I started writing this post several years ago and never finished, but this is occurrence is still just as true today as it was 3 years ago. I still don't know how our kids manage to eat so much in one day!
Although the days of round-the-clock feedings are a fading memory for me, it recently dawned on me that my kids still seem to be on an every 2 hour feeding schedule. It seems one of the phrases I hear most from my kids is "I'm hungry." Never mind that it's been less than an hour since their last full meal.
One would think that I starve my kids. When I drop them off at the extended day program before school, they have had a good breakfast no more than 30 minutes earlier, yet they almost always request the snack that is being served about the time I am dropping them off. If I am at the grocery store with my kids I almost always hear that one or both of them are "hungry". And if they see someone else eating, they seem to feel that they should be eating too.
I realize that some of this is probably normal psychological development - you see food so you crave it whether your body is really hungry or not. Somehow though I feel that we've sort of perpetuated this in our culture. For example, in preschool the kids would be served a morning and an afternoon snack in addition to lunch. And at school, if they go to the extended day program they would be offered a snack in the morning and then again after school. Many teachers also set aside time for a snack (kids bring their own) once during the school day, and if a kid doesn't have a snack the teacher often has some crackers for them. Of course, kids aren't required to eat the snack. But my kids at least wouldn't be the ones to turn down food. So then are they learning that it's OK to eat even if you aren't really hungry and your body doesn't need it? Or are they taking something that they want because it tastes good and then not able to finish it all and throwing away food that's uneaten? I get that there are kids that truly are hungry, and you can't really single kids out. But at the same time I feel like my efforts to provide my kids with wholesome nutritious food are being overridden by the easy access to snacks. Because are they really going to be hungry enough to eat dinner after they've had 4 other small meals throughout the day?
