Wanting to unschool food
livwithroz
I started unschooling food 4 1/2 months ago and I want to tell you how it went for me. I started by just putting chocolates in a bowl and leaving them out. My 4 year old LOVED it! She ate a lot of it but soon got her fill and soon asked me for sausage and apples. My 6 year old started asking to eat just ketchup or just maple syrup or just a cup of plain flour! It was challenging but I kept saying yes. And after 3 months she seemed to trust that I was going to let her choose and experiment. Her selection of foods widened out. Today as she was making her own flatbread out of flour, water and salt she said to her little sister,"You don't eat the flour, Roz"!!!!!
My advice is to let your yes mean yes and enjoy seeing what happens and write down the things you observe. I think you'll be amazed and impressed!
My advice is to let your yes mean yes and enjoy seeing what happens and write down the things you observe. I think you'll be amazed and impressed!
juliedaniel.email
-=- I started by just putting chocolates in a bowl and leaving them out. My 4 year old LOVED it! She ate a lot of it but soon got her fill and soon asked me for sausage and apples. -=-
-=- My advice is to let your yes mean yes and enjoy seeing what happens and write down the things you observe. I think you'll be amazed and impressed! -=-
I have been amazed and impressed at various times over the last few years - particularly when I read a little (or chat a little!), try a little, wait a while and watch!
We have never rationed or controlled food here but at times that has been *really* hard for me. The lack of food controls was the one part of what I read about unschooling that didn't make good intuitive sense for me. On the other hand I trusted that if most of it made perfect sense and this one piece didn't then it was probably because I was missing something rather than because it was wrong.
So I didn't ration or restrict and I watched to see what was happening. But there was a time when I almost lost the plot! This is about how I was wrong and how an experienced unschooler helped me not to mess up! For a few years we had been going along with my son happily eating whatever looked good to him, and although on some days he chose to eat more sweets (candy) than I would have chosen if I had been doing the choosing for him, I was, on balance, comfortable with what he was eating. Then sometime around the age of four and a half or so he started to eat sugar in cafes he would just open the little sachets that they leave on the table and tip them into his mouth. Some how that seemed wrong to me and there was voice in my head saying "see it's not working, you can't let a child choose what he wants, he's not able to make good choices you have to control it for him". I felt very torn and although I mostly said nothing he is a sensitive child and I'm sure he sensed I was uncomfortable. A few times I did actually say "That's enough sugar for now". But clearly it wasn't enough for him! And it seemed that the more I resisted his sugar eating the more he wanted to eat it (well duh!)
Not long after this started we went to stay with Schuyler for a few days and I told her about "the sugar issue" as I was calling it in my head. She said "When you get home go to the supermarket and buy a big box of sugar cubes and leave them where he can get them whenever he wants to. He probably likes how it feels in his mouth." So I did. The first day or two he ate lots and lots and lots of them (and almost nothing else). I waited. The next few days he ate not quite so many but still a lot more than I thought was good. I waited. By sometime around the start of second week I noticed he was eating one or two cubes once or twice a day as he walked past and in the third week I suddenly noticed that he hadn't touched them for two or three days. These days there is a whole box in the cupboard and he never eats any (except occasionally in a café!) That was a real "a-ha" experience for me.
And in fact since then I have noticed that this is simply a pattern to a lot of his eating preferences, both sweet and savoury when something is a new taste he eats a lot of it and then after a while he eats it less and it just becomes another of the tastes he enjoys. It was only when it was a big issue in *my* mind that it was a problem. (Thanks Schuyler!)
Julie
-=- My advice is to let your yes mean yes and enjoy seeing what happens and write down the things you observe. I think you'll be amazed and impressed! -=-
I have been amazed and impressed at various times over the last few years - particularly when I read a little (or chat a little!), try a little, wait a while and watch!
We have never rationed or controlled food here but at times that has been *really* hard for me. The lack of food controls was the one part of what I read about unschooling that didn't make good intuitive sense for me. On the other hand I trusted that if most of it made perfect sense and this one piece didn't then it was probably because I was missing something rather than because it was wrong.
