Guess who has heard you utter these words? Yep. Your sweet, innocent children. Were you talking about yourself? Your husband? Someone on television? A complete stranger? Or worse, were you referring to your child?
Yes, we want our children above all else to be healthy. But, there is a deep dark secret most mothers are hiding. We secretly go to their doctors' visits and hope that our boys will be in the millionth percentile for height, and our little girls will be in the 25th or lower for weight. How warped are we?
Do we need to go back to Psalm 139?
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
God created us all DIFFERENTLY. Why is that so hard to grasp? We need to shed this worldly view of what our children and ourselves SHOULD look like.
My husband is close to 6 feet and 7 inches tall. I am a mere 5 foot 3. I am guilty of hoping my little girl does not grow into a giant. I am guilty of wishing my little boy were more of a giant like his daddy. At the end of the day, who cares? If they are healthy, happy, well-adjusted children, they will thrive at any height!
Our children are watching our every move. When we act like weirdos about food, they see it. Moms, we need to SHOW our children what a healthy diet looks like. Be an example. EAT FOOD....REAL FOOD.
I sit down on Sunday afternoons and plan each meal for the week. My children know that each meal will include a "healthy thing." Yes, I let them have pretzels and chips at lunch, but it is balanced with a fruit or vegetable. Every night, we sit down together as a family for dinner. I am not a short-order cook. I make a well-balanced dinner, and everyone is expected to eat. Our rule is "bites by age." My son is 6 so he is expected to take 6 bites of each food and then he can say no thank-you. My daughter is 4, and she is expected to take 4 bites of each food.
Moms, if you are running around the kitchen during dinner, not eating and snacking on some kind of protein bar.....what does this say to your child? You can't be on a crazy diet forever. Make a lifestyle choice to eat healthy food....REAL FOOD.
I could go on and on about this topic. But, I will end here because my little boy is waiting for me to come see his LEGO creation.
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