[email protected]

I thought I'd throw in my two cents on this issue. I don't post often, but I
find it very interesting that some people do not think children as young as 3,
4, 5 are able to choose what they want to eat.

My daughter was born in 2001. When she was a couple of months old she started
throwing up. This happened once a month pretty regularly, until she was about
18 mos (she would throw up and fall right to sleep). At about 18mos she
started becoming dizzy and disoriented, also. We took her to a couple of
specialists and the consensus was she was having migraines. Now our job was to find out
what was causing them. She had a major episode in Sept. of that year and then
nothing until Feb (that would be her last). By Nov. I had noticed she had quit
eating Fresh tomatoes. That was what was causing her episodes. They had
peaked in the summer because she was picking them off the vine in the garden.
She was not quite 2 when she figured this out for herself. She still doesn't
eat tomatoes and she has not had an episode in over a year.


So to think that children cannot determine what is or is not good for them is
in my opinion, absurd, especially since we have first hand knowledge that
they are quite capable.

Karena


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kayb85

By Nov. I had noticed she had quit
> eating Fresh tomatoes. That was what was causing her episodes. They
had
> peaked in the summer because she was picking them off the vine in
the garden.
> She was not quite 2 when she figured this out for herself. She
still doesn't
> eat tomatoes and she has not had an episode in over a year.

That's so awesome.

I'm sure I've shared my cantalope story at some point before, but it
fits here. When Matt was very little and I was still mega-monitoring
food (making sure each child got a certain amount of foods from each
food group each day), I MADE him (shudder) eat a piece of cantalope.
He told me he didn't want it. He told me cantalopes make his throat
hurt. I told him that was silly, thinking he was just making an
excuse. I forced him to eat it, and his lips swelled and he had
trouble breathing. It was a near anaphylactic reaction, I almost
called 911. :(

I had NO idea that he was allergic to cantaloupe, but he knew that it
made his body feel icky when he ate it, and didn't want it.

So yes, kids definitely recognize when something isn't good for
them! Kids who are allowed to learn to listen to their bodies and
trust their instincts about what to eat or not eat are very luck
kids!

Sheila

Cally Brown

>
>
>When Matt was very little and I was still mega-monitoring
>food (making sure each child got a certain amount of foods from each
>food group each day), I MADE him (shudder) eat a piece of cantalope.
>He told me he didn't want it.
>
On the other hand, my son was glad when I insisted he tried another
strawberry. He had tried them several times and said he didn't like
them, but then I realised that he was actually only licking them! Have
you ever licked a strawberry? No flavour, just sort of rough and
slightly well, almost hairy. Blurk! So, believe it or not, I peeled a
strawberry for him and once he had licked that there was no stopping him!

Cally

Ali Kat

What are good ways to explain the whole idea behind not limiting food to people who are genuinely concerned about your child. (and those folks who just won't butt out with their "you should go see a nutritionist" regarding diet) I'm not even sure I completely get it yet...


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/25/2004 11:10:12 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
sweetgypsiedncer@... writes:
What are good ways to explain the whole idea behind not limiting food to
people who are genuinely concerned about your child. . . . I'm not even sure I
completely get it yet...
===========

Maybe just go gradually until you do understand it.

There are a couple of books out in the world but understanding a step at a
time and moving into it slowly might be better than doing something you can't
explain. But if you haven't read the stories at http://sandradodd.com/food
there might be something there that will give you confidence.

Sandra


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queenjane555

> What are good ways to explain the whole idea behind not limiting
>food to people who are genuinely concerned about your child. (and
>those folks who just won't butt out with their "you should go see a
>nutritionist" regarding diet) I'm not even sure I completely get it
>yet...
>

My son is probably the best "advertisement" for this way of eating.
My sister and i were talking on the phone about our food issues, and
how even if we are not hungry we will eat. Seamus looked utterly
confused, and said "why would you eat if you arent hungry??"...he
thinks the whole idea of eating for pleasure, or as a hobby, or out
of boredom is totally bizarre. Thank god. I think not passing on
weird food issues to him is the number one best thing i ever did as a
parent. I think nursing him "on demand", for years, and delaying
solids provided a really good starting point. And a large part of it
is his own personality or genetic makeup i'm sure...but i couldve
screwed it up by telling him to finish his plate, or using food as a
reward, and i didnt.

If you have to explain it to someone, i think just talking about how
you are trying to encourage your child to listen to their own natural
body messages, and trying to not make certain foods more exciting
than they need to be by making them restricted or off limits. And
honestly, most kids--even if they are binging on a certain food for a
day or two or five---WILL get sick of "junk" food eventually.

