Samantha didn't throw up anymore last night. Thankfully. She's currently napping now and hopefully she won't throw up again. This possible flu that she may have or not all got me thinking on the way some people or cultures even are obsessed with food. The way it's made, served, how much is eaten or left. I've come to realize that it's this obsession that has caused me the grief that it has in the last 2 years with my daughter. Samantha's not a big girl. At 28 months she's still only 24lbs and about 35 inches tall. Still in the percentile range according to my doctor. But at the same time since she was born the questions have always been the same; did she eat/drink her milk, how much, how often, she doesn't eat as much as her cousin, she should be eating more...etc etc...
My dr told me kids for the most part know when they are full and I should trust this instinct of their's. But I haven't. I guess I've been so over consumed with trying to fatten her up that I haven't been able to pay attention to her instincts. It's disgusting.
Yesterday my inlaws were over for lunch, here are some snippets of the conversation at the table:
"ohh look at her eat that piece of meat....what a good girl....take a big bite of it....eat, eat, eat....it's good she's eating so much now, she can be a big girl now." It was unbelievable...I just sat there and ignored it all while eating my soup. My inlaws focus a lot on eating. God forbid if I miss a lunch. My mother in law will think I'm ill.
So last evening, I forced Samantha to eat her dinner, even though she was crying she didn't want to. If I would've just listened to her rather than force her to eat, maybe she wouldn't have thrown up later on. So from now on, I will try to listen to her instincts rather than just trying to force her to eat all the time. God is it just me or is this parenting thing tough sometimes?
Monday, January 07, 2008
Food Obsessed
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
My thoughts have been along the same lines lately. It's hard to trust that they've had enough. I guess, that they'll let us know if they get hungry though right?
Tougher and tough. :)
Yes this parenting thing is tough ALOT of the time.
I'm surprised that my husband and I didn't follow in our parent's footsteps and make our kids eat certain foods etc. I know that we eat well balanced diets so I rarely sweat it. What pisses me off???? Is when people say anything about diets or fat around my kids and my family is famous for the diet talk 'oh I can't eat that because I need to lose weight'.
Feeding my daughter is the absolute worst part of parenting for me (so far).
just discovered your blog!
I know exactly how you felt after your daughter threw up after you forced her to eat her dinner.
Been there...done that...felt like a complete failure as a mom for not seeing the signs.
Forgive yourself and keep on keeping on!
I have the same kind of problems you do, only it's trying to get the Boy to eat healthy food instead of pasta, crackers, bread all the time.
I'm trying out a new philosophy this year: It's my job to provide a healthy variety of food - my job to choose which foods he can eat at any given meal. It's his job to choose if and how much he will eat.
And try not to obsess about him "starving himself". It's going to be an interesting year...
oh I so hear you on this one.
if it's any consolation lulu is 2years/9 months (can't really say two and a half anymore) and is only 25 lbs.
eats like a bird and it drives us nuts.
Food and her weight have been my biggest thorns in the thicket of parenting. Deep breath and remember: you are doing a GREAT job because Samantha is one super kid. But you obviously already know that ;)
Post a Comment