Meal time

Darren's appetite had been off for about ten days after his surgery, but it is back to normal or he may even eat more now than before. Last night Bruce was at Eldora for the big race so it was just me and the three boys for dinner. When we got home from daycare, Darren started eating cereal for a snack while I cleaned out the daycare diaper bag and tried to figure out what to make. After racking my brain, Darren takes the matter out of my hands and asks to have the remaining leftover spaghetti. I heat it up and the amount that is left is his normal serving size.

While Darren is eating I ask Nathan what he wants. I suggest all the easy things that we usually have for lunch. Pizza rolls, chicken nuggets, peanut butter & jelly, grilled cheese, soup, hot dogs, spaghetti-o's, mac-n-cheese, Ramen noodles and Hot Pockets. He didn't want any of the food I suggested. He said that he would have one grape for dinner. He was so anxious to get outside to play, but I told him that he couldn't go out to play until he ate and he had to eat something "good" for him. Finally he decided that he wanted a pretzel (the ones you bake in the oven). I love pretzels (the ones you bake in the oven & the snack food) so we usually always have some on hand. I baked myself and him some pretzels and he ate one. I said you need to eat more and he said he wasn't hungry. He asked if he could go out and play and I said yes but you aren't getting any snacks tonight because you need to eat more now. He told me again that he wasn't hungry.

At this time, Darren eats all of his spaghetti and requested pizza rolls. He must have thought that sounded good after hearing it suggested. So I microwave Darren five pizza rolls and he eats every one. Darren then had a some grapes. We decide to talk a walk then. As we are walking past Annie's house (she is a teacher at daycare who lives about four houses down) she is sitting outside talking to Nathan so we stop to talk. She offers the boys cookies and juice. She then fills a baggie with a dozen cookies for us to take home.

At 9:00 or so Nathan is begging for food. He claims that he is starving. I refuse to let him have any food, reminding him that he should have ate more for dinner. I let Darren have a snack which he didn't think was fair but I reminded him that Darren ate dinner. He then throws a temper tantrum and cries. He eventually cried himself to sleep in front of my chair where he threw his tantrum. Then he didn't want breakfast this morning even though I reminded him that he was starving last night.

I know that Nathan is anxious to get outside to play and that is why he never wants to eat at meal time. I hope that by not letting him have any snacks in the evening is the only way he will learn to eat at mealtime so we need to stick to our guns on this no matter how much he whines and cries. It is easier for me to tune out the crying than it is for Bruce, but it is going to have to be done.