It's the first day of spring and my thoughts have turned to gardening. But I'm not talking daffodils, daisies and tulips -- I'm talking about planting seeds of a different kind: namely, our kids' relationships with food.
Last weekend, my husband and I took our son out to dinner while our daughter was at a friend's house. Sitting in the booth directly behind us at the restaurant was a mother with her young son and young daughter. The little boy was adorable, occasionally poking his head over the back of the booth to say hello. They talked loudly enough -- as young kids often do -- for us to overhear just about their entire dinner conversation.
Throughout dinner, the mom directed the kids to "eat all your dinner or you won't get any dessert." It's a refrain heard in many households with young kids. But I'll confess I was a little shocked when the server came around to take dessert orders and the mom ordered ice cream for her little boy and told her daughter, "You didn't follow our rule, so you don't get any dessert."
As we got up to leave the restaurant, the little boy said goodbye and proudly showed me his ice cream while his sister's place sat empty. And I couldn't help but wonder what that little girl learned about food that day...that you shouldn't trust your own body to tell you when you've had enough to eat? Or, worse, that you should continue stuffing yourself past the point of comfort so that you can "earn" your sweet reward?
