Comments on: Happy Kids Make Healthy Choices

By: November Goodies « Mama-Om

November Goodies « Mama-Om — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:49:01 +0000

[...] Organic Sister’s ten-year-old son has full control of all he [...]

By: Lauren @ Hobo Mama

Lauren @ Hobo Mama — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:11:24 +0000

I just wanted to say that your monkey platters are absolutely gorgeous. You’ve inspired me to pretty mine up a bit.

By: TheOrganicSister

TheOrganicSister — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:24:55 +0000

crystine, yes and no. when Z was a baby and toddler and didn’t quite understand the cause-and-effect principle we were obviously making more decisions for him. but when he was 3 he could easily equate too much candy with a bellyache and listened to his body when it craved veggies. we were definitely there guiding – and some of that just came from what he was exposed to; young kids hardly know the options or care to know – but it was never a control issue. as he got older, he wanted to push his own limits a bit more, which can be hard to witness. i think the only real challenge was in watching him push his personal boundaries, as well as my own doubts and fears as he approaches puberty, as i was raised to think teens are incapable of acting and judging responsibly. i know that is false and based on kids never given the ability and trust to learn such skills but it still rears its ugly head from time to time.

By: crystine

crystine — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:03:06 +0000

One day I will be this calm about food! It seems that it is mostly about trust. Trust in our children and their intrinsic knowledge of their own bodies needs. Where I stumble is in knowing how much freedom to give. As a parent I feel I must guide to some extent especially when the children are little and depend on me to make the right choices. Did you find this changed for you when Z. got a little older?

By: Teddi

Teddi — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:29:54 +0000

I just realized you can put spinach in smoothies and you can’t even taste it. Steve doesn’t like to eat much green, but he loves my smoothies, so this is a great discovery. Any other ideas?

By: Mephala

Mephala — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:52:49 +0000

Thank you for this post. It is so tempting to make sure my son eats up everything or has a balanced meal. But you’re right, all we can do is put healthy choices in the home and trust him to know his own body. I must remember that.

By: Amy @ Six Flower Mom

Amy @ Six Flower Mom — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:31:38 +0000

I really love this post, matter-a-fact I really enjoy lots of your posts. You seem to be living the ’style’ of life I am working to get at … I just seem to be slower at it than some. I am having to really learn (by teaching myself) to be the natural parent that I want to be. Your blog is very inspiring to me.

Now to figure out how to make the changes in my home with six children!

By: Stacy (Mama-Om)

Stacy (Mama-Om) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:52:14 +0000

I really liked this post — though we’re not all the way there, yet. I wouldn’t say I’m totally controlling things, but I kind of go in and out. Like, “Sure, you can eat ice cream whenever!” but then I hear myself asking them if they didn’t like dinner, are they really full, have they eaten enough protein, etc.

My husband and I have different ideas about unfooding, so that can also make it tricky for me. But I’m realizing I want to step WAY back. I’m grateful for this great post as a good reminder for me.

Blessings,
Stacy

By: KRISTEN'S RAW

KRISTEN'S RAW — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:07:26 +0000

YUM for green smoothies and kids (and adults!). Today, mine had water, organic raspberries, organic kiwi, and organic sunflower sprouts. So nutritious!!!!

Cheers,
Kristen

By: TheOrganicSister

TheOrganicSister — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:51:17 +0000

@Mary Beth, Husband’s can be the hardest. My husband swears if given the chance he would’ve played video games and ate sugar all day long, so he finds it very hard to believe when Zeb doesn’t. But how can he know that’s really what he would’ve done if he was never trusted to do anything different? It’s like the John Holt quote:
*
“To trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves, and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.”