Dear 9 yo DCK...(Vent)

[BumbleBee]

I really don't want to hear "I'm hungry" every 5 minutes.

You sat at the table this morning and refused to eat: Cold cereal (4 kinds), bananas, hard boiled eggs, milk.

Then at lunch you refused to eat: Tilapia, wild rice, pineapple, green beans, milk.

You've been offered food, you have refused to eat any of it. Quite frankly I'm over the complaining. You're not going to starve in one day. Additionally, I'm not at all pleased with your continuous griping about afternoon snack (celery w/pb) and how you can't (won't) eat that either.

Hopefully by the end of the summer you'll figure it out. And no, your mom can't send your lunch every day.

[Mister Sir Husband]

Exactly.. hopefully he really doesn't think your going to feed him a special diet, or drop everything to make him different food than the rest of the kids because he's always crying he's hungry.

[melilley]

Sounds like my own 10 year old! They always have bottomless pits, but put something in front of them that they don't like and it's the end of the world.... Can't be too hungry if you don't eat!

I always think of this little preschooler that I once had. She would always say "You get what you get and don't throw a fit"!
We should start chanting that...::

[Mister Sir Husband]

My kids at dinner will tell me they are full. Then when I mention what I had made for desert and say they can't have it (not because they didn't finish dinner, but because they just announced they are full) their first response is to point to their plates and say "but my tummy is only full of this.. its not full of cake yet"

[Mom2TLE]

My rule is if you don't eat what's served then you don't get to complain about hunger or ask "is it snack time yet"?

[JoseyJo]

I always think of this little preschooler that I once had. She would always say "You get what you get and don't throw a fit"!
We should start chanting that...::

LOL! I had a little one the other day complaining about his plate color- I said "well sometimes you get what you get" and another little one said "and you don't throw a fit!!" All the kids started cracking up and chanting it. His mom/dad must tell him that at home

[Blackcat31]

DCK: "I'm hungry"

Me: "I'm Miss C, nice to meet you"

DCK: "No, I am hungry"

Me: "I know, nice to meet you hungry."

DCK: "I want food"

Me: "I want lots of things"

DCK "When is snack/lunch time?"

Me: "Same time it is every day"

DCK: "How much longer?"

Me: "How much longer until what?"

DCK: "How much longer until snack/lunch time?"

Me: "It's the same time as it was yesterday"

DCK "Grrrrrrrr"

........and they end up just going to play since they aren't getting the answers they want....

[Angelsj]

DCK: "I'm hungry"

Me: "I'm Miss C, nice to meet you"

DCK: "No, I am hungry"

Me: "I know, nice to meet you hungry."

DCK: "I want food"

Me: "I want lots of things"

DCK "When is snack/lunch time?"

Me: "Same time it is every day"

DCK: "How much longer?"

Me: "How much longer until what?"

DCK: "How much longer until snack/lunch time?"

Me: "It's the same time as it was yesterday"

DCK "Grrrrrrrr"

........and they end up just going to play since they aren't getting the answers they want....

:: I think we were separated at birth. JUST had this almost exact conversation with a 6yo dcb yesterday.

[Lucy]

then at lunch you refused to eat: Tilapia, wild rice, pineapple, green beans, milk.

Afternoon snack celery w/pb

no offense at all, but i would too. Lol. Maybe the rice. With the pineapple in it. Otherwise, ewwww. I don't personally know many kids who like fish either. Again, no offense. Just making an observation.


and no, your mom can't send your lunch every day.

just a question here... Why not? I get the whole thing of not wanting other kids to be jealous of what one kid brought, but it happens in school all the time. You just make the same rule as the school - no sharing, no trading. No biggie. I love it when a parent sends something. Saves me time and money. But that's just me. I do tend to be in the minority on the way i see/do things. I'm just curious as to your reasoning about not letting them pack in their own lunch. That's all. No offense whatsoever.

:d

[sharlan]

I really don't want to hear "I'm hungry" every 5 minutes.

You sat at the table this morning and refused to eat: Cold cereal (4 kinds), bananas, hard boiled eggs, milk.

