The other night, Kate and I were out running errands. She was really tired (and in fact had fallen asleep at one point) and very grumpy and sad. At the end of our trip, I stopped at my grandma’s to borrow some eggs (yes, I do a lot of my shopping at her house, haha).
I didn’t want to get Kate out of the carseat, so my grandma came outside to sit with her while I ran in to get the eggs and anything else that I could scrounge up. Kate was upset the whole time (2.8 minutes) I was in the house, and when I came back out, my grandma said “Can I go in and get Kate a cookie?”
I said that was fine, but when Grandma went in the house, I turned to Kate (who was still fussing/sort of crying) and said, “Kate, cookies don’t make things better.”
She looked at me through her tears and said “Yes they do.”
So Grandma returned with like 15 cookies, and Kate happily scarfed one down.
She turned to me and said, with a big grin on her face, “See Mommy? I told you.”
Ugh. The kid has a point. Sometimes I think cookies do make me feel better. I am a big-time emotional eater, and I’m trying not to pass that on to Kate… we try not to celebrate things with food, etc., but I’m not sure I’m succeeding in my quest.
So what do you think? How do I turn this train around (for myself and my daughter!)?
I have the same problem. To complicate it further, at my in-laws (who watch Brooklynn during the workday), food is love. The older grandchildren are offered high calorie food and drink with very little limitation. I fear this is going to be a battle in the future for me. I’ll be interested to see if others have good tips for you.
Geez, I wish I knew. It’s like a knee jerk reaction for me. This weekend my dd had a traumatic experience and the first thing I did (after a hug and some comforting words) was pull into Tim Hortons. DUH! Luckily my daughter said, “I don’t really want a doughnut right now.”
She’s the smart one!
Karen, your daughter showed the exact restraint I DON’T have! Good for her.
ooh, i hear ya on this one. cookies and specifically chocolate can fix *anything* in this house. 🙂 i say everything in moderation.
amy
I’m with Amy, the Crunchy Domestic Goddess, on this one. Ice cream heals all wounds too … as long as it isn’t the entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s.. 🙂
Sure they do, mom! 😉
I think in our culture food is a celebration, which isn’t always a bad thing. It’s almost impossible for kids not tolearn that food can (temporarily) make you feel better. The trick is teaching them that after eating the cookie and getting the mood boost to them get to the real business of doing what neds to be done to really feel better.
I am totally not the person to answer your question!