.....small, weak, thin, short ___ (fill in the blank with a negative adjective). There seems to be an epidemic of sanctimommies these days. Both my kids are on the smaller side. My son hates to eat food and each meal is a battle with him. However, we still manage to feed him his daily dose of proteins, vitamins, and carbs. My daughter, on the other hand, eats well. Still, both are small for their age. I know most of it is due to genetics, as both H and I are not very tall. It is INFURIATING to hear from other people that I am probably not taking good care of my children. I met an ex-colleague the other day at the park and he gave me some really good advice. He suggested that next time someone says that to me, I should say that I eat my kids food on the sly. Or that I leave them hungry and watch TV while they beg for food. This is why they are as they are. Priceless! I should do that one day.
I took my son to the doctor, who said that there is nothing wrong with my child. At the most, I can feed him some heavy-duty milk supplement.
I went through umpteen number of forums to figure out if someone else had the same problem as mine. Turns out that there are a gazillion kids who do not eat food like adults do. A lot of them survive only on noodles and cheese. A lot of them have to be force-fed. A lot of them have atrocious table manners (just like my son).
However, all of the posts end with a caveat - that their kids are bang on target with weight/height. HOW??
I hate mealtimes with my son. He recently learned how to eat food on his own. He is 5. I have to nag him for each bite. He sometimes takes more than an hour to finish his meal and it drives me up the wall.
Until now, he did not even eat his own meals. Each meal had to be fed to him while distracting him with cartoons, ipad, or video games. He never ate at the dining table; instead he used to prop himself in front of the TV with his plate.
I am happy to have at least weaned him off this bad habit. He eats at the dining table and watches nothing for entertainment. He does get up in between, and my voice gets hoarse nagging him throughout, but still, it is a step ahead.
I devised a reward/punishment system with him to get him to eat his own meals. He earns a star for each meal that he eats on his own and loses one if he doesn't. After collecting a certain number of stars, he can claim a reward (which is usually something inexpensive such as a dinky car, or a trip to the park).
I just hope that things will get better from here. Otherwise, next time someone insinuates that I am a bad mom, I am surely going to return the favour. By telling them how they have "let themselves go after having their babies". Get on that exercise machine now! Pronto! Your brain needs to develop some muscles!
I took my son to the doctor, who said that there is nothing wrong with my child. At the most, I can feed him some heavy-duty milk supplement.
I went through umpteen number of forums to figure out if someone else had the same problem as mine. Turns out that there are a gazillion kids who do not eat food like adults do. A lot of them survive only on noodles and cheese. A lot of them have to be force-fed. A lot of them have atrocious table manners (just like my son).
However, all of the posts end with a caveat - that their kids are bang on target with weight/height. HOW??
I hate mealtimes with my son. He recently learned how to eat food on his own. He is 5. I have to nag him for each bite. He sometimes takes more than an hour to finish his meal and it drives me up the wall.
Until now, he did not even eat his own meals. Each meal had to be fed to him while distracting him with cartoons, ipad, or video games. He never ate at the dining table; instead he used to prop himself in front of the TV with his plate.
I am happy to have at least weaned him off this bad habit. He eats at the dining table and watches nothing for entertainment. He does get up in between, and my voice gets hoarse nagging him throughout, but still, it is a step ahead.
I devised a reward/punishment system with him to get him to eat his own meals. He earns a star for each meal that he eats on his own and loses one if he doesn't. After collecting a certain number of stars, he can claim a reward (which is usually something inexpensive such as a dinky car, or a trip to the park).
I just hope that things will get better from here. Otherwise, next time someone insinuates that I am a bad mom, I am surely going to return the favour. By telling them how they have "let themselves go after having their babies". Get on that exercise machine now! Pronto! Your brain needs to develop some muscles!
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