EAT YOUR VEGGIES!!!
There was a time when parents did not have to tell their children to eat. When it was meal time, food was put out, a bell was rung, and hungry children ran to the table. They did not ask “What’s for dinner?” If they asked anything it was “Will we have dinner?”
Meat was not a given. It was served only after a successful hunt. Potatoes and veggies were not eaten because they were “good for you” they were consumed so you did not DIE of starvation. Parents did not coax their children to eat; the child’s stomach let them know. Dessert was not an entitlement; it was special, saved for special occasions.Anorexia nervosa did not exist!
We are so spoiled today that we expect to have meals at specific times, and they better be GOOD. Still we have to beg our children to eat. “Come on, eat some; it’s good for you….Eat your veggies or you won’t get dessert.” We bribe our children to EAT!
Food should not be a used to bribe children to behave. When I was a child if you misbehaved it was “Go to your room without any supper!” Time-out? I could have done time-out standing on my head; being hungry in a room without a TV, computer, or even a radio….that was enough to have you walk a straight line. Granted at around 8:30 mom would sneak upstairs with a piece of chicken and some mashed potatoes, (good cop bad cop) but the message was received loud and clear.Is our government today a product of the please “Eat your veggies” society?
We want the dessert. We want free health care, Medicare, Social Security, new roads and infrastructure, low interest rates, easy mortgages, unlimited unemployment insurance, food stamps, stimulus plans, handouts, and safety nets. We don’t want to control spending. We don’t want to cut the lard, salt, or the saturated fats from our diet. We don’t want things we do not like, we just want the desert. Why not? Just let the rich (defined as anyone with more money than me) pay more and more. Let mommy and daddy take care of the unpleasant stuff. Why not? Because dessert is just for special occasions. Dessert is saved for when times are good. Dessert is to celebrate. Mommy and daddy are there to make sure you have the basics to survive until you grow the F*** up!
Stop looking for dessert. Stop looking for someone else to take care of you. American People….. EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
I'm British but the caps scared me so much that I feel compelled to eat mines anyway!
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This week I nearly died of shock, my youngest, Henry, who tries to be as fussy an eater as he can (he's thin as a rake, cos if you don't eat what you're given you go without in my house), came walking into the house and said whats for dinner Mum, that looks really good! Then when he ate his dinner he said 'Mum this is really good and the green beans are dead nice with the pork'. He cleared his plate......this is a first....Normally he moans and groans and leaves pretty much eveyrthing unless it is a crap night and he gets a chicken breast in breadcrumbs with potato waffles!....When I spoke to S later in the evening, I told him I was still in shock...'Heno ate his dinner, cleared his plate, said he loved it, and it was pork tenderloin with potatoes and veggies!', I told him....
ReplyDeleteI don't think I will ever recover!
Thankfully he is the only one out of my 3 that is fussy with his food, George tries pretty much anything and everything, and Abi, well she's getting too old now at nearly 21 for me to worry about.
Lou :-)
Love this metaphor, COM! It's so true. I sent one of my kids to bed without dinner the other night - old school. He survived.
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