Sleepy Toddlers + Pushy Mother = Annoyed Irene

I love my family - my mother, father, and aunts - very very much but there are reasons why when you grow up you desperately should move out of the house.  We all went over to my sister's house for Christmas and the boys were tired.  The gathering started at 1:00 and when we arrived at 1:30 it wasn't even close to starting.  Nobody had eaten and my dad and aunts were still not there.

Around 2:30 we all started eating, but the boys were tired and grouchy and so was I.  My mother is of the generation that you force your children to eat.  And, since I was brought up by my mother and endured an eating disorder I've decided to go the opposite route from my mom.  I may be completely off base, but I don't think that making my sons cry and stuffing food down their throats is an effective way of getting them to eat.

Still, my mom insisted that I feed the boys.  I held my ground.  We opened presents but the boys were not interested in opening gifts.  Even the shiny new toys was not enough to get them interested.  Alex ended up crying and clinging to David while trying to fight sleep and Nick was running around the house dodging my mom's pleas for hugs.  Right after we opened presents we packed up the kids and drove home.

My mom was still insisting that Nick eat and was trying to persuade David and I to leave him with them.  I finally felt like a grown up when I put my foot down and said firmly but lovingly, "The boys are tired and they need to go home to sleep.  That's that and we will see you sometime this week."  I am sure there will come a time when I am older and the boys have their own families, I will be just as annoying as my mother is now.

Comments

[Mama Eye]

Ahhh, yes, I am so very familiar with this scenario. Actually it's my mother in law who sometimes doesn't get it. Sometimes we don't go to parties that are during naptime, or we leave early to get our son to bed, even though all the other grandkids are still up and hanging out. I am not popular for my stance (which is to "respect the nap/sleeptime") but, too bad. The naysayers aren't there at midnight, then 2am, then 3am, and so on when your kid just can't sleep b/c their schedule is "messed up". Funny, I had a similar xmas experience but I was the one hosting and I was the one late with dinner! Thank God xmas comes only 1x a year. Bah humbug. P.S. Happy holidays!

[Laura]

Oh I too remember being forced to sit at the table and finish the green beans I hated. To the point that I was gagging on them. Although I did not end up with an eating disorder I swore I would not force my kids to eat.

Guess what....they survived and they all eat very healthy now and do fine. Their weight is fine, they were not malnourished. When my older two were toddlers and doing the same as yours were and I would receive pressure from parents, grandparents etc. I finally asked my pediatrician about it. He told me "don't worry about it, kids will eat when they need food, when their bodies need nourishment they will get hungry and eat. otherwise don't stress about it"