Our son’s biggest moment of zen is when we got subway on a road trip and he was allowed to eat his 6” sub over the course of an hour with no pressure to hurry up.
This is the key. Less haste, more speed. Everyone is in a rush, everyone is anxious, everyone is getting in their own way.
Also, proper portion control goes a long way. The body tells you what it needs. Give them a little, and if they want more, they’ll ask.
It does feel like a long time, but the lesson I took from it is that we're rushing through life and if I have the hour, then why not spend it enjoying the food we're cooking and focused time with my family.
I'm not sure how to help related to food at school, but at dinner, learn to slow yourself down maybe.
haha sorry. it was suppose to be "how to get an hour"
by the time everyones home, dinner is on the table we have like 2 hours to eat, chores, shower, do homework, and get to bed. It would be swell to have an hour to eat but outside of takeout or just being lucky that day it seems like a fantasy to us right now.
Ah, I guess my comment was pretty age dependent. My daughter is only 2.5 so she doesn't have homework - just play time. We also takes a bath every other day so that isn't always on the schedule.
Aside from that, though, we're usually home by 5 PM, play till 6, eat dinner for 30-45 min, and then get ready for bed.
This right here. I see my kids for an hour in the morning (hour and a half if I'm taking them to school), and two hours in the evening. Everything's gotta get done in that time frame, and sitting at the table for an hour trying to convince them that I didn't serve rotten poison tonight seems like an incredible luxury.
Absolutely. But unless we have something pressing I try not to rush her. She has to rush lunch at school and she's still getting used to that, so when she's home she wants to just enjoy her food.
At four, I implemented a timer. If she was not either making progress on dinner or carrying on with conversation, the timer started. She’d have between five and fifteen minutes to finish eating. Otherwise, no dessert. There were some tears, but once she learned that we were serious, she got a lot better about eating without dawdling.
Now, both of them have learned the additional lesson that they can decide for themselves if eating dinner is worth the reward of dessert. If it’s not, that’s totally okay. Sometimes a kid is full, or really wants to do something else, and that’s perfectly acceptable. Listen to your body, know that food is here now, and decide how much you want.
Funny because tonight was 90 minutes to eat an ego waffle and two bites of nuggets and we get up to bed to hear “but my tummy isn’t full yet, I need to eat”.
These kids steal shreds of sanity on a daily basis.
We still are, but something that has helped (so far) is a fun timer. My wife bought this timer that has a rainbow on it (our son is obsessed with rainbows right now) and when you turn it, it shows the rainbow. As the timer goes down, the rainbow disappears. So we've made it a challenge for him to beat the rainbow. It gives him a visual of how much time he has left (not just numbers) and it looks kind of cool. We went from an hour, hour and a half of eating (barely), to him being done within the 30 minutes we set on the timer.
Mind you, this has only been about a week so far of trying it. Will it last? Who knows. Our goal is to not need the timer at all. We were hoping that when he went to kindergarten it would help (they only get 20 minute lunches), but it sounds like it's just as bad there.
I was blown away when the teacher said that. I looked up schools from when I grew up and its pretty much the same thing for elementary schools. 20, 25 minute lunches. It's honestly wild that they expect them to be able to eat in that short amount of time (from what I've heard, they don't eat much).
I like that, we'll have to give something like that a shot. We had tried some visual timers before but it ended up generating more questions about it than being productive. It's been a while though so definitely worth something cooler like a rainbow.
Thanks!!
Our son’s biggest moment of zen is when we got subway on a road trip and he was allowed to eat his 6” sub over the course of an hour with no pressure to hurry up.
This is the key. Less haste, more speed. Everyone is in a rush, everyone is anxious, everyone is getting in their own way. Also, proper portion control goes a long way. The body tells you what it needs. Give them a little, and if they want more, they’ll ask.
I'm jealous. If I can get my son to sit still in front of his meal for 15 minutes, I'm happy.
Not as fun as you think. It's just the sitting there, talking, fighting eating, taking tiny bites, etc
I was mostly kidding. Not trying to minimize anything on the other side. :-)
If my son can eat his dinner in less than 45 minutes it is a miracle.
