Food is the Answer - What's the Question?

So let's talk snacks.

Are they necessary? How often? Must I lug something from each of the four food groups with me every time I leave the house? Can the boys not survive an hour or two without eating?

I'm asking these questions for two reasons:

1. Sonwun is required to bring a snack to preschool. He's there from 1 to 3:15. He wouldn't get a snack in that time period in my house. He just ate his freakin' lunch. Why does he need to eat at preschool? I'm not paying you to monitor him at feeding time.

2. Playgroup runs from 9:30 to 11. So many of the moms bring snacks. Some of them highjack the little picnic tables and lay out a freakin' buffet. Seriously, six different bowls of food. Again, the kids just had breakfast. (Or maybe the didn't and you just choose to feed them breakfast at playgroup). But for the rest of you, why do we need to feed them every half hour?

Oh, and as a side note to the buffet . . . Would you people please not leave the food out the entire time. You and your kids walk away, giving any child the chance to sneak up and help themselves. And yes, I realize you don't mind, but I DO. I don't know you, I don't know your kids. But I do know that communal food bowls are the perfect place to share whatever disease, virus or plague that is going around. So knock it off. You want to feed your little butterball, do it. But recognize there are other little people in the freakin' room and keep it to yourselves.

And a special note to the mom who brought sugar-coated Timbits as a snack for her child and left them out for all. When my 18-month-old tries to help himself, don't encourage him. I don't want him to have that. Especially the one that already had a fucking bite out of it. Keep your crap for your own kids. That's your decision. What my son puts in his mouth is, generally, my decision.

Now I will admit up front that I'm still relatively new at the parent gig. But I want my boys to eat a good healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner. Filling their little bellies every hour during the day with crackers, or cheese or fruit or whatever happens to be lying around at Playgroup, tends to make them a little less enthusiastic about cleaning their plates at meal time. And I don't need that.

By nature I'm an observer. Can't help it. I think that's why I fell in love with photography. And I can't help but notice that some people think that whenever a child makes a negative noise of any kind, it's a cry for food. And, based on my admittedly limited experience, IT'S NOT! A hug, a diaper change, a little attention is often all that is required. Yeah, I know, it's easier just to shove a Timbit in the kids' mouth and continue your conversation with the woman beside you, but I just don't think that's a good idea.

In this age where we, apparently, are all consumed with the childhood obesity "crisis," maybe it's time to take a look at the out-of-control snacking. Are we teaching the kids that food is comfort, food is love, food is the answer to every question?

Are you unhappy little one? Here, have a cookie. Here, have a poptart. It will make you fell better. I don't think that's a great message to impart on a little sponge-of-a-mind.

And, you know, to each their own, I guess. But when a snack is "mandatory" equipment for preschool, I have to question it. Granted, at least they insist the snack is approved by Canada's Guide to Healthy Eating. But maybe there should be a Guide to Healthy Eating Habits and Attitudes to go with it. Every childhood problem is not solved with a snack - even if that snack meets with the approval of the Canadian government.

And every child does not need food between 1 and 3:15 each day. I recognize that there are some children who don't get a healthy snack at home and the most nutritious thing they eat is the little snack at preschool. But does that mean we must make them all sit down together and eat something? No peer pressure here. I mean, what if I choose to send Sonwun to preschool without a government-approved snack? Will he have to sit aside, by himself, while the others graze? I must assume so.

I repeat two things I've said in previous posts.

1. I need to know why. Why is the snack mandatory at preschool? My kid can go two hours without eating. Is that really an issue for so many others? If so, we have other issues we need to deal with.

2. I don't want to be "one of those parents" that makes life miserable for those charged with my sons' care, but see #1. I need answers. These boys are my most prized possessions and I'm interested in everything they do, say and eat.

And if that makes me a pain in the ass, so be it.

Now, all that being said. If my kid needs a snack, he'll get one. Sonwun is almost four. He can ask for a snack if he's hungry. If the request immediately follows lunch, I know he's not really hungry but is looking for attention. If he asks in a whiny voice, it usually means he's looking for attention. If he asks 10 minutes before supper, it ain't happening. He gets what he needs based on my experience, the things I've read and the time of day. He doesn't always get what he wants.

Sontoo is just learning to speak, but I am intimately familiar with the noises he makes. I know there is one for sleep, one for attention, one for food, about six for "my brother's teasing me" and, when a diaper change is in order, he has already started climbing the stairs toward his bedroom to let me know. If I don't catch him in time, I'll find him sitting on the change table. He's quite a climber. And when it comes to snacks, he too gets what he needs based on my experience, the things I've read and the time of day. He doesn't always get what he wants.

Rant over. Have a great Thursday. I must go prepare Sonwun's snack for preschool. And remember, Kiddies Northern Preschool is a "Nut Aware" environment. Who comes up with these names? Bah, that's a rant for another day.