Sunday, April 23, 2006 - Through two year old eyes...
Call me a glutton for punishment, but I think that on my journey as a mother thus far, my favorite stage has to be the age of 2.
It's so much fun to watch them come into thier own. I love the way they look at the world.
I remember when James was 2 and it was time for potty training. We tried and tried to get him to go potty and he wanted nothing to do with it.
One day I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen in a while and she asked about James. I had to tell her that he was not yet potty trained, which at the time I thought meant that I was a huge failure in the mothering dept. James overheard me say "potty trained" and got all excited, he wanted to know if we could go and ride the potty train...
Abso-stinkin-lutely!!
choo-choo!
He was riding the potty train full time by the end of the week. We have used this system ever since, not that it always works, but that is a story for another time...
I don't know if any of you perfect mom's out there have this problem, but in my experience 2 year old's don't eat. Seriously, it's like they have a bite of birthday cake on that second b-day and it sustains them till they are like 3 and a half.
I am always trying to get little Elizabeth (2) to eat something. I play all the games I shouldn't play- bribery included, but she just won't eat. Last night I decided to fix hotdogs, which somehow isn't hugely popular around here and so I tried a new game. I thought I'd make slashes in the hot dogs so that they would curl a bit as they cooked....Hot dog smiles!
I was so excited over my creative new idea, the kids were gonna love it right?!
I put the plates in front of them and told them their dinner was smiling at them and they were like, "I don't see it?"
Not the response I was looking for.
Then precious little Elizabeth chimes in, "oooh, caterpillars!"
My "smiles" looked like a monochrome version of Eric Carle's hungry little catterpillar, our favorite book!
Mom picks up the ball and runs with it...
Yeah honey, caterpillars! Now I want you to be a good little baby bird and eat your yummy caterpillar. (Sorry Mr. Carle)
It worked! I actually got a 2 year old to eat!
For the rest of dinner she chirped and flapped her little wings and ate every bite of her caterpillar! YAY!!
That just may quallify me for that Mom of the year award I've been striving for!
As long as the judges don't find out that she isn't a regular commuter on the potty train yet...
shhhhhh!
Comments
Sunday, April 23, 2006 - hi
Posted by sillysiller
I just noticed that you commented on my blog...thanks.
I have a james too. He is 8 months old..I have 6 kids and I think you are right about the not eating.
I learned not to worry about it...they survive it and then you can't make them stop eating...= ) AKA teenagers.
Sunday, April 23, 2006 - Congratulations!
Posted by mommyx3
I have to try some of your methods! I have three sons. My oldest son, James, is 6 and has never been a good eater. He didn't even like baby food. He is steadily getting better, but still will only eat those same familiar foods he has always eaten. My middle son, Ryan, who is 4, is a great eater, which was a great relief. He will sometimes try to be picky, but he is so sweet that if I just say please he'll eat. My youngest son, Paul, falls somewhere in between. He is 21 months old. Some days he eats well, and on others he refuses everything. He is a tiny little things, not yet 20 lbs! I worry all the time about whether he is eating enough, however, you really can't force a child to eat when they don't want to eat. My children's pediatrician has always told me not to force a kid to eat, that they'll eat if they're hungry. But I worry nonetheless.
Dr. Sear's "The Nutrition Book" is a great resource. It has a lot of great "tricks" to getting your children to eat. None have worked for me yet though, because my oldest is "too old" to fall for them and my youngest is not yet "old enough" to quite understand. Hopefully in a few more months I'll be able to try some of them, around the time I introduce the potty train :)
Love,
Donna
Sunday, April 23, 2006 - Thanks!
Posted by boo4baby
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I enjoyed reading yours. I hope to come back to read more soon.
Blessings,
Becky
Monday, April 24, 2006 - Thanks for your encouragement
Posted by Lissa4Jesus
Thanks for your post on my site. I think this is getting better. Springtime we wear out a bit, and other stressors make it harder, but we are doing better, and just had to get it off my chest the other day. I am one of those type that has to verbalize something and then it just doesn't feel as rough anymore. We are doing some spring cleaning this week, so it will be a break in itself. I hope your garden week goes well!! Melissa
Monday, April 24, 2006 - What a fun read!
Posted by authorDonna
I enjoyed reading your post. I hate to break it to you though--there ain't no perfect Mom's out there. At least not that I've found. It sounds like you're doing just fine in the parenting department but I wouldn't worry too much about your child eating. We live in an overweight society and some of it is contributed to by parents trying to get their children to eat when they aren't hungry. Guilty as charged. Now I have two daughters who have had to totally revamp their eating style and a third who is addicted to large portions of food. Had I left well enough alone, I don't think they would've struggled nearly as much. I too have had to fight the fight. We got involved in the Weigh Down program. It encourages us to wait until hunger pangs tell us to eat and then we eat a half portion. It really works well. We're praying that our youngest who is 18 years old will catch on. Chances are, your children will eat whatever you offer them when they are hungry. I'm not suggesting you starve them but maybe let them tell you when they're hungry. And yes, I know how crazy homeschooling can be and no it isn't easy doing it this way. But it does work.
You sound like a creative and fun mom so I'm sure you could make it fun for the kids no matter what the situation. keep up the awesome work.
Monday, April 24, 2006 - Thanks!
Posted by tallenmomof5
As a member of overweight America myself, I totally agree with you. :(
I grew up mostly in my gramma's house (kitchen), where you couldn't leave the table without having second's and cleaning your plate.
You think I'd know better than to emulate that with my own family. Obviously my children are of healthy weights now, but I don't want them to grow up like me. Thank you for reminding me of that!
This is what I love so much about this "community", the whole iron sharpens iron aspect of it...
Blessings,
Trish
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by HisGirl7
Hi Trish, It's Amy aka Hisgirl7!
I need to buy a ticket for MY daughter on the potty express! I can't wait for that! And I am sure it will happen JUST IN TIME for this next one to come popping out and start using diapers...kids...they conspire against us like that. LOL.
God Bless,
Amy
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - Hey girl!
Posted by tallenmomof5
Yeah the best part of having them two years or so apart, one just gets settled into riding the train when baby comes along, then out of jealousy the new commuter decides to throw his ticket out the window and get back into diapers so he doesn't get left out of that time with mom. Don't they realize that there are tons of fun stuff we could do together rather than hiney wiping?! Our newest has been here 4 1/2 months and Elizabeth still has moments of wanting me to nurse her rather than the baby, change her rather than the baby....
Will it ever end?
Sure when Paige is 2 and there's another new baby for her to be jealous of.
Not that we're planning, but we do seem to have a pattern going here...
(Up until March 20th the ages were
newborn,2,4,6,8)
Thanks for dropping in girl!