My ten year old son, Riley has become a bottomless pit. He is constantly eating, but never full. He was blessed with good metabolism from birth, unlike me;-) He wakes up hungry every morning, and always has - even to the extent of doubling over in pain as soon as his feet hit the floor. No kidding!
Grayson, my twelve year old daughter, has been cooking breakfast lately (and let me say, I am loving this). But he decided this morning he would eat cereal. Three bowls later he is still hungry. Really?!!! I made him wait after the second bowl so his belly could rest. Still hungry. He ate the third bowl. Still hungry. I made him wait and he complained pretty much non-stop for the next 45 minutes. I let him have a small, fifty-cent package of chocolate donuts we bought at the convenience store last night. Still hungry. By now I'm thinking he's putting on, so I say, "No way are you still hungry! Forget about it! You're not eating any more!" An hour later, still complaining so I let him have an apple. He walks to the sink, puts his bowl down, looks at the clock and says, "Oh, it's 11:30, lunch time." For real?!!!
This must be why people brought a tenth of their crops to the high priest in the Old Testament. Besides the fact that they wanted to honor God, the priests couldn't afford to feed their sons, I'm sure! I can totally see how making your kids work in the fields helps everyone. No crops, no food. If hunger were Riley's motivation, he'd do anything! God will have to grant special graces during Riley's teenage years, and I know He will. I may need to find a way to work from home, as well though;-)
Needless to say, school has been a wash this morning. We'll start again after lunch and I'll just let him nibble while he works. Thankful for him, but realizing life is so unfair. My measly little biscuit with egg whites will add 2 pounds to me this week but after eating like he did this morning and every other morning this week, he'll still be tall and slim. WOW!
Blessings,
Oh my! My boys are eating like crazy too and they are only 2 & 4! The other morning they had 2 bowls of oatmeal and 4 eggs and were still asking for more. I worry that letting them eat that much might be initiating poor habits, but I also don't want to stunt their growth if they're actually hungry! What do you make of it?Do you just feed them endlessly? Or set limits? I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one with savagely hungry boys!!!
ReplyDeleteMomma Skyla, thanks for commenting! We had trouble with our daughter wanting to overeat when she was little. When knew when to stop her, but grandparents let her eat until she was miserable! With training, she doesn't do it anymore. Mostly, when we thought she had enough, we gave her water to drink to help fill her up. Riley has never eaten a lot in one sitting - he's now just starting to eat CONSTANTLY! You're Mom so, with God's leading you'll be able to discern when to say "when";-) Thanks again for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Mindy