tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556494314801577420.post1652834770883454498..comments2024-03-29T01:33:10.107-07:00Comments on Swiss Lark: Eating with a Fork and KnifeLindseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836394671525240199noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556494314801577420.post-69914414831373170672018-05-29T09:04:03.624-07:002018-05-29T09:04:03.624-07:00OMG, yes to all of this. And GOLDFISH. Sigh. I hav...OMG, yes to all of this. And GOLDFISH. Sigh. I have to admit that I adore the Parmesan Goldfish and I buy them nearly every time I go to Target. GUILTY! Snacking is so overdone. And people wonder why we have an obesity problem! ;)Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836394671525240199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556494314801577420.post-39107920219757580882018-05-24T06:21:45.231-07:002018-05-24T06:21:45.231-07:00This is probably one of my biggest sources of disc...This is probably one of my biggest sources of discontent with American kid culture! The snacks, the table manners, the kid-specific foods, all of it. Snacking is just everywhere. And if you opt out of it, you're essentially opting your kid out of a whole social culture. My stepsons are 8 and 12, and most of the parents of their friends in those elementary/early-middle school age groups keep bags of snacks in the car trunk so that they are never ever without a snack. I don't mean like emergency food (I have a few Clif bars in my emergency trunk bag, myself) but crackers, chips, the ubiquitous goldfish, all in huge Costco sizes. It seems so strange to me, but not a single sports practice goes by without the parents and siblings unpacking bags of snacks from the trunk and snacking on them from the sidelines. They offer some to your kid - are you really going to be the person who makes your kid sit there just watching other people enjoying treats? But I can't stop wondering - what about dinner? We eat lunch after the Saturday morning baseball games, dinner after the evening practices, etc etc etc - why would you snack right before a meal? Especially, ahem, with a preschooler whose appetite is still best measured in tablespoons? Then, of course, the practice or game ends with a snack for all the players. It is strange to me. I don't remember that from when I was a kid. <br /><br />When my older kid was young enough that most time was still spent just with me/my mom, it was pretty easy. He ate what we ate, at three meals and one snack a day. Now, he gets a snack in school (which is fine) but then all the other kids have a snack right after school AND usually one in the waiting area just before school begins. I feel like it's reasonable at age 3-4 to go be able to last longer than 90 minutes without eating something, plus I'd rather he arrive home from school hungry for lunch (versus receiving a snack in the waiting room to eat on the drive home), but I also don't want to create a feeling of "deprivation" around snacks, for my son - creating something he wants because he sees everyone else having it, and developing emotional associations etc. It's such a hard line to walk. <br /><br />I think our food culture is one of the worst things about America. It really stresses me out. I don't even know what to do once they are in elementary school. In my step-sons' school, they have such a short time to eat lunch that it seems absurd to me. But they also have a designated "morning snack time" even into middle school. I don't remember having a snack time even in later elementary school. On the one hand, if there isn't time to eat an actual full lunch, then a snack break is needed. On the other, I'd really prefer if there was a civilized lunch period and then just save the snack for after school. <br /><br />It's so hard to go against any aspect of culture, especially in parenting. It really is a drag. <br /><br />I hardly even bother trying, when it comes to table manners, haha. If my kid is actually hungry at a meal time and I have a reasonable, rounded meal that he's psyched to eat, I honestly cannot make myself intervene if he is plucking pieces of brussels sprouts off the plate with his fingers. I don't want to fix something that is only marginally broken, haha! Alexandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03185057687419404656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556494314801577420.post-52206167144960640922018-05-19T16:01:18.461-07:002018-05-19T16:01:18.461-07:00Yep. It is so rude!Yep. It is so rude!Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836394671525240199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556494314801577420.post-20543909756977928602018-05-18T21:44:53.791-07:002018-05-18T21:44:53.791-07:00I also adopted it right away. I think it's muc...I also adopted it right away. I think it's much better and also it's considered sooo rude to just eat with a fork here Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02202442852415103619noreply@blogger.com