Stay at Home Moms
Spin313
member
Options
SO Foods...
Spin313
member
What was your "relationship" with food growing up...? Are you raising your kids with similar or dissimilar eating habits?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: SO Foods...
I had no relationship with food. I ate what I was given, oftentimes Chef Boyardee or McDonalds or some other frozen meal. My household was NOT stable, to say the least. It's completely messed up my relationship with food as an adult.
I'm raising DD to have healthy eating habits. H and I strive to eat balanced diets and she eats what we eat. We "cheat" when we want to. I'm hoping this shows her that no food is "taboo" when eaten in moderation.
I was (and still am...) extremely picky. Dinner was always a battle between me and my parents. I ran away (down the street) when my mom made meat loaf one time.
I really don't want that for DS, so I give him tons of food that I still don't eat (eggs, certain veggies and things).
My parents are both wonderful cooks from different ethnic backgrounds, so I grew up being introduced to a lot of different flavours, all homemade and relatively healthy, and we definitely weren't allowed to be picky. There was no junk food or processed stuff in our house, but we got our fair share of homemade baked goods. We ate out at restaurants only on special occasions, usually birthdays, because money was tight-ish. And then I'd go to my grandma's and get to eat all the crap I wanted, lol.
I'll be raising DD the same way. I'm a very adventurous cook, and DD hasn't refused anything yet, although I know the pickiness can come later. We don't buy (or even want) any processed stuff, but I love to bake! If she's offered processed foods or whatever, then of course she's allowed to have it... we have a lot of church get togethers, mom's group meetings, etc, where that kind of thing is available. We just don't have any in our house (usually).
My mom (or dad) cooked meals from scratch. We sat at the dinner table every night. Once or twice a year we would get KFC for a treat. I well remember my mother grinding her own meat to make meatloaf. She was a full time working mom.
Lunches were sandwich, apple, carrot sticks, milk.
Breakfast was Shreddies or similar; sometimes she would make muffins.
When I got an allowance, I spent lots of it on pop and candy. My mom did not bake and having cookies or similar in the house was a treat-type scenario.
I grew up in the 70s. All through school there was one 'fat' kid in each class, classes of 40 kids often.
My kids get similar stuff, more eating out though. Simple foods. I don't keep junk or treats in the house for me, mostly.
I grew up on lots of crap. I mean, my mom cooked. But, we didn't have a bunch of money floating around.. so we had a LOT of boxed foods. Mac and cheese, canned pasta, hotdogs, etc. And I was allowed to eat tons of snacks- chips, etc. My mom often had a batch of homemade cookies waiting for me when I got home from school. I ate so bad. And because of that, it took me a long time to realize how to properly eat. I was also overweight for the high majority of my life. I'm working on that. But, I know how to eat now. And I eat rather "clean" for the most part.
I'm not raising my daughter like I was. I don't allow as much crap. I mean- every so often she gets her favorite frozen pizza or McDonalds. But, in between she eats homemade foods, whole grains, and tons of fruits and veggies. Nothing like I ate when I was her age.
As a young child, I was a pretty crappy eater with a fairly limited diet (no vegetables outside of peas, a few fruits, mostly red meat and potatoes). My dad catered to me far too much and wrote it off as I was "picky". As I got older and my stepmom pushed my dad to encourage me to try more foods I got a lot better.
Sweets were always allowed at parties and on special occasions. It was never kept in the house as a part of our day to day lives though. Fruit was encouraged as an after dinner snack vs cookies or cake. I have a pretty good relationship with food and I will raise my kids the same way.
We certainly dont' force my kids to eat what they don't like. Throwing our hands up in the air and allowing them to eat a limited diet like many toddlers do isn't an option though. We do encourage constant exposure to fruits/vegetables that might not be a staple of their diet at every meal/snack period. They aren't forced to eat them but with repeated exposure they have definitely added to what they enjoy eating. We also model healthy eating ourselves as well,.
