Jacob is 5 going on 6 and in a few short days he will begin kindergarten. I have always worked full time and a lot of the daily mom stuff has been taken care of by the daycare he goes to. He loves it there and they are great! But it has made me kinda lazy. Breakfast, snack, lunch and snack have all been provided. So really, all I had to worry about is dinner, and he just eats what we eat. Jacob is not a skinny kid, but he isn't chunky either. When we visited the doctor this year he placed in the highest weight % for his height. And when he wears a bathing suit, you see a tummy. I think that now is the time to be careful. He is already showing signs of eating for reasons other than being hungry. He gets way too excited over food. He wants candy just moments after we have eaten and when he's bored, he wants to eat. And now with him starting kindergarten, the responsibility of what he eats is all mine. I will be the one feeding him breakfast, packing his lunch and snack and then dinner. I am very much freaked out over this new responsibility. I need to feed him a healthy breakfast, yet something he will actually eat. Same with lunch. I'd like to allow him to have a treat, but yet want to keep it healthy. *sigh* I make such poor decisions for myself and I am worried now that I have to make the decisions for him too. I am kinda lucky in the fact that he loves fruits and vegetables, so I can easily incorporate them into the meal plan. I don't want him to be the only kid who doesn't have a cookie in his lunch, but does he really need a cookie? I need to do some research; I need to make a plan. I need to get this right. The good news is that since I have to make him a lunch every night, I will make Steve & I one too. If I have my lunch, I usually make better decisions all day long.Today is his last day at daycare and I almost cried. I didn't think I would get so emotional about all this. Thursday is the big day. *shudder* My little boy is growing up!!!!
Here is a new picture of Bailey. He's about 4 months old now. Tonight is his first puppy training class. This should be fun. The classes I signed up for are supposed to be very good.
2 comments:
Yikes! Well, I'm sure the enormity of being responsible for another human being isn't just now hitting you for the first time. But this is some startling shiznit just the same. But it's also your chance to break the cycle, to teach by example. Em is also totally preoccupied with food, especially sweets. She comes by it honest though, blessed/cursed with my screwed up genes and natural food issues. It sucks, but it's who she is, just like it's who we are. But it doesn't mean she's hopelessly fated toward a lifetime of obesity. I honestly think I was able to make the changes in time to save her from herself, at least I hope so anyway. And if you'll recall, I started this journey at precisely the same point where Jacob is now, the beginning of kindergarten. Em only vaguely remembers how we used to live and eat back then. Now, healthy choices, balanced eating, and plenty of activity are her norm. She knows how important staying healthy is, and she even makes a lot of healthy choices all on her own. So even though nothing we can do will change their natural tendencies, maybe we can give them a fighting chance by setting the bar to a higher level than we were expected to meet. Food for thought??… Heh, sorry, just couldn’t resist!
As for sack lunch treat options? 100 calorie cookie packs, fat free pudding, fruit roll ups, there's all sorts of yummy alternatives. Once he's used to his (healthier) options, I'm sure he'll never even notice whether or not he has cookies in his lunch like the other kids. In fact, he could probably care less. So don't stress about it hon, you've got this mommy thing handled!
(((hugs)))
Bev
Hi Sandi. I'm not logged in here but I post over on 3FC and have been following your blog. It is going to be rough making sure that Jacob is eating healthier. You've got to be strong and put your foot down though. If you won't do it for yourself you've got to do it for him. My son will be 5 next month and right now he is at a healthy weight for his height and age. There is a kid around town who is about 11 or 12 and he is severely overweight. It is sad. I keep that image in my mind when I think about letting my son having food that is not healthy. Sure he has his fair share of candy and cookies but it is the exception rather than the rule. I don't want him to go through all the anguish I went through growing up as a fat kid, teenager and adult and I'm sure you don't want Jacob to go through it either. Also I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you off the hook for gaining weight while on vacation. I did the same thing too, let myself go when it was vacation time and it is stupid. Being on vacation has got nothing to do with eating. Holidays, birthdays, vacation, cousin Joe coming to visit have got nothing to do with eating. This is what we've got to get through our brains. Eating is about providing our bodies with nutrients to keep it functioning, food is not an emotion!
Jen
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