Last night my soon to be eight year old son and I had a long talk about how we were going to help each other make healthier choices. He is beginning to be self conscious about being chubby and has had some friends poke fun at him recently (can I just tell you how much I hate bullying?). I explained to him that I understood what he was going through and that while we shouldn’t be concerned about what others think about our physical appearance, we SHOULD want to be as healthy as we can be. We discussed the pros and cons of eating healthy foods and of unhealthy foods. We talked about the verse in the Bible that says that we shouldn’t worry about what we are going to eat (he has genuine anxiety if he feels like he isn’t going to get enough food or miss out on something food related) and we talked about taking care of our temples so that God could use us in the most powerful ways possible. Then we talked about how if we were healthier we would be able to run faster, climb trees easier, and the real selling point - be able to swing a sword harder. He understood and seemed genuinely excited about the fact that we were going to be helping each other. We shook on it and he even did a pre-bedtime push-up just to get in the spirit of things.
This morning at 6:45 when I woke him up for school, the first thing he did was ask for pizza for breakfast. When I excitedly reminded him of our pact we had made with each other, he cried. They weren’t bratty, I want my way tears, they were tears of genuine sadness that he tried to wipe away before I saw them. Even as he went and got something else for breakfast, he still seemed to almost mourning the fact that he wasn’t eating pizza (which he never did even when we weren’t eating healthy).
This makes me feel sad, frustrated, and guilty all at once. I don’t want him to have issues with food, I get annoyed with his constant asking about what snack or meal is next, and I feel bad because I know that this is nurture instead of nature. As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I will begin praying for the wisdom and knowledge necessary to help my children avoid the same pitfalls that I have fallen into. I will research some creative alternatives to junk food that are affordable and taste good. I’ll try to make it all positive and fun for him rather than making it seem like punishment or something.
Maybe helping him with these things will help me as well.
This morning at 6:45 when I woke him up for school, the first thing he did was ask for pizza for breakfast. When I excitedly reminded him of our pact we had made with each other, he cried. They weren’t bratty, I want my way tears, they were tears of genuine sadness that he tried to wipe away before I saw them. Even as he went and got something else for breakfast, he still seemed to almost mourning the fact that he wasn’t eating pizza (which he never did even when we weren’t eating healthy).
This makes me feel sad, frustrated, and guilty all at once. I don’t want him to have issues with food, I get annoyed with his constant asking about what snack or meal is next, and I feel bad because I know that this is nurture instead of nature. As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I will begin praying for the wisdom and knowledge necessary to help my children avoid the same pitfalls that I have fallen into. I will research some creative alternatives to junk food that are affordable and taste good. I’ll try to make it all positive and fun for him rather than making it seem like punishment or something.
Maybe helping him with these things will help me as well.
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