This basically describes my house. Also, I was always mad for sweets because my mom rarely bought them.
However, I'm the antithesis of picky. I eat about everything, always have. My dad loved to try new things when we went to restaurants and he loved when I would have a bite, so I think I got in the habit of trying new food early, just to please him.
I don't really think a lot about my kids and eating. I buy and cook what I'm comfortable with them eating, and they can eat it if they want. My youngest has been giving me fits lately because he won't have a bite of anything unfamiliar, and that irritates me, but it's not about nutrition. I'm just like my dad, it makes me crazy when people look at something and say "I don't like that" without giving it a shot.
I went through phases. I was a vegetarian on and off for a few years. I did it with my cousin and she still is. My parents basically fed us crap though. We had tons of frozen dinners, frozen pizzas and boxed foods. I've cleaned up my eating a lot since I got married.
I've thankfully never had weight issues and I'm not really picky as an adult. I was a picky eater as a kid. DD eats a million times better than I did as a child.
I'm much more aware of what my kids eat. They do eat processed crap at times, but the majority of their diet consists of whole grains, yogurt, nuts, fruit, and veggies. I want to teach them the importance of making good food choices and that everything is okay in moderation.
My mom rarely cooked and when she did she never made enough and it wasn't very good. She just had no knack for it and no interest in trying. She'd make like one box of Tuna Helper (gag) or one crappy frozen pizza for a hungry family of four. My dad was also helpless in the kitchen. His idea of dinner was a microwaved hot dog with a piece of wonder bread wrapped around it, or a PB&J. All of this had nothing to do with finances; we were upper middle class and my mom was home full time. She was just not cut out to be a full time mom and housewife. She never cleaned either, our house was a mess.
It actually caused a lot of tension in our house because my mom just literally wouldn't cook and there was very little my brother or I could do to fix food for ourselves. I ate a lot of Chef Boyardee and TV dinners. It was gross. They would also get fast food and pizza a lot.
I learned to cook and bake from my grandmother (my Dad's mom). Everything I learned about cooking, entertaining, budgeting, shopping, and running a household I learned from her. She was incredible and I miss her often.
In high school, my boyfriend's family cooked and ate together every single night so I just started eating there every night. It was amazing. He was very close with his parents because of it and I have very fond, very warm memories of spending time with them (we are all still in touch). That and what I learned from my grandmother are the models I am following for my own household and children.
I always ate things fairly plain but loved all types of food and ate a balanced diet. My mom made an effort to make balanced meals we liked and we were required to eat certain amounts of everything before leaving the table. The big struggle for me was being forced to drink a small glass of milk with dinner every night, I have never liked milk at all. Even though I didn't like it, I think it's just fine she made me drink one glass with dinner. My brother was that way with his vegetables.
I imagine I will raise DD in a similar fashion.
ETA: My older brother was picky and sometimes my mom would let that influence what she fed us. For example, he would only tolerate 1 or 2 vegetables so she didn't introduce as many to me. It took a long time for me to learn to like some of those foods she decided not to let me try. If I have 1 picky child I want to do everything in my power to not let that influence any other childrens' eating habits.
1/12/13 DD was born
4/9/16 DS was born
9/17 CP
6/23/18 BFP EDD 3/4/19
I was the forth child and was allowed to eat whatever. We had a very active lifestyle though, so it balanced out. I was/am picky though, so I wish my parents would have made me try different foods. I
I offer my kids a variety of foods, and limit their sweets (although apparently not as much as some of you), but I allow everything in moderation.
I feed my kids similar to my parents. Although I do cook a lot of "kid friendly" things since dh works late a lot of nights. I Hated the bread I ate growing up I buy a lighter honey wheat bread.
We don't do artificial sweeteners for our kids so no sugar free cool aid for them.
I don't have food issues and I have never really had a weight problem so I think my parents did pretty good!