If you drop in on me on any given Sunday afternoon more often than not you'll find me in the kitchen chopping up veggies and fruit, making salads or hard boiling eggs. Prepping food for the week ahead ensures that I'll be able to get meals on the table even after a busy day. More importantly, my kids always have something nutritious on hand (and won't have to resort to snacking on the chips and Fritos that my husband picks up on his "junk food runs"!) On one such Sunday afternoon my sixteen year-old daughter walked into the kitchen for a drink and said something that made all the afternoons spent prepping worth it: "Mom, you're a good role model."
As any parent of a teenager knows compliments are few and far between so it was a proud moment for me. I'm first to admit that I don't enjoy spending time in the kitchen so it was really nice to know that she appreciated the effort it takes to provide good choices. I've heard complaints from both my daughter and my 21-year-old son over the years about the lack of "good snacks" and soda in our house. My daughter even came home from school one afternoon with hurt feelings after a girl at her lunch table asked her why she didn't, "eat like a normal teenager."
In a society where 30% of our youth are at or near the obese range our family is considered abnormal for sending our kids to school with sandwiches on whole wheat bread with a side of apple slices instead of a bag of Doritos and a can of Red Bull? Seriously? This role model thing is a real challenge.
Comments? Have you or your children ever been questioned or even mildly teased for your food choices?
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my son is allergic to wheat and dairy
ReplyDeleteso he eats pretty healthy all the time
fruits veggies proteins
but he gets asked all the time why he isnt eating junk at school
and he has never even tried soda at the age of 6 and i dont intend on giving it to him any time soon
it definately is crazy
what kids take to school anymore is ridiculous
i work at an elemntary school and 2nd and 3rd graders bringing red bull and different soda caffenated drinks to school for lunch is crazy and it happens everyday at our school
then they wonder why the kids cant sit still in class
the cafateria sells chips ice cream candy soda and offers a banana every once and awhile and they think cuz they put the bananas out for free every once awhile they r doing great but what i see in school is horrible so even if you think your doing great at home with your kids stop in and check out the cafateria in your childs school because they may be eating junk every day there
and you may not even know it
My kids have eaten healthy for many years and I doubt I could pay them to go into a McDonald's. I never have soda in the house and the kids do not miss it. The only chips we have are bbq popchips which are not only tasty, but only 100 calories a bag.
ReplyDeleteMy son enjoys apples and banana's, likes milk and OJ. It is how they have been raised.
I was in a WW meeting a few weeks back and someone said it was tough because there is junk food in the house for the kids. I wanted to ask how her under 10 year old kids drive to the store and pay for the food..
Obviously, all of this is a lot easier since they also see how I eat. It is not a case of me drinking soda and not allowing them too. They never see me drink, smoke or binge.
Raising kids come with a responsibility. You are a great roll model!
I was on a tree week trip in South Africa for a medical conference. My hosts were very nice about considering my vegetarian dietary style. However, at almost every meal I would be asked why I ate that way. After two week of this, I finally responded, "I think you should ask yourselves why you eat the way you do, rather than ask me that question!"
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the trip was much less troublesome.
I could go on and on and on :)
ReplyDeletebeing GF for 18 years Ive had more than my share of people thinking Im a nutball.
MY brother and I can relate, but of course looking back I am so thankful that my parents sent us (and still sends Joe) to school with fruits and veggies and even bowls of homemade vegetable soup. I used to love going to friend's houses because they had the "good cereal" and we always had dessert after dinner. Not in my home! But, I am thankful for it, and your kids will be too one day (if they aren't already, and I thin it sounds like they are!).
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, 21, has mastered the art of celebrating good food without exploiting it -- something I have never been able to do. She likes cupcakes and gourmet burgers, not cheap junk food. We don't always agree on this, but she keeps the size of her celebrations relative to the size of the moment, and that's where many young ones go wrong...
ReplyDeleteKaren, what a wonderful post & how your daughter said that to you! So important to & you were doing it before it became the thing to do. Yes, in these times when the obesity rate is so high, as Dr J said, why aren't people eating better?
ReplyDeleteMe, my family just got used to me doing what I do.. no questions any more. Even the new in- laws are used to me already! ;-)
What a great compliment! I don't know how parents manage to cope with the pressure to cave into junk food requests, it's so the "normal" way to eat in our crazy society.Good for you for providing healthy choices!
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree its hard to make healthy choices great choices for teenagers. I do love spending time in my kitchen and my almost 20 year old daughter has spent hours and hours at my side helping me chop and cook.
ReplyDeleteAt any given moment she can make a chicken stir fry, homemade pizza, etc. Sadly, most of her friends parents never cooked at home so they have no idea where to begin having eaten take our for so many years!
They haven't really been teased because we homeschool, but when friends come over, they sometimes laugh at what passes for snacks in our house, or express disbelief that the majority of my kids have never eaten at a McDonald's. You are doing good!!
ReplyDelete