I wish it were easier to go shopping with three kids 5 and under.
I wish Sami would start eating her vegetables and eating her dinner.
I wish Eli would start sleeping through the night.
I wish I wasn't so tired all the time!
I wish many, many things, but most of all that wishes would come true =)
3 comments:
I wish chocolate had the same health properties as green beans.
I wish my Sami's voice had a volume other than "rocketship blast off."
I wish I only needed the 6 hours of sleep I actually get every night. :)
Yeah....I wish! I hear you.
Think on this- shopping with three five and under is soooo much nicer than shopping with five six and under :) Trust me, I do both frequently!
I have a food rule that has really helped our meal times, I think. My children must eat the serving that I give them before they can have anything else. I serve small, especially to toddlers, and make sure they eat everything. I don't force them to eat something they just really hate- like Micaela hates bananas. Anyway, if you complain you get a second helping. If you don't eat it, you don't get anything till the next meal- no snacks. If you are a repeat offender, I usually pick a day and make sure I'm ready for a battle. (like my 2yo and tomatos) I serve lunch with tomatos, he probably won't eat them. He gets the same lunch for dinner, at which point he's hungry and so he eats them so that he can have what everyone else wants. If he doesn't eat them, I do save them for breakfast and offer them again- or make one more serving until he decides that it's worth it to eat them. Almost everytime the child has decided that whatever it is is good, and there are no more problems. If I can get them to eat something 3-4 times, there are usually no more battles. If I can't I wait a good long time and try my battle again. If that doesn't work, I try to be sure and offer something different when that item is being served- but I still place at least one bite on their plate.
Also, I try not to cater to them when it's just a want. Like Micaela and bananas again. If we're having a fruit snack and I only have bananas, she just doesn't get a snack that day unless she decides she wants a banana. This has really made a difference when we are not at home and someone else offers my children something they may not like. They can just say no thank you, intsead of complaining or whining about getting something else.
Oh- and I always tell the boys about how the different vitamins and minerals in food make different parts of your bodies stronger, and I tell Micaela about how different vitamins and minerals make your skin clear or your nails pretty or your teeth white or your hair grow or something like that, which I guess is playing a little bit with vanity, but "a spoonful of sugar..." you know :)
My kids think spinach and avocados are wonder foods! They're convinced that sugar will kill you- but their favorite sweets only have a little sugar or none at all.
Thanks for the great advice. You are a wise woman, Becky! And just thinking about shopping with 5 under 6 puts it all in perspective!
And Kim, your Sami and mine both have "rocketship blast off" volume. That made me smile and laugh =)
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