When our darling son (DS) was 2 years old, we started to wonder about his interest – disinterest, rather – in food.
Since birth DS had been a gorgeous chubby baby. My husband joked that I fed him cream, not breast milk. It was obviously good stuff as DS wasn’t interested in solid food, at all. Finger food was a little bit fun, bread sticks were ok, food on a spoon – forget it. And breast-milk? Life depended on it.
I noticed that with each new tooth his appetite would increase somewhat. But his teeth were almost all through when he turned two and he was still playing with the food on his plate. I wanted to start weaning him off the breast to try for another baby, so we started project EAT GOOD FOOD & LOTS OF IT.
This is what we did. We decided to never talk about DS not being interested in food. Instead we started complimenting him, even bragging about him to others, on being ‘such a good little eater’.
Then I created a dream board and placed it in prize-position in the kitchen. (I decided a dream-board was more important than a clock, so the clock was removed especially. I could do without constant reminders of the time and the habit of checking it hourly.)
I wrote on the dream board: ‘DS EATS LOTS OF GOOD, HEALTHY FOOD AND LOVES EATING’.
That sums up our action plan. Easy!
I kid you not, the effects were profound. DS was easily eating as much food as I was just weeks later. I finally had the confidence to wean him.
As usual, we took him every week to the sushi train or our favourite Japanese restaurant, and bought him dumplings, udon noodles and sushi. Now he was straight into them. We cooked seafood marinara at home and grilled fish in herbs – he started stealing the food off our plates. We made salad sandwiches overflowing with lettuce and sprouts for lunch – and after eating his, he would reach over to take mine.
He is now three and a half and still eats as much as I do, and incredibly healthy meals too. We laugh at the seaweed and fish roe and baby squid he eagerly tries when we eat at a restaurant.
We compliment him continuously. We brag to grandma about our good little eater and tell stories to nan and pop about the healthy food DS is eating lately. DS is very proud of himself and he knows we are proud too.
What I’m wanting to share with you is so basic but truly effective – if you have a child that is a fussy eater, has a poor appetite, or only eats certain foods, think positively. As of tomorrow, start talking about your child’s eating behaviour as if it’s the best thing ever. Most importantly, write a note on your fridge or wall that YOUR CHILD EATS LOTS OF GOOD, HEALTHY FOOD.
The power of this, along with the power of the words you say out loud, is phenomenal.
It’s on my dream board for my whole family now.
Sometimes you just need to put your wishes out there. The rest is taken care of by Parenting Energy.
This basic idea can work for everything in your life. Decide what you want, visualize it, write it on your dream board, start talking about it, support it and be excited by it.
Other ways it can help you:
– improving your relationship with your partner
– finding extra time for yourself
– having more money, more friends, having more children
– fixing poor children’s behaviour
– and so on.
Always say and write what you DO want. And don’t look back.
The only thing that will stop this tool working is if you don’t truly want the change and you don’t ask for it clearly or follow it up with passion and excitement. You know, if you don’t really want the change – that’s ok. Sometimes it feels good to have a slump and a teary. The important thing is that you are aware of why you do or don’t want the change – and you are aware of the effect of your words. What you say out loud, when backed by emotion (energy in motion), will bring more of the same to you. You need to talk about good things to bring health and happiness into your life.
For example, my baby is totally traumatized by the car and traveling away from home. I’ve changed our schedule somewhat to avoid going out. I’ve thought several times of writing my dream for HAPPY TRAVEL IN THE CAR on my dreamboard, and I know I can start telling people that he is a great traveller to shift the energy and make it so. But I haven’t done this because I have actually been grateful that he prefers to stay at home … because so do I. I talk about him being a terrible traveller but with good energy – I stay optimistic. Meanwhile, we are having a fun, simple and easy-going life at home. And the best thing about this arrangement is that I have the power (not to be confused with control) to change our arrangement at any time with my dream board and the words I say out loud.
So, I’ll do that later. For now I’m enjoying breast-feeding my new baby, while watching my DS stuff his face with rice-paper rolls full of tuna and grated carrot.
Life is good.
Day by day we aim to repair our bodies and have trust, faith and optimism for the future. You can join me as I walk to wellness in the private facebook group Joanna Haley Homestead (Journey to Wellness)
Joanna Haley, Author