Mommy Advise

So not everyone has a toddler.... but some do. I don't know about you, but my toddler is a constant grazer. She never eats big meals.... she'd rather pick at stuff all day. I know this is actually a healthier way to eat. We're not meant to eat big meals... our bodies function much better eating small things often, so instead of fighting her behavior and insisting she "eat everything on her plate", I just go with it.

I have always had weight problems... and I think a lot of it comes from the culture and background I grew up in. Back in the 70's... health wasn't an important topic. I remember meals consisting of burgers and fries.... deep fried of course.... I don't remember having a lot of fruit around the house, and butter was definitely the condiment of choice.

It's my goal to raise Rowan healthier... My husband has really great eating habits... yogurts.. protein, etc etc... I do my best to eat as healthy as I can.. although I am a carb addict through and through.

I fear for Rowan... that she end up with issues.... although I doubt she will... At almost three years old she is still 25 lbs... putting her in the 5th percentile on a good day. She's a small kid.

And I think a lot of it has to do with us letting her eat the way she wants to eat as opposed to forcing meals upon her. There are days she barely eats at all. There are days she devours everything in sight. My goal is to let her body and her desire drive the amount of t food wants.

I will give her a small plate of food when we cook dinner. But if she doesn't eat it, I don't fuss. Generally she'll pick... she likes broccoli a lot... as well as certain meats. But if she doesn't like a particular thing, then she doesn't like it.

I'm sure many mom's probably find my philosophy repulsive. I let her eat cheerios for dinner??? Yup I do. And sometimes fruit chews haha. But sometimes she'll eat a bowl of granola.. or a gogurt too.... so I think she's making ok choices for herself... even now at the tender age of 3.

Ok so I do have a point with this post I swear lol

Because Rowan grazes all day, she constantly asks for snacks or "something else to eat."

This means we have to make a gazillion trips to the kitchen all day long and its quite time consuming.

So we've come up with a fabulous new method. At the beginning of every day or after school, we go to the kitchen and we fill up a snack bag with all her favorite snacks. I have tiny plastic cups with lids that we use. She gets fish, crackers, fruit chews, yogurts, popcorn, nuts, granola, etc etc.

Then she keeps her snack bag with her in the house. She carries it around... and when she wants a snack, its right there for her to choose. It saves us so much time! And then when we're immersed in a good movie.. we're not interrupted to go to the kitchen for snacks.. we can all stay cuddled on the couch together... and nibble on crackers :)

Consequently, her current choice for her snack bag is a her plastic Micky Mouse trick or treat pumpkin hahaha