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Welcome to familywisdom.com, a website dedicated to informing and inspiring couples and families. Each week you will find a new article, story or essay about parenting, marriage or life. Suggestions for articles and questions to Ellen Terich are welcome. You can contact her at e.terich1@verizon.net |
A HOT DOG FOR BREAKFAST 2003-08-06 Last Saturday Sean and his daddy woke up early and decided to let mommy sleep in. Sean was hungry and told daddy what he wanted for breakfast: a hot dog. Not to be outdone by Bill Cosby who built a comedy routine around giving his children chocolate cake for breakfast, Sean's dad decided a hot dog for breakfast was just fine. After all, how much different is it from that classic breakfast food - bacon? They're both meat, both from a pig, both nutritional disasters. Like many two year olds, Sean is a picky eater, and often refuses breakfast. When he enthusiastically asked for a hot dog, his dad - who worries a lot about whether Sean is getting enough to eat - was only too willing to oblige. So he cooked the hot dog and gave it to Sean, who promptly ate the whole thing. Sean's mommy was not happy about this when she woke up and saw the evidence in plain sight - because daddies and little boys aren't good at hiding evidence that might require doing dishes and removing trash. This wasn't the kind of breakfast Sean's mommy wanted for her growing boy. She much preferred fruit along with cereal or pancakes or french toast or even a bagel. Hot dogs are rarely a selection on her breakfast menu. At first I thought Sean's not-so-gourmet breakfast was a disaster too, but I've had a day or two to think about it and my question is - what's wrong with hot dogs for breakfast? Who ruled that cereal is only a breakfast food (unless you're a starving college student) and tuna sandwiches are reserved for lunch? What difference does it make what we eat for any meal as long as it's more than Twinkies and Kool-aid? And why on earth would we want to battle with a child who turns up his nose at most things anyway? Why not let him eat hot dogs for breakfast and pancakes for lunch if it means he will eat? I know a woman who used to eat leftover cold spaghetti for breakfast several days a week. She had a large family and, because spaghetti is inexpensive, they often ate it for dinner. The next morning as she struggled to get all eight of her children out the door to school, she got energy from the carbohydrates in a bowl of spaghetti. It's not my idea of a tasty breakfast but it worked for her and she never seemed to gain weight. She insisted that if all she ate was a bowl of cereal for breakfast she would be hungry two hours later and might dive into a bowl of chocolate ice cream. A bowl of spaghetti, on the other hand, kept her going for six hours. I think maybe Sean is still young enough to listen to his body and not be swayed by convention, habit and obnoxious commercials enticing him to eat Lucky Charms or Captain Crunch. A hot dog in the morning also has more protein and probably keeps him satisfied longer than a bagel or cereal. Maybe a lot of our fights with children over eating have to do with our trying to force them to eat something that is at odds with their inner wisdom. Now I know there has to be order in a family and children can't always be allowed to choose separate meals and mealtimes from the rest of the family, but maybe there ought to be a little room for creativity and fun around mealtime. Maybe once in a while we ought to let our children make an unconventional food choice. Some of the happiest meals my children and I shared were the ones we prepared when the electricity had gone out in a windstorm. Since we couldn't cook, the children went into the refrigerator and the pantry and chose a variety of cold things they wanted to eat. Then we put a blanket on the floor and had a picnic by candlelight. The best part, of course, was desert - something from the freezer like frozen cookie dough. Yum! A few months ago I wrote about ways to help picky eaters and their parents. A suggestion I didn't offer - but should have - was to mix up meals just for fun. Have dinner in the morning and breakfast at night. Children like to be allowed to occasionally break the rules and this might help picky eaters just like it helped Sean. Interestingly enough, the same day he ate the hot dog for breakfast, Sean wanted pancakes for lunch. So I say (once in a while) let's have hot dogs for breakfast! |