How are you helping your children?

[hillfarm]

My oldest is overweight, built like her gma. She eats healthy but is a total carb eater. She's grown but was thin till she was old enuf to make her own choices.
My second only eats protiens. Hates vegies, will eat some fruit and not big on the carbs. She's very thin and 12.
My youngest is a great eater. Loves fruits and vegies. Wont touch starches- despises potatoes. Has never had a soft drink and until recently discovered he likes Hi-C when diluted with water. He is also thin.

Their father is a very overwieght man who takes them to McDonalds for every meal when he does visit. Usually making them sick. They call and complain of a stomach ache every time they are there.

Now my youngest was raised primarely by me and my current husband so his habits are better than the two older girls. I used to give him cold cukes to teeth on. The girls were given frozen waffles by their gma. The girls were never given home cooked meals by anyone other than me, father's family fed them frozen pizza and fast food. He eats carrots and raw broccolli for after school snacks by choice here. Eats salad without dressing even. But I have only tried to get very serious about eating close to the earth since I was pregnant with him.
The girls didnt benifit as much.

I do garden with the kids, encouraging them to taste the vegies and herbs straight from the garden. They help plant and harvest. The tending doesnt catch their intrest as much. We have free tv. MEaning an antenna and no cable. We do not have a video game system, although I did breakdown and buy a wii since they are doing so well in school for them this xmas. But it's a family gift and goes in the front room where everyone gets to play as a family and it can be monitored so I dont have kids playing for hours. Not in their bedrooms. AND the kids turn off their tvs and write books, play legos and such BECAUSE they dont have mindless droning cartoon channels from cable. They have even been known to turn on the radio and read a book.

We have tree swings, swingsets, trampolines, quads. All kinds of outdoor fun. Bikes and such.

I wish i had appreciated the importance of good nutrition sooner. How good it was for them to be outdoors. But better late than never.

 

[me&thegals]

We have one of those grinder things like they had in Conan the Barbarian. I make them push that for an hour everyday. The 7 year old complains bu he looks kind of like Arnold.

Snort!!

 

[me&thegals]

Well, where to start?

Lots of sleep.

As much exercise as possible. We make it as fun as we can. Sometimes our work is our exercise (like digging and hauling potatoes).

Super good food. Lots of fruits and veggies. For example, one breakfast this week was pumpkin-apple muffins with kale-blueberry-banana smoothies. Sometimes it's just cereal, though A fruit and veggie in every lunch. Some junking, but as a treat and not the norm. Whole grains. Our own eggs and venison, chicken. Pretty much no processed foods, but they get them for treats at other's people's houses, school, and rare occasions here (like chips, soda, crackers, candy).

New rule: Only 1 hour allowed for homework (they're 8 and 10), then play. Otherwise, they take WAY too long and sit on their butts all night. Not good for their minds or bodies.

I try to be positive about all the above. It drives me batty when people joke about kids not wanting broccoli. I'd be more likely to tell them to not hog the broccoli, as I want a great big pile of it, too!

ETA: About the only "toy" I'm willing to spend money on--and the kids know it--is it if makes them be creative or active

And my kids have their own, quite large garden plots. This year my son spent his own $ on lots of plants from his schools garden sale and planted over 75 of them. I think this is HUGE in helping kids love veggies! The more involved they are with them, the more they like them. Mine have not met a vegetable they refused to eat. They must try 1 bite of everything, every meal. If they don't like it, they don't have to eat it. However, the next time we have it they must try 1 bite again. They almost always eventually like it. My son hates tomatoes. My daughter hates fish, and I cannot think of a single other food they will not eat at least 1 bite of.

 

[farmerlor]

I am the original sleep nazi. I believe in the motto that parents must pick their battles and kids not getting enough sleep is mine. I insist that the babies take naps, the kids go to bed early and even the teenagers must get adequate sleep. Chores are important. This is not my house, this is OUR house and everyone is responsible for keeping it clean and safe. I believe that doing chores for animals teaches them empathy which my special needs children need. I believe that TV can be fun and even occasionally educational but that too much turns their brains to jelly so the TV is off most of the time. I believe that reading about new ideas, history, classic literature and other religions give kids a firm basis for creative thinking skills.

 

[me&thegals]

I love your style, Lori Sleep Nazi Yep--that's me, too. It's my guaranteed way to get sick--don't get enough sleep. My husband is a big ol' crab without enough sleep, so we've always made sure our kids got plenty for all our sakes.

 

[abifae]

New rule: Only 1 hour allowed for homework (they're 8 and 10), then play. Otherwise, they take WAY too long and sit on their butts all night. Not good for their minds or bodies.

i made my step siblings go out and play after every hour of homework.

amazingly, their work got done faster (5 hours straight and homework not done... versus three hours and that included a full hour outside playing). never mind the exercise factor for the body, it clears the mind. you can't study non stop! especially not kids.

 

[Beekissed]

We have one of those grinder things like they had in Conan the Barbarian. I make them push that for an hour everyday. The 7 year old complains bu he looks kind of like Arnold.

 

[Farmfresh]

My kids got soda, sugary candy, fast food and junk stuff .... IN MODERATION.

Sometimes I think people who NEVER get this kind of thing crave it more.

On the other hand they ate for the majority of their meals, homegrown and home cooked veggies, plenty of fruits, milk, homemade breads, and high quality meats.

The proof is always in how they behave as adults. For the record two of the three almost NEVER drink soda. All of the three love salad and a WIDE variety of veggies and fruits and eat them daily. One is now gluten free by necessity and a hard core health gourmet. The other two live mostly alone and so don't cook much for themselves. One makes mostly healthy eat out choices. The other a 22 year old male ... not so much. He is my pop drinking, pizza eating bachelor.

Maybe someday, when laziness quits being his best friend or he meets someone who will do the cooking for him, his good habits will come back.

 

[Henrietta23]

Last spring my son was diagnosed, not only with gluten intolerance, but allergies to no less than 11 foods. That gave us a good reason to limit what he eats. We eat fresh meats, vegetables and fruits. Almost no processed foods. We read labels. At 8 he can look at label for most of his food allergies. He knows corn syrup is a no-no, only in part because he's allergic to corn. We talk about his right to make his own choices when he is older. None of his allergies are severe. But he knows that if makes choices to eat those things there are consequences to his body. That's the hard part. He's never had severe reactions to most of the foods he tested allergic too. It's all a little abstract to him. So we talk. A lot.