So my son doesn’t want to eat dinner, even though it’s chicken nuggets, usually a big favorite. Is he sick?
No. He had a snack at school.
What kind of a snack?
Cereal bars.
Three of them.
My son is 6. Even given he’s a growing boy, three cereal bars is a LOT of food.
I told him so, and will tell the after school teachers that maybe unlimited access to the goody of the day isn’t such a good idea. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I wonder if I need to be concerned.
After all, I started fairly young, too. My mother tells a story about the first time she gave me a peanut butter sandwich. I liked it so much I begged for another, then promptly puked it all up.
Now, this story did not presage a life of bulimia, but I didn’t get to be so fat without relishing food, in large quantities, whenever I got an opportunity. I was the kid who swiped frosting flowers off of birthday cakes–before we sang Happy Birthday. Oh, and it wasn’t my cake.
I don’t want to give my kid a complex, but I also want to teach about healthy limits. I’ve read about those crazy moms who are always after their kid to eat less, even though the kid is fine. But I wonder what would have helped me find those healthy limits when I was a kid.
What would you do?