Gametes In Love

We had two very successful quiet time experiments this week w/ G. On Sat. he didn’t want to nap, so he was to stay in his room for an hour. And he did. Quietly read his books. Hooray!

On Sunday, after pissing S off, he stayed in his room for another quiet time, since clearly there was no nap to be had with dad around. But after about 10-15 minutes his room got really, really quiet. Anyone that knows my child should by now know that complete and utter silence is rarely a good thing, so I peaked in his room. Much to my surprise, I saw this:

That’s right. G had curled up in the rocker, with a few of his friends, and fell asleep.

So of course, I did what any insane mom would do: I hopped over his gate, camera swinging around my neck and took pictures. He slept through the shutter going off too.

Why not the bed? Probably because it was occupied by the rest of his friends.

He was out for easily two hours that day. Either way, more of this please!!!

You know what sucks? Tantrums. You know what sucks even more? Tantrums right before dinner. Or during dinner. Why? Because getting a cooperative kid eating, even when their favorite food is sitting at the table, just doesn’t happen when you have to put them in a timeout for hitting (during said tantrum).

I’m SO over it. Done!!!

I’ve been paranoid about G’s food consumption because he’s small and had given us a hard time about eating since he was an infant. However, I now realize that succumbing to his picky-ness just so that he would eat ‘something’ is not helping any of us out. It’s not enriching his palate, he’s not getting his nutritional needs met (when I offer him oatmeal 3 nights in a row to appease him), and his food consumption isn’t much different if he eats a miniscule sample of his requested item vs. what the rest of us eat. S and I not in control of our house at mealtime.

And I’m done with it.

So… new rules: food is placed on table. You are given a heads up it’s about to be served. You are given a notification when it is served. You are either there to eat it or you’re not. There are no special invitations or pleads. There are no special meals (unless you are under 18m, due to illness have different needs, or we are dining out). At a friend’s home, kids will eat what is prepared for kids, if done special. When the adults are done eating, and the baby is fed all plates leave the table, finished or unfinished. Exceptions are made if someone is still actively eating. Leaving the dining room table to return to play constitutes as being done with dinner. Treats (including toddler rice husk crackers) are available only after meal-time to those who have sufficiently eaten. Puffs are negotiable. Milk and water are the only things available on demand at any desired quantity. Past plates being taken away, meal-time concludes and there will be no make up meals until the next formal dining period. Snacks in between meals are just that. They will be provided only in snack-sized quantities.

That’s it! Yes, I’m writing this angry, and I may make some revisions as necessary, but this is it. Pre-schoolers will not rule meal-time!!!

… now… let’s see how long this lasts