It might be easier if we turned our entire kitchen into one enormous food processor, hooked up our oldest son to a continuous feed and let him ingest food without pause. He's been home from school all of one hour and he's done the following, in this order:
- Pulled a package of diced peaches and a package of peanut butter crackers from the pantry and started eating both.
- I yelled that he could only have one snack (which I have now yelled for 792 consecutive days).
- Five minutes later, I was throwing something in the trash when I saw an open canister of peaches.
- I asked why he threw them away, and he stared at me blankly. (I of course removed them from the trash and told him to eat them. Which he did.)
- Two minutes later, he was sneaking around with an apple hidden under his arm.
- I then came around the corner to find him spooning ice cream into the blender to make a shake.
- I ended that experiment and told him to stay out of the kitchen.
- A few minutes later, I found him dumping chocolate powder for an enormous glass of chocolate milk.
- As I was asking him to please, please, please, please, please, stay out of the kitchen, he grabbed his glass, turned around, stepped on his younger brother, and spilled the chocolate milk directly on his head ... which is the image you see above. Poor Colin, miserable as can be without a full nap, has been crying without stop for more than an hour, and now has a head full of chocolate milk.
People who don't have kids always think I exaggerate or make this stuff up. It's unbelievable. This stuff is not a daily occurrence, this is minute by minute. This is my life :)
Firstly, Bravo on the snack from the trashcan. Like some parents who simply hope and pray that their child may *someday learn conservation and non wastrel habits, you cleared this lesson in a New York minute.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a Stragetic Plan may be on order.
My perception: There may be some attention getting behavior and control at play. Rather than take those things away, my solution is to channel those two things in a constructive direction.
Potential Solution: Each Sunday, have Josh make 5 designer paper Snack Bags. (lunch bags).
Avoid 'telling' Josh your 'having' him make these bags...but notify him that because he's been a good boy, your allowing him the opportunity to make Fun Snack Packs for EVERY day of the school week.
Let him design them to his hearts content, envelope a brother if it so pleases him- he's the manager of this project.
Let him fill each bag with pantry things, and place it in the pantry.
As the days go by, when the bags are empty and done, so isn't snack time.
Remember, Josh can only snack from the bags he prepared for himself. He has had control and garnered extra attention from the praise he recieved from his parents with his creativity. He has been the manager of his own snackful fate.
He will be less inclined to snack on two bags on one day simply by virtue of the fact that he has metered out only 5 at his own hand and will refuse to shortchange himself of his own creation.
The only choices associated with this should be where he sits to eat them and who he may want to share with.
Best of Luck!