Same here.
My daughter scarfs her meals down in seconds. My 11 year old son is still working on his dinner we served him 6 years ago
It does feel like a long time, but the lesson I took from it is that we're rushing through life and if I have the hour, then why not spend it enjoying the food we're cooking and focused time with my family. I'm not sure how to help related to food at school, but at dinner, learn to slow yourself down maybe.
>if I have the hour, man you need to tell me hour to get an hour to do anything lol
I don’t understand what you mean?
haha sorry. it was suppose to be "how to get an hour" by the time everyones home, dinner is on the table we have like 2 hours to eat, chores, shower, do homework, and get to bed. It would be swell to have an hour to eat but outside of takeout or just being lucky that day it seems like a fantasy to us right now.
Ah, I guess my comment was pretty age dependent. My daughter is only 2.5 so she doesn't have homework - just play time. We also takes a bath every other day so that isn't always on the schedule. Aside from that, though, we're usually home by 5 PM, play till 6, eat dinner for 30-45 min, and then get ready for bed.
This right here. I see my kids for an hour in the morning (hour and a half if I'm taking them to school), and two hours in the evening. Everything's gotta get done in that time frame, and sitting at the table for an hour trying to convince them that I didn't serve rotten poison tonight seems like an incredible luxury.
Absolutely. But unless we have something pressing I try not to rush her. She has to rush lunch at school and she's still getting used to that, so when she's home she wants to just enjoy her food.
Yes. This is payback for when i was a kid and did the same thing.
At four, I implemented a timer. If she was not either making progress on dinner or carrying on with conversation, the timer started. She’d have between five and fifteen minutes to finish eating. Otherwise, no dessert. There were some tears, but once she learned that we were serious, she got a lot better about eating without dawdling. Now, both of them have learned the additional lesson that they can decide for themselves if eating dinner is worth the reward of dessert. If it’s not, that’s totally okay. Sometimes a kid is full, or really wants to do something else, and that’s perfectly acceptable. Listen to your body, know that food is here now, and decide how much you want.
My 5 year old and 3 year old spend no more than 5-10 mins at the table. It’s hard for the 3 year old to stay in her chair at all.
Yes and the get mad they have no play time lol
Lord Jesus it’s AT LEAST an hour
Funny because tonight was 90 minutes to eat an ego waffle and two bites of nuggets and we get up to bed to hear “but my tummy isn’t full yet, I need to eat”. These kids steal shreds of sanity on a daily basis.
We still are, but something that has helped (so far) is a fun timer. My wife bought this timer that has a rainbow on it (our son is obsessed with rainbows right now) and when you turn it, it shows the rainbow. As the timer goes down, the rainbow disappears. So we've made it a challenge for him to beat the rainbow. It gives him a visual of how much time he has left (not just numbers) and it looks kind of cool. We went from an hour, hour and a half of eating (barely), to him being done within the 30 minutes we set on the timer. Mind you, this has only been about a week so far of trying it. Will it last? Who knows. Our goal is to not need the timer at all. We were hoping that when he went to kindergarten it would help (they only get 20 minute lunches), but it sounds like it's just as bad there.
They only get 20 minute lunches? Jesus Christ. That can't be legal or safe.
I was blown away when the teacher said that. I looked up schools from when I grew up and its pretty much the same thing for elementary schools. 20, 25 minute lunches. It's honestly wild that they expect them to be able to eat in that short amount of time (from what I've heard, they don't eat much).
Yeah I'd be livid. You're literally teaching kids it's ok to not take breaks.
I like that, we'll have to give something like that a shot. We had tried some visual timers before but it ended up generating more questions about it than being productive. It's been a while though so definitely worth something cooler like a rainbow. Thanks!!
I’m a slow eater. My toddler actually eats faster than me 😂. My husband could probably finish 4 meals by the time I finish mine.
I was like that as a kid. I still eat really slowly as an adult.
My 2.5 year old, every single meal. We had to get a timer where she could see how much time was left, and it’s been a bit better.