The Food thing
J. Stauffer
We have been rushing around the last few days due to various kids'
activities. Yesterday, Adriane's birthfamily was stopping by for a visit so
I was frantically cleaning house. Jerry had fixed the kids a big breakfast
earlier and I told the kids I wasn't fixing a sit down lunch due to time
constraints. If they were hungry they should just help themselves. Having
complete freedom to eat whatever they wanted, they did this:
Zach (10) fixed a corndog and chocolate milk.
Marsie (7) fixed a tortilla with cheese melted on it.
Dan (5) had two tortillas straight out of the fridge and some marshmallows.
Adriane (13) had an apple with peanut butter and a salad.
Michelle (4) had just woken up. The only thing that interested her at all
to eat was spinach leaves that she could dip in salad dressing.
Julie S.
activities. Yesterday, Adriane's birthfamily was stopping by for a visit so
I was frantically cleaning house. Jerry had fixed the kids a big breakfast
earlier and I told the kids I wasn't fixing a sit down lunch due to time
constraints. If they were hungry they should just help themselves. Having
complete freedom to eat whatever they wanted, they did this:
Zach (10) fixed a corndog and chocolate milk.
Marsie (7) fixed a tortilla with cheese melted on it.
Dan (5) had two tortillas straight out of the fridge and some marshmallows.
Adriane (13) had an apple with peanut butter and a salad.
Michelle (4) had just woken up. The only thing that interested her at all
to eat was spinach leaves that she could dip in salad dressing.
Julie S.
Kelli Traaseth
----- Original Message -----
From: J. Stauffer
**Zach (10) fixed a corndog and chocolate milk.
Marsie (7) fixed a tortilla with cheese melted on it.
Dan (5) had two tortillas straight out of the fridge and some marshmallows.
Adriane (13) had an apple with peanut butter and a salad.
Michelle (4) had just woken up. The only thing that interested her at all
to eat was spinach leaves that she could dip in salad dressing.**
This looks very similar to our kids' choices too. :)
Mine also can choose what ever they like.
We havn't always been this way with the kids, its been about a year now and I see some amazing changes.
I used to be very anal about meal time, no snacks, no dessert unless you'd cleaned your plates. The whole shabang, yuck.
We are so much more relaxed with each other now, my kids choose a whole range of foods. They still like some candy/treats but they eat alot less than other friends whose parents limit them.
I know that we've now come to a good place with eating and meals. My son, 10, who had the most limiting and coersion, came to me last week and asked if he could fix a dinner for all of us. He wanted to make it a sit down dinner with many courses! I was blown away.
He made up the menu, grocery list, we went grocery shopping, he did alot of the cooking(me helping when he wanted). His sisters also helped with making a big menu to hang on the wall. He presented the following: Spinach salad, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots and for dessert-French silk pie (homemade).
It was very cool. He was very pleased with himself and the family had a really nice evening.
There is such a difference in him towards this kind-of thing since we've been more respectful towards each other-- which started with our unschooling. Before he would have never wanted to do this kind-of thing. Now he is choosing to do this and its making for some really wonderful family time.
Kelli~
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 11:14 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] The Food thing
We have been rushing around the last few days due to various kids'
activities. Yesterday, Adriane's birthfamily was stopping by for a visit so
I was frantically cleaning house. Jerry had fixed the kids a big breakfast
earlier and I told the kids I wasn't fixing a sit down lunch due to time
constraints. If they were hungry they should just help themselves. Having
complete freedom to eat whatever they wanted, they did this:
Zach (10) fixed a corndog and chocolate milk.
Marsie (7) fixed a tortilla with cheese melted on it.
Dan (5) had two tortillas straight out of the fridge and some marshmallows.
Adriane (13) had an apple with peanut butter and a salad.
Michelle (4) had just woken up. The only thing that interested her at all
to eat was spinach leaves that she could dip in salad dressing.
Julie S.
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[email protected]
In a message dated 1/12/04 10:57:36 AM, tktraas@... writes:
<< He made up the menu, grocery list, we went grocery shopping, he did alot
of the cooking(me helping when he wanted). His sisters also helped with
making a big menu to hang on the wall. He presented the following: Spinach
salad, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots and for
dessert-French silk pie (homemade). >>
WOW.
That is SO cool.
