We tried giving her a time-out which involves getting her down from the dinner table and washing her hands and sitting her in the time-out chair. It doesn’t seem to bother her at all, it feels like we’ve done exactly what she asked in the first place when she said “I wanna get down? I’m all done.” our reply has been “Please eat some more dinner. You cannot survive on fourteen peas and the juice from your steak!”
Although somehow she is growing, perhaps she absorbs nutrients through osmosis like a plant gleaning everything she needs from the squash smeared on her cheeks. This would explain her desperate need to cover as much of her skin as possible with food. My little weeds legs are poking out of all the little pants I planned for her to wear this spring and the next size up is falling off her hips. If she would just gain a little weight in the middle she'd be set for pants. Perhaps I need to give her a PB&J wrap accross the belly.
14 comments:
funny funny picture. your child lives on peas. my kids live on chicken strips. i, for one, would prefer the peas.
Jen - Not sure if you've tried it, but you might take the "A Christmas Story" approach and try making eating a game. "Let's see how many pieces of steak you can eat before mommy gets done singing the ABC's - remember you have to chew each piece very carefully though."
or something of that sort. Maybe not a race but some other sort of fun game. And yes, speaking from the experience of one little "weed" you ARE giving her what she wants.
Another approach I have taken - especially when I was a nanny and when Lou decided he didn't like vegetables at all was "If you don't eat them now, you'll have to eat them for breakfast - in a bowl of milk!" One serving of soggy lasagna or floating broccoli was all it took. That would probably get me arrested for child abuse these days though.
Ah well, back to unpacking for me. Hope your weekend was nice.
Oh dear, I am no help, I find her decorating herself with food absolutely charming! A child who rolls in life, someone who is not afraid to do something when no one else is! Charming!
Some kids totally LOVE the tactile sorts of experiences in life. If you're up to it, let her get in the bathtub with a can of shaving cream. I bet she'll really like it. Also, bowls of dried rice or beans, a sand/water table, playdough. . . you've probably tried some or all those things, but maybe she'll play less with her food if she gets that squishy need met somewhere else.
Or, you know, not! Who knows!
Oh yeah, she plays lots of squishy things. Playdoh and bubbles in the tub and sand box and mud pies. She also likes to draw on her own face and smear paint on herself.
It's just she used to be soo proud of using utensils and now... arg!
It's ok, if she's getting some in her mouth during the process - I should be happy.
I need to think of Jo's words when I'm getting uptight about it.
I love the "make it a game" idea.
You could have theme nights too...like "No Utensils Spaghetti Night" or "No Hands Dessert Night".
Just picture it, our children eating strings of pasta with their hands or face first in a pile of chocolate pudding, eating like pigs at a trough.
I love it!
Although the whole idea is beginning to remind me of the movie Mermaids where the Mom served shish kabobs consisting of marshmallows, cheese puffs and Twinkies as the children longed for pot roast, mashed potatoes and green beans.
Awesome ideas Tatertot - that way it'd incorporate her desire to paint herself WITH eating so at least she's getting some food. There could be other types of themed nights, too, like Bunny night where there are nice garden veggies or Cowboy night (she loves her boots, right? ;) where you have beans and franks and talk in extreme southern drawls and wear cowboy hats. Slather some peanut butter onto some celery, cut them in inch long pieces and stick animal crackers into the peanut butter and call it a circus train (she just went to the circus, too, so I betcha this would be a big hit Jen.) She could pretend her mouth's a cave the train has to go through. Now you've got my old brain cooking up ALL kinds of ideas haha.
Now that I think of it my brother and I use to play games like that - we'd make faces/designs by biting holes in our lunch meat, etc.
Think of it as a "spa" treatment.
No one told us kids would be soooo messy! It still surprises me just what mess factories they are. But I'm trying to relax about it so I'm not going to reach for a wet cloth when I look at that photo ;)
That is crazy! I can honestly say that this is one stage I would prefer B not go through. Although the picture is hilarious!!!
Too cute. Perhaps she is demonstrating some sort of ancient body-painting where you annoint yourself with the juice from red meat and the skins of fourteen peas.
Just a thought.
Too cute. Perhaps she is demonstrating some sort of ancient body-painting where you annoint yourself with the juice from red meat and the skins of fourteen peas.
Just a thought.
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