About 20 minutes into breakfast (the girls have just asked to be excused and deposited their empty plates into the sink) . . .
10 minutes later he begins to notice there is actually food on his plate . . .
5 minutes after shoving an entire roll into his mouth (where it stays for a very long time, until he finally gets around to chewing it)
I'm not kidding - about 2 or 3 minutes later, his plate was completely empty. I think our new word of the year will be FOCUS.
And here's a glimpse of what Mr. Moo has been up to for the past 3 days. He contracted some kind of a fever/congestion thing on Tuesday evening, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I haven't gotten much done since Tuesday, but man, oh man, has it been sweet to spend so much "snuggle time" with my baby.
12 comments:
Hopefully Zekers and Erin never end up getting married--they'd never have time for anything else because mealtime would take all day.
That is a SWEET picture of Mr. Moo. Makes me want to just pick him up and snuggle him and he's not even mine!! I hope he's feeling better soon. Glad you're able to see the bright side of his being sick and take advantage of all the time you get to hold him. Those days are coming to an end, you know....
Good post Charity - Zeke is so funny!
I am glad to know that eating takes up most of your kid's day as well. William, my 3 yr old, will sit at the table for up to, sometimes more than, an hour... It drives me crazy!! You can't put more in his mouth; because he still has not chewed the food you put in over 10 min earlier.
This IS cureable! I totally agree with Kevin Leman on THIS one!
marissa told me that when she babysits she usually has to offer the girls dessert before zeke gets motivated to finish his dinner. maybe you could start offering dessert with EVERY meal :p
Zeke pictures bring back memories...How many times did I get left at the table by myself? Everyone would be gone from the table, my mom would have it cleared, all the other dishes washed and dried, and the rest of the kitchen straightened up, and I would still be slowly enjoying my meal.
Of course, unlike Zeke, I was actually eating and chewing very slowly ~~ well, except when I would pretend the salt and pepper shakers were little people! They had grand adventures when my mom wasn't looking!
I loved reading your comments - you all make me laugh!
I guess Zekers gets it honestly - from his mother. Both the dreaming / playing part, AND the slow eating.
I am curious, Marilyn, what does Kevin Leman say on this one?
I'll give this a shot, Katie, but am trying not to write a book here. Disclaimer: if I had it to do over, there are a LOT of things I'd do differently. Charity IS doing a great job and this is by no means a condemnation of her or ANY young mother!
And, as Lehman says, "3 things to not spend time worrying about: eating, sleeping, and going potty. All these things take their course quite naturally. So don't turn a molehill into a mountain."
So we must remember that we are raising them to be responsible, God-fearing adults, not children. If the behavior is not desired in a 16 yr old, then we might want to think about its acceptability in one younger. When God says, "No!" He means "No" and when "Yes" He means "Yes" and I'm sure many of you parents are learning to deal with outright rebellion in a Biblical manner.
This (slow eating) is not one of those issues. It doesn't seem like it should require spanking! But it could fall into the category of when God says there will be natural consequences, there WILL be! When said child (Beef Man, for example) goes to school, will they let him take that long to eat? And there are other applications here. Anyway, when lunch time is over at school, it is over and you are done eating. No child will volutarily go hungry. If the child is told that when all others are done with the meal, it is over, then he'll have to get down, done or not, he might be hungry before the next meal or snack time.
When snack time comes, (if there ordinarily is a snack time) and or the next meal comes, the same principle follows. He should be given a reasonable time to eat the snack (ie 10 min) and the meal before being excused. There will initially be some complaints of hunger but the child will QUICKLY learn to eat when it is available, keeping focus, and in the end will eat better and be happier.
The hard part is the 'compassionate mom's heart" and being consistent, not giving in, but this natural consequences approach DOES work! It works in a LOT of other areas too. His latest book, "Have a New Kid By Friday" deals with a lot of areas like this. While you might not agree with ALL of his approach, I think there is a time and place for it and wish I'd done more of what He suggests.
I am not sure I expressed this adequately and hope you understand what I mean and where my heart is and that it comes across OK. It is hard to raise little ones & I'm glad my job is over and I have 3 wonderful daughters in spite of my disfunctions!
Thanks for the summary, Marilyn. I totally respect the "natural consequences" approach and we've been trying to use a version of that at our house.
Regardless, an OUTPOURING of God's grace is necessary to successfully raise our children! You must have done at least a few things right. I think Charity turned out okay. :)
Thanks, Kati. I, however, had an anger problem and spanked or yelled, etc, way too much. Had I calmly enforced more natural consequences, my girls memories would be better. That is not to say they didn't have a happy childhood...they did! We had LOTS of fun!
He gives an example of a hot shot son who is the catcher of the ball team & says he is ready to go. Mom says "We aren't going," turns and walks away. His voice raises, he says it again, she does the same. Finally, exasperated, he says "MOM, I NEED TO GO! The team NEEDS me!" She has his attention now and says calmly, "I told you that the lawn had to be mowed today and it isn't yet. When it is mowed, we'll go," turns and walks away. Guess what happens? And she probably won't ever have to tell him twice to mow the lawn again!
Yes, a HUGE measure of God's wisdom and grace are needed! May He grant you that moment by moment!
PS. Isn't he just the cutest little guy? I have to laugh everytime I look at those pictures!
Post a Comment