So I didn't ration or restrict and I watched to see what was happening. But there was a time when I almost lost the plot! This is about how I was wrong and how an experienced unschooler helped me not to mess up! For a few years we had been going along with my son happily eating whatever looked good to him, and although on some days he chose to eat more sweets (candy) than I would have chosen if I had been doing the choosing for him, I was, on balance, comfortable with what he was eating. Then sometime around the age of four and a half or so he started to eat sugar in cafes he would just open the little sachets that they leave on the table and tip them into his mouth. Some how that seemed wrong to me and there was voice in my head saying "see it's not working, you can't let a child choose what he wants, he's not able to make good choices you have to control it for him". I felt very torn and although I mostly said nothing he is a sensitive child and I'm sure he sensed I was uncomfortable. A few times I did actually say "That's enough sugar for now". But clearly it wasn't enough for him! And it seemed that the more I resisted his sugar eating the more he wanted to eat it (well duh!)
Not long after this started we went to stay with Schuyler for a few days and I told her about "the sugar issue" as I was calling it in my head. She said "When you get home go to the supermarket and buy a big box of sugar cubes and leave them where he can get them whenever he wants to. He probably likes how it feels in his mouth." So I did. The first day or two he ate lots and lots and lots of them (and almost nothing else). I waited. The next few days he ate not quite so many but still a lot more than I thought was good. I waited. By sometime around the start of second week I noticed he was eating one or two cubes once or twice a day as he walked past and in the third week I suddenly noticed that he hadn't touched them for two or three days. These days there is a whole box in the cupboard and he never eats any (except occasionally in a café!) That was a real "a-ha" experience for me.
And in fact since then I have noticed that this is simply a pattern to a lot of his eating preferences, both sweet and savoury when something is a new taste he eats a lot of it and then after a while he eats it less and it just becomes another of the tastes he enjoys. It was only when it was a big issue in *my* mind that it was a problem. (Thanks Schuyler!)
Julie
Sandra Dodd
-= She said "When you get home go to the supermarket and buy a big box of sugar cubes and leave them where he can get them whenever he wants to. He probably likes how it feels in his mouth." So I did. The first day or two he ate lots and lots and lots of them (and almost nothing else). I waited. The next few days he ate not quite so many but still a lot more than I thought was good. I waited. By sometime around the start of second week I noticed he was eating one or two cubes once or twice a day as he walked past and in the third week I suddenly noticed that he hadn't touched them for two or three days. These days there is a whole box in the cupboard and he never eats any (except occasionally in a café!) That was a real "a-ha" experience for me. -=-
I love this story. I got to hear it in person. I think there might have been two boxes in the first place which is why there's still a full box.
We have M&Ms that are rarely eaten. Sometimes Marty's friends will come over to play games and eat quite a few, assuming (commenting sometimes) that probably Marty eats then all the time but it's quite the other way around!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I love this story. I got to hear it in person. I think there might have been two boxes in the first place which is why there's still a full box.
We have M&Ms that are rarely eaten. Sometimes Marty's friends will come over to play games and eat quite a few, assuming (commenting sometimes) that probably Marty eats then all the time but it's quite the other way around!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jennifer Schuelein
We have had a similar experience. We have candy in the house at all times due to my sweet tooth. Xander only eats a bunch of it if it's something new. If I keep the same kind of candy, he rarely touches it.
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -= She said "When you get home go to the supermarket and buy a big box of sugar cubes and leave them where he can get them whenever he wants to. He probably likes how it feels in his mouth." So I did. The first day or two he ate lots and lots and lots of them (and almost nothing else). I waited. The next few days he ate not quite so many but still a lot more than I thought was good. I waited. By sometime around the start of second week I noticed he was eating one or two cubes once or twice a day as he walked past and in the third week I suddenly noticed that he hadn't touched them for two or three days. These days there is a whole box in the cupboard and he never eats any (except occasionally in a café!) That was a real "a-ha" experience for me. -=-
>
> I love this story. I got to hear it in person. I think there might have been two boxes in the first place which is why there's still a full box.
>
> We have M&Ms that are rarely eaten. Sometimes Marty's friends will come over to play games and eat quite a few, assuming (commenting sometimes) that probably Marty eats then all the time but it's quite the other way around!
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>