Yesterday, I wrote about how Luke got that little but HUGE revelation. He knows he has been given all things, but responsibility and wisdom make better choices.
I know there are better and best nutritional practices for kids, but today I'm going to admit what we do. I'm not trying to say our way is right or wrong. Peace is always the important thing and what works for one family may not be the best solution for another family. Who writes “the book” anyway? That is why it is so important to have confidence in the voice of the Author of Life. Our families and kids are unique.
Our boys eat really well. They like vegetables and will try anything. Sometimes I feed them seconds, thirds and fourths. Sometimes they are full after a couple bites and we have to discard the rest. They are healthy and healthy weights. We have rewarded them with food before (Yikes). They might get a piece of candy for going potty, etc, but that is not the ideal thing to do. What we try to teach them is good choices and consequences to their choices. “These foods might taste good but they don't have a lot of good stuff in it. It is not smart to eat a lot of this because it doesn't make you feel good and doesn't help you grow. These foods have lots of good stuff that help you grow as big as Daddy. It is responsible to choose these foods more.”
When I was in my internship, one of my preceptors taught us about children nutrition. She had read book I wish I could remember the name of. The idea was to allow the child to have all sorts of foods and not make a distinction between good and bad. So a dinner plate might have chicken, rice, broccoli, and a brownie all on the plate instead of bringing the "treat" after eating all the good stuff. I experimented with this. I have put the dessert right on the plate with the supper it could ruin and guess what? It worked. I watched as my kids did exactly what she said they would do. The will probably eat a few bites of the brownie first, but then they will go right to the good stuff. She always throws food away from her daughters plate, but it is usually the dessert that is left. She knows the “smart” foods and she feels no lack.
I feel like I better insert a disclaimer here. I can feed Luke and Jack dessert first and they'll still eat their veggies and good stuff well, but we cannot do that with Ben-Dudey. He is really small. His biggest body part is his sweet tooth. He can only hold a few bites at a time so we really have to make sure he's eating the good stuff. He has brothers who cater to his every desire so I really have to lay on the law to get some good nutrition down him. He'll hold out for junk. Every kid is different. Every family is different. I just think that because one family does it differently doesn't mean they are better or worse. What works for you is the right way. Balance and moderation is the important thing. We also don't have a dessert most meals. I know the things they love most. Once Luke got into a food jag with potatoes. That is all he wanted. So sometimes we had potatoes on purpose because I knew he would eat that. And Sometimes we did NOT have potatoes on purpose so he would eat other things. We have all kinds of guidelines
out there that help us to know what are the wise choices. These are important, but it is also important to have healthy beliefs about food. I never ever want my boys to think they are being deprived of goodness. I just want them to always have the revelation Luke got. "We can have whatever we want, but I got salad."
Here is a real life example from someone who categorizes food and extremely limits the junk. ( a.k.a Junk Food Nazi.) This little one was born to a family who had already raised their family. We will call this little one, Surprise. (insert chuckle on the parents' behalf here.) Learning from the “mistakes” they made with the older siblings, they were doing it by the book. Laying down the law. Strapping on the responsibility. They consider a saltine cracker “junk.” As a result of being at birthday parties not allowed to have cake. No Halloween candy. Zero sugar. Surprise has become a food hoarder. Little Darling is healthy no doubt about it, but when those rare occasions come where junk is an option, you better believe it is binge time. Surprise may be healthy, but definitely not learning good food habits. The sad part to me is not what the parents "do," but it is that Surprise feels lack when I know Mommy and Daddy want to give and love with everything they have.
Wins for Today:
We eat at El Tapatio A LOT! One time we ate there for lunch and supper in the same day. It was funny though because we saw the same friends both times. We went there for lunch after church. I got what I wanted, but it was significantly lower amount of food than normally. I shared a lunch plate with two boys. I did get sweet tea, but I did not get over stuffed and I left feeling satisfied.
Nutritional Nugget:
Phytochemicals are the substances in plant foods that give them color. These substances have functional properties in our health as well. Some things we are still learning. We still do not know all the good stuff they do for our body. It is important to eat a variety of colors everyday.
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