Okay, so kids eat. A lot. Even babies! You fix them a sandwich and 10 minutes later they’re asking for something else. Does anyone else’s kids do this?
E4, for the past few weeks, has been eating everything in sight. Two waffles for breakfast, then 10 minutes later, “I’m hungry. Can you get me something to eat?” After a mid-morning snack, “I’m still hungry. I want something to eat!” Then lunch is large for a 4 year old. PB&J, yogurt, and usually something else. After ten minutes, she’s begging for more food.
The afternoon is the worst since there’s more time between lunch and dinner. It seems like she asks for a snack every 10-15 minutes. It’s excruciating some days.
And then there’s the babies…. A(X) is pretty happy with regular bottles, but she’ll eat other foods if I give them to her. But then there’s A(y). He’s a monster. At the tender age of 9 months, he started refusing bottles in the hope that I’d give him cheeseburgers. This kid is ready for Wing Stop. He’ll drink from bottles still, but he would rather have real food.
It feels like E4 and A(y) are already teenagers who eat constantly. I understand they’re kids and they need to eat a lot to grow, but daaaang! These kids eat a lot and they’re constantly hungry.
So, the other day I came up with a plan. It has worked well for E4. Kids love stickers, right?! I made a sticker chart for her (beware, it’s like…anti-Pinterest…) Throughout the day she can have 3 meals, and 2 snacks. And each time she eats a meal or a snack, she gets to put a sticker in the appropriate spot on her chart. So far it’s working wonderfully. It’s like a potty chart! But with food! She still asks for something to eat in between, but I tell her to go look at her chart. “You can’t have anything until dinner now since you just ate your snack…”
I try to keep A(y) and A(X) on the same schedule but we don’t do a chart for them yet since they’re only 11 months and 3 weeks old. (Oh, no! Guess we better start planning a party!!) They don’t care about stickers yet. All they care about is cheerios, graham crackers, and pooping through their diapers.
