On Nutrition and Parenting
Because of timing tonight, we didn't get dinner. We gave her a big cup of healthy snacks that she devoured in the car on the way to the circus and we figured that she would fill up on all the circus junk that is the birthright of every child and we would make do.
They don't have concessions working the audience, but at intermission we went out and bought hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and chocolate. I asked if Alice wanted a sno-cone or apple juice and she picked the juice. Back at our seats, Alice had two bites of cotton candy--she obviously thought it was interesting, but not worth eating much of. She said no, thank you to the popcorn, had one bite of hot dog, and then asked if she could have the power bar that Jason had brought. After that she ate a handful of Nestle's Crunch bits. When we got home and heated up some food for her, she poked at the pasta, but devoured the vegetables.
I have a lot of food and weight issues from the way I was raised and I am simultaneously praying that Alice got Jason's metabolism, not mine, and trying very hard not to carve out for her the ruts I have struggled with all my life. We follow, in a very vague sense, Ellen Satter's recommendations--we put healthy food in front of her, encourage her to try everything, and then let her eat whatever she wants of it. Sweets are mildly regulated, but generally available and she enjoys them, but not as much as she loves broccoli or watermelon.
So it seems to be working.
Of course, that means that I ate most of the junk food. But hey, how often do I go to the circus?
They don't have concessions working the audience, but at intermission we went out and bought hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and chocolate. I asked if Alice wanted a sno-cone or apple juice and she picked the juice. Back at our seats, Alice had two bites of cotton candy--she obviously thought it was interesting, but not worth eating much of. She said no, thank you to the popcorn, had one bite of hot dog, and then asked if she could have the power bar that Jason had brought. After that she ate a handful of Nestle's Crunch bits. When we got home and heated up some food for her, she poked at the pasta, but devoured the vegetables.
I have a lot of food and weight issues from the way I was raised and I am simultaneously praying that Alice got Jason's metabolism, not mine, and trying very hard not to carve out for her the ruts I have struggled with all my life. We follow, in a very vague sense, Ellen Satter's recommendations--we put healthy food in front of her, encourage her to try everything, and then let her eat whatever she wants of it. Sweets are mildly regulated, but generally available and she enjoys them, but not as much as she loves broccoli or watermelon.
So it seems to be working.
Of course, that means that I ate most of the junk food. But hey, how often do I go to the circus?