Then at lunch you refused to eat: Tilapia, wild rice, pineapple, green beans, milk.

You've been offered food, you have refused to eat any of it. Quite frankly I'm over the complaining. You're not going to starve in one day. Additionally, I'm not at all pleased with your continuous griping about afternoon snack (celery w/pb) and how you can't (won't) eat that either.

Hopefully by the end of the summer you'll figure it out. And no, your mom can't send your lunch every day.

While I love your menu, not one of my kids would have eaten anything beyond the cereal. I'm afraid that my 6 yo grandson would not have eaten much, either. Cold cereal, yes. Bananas/boiled eggs and he gags. He wouldn't have eaten anything you made for lunch. (Fish are our friends, not food.) As for the celery and pb, not one single one of my kids will eat either one. Even my best eater would not have eaten everything.

IMHO, either change up your menu a bit or let the child bring his own lunch. Just make sure it's healthy with no junk food.

[youretooloud]

And, to the parents of said child....if you already KNOW your child is not going to eat any meals at daycare, then at least make sure he or she has a big meal before leaving the house.

[BumbleBee]

Sharlan: Thank you for the feedback. I do fish bc all of my other dck eat it. I have a 3 week rotating menu.

Lucy: I think we have different ways of doing things, as you said. There's 4 things on each childs plate every day (fruit, veggie, grain, protein) and if they can't find something out of the 4 thing then they're out of luck. We don't always have meals like this. We do grilled cheese, pancakes, pizza, bbq chicken, etc. Anyways, I think we run our daycares differently and that's ok.

As for why I won't let him bring a lunch, it would be nothing but junk and mom wouldn't check it OR help pack it. I know this bc I let him bring lunch over spring break. I then have to fill in whatever he's missing for that meal (state reg) and pitch it bc he won't try anything if he's got his own lunch. And the other part is I can't claim that meal for him on the fp bc I didn't offer all of the components.

Honestly it's just more of a headache for me.

[Bookworm]

LOL! I had a little one the other day complaining about his plate color- I said "well sometimes you get what you get" and another little one said "and you don't throw a fit!!" All the kids started cracking up and chanting it. His mom/dad must tell him that at home

Wow, I thought I was the only who said that.

[Unregistered]

It is sad how children are so used to junk and processed foods that their taste buds no longer recognize real food anymore. Your menu sounds super healthy. The only thing I would have maybe done differently is to add apples to the celery and PB just to make sure the kiddos at least eat a little something. (I have never had success feeding kids celery )
I really feel bad for the kids who don't know what real food is anymore. It breaks my heart how parents don't even realize how much damage they are doing to their child by feeding them crap. Their taste buds become so used to the overly sweet and overly salty flavours that they almost gag on actual food. We are becoming a society full of people who are at the same time overweight and malnourished.

I gave up trying to feed my DCKS healthy foods. We don't eat any processed food in our home and it became so frustrating hearing the kids complain and refuse to eat any of the homemade muffins, cookies, granola bars or fruit jellies I worked so hard to make.
They now bring their own lunches. Saves me time, money and a lot of frustration. I have rules about the types of foods they can bring. Parents break the rules...whatever. My kids know why we eat the way we do and never complain about not having pringles or prepackaged crackers in their packed lunches. All the kids have full bellies and are in a much better mood which makes my day SO much better plus I don't have to do any dishes!!

We do a lot of cooking activities together and teaching about good nutrition. I try but the bottom line is that I can't control how each family lives or eats. All I can do is encourage the kids to be healthy and hope that eventually they will make the right choices despite all the fancy little prepackaged cookies, cakes and processed cheese spread.

PS - High five on preparing fish for your DCKS though! It is so good for them and if they can get used to eating it at a young age, they will be so much better off later on!

[Meyou]

I would just like to add that my kids would eat everything on that menu and love it. Different kids in different situations have very different likes and dislikes when it comes to food.

For my kids and my DCKs this menu would be yum. We had egg fried quinoa, mixed green salad (peppers, cucumber, tomato, spinach) and pineapple yesterday for lunch.