Dear Abby,
My children have a gift. I call it endurance eating?
Oh. My. Word.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a tiny bowl of cereal or a mountainous Thanksgiving dinner… they can easily at the table for what feels like an eternity. They sit there and do basically anything besides put a bite of food in their mouth, chew, swallow and repeat.
They start out cute and happy. They chat and nibble a little and giggle together. So I initially think “Awww, they’re so happy at the table together, they can just stay there as long as it takes… no problem!”.
But then.
But then they get tired and they starting picking and whining and aggravating and arguing and tattling and it goes downhill fast. Then I find myself thinking “What do I dooooooooooo?!”
What should I do? Have a cut off time and whatever they don’t eat by then gets saved for later? Should I let them eat nothing if they say they’re full after two bites and let them be excused? (But then they come crawling back ten minutes later STARVING again?!). Should I sit with them patiently and calmly (I wish) and keep gently reminding them to please stop pulling each others hair and knocking over each other bowls and kindly take a bite sweet little pookey poo? Should I excuse myself and lock myself in the bedroom ‘til morning? (Please?). Is there something I am missing here? Some time-tested strategy I don’t know about?
Help!!
Sincerely,
Pulling-My-Own-Hair-At-Mealtime
What? No comments in response to your plea for help??? Yes, we have 2 out of 4 dawdlers at the table. Especially one. We finally do set a time for them to finish. (Finding a specific bird on our bird clock is such fun!) If said food is not gone by the blue jay (for example), it is put in the fridge and finished at the next meal (or snack time). This works for not-so-favorite foods. For the social person, giving them a choice to sit with us and finish or to eat in another room alone often works. Whew!
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