The Moment I Realized I Ate a Cheerio Off the Floor

Eli meal timeIt was a a day like any other. I was engrossed in the usual hullabaloo that is dinner time, trying to convince a 4 year old to eat macaroni and cheese (yes, really) and keep a 1 year old from throwing yet another piece of chicken on the floor. Any time it nears a meal, I spend a decent amount of time discussing what said meal will be and making it look appealing. I am sure you can relate.

Meal time: the struggle is real

If you were to eavesdrop, you’d hear a lot of “Jude, eat your macaroni. Eli, don’t throw that on the floor. Jude, no more shows until you take a bite of your food. Eli, please don’t throw that on the floor. No Jude, I cannot feed you. You’re a big boy. Eli, don’t you dare swat this spoon!” And so on.  Needless to say, trying to prep my own meal and feed myself is quite a challenge. You can usually find me grazing, in the pantry or off the kids plates. But it was the moment the I realized I had eaten a Cheerio off the floor that I knew I needed an intervention.

hangry#Hangry

I couldn’t remember the last time I sat down to eat a meal.  Date night, maybe? That was last month. If my husband is working, my dinner might be scraps off the kids plates and piece of deli turkey. I realized that I’m frequently hangry, making poor food choices and hardly savoring my food. No, I didn’t misspell hungry. It’s hangry – you’re so hungry, you’re angry. It often looks like a Betty White Snickers commercial.

Spit out that Cheerio

As I put the Cheerio in my mouth, a voice in my head said, “What the hell are you doing? Spit that out!” And I did. And I resolved myself to sit down and eat a real meal, even if it meant doing so after the kids were in bed. To prevent this problem from reoccurring, if I’m famished during the kids’ meal time, I grab something healthy to hold me off. A piece of meat/cheese, granola, an apple or banana. It won’t spoil my meal, but it won’t make me reach for a half eaten chicken nugget either.

I have been happily eating clean, and it’s been about three weeks since I made this revelation. I feel so much better. I’d like to think I am more patient too, mostly because I am well fed now. No more pizza Goldfish for this mama. Ok maybe just one or two.

Have you found yourself eating off your kids plates? What’s your resolution?

1 COMMENT

  1. Have I told you about my ‘no thank you bite’? We need to talk…We used to have a lot of food time battles and we sometimes occasionally do to this day but most days the kids eat pretty well and we all sit down together. Call me, I’ll walk you through.

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