap time--then we can go outside during the witching hour until Brian comes home!!!
i do relate in some ways, though Maggie is in a rough spot with food, being super picky or disinterested in general. i remember one good thing i took away from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook was how she puts out a plate of veggies and hummus or dip or some other "healthy" pre-dinner appetizer on those nights when the kiddos are super persistent and they can munch on those. She says if they fill up on veggies, she's happy. They don't normally, but they will eat them, and it takes a bit of the edge off. Maybe this would help you? I should probably start doing this for M, too.
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