But mostly i have stopped trying to convince other people of anything
anymore. Too mentally taxing. I never thought i'd be one of those
people who smile, and nod, and evasively say "well we do what works
for us..." but here i am!


Katherine

storyteller

Hi,

We just moved to Pennsylvania -- any Pennsylvanians on the list? It
seems that PA is not the friendliest of states for homeschoolers?. Any
info would be greatly appreciated.

A little background - we are long time homeschoolers, been unschooling
for a while. The girls decided they wanted to try school. My 14 year old
does not like it and wants to go back to homeschooling, so I need to get
the process going. I've been doing a little research, and the process
looks rather difficult here.

Thanks much,
Sue

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail.    
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead




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Jason & Stephanie

We just moved to Pennsylvania -- any Pennsylvanians on the list? It
seems that PA is not the friendliest of states for homeschoolers?. Any
info would be greatly appreciated.<>>>>>>>

*****Hi Sue, didn't you just join PA-Unschoolers? I'm sure that people here would rather we discuss the ins and outs of PA law over there, just a guess. I saw a post you just sent and haven't had time to respond yet.
Stephanie


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catherine aceto

Where in PA are you? There seems to be some differences in how friendly individual school districts are.

Here is a link to some basic info about homechooling in PA, which includes sample forms. http://www.pghmama.com/homeschooling.html

I haven't had to do anything yet (oldest kid is under 8, the age of registration here), so I'm not real helpful on specifics.

PA unschoolers yahoo group seems like a good source for unschooling friendly evaluators.

-cat
----- Original Message -----
From: storyteller
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 9:20 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] need info on Pennsylvania


Hi,

We just moved to Pennsylvania -- any Pennsylvanians on the list? It
seems that PA is not the friendliest of states for homeschoolers?. Any
info would be greatly appreciated.

A little background - we are long time homeschoolers, been unschooling
for a while. The girls decided they wanted to try school. My 14 year old
does not like it and wants to go back to homeschooling, so I need to get
the process going. I've been doing a little research, and the process
looks rather difficult here.

Thanks much,
Sue

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail.
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead




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Jason & Stephanie

I haven't had to do anything yet (oldest kid is under 8, the age of registration here), so I'm not real helpful on specifics.>>>>>

*****Cat, I didn't realize you were in PA, I've seen you post on a few lists before that is why I recognize your name. Where are you? I'm about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, I have had to comply, I'm in a friendly district, this is my 2nd year my oldest is 9.
Stephanie



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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/26/04 10:12:11 PM, queenjane555@... writes:

<< Seamus looked utterly

confused, and said "why would you eat if you arent hungry??"...he

thinks the whole idea of eating for pleasure, or as a hobby, or out

of boredom is totally bizarre. >>

My kids too. It is SO COOL.
Or they will say, "I'm kinda hungry, but I'm going to eat with [whoever] in a
couple of hours, so I'll wait," OR "I'm hungry now, so I'm just going to eat
now and later I'll just get a drink." They plan ahead. They don't even use
food for social purposes in the same way most people do. They're aware of
whether they're hungry even at parties and dinners! <g>

Amazing. I didn't expect that when we started all this.

There was an article in Mothering Magazine when Kirby was very young (one or
two? So it would've been 1988 or so I think) about toddlers making good
choices when they had choices, and we just never looked back. I wonder if the
author of that article followed through to adulthood with hers?

-=-And

honestly, most kids--even if they are binging on a certain food for a

day or two or five---WILL get sick of "junk" food eventually. -=-

Someone else brought a big back of Jolly Rancher miniatures here. They sat in
a bowl, and finally they were moved to a Ziploc gallon bag by my husband, who
had brought a Halloween bag from Costco of miniature Mars Bars, Snickers,
Twix. Now we have a big bowl of those. I've eaten six, in four days. Keith
picked out all the dark chocolate Mars bars (there weren't many). The rest is
sitting. The bowl went from mounded to flat, and there it sits. I suppose if
many other kids come over some more will disappear. I wouldn't be suprised if
some of it's still here at Halloween. We can give the Jolly Ranchers away
then too, if we can't get Kirby to return them to the guy who bought them.

Not that other people's friends and relatives might care, but there are
stories of kids making food choices that pleasantly surprised their parents here:

http://sandradodd.com/food

Sandra

julie w

Sorry to the mods.
I just realized that I have not waited my allotted 2 weeks before posting.
~Gah~
I can only put it down to their generosity and the fact that I've been
on and off this list a number of times over the years and know the score.
Thanks ladies.....

Julie W in AR

>


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