My kids don't cook much. Kirby talks about it, but he has the busiest
schedule of all of us, so he's only gotten to it a couple of times, and it's always
something to take to a potluck somewhere else! <g>
Sandra
<< He made up the menu, grocery list, we went grocery shopping, he did alot
of the cooking(me helping when he wanted). His sisters also helped with
making a big menu to hang on the wall. He presented the following: Spinach
salad, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots and for
dessert-French silk pie (homemade). >>
WOW.
That is SO cool.
My kids don't cook much. Kirby talks about it, but he has the busiest
schedule of all of us, so he's only gotten to it a couple of times, and it's always
something to take to a potluck somewhere else! <g>
Sandra
Danielle Conger
My latest on the food front... Hardly earth-shattering, but it's a big step for us. <g>
I've never been a clean your plate kind of person, but I have been pretty rigid about the number of meals I want to fix in a day. So, I've been trying to rethink that a bit.
For a long time, we've had a snack cart with tupperwares full of different snacks that the kids could just pick and choose from, but this mentality never really carried over to dinner. Dinner was what I made. I was happy to modify for tastes but not make something entirely different. With three small kids who eat 3-4 meals a day PLUS dinner, I did this for my own sanity. They could always grab a banana, but pretty much they had to find something on the table that they liked and be limited to that (and I always tried to have at least one thing they would like). But if I make risotto, for instance, only one of them likes that, so the other two would be out of luck in terms of starch. There would still be chicken, but...you get the idea.
Rethinking this a bit, I figure if the kids were older and didn't like what was made, I'd just say, "fix something else." Doesn't seem fair to penalize them just because they can't make their own meals yet. So, yesterday we all sat down and brainstormed all the things they like to eat for dinner and other meals. This morning I spent about an hour cooking up batches of plain pasta and rice, cutting up carrots, string beans, cantaloupe, cheese squares, etc. I pulled out extra chicken to defrost for tonight, so we'll be able to have some grilled chicken in there as well. I'll probably pick up a roaster to do for sandwiches and stuff and make a pizza to wrap up for reheating.
I put everything in those Glad disposable containers on the lowest shelf in the fridge. I showed the kids what all was there and told them that they now always had something to substitute. My oldest was like, "Yeah! I like this idea!" <bwg>.
Seems so simple, you know. But it's a clear example of what I was saying the other day: unschooling "doesn't mean dismissing my needs or comforts, but it does mean re-examining them and being open to other ways of meeting them and new ways of thinking that might not make them seem so important after all." Thanks guys!
--danielle
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I've never been a clean your plate kind of person, but I have been pretty rigid about the number of meals I want to fix in a day. So, I've been trying to rethink that a bit.
For a long time, we've had a snack cart with tupperwares full of different snacks that the kids could just pick and choose from, but this mentality never really carried over to dinner. Dinner was what I made. I was happy to modify for tastes but not make something entirely different. With three small kids who eat 3-4 meals a day PLUS dinner, I did this for my own sanity. They could always grab a banana, but pretty much they had to find something on the table that they liked and be limited to that (and I always tried to have at least one thing they would like). But if I make risotto, for instance, only one of them likes that, so the other two would be out of luck in terms of starch. There would still be chicken, but...you get the idea.
Rethinking this a bit, I figure if the kids were older and didn't like what was made, I'd just say, "fix something else." Doesn't seem fair to penalize them just because they can't make their own meals yet. So, yesterday we all sat down and brainstormed all the things they like to eat for dinner and other meals. This morning I spent about an hour cooking up batches of plain pasta and rice, cutting up carrots, string beans, cantaloupe, cheese squares, etc. I pulled out extra chicken to defrost for tonight, so we'll be able to have some grilled chicken in there as well. I'll probably pick up a roaster to do for sandwiches and stuff and make a pizza to wrap up for reheating.
I put everything in those Glad disposable containers on the lowest shelf in the fridge. I showed the kids what all was there and told them that they now always had something to substitute. My oldest was like, "Yeah! I like this idea!" <bwg>.
Seems so simple, you know. But it's a clear example of what I was saying the other day: unschooling "doesn't mean dismissing my needs or comforts, but it does mean re-examining them and being open to other ways of meeting them and new ways of thinking that might not make them seem so important after all." Thanks guys!
--danielle
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]