Food Issues

I know this is all about me and my issues and my insecurities – it doesn’t make it easier know this - and I need to air this.

Lilly has days where she will refuse to eat – anything. I try to ignore it and my repeating answer after is – I don’t run a café here – you eat when everyone else eats and you eat what we all eat.

Then there are the days that she eats like a horse – honestly. This morning she ate a bowl of rice bubbles, an apple and 3 bananas. Adrian had a cooked breaky about an hour after this and she pestered him until she secured an egg and a sausage from him.I have a large fruit bowl in the kitchen and I know I do encourage the kids to eat fruit whenever they like – but she does – a lot. Its not uncommon for her to eat a few bananas and apples after lunch and then again for dessert. I mean – where is it going?

I cannot give her anything sugary – she goes completely mad. Thankfully when we go out and she is offered softdrink or juice – she always asks for water – bless her. But watch the biscuits. Today she scoffed 4 shortbreads in as many second and then started in on the chocolate ones – but found she only liked chewing the chocolate off them.

I know of the theories – if you deny food or use it as rewards or punishments – then it will start a chain of events and issues with food – and its the last thing I want – especially for Lilly. Having grown up always fat – always overweight – nothing fitting and standing out in the crowd – I so don’t want it for her. I know I have an obsessive nature and its often difficult for me to curb it.

I get so angry and frustrated with her sneaking food into her room – she knows that I don’t want her to be eating things – and she sneaks them in – I found an empty packet of jelly crystals in her bed today and am forever taking Morgan’s school snacks ( muesli bars etc) away from her. I guess its difficult for her to understand that Morgan gets these things and she doesn’t.

Both the kids are on the side of solid – thankfully very active. Just reviewing it – I believe I have been on a diet now for the better part of 25 years. Help! Phew.. motherguilt – kick on in.

Go to bed!

Its nearly 10 pm. I have been attempting to put Lilly to bed since 7.

We have a routine where we have a story each before bedtime. They go and brush their teeth, find a book from the library and put it in their beds and then go and give Daddy a big hug and kiss goodnight. Then its into bed – hugs kisses etc etc and off to sleep. I know you aught not compare kids – but Morgan goes out like a light – and has done so for years. Lillys usual response to going to bed is this.

7.10 reading light is turned on and off as she fiddles with it.

7.15 calls for another hug and kiss – which is done – but warned that this is the last one tonight. I check in on Morgan who is snoring.

7.15 – 7.30 reads book, talks to teddy or dolls.

7.30 gets out of bed and gets all of dolls and tucks into bed.

7.40 gets backpack out of cupboard and fills it with teddies and old mobile phones and tucks into bed.

7.50 calls for drink of water

7.52 starts singing twinkle twinkle or old Mc Donald… loudly..

7.55 gets annoying toy with pull string or similar and repeatedly makes it sound its tune.

7.59 toy is confiscated

8.00 Loud wailing and tears.

8.10 little head pops round corner “ I need to go to the toilet” stands there are repeats till I walk her there ( not needed – she has been going by self for months)

8.15 still sitting on toilet – unrolling paper.

8.30 has stuffed entire toilet roll down toilet and flushing loo till it pours over. Sink tap is turned on full bore.

8.35 Lilly taken to bed, mess tidied up

8.40 small head pops round corner. “ I’m hungry” depending on my mood an apple is cut up and eaten at the table or the shouting starts.

9.30 Small ninja steals into the kitchen and secures a banana and an apple and smuggles back to bed. Ignored

9.45 naked child streaks through house.

9.55 child returned to room. Entire drawer of shorts and shirts have been tried on and spread over floor. Shouting ensues.

10 pm in bed with every stuffed toy she owns. Hard to see child – but the talking continues so am guessing she is in there somewhere.

10.01 talking stops mid sentence. Snores are heard.

Oh and – up by 5.30 in summer ( despite block out curtains and block out blind making room pitchblack.) and possibly 6.15 in winter time.

No sleeps during day. Stopped that when she was 18 months.

I am at a loss on what to do with her. I guess she is very much like me – needing little sleep – so what do you do? Let her stay up? Oh and no – I am not exaggerating – this is a transcript of what happened last night and give or take one or two items – this is usually what happens. – amidst threats of tying her in bed, locking the door and turning out the light.. These threats usually keep her in bed for about 5 mins or so.

Arggghhh!

The Bunyas

We have just spent the better part of a week in the Bunya mountains. Adrian and I had camped there with friends about 15 years earlier and had been in awe of the chalets snuggled into the landscape then. The sensuous smell of the wood smoke twirling lazily above each picturesque house, the mist hanging over the roof tops like a gossamer cloak, the lush green grass covering the gentle slopes…. hummm

Our chalet was beautiful and lived up to all my expectations. A four bedroom double story loft house, complete with fireplace and two balconies. The owners really went out of their way to ensure that the tenants felt at home and comfortable. The little touches like the tea and coffee tray, practical things like the tick puller ( used constantly) the myriad of games suitable for all ages, and a host of popular kids and adult videos and dvds. One of the upper bedrooms had a TV, DVD and Video player in it.. Morgan and Lilly claimed it immediately – even though we could have each had a room to ourselves the kids wanted to sleep in the same room. Lilly luxuriated in a queen bed, morgan claimed the single bed overlooking the valley through a huge florr to ceiling window - and there were two couches – one a pull out bed as well. Surprisingly the house could easily sleep 11 people. The kitchen had every appliance you could think of. We ate well and constantly – something holidays are all about. When I booked it, I sent and email out to our friends to invite them to come and stay a while with us. Now we are here I am sorry I didn’t follow up and really sell it to them. Such a great house, close to the walking tracks and beautiful views.

Morgan and Lilly never tired of waking and pulling back the curtains to watch the pretty-face wallabies on the manicured lawns. On the bigger balcony near the dining room, we breakfasted with lorikeets, parrots, currawongs and magpies. Morgans face was a treasure to be kept as he hand fed a parrot one of his raw peanuts. It was a special moment, but one we didn’t encourage as we are well aware of the dangers of domesticating wild animals.

Memories from the trip include

Bird feeding at the café each day.

• Lillys amazing ability to strip naked in five seconds flat and hang from the balconies like a monkey.
• The mist as it hung over the valley
• Watching the sunset as the temperature plummeted.
• The kids racing round with glow sticks in the pitch darkness.
• Those damned ticks – doing a tick patrol every day.
• Morgans amazing ability to hide on the track and jump out to scare us.
• Lillys announcement after walking about 100 mtrs that it was time for snacks…every day…

When Morgan and Age cranked up the playstation, I sat at my laptop and edited stories, read my emails, answering and deleting as I went ( something I hadn’t done for months and was feeling a bit overwhelmed and paralyzed a the enormity of the task),writing and editing my articles for the ebook and planning the framework and world views for my NANO book.

Every day we set off after breakfast on our intrepid adventures. Kitted up with our hydro packs, hiking boots and poles, we attacked our walks with gusto. The longest one we did was a little over 5 kms and had some pretty steep hills following the waterfall trak. Very proud of the kids who kept up, skipped and jumped around excited to see everything in our way.

I can’t believe its at an end and we have to now go home. I hope we can come back soon with lots of friends, warm mead and some good board games to play – its just the right atmosphere.