Last night Autumn and I were out to dinner with my parents. My mom was having fun feeding tiny bits of chicken to Autumn and asked if Autumn had eaten any more Cheetos lately. Apparently one of the kids at daycare had offered up one of his Cheeto puffs and Autumn instantly fell in love. Nathan thought it was cute and wound up buying an entire bag of Cheeto puffs. Autumn had a couple bites and Nathan and I ate the rest.
I told my mom she hadn’t had anymore since that night and I wasn’t keen on giving her more. That’s when my dad entered the conversation and asked if I had seen the new show on TLC called “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids” in which a nutritionist shocks parents into changing the family’s lifestyle by showing them how their children will look 30 years down the road if they continue to eat junk food.
I told my dad I had seen the show and it was pretty good to which he replied, “Yeah, it kind of makes me feel guilty now.”
I sat there for a second and tried to decide how to respond to what he just said. Should I be hurt that he revealed I haven’t exactly turned out the way he thought I would? Do I express outrage that he implied I’m fat and unhealthy? Since I haven’t turned into the person even I thought I’d be and was sitting in front of my dad eating French fries and a crispy chicken sandwich slathered in mayo, I decided to try and learn something from him.
“What would you have done differently?” I asked.
My dad thought for a second and said, “Oh probably not have as much junk in the house.”
I thought about that and said, “We need to get out for more activity with Autumn. I think that’s where we’re hurting right now. Nathan and I are too lazy and I don’t want her (pointing to Autumn) to be that lazy.”
My dad was nice and said he didn’t think Nathan and I were that lazy and I argued that I thought we were. The conversation eventually petered out as we all smiled and giggled and my grunting, chicken-eating daughter.
I was touched by my dad’s admission and later on I discussed it with Nathan. “He’s not entirely at fault,” I said. “My mom’s the one who did all the grocery shopping. If anything, she’s equally at fault.”
As easy as it is to blame my parents for the present state of my body, I really have no one to blame but myself. I’m a 34 year-old woman who is entirely capable of making her own choices. I choose to eat what I eat. My parents aren’t to blame for that.
So if I could do one thing for Autumn that my parents failed to do for me, I guess it would be to teach her how to make the right choices and to not use food as a substitute for something she’s not getting out of life.
That’s what shopping is for.
{ 4 comments }
That’s one of those “Do what I say, not what I do” issues, isn’t it? We have the same problem. I never had a problem with stress-eating until I became a SAHM. Now it’s just THERE, so I eat. And eat. And eat. I don’t want that passed down to Squeaks, so it’s something that we are consciously trying to cut down on now, while she’s young. My MIL can’t understand why we don’t give Squeaks junk food now, and I tell her it’s because I want her to learn to like good foods first. She, of course, thinks that’s crazy, but The Hubby and I are both picky eaters, so we want Squeaks to learn to like a bigger variety before we start offering candy and chips!
Wow, I’ll leave now that I’ve written a novel! Good luck!
well written my friend. i would have taken the immature way out of that conversation and smacked my dad.. but thats cuz hes my dad and we wont get into that. but ya know we could all get off our asses and teach our kids to be more active nowadays. hell when mine is in his excersaucer living it up, im probably found laying on the floor with the remote in one hand and a brownie in the other. hopefully i will meet some active mommies soon cuz im hopeless.
oh and heres your “warm and fuzzies”
you are one of the most i dont know, inspiring blogs i read. when i came across you i put you on the blogroll right away. you are very sweet in your comments and you write like a writer… and as you can tell i aspire to write half as good
Hey I’m joining in the warm fuzzies here! Heather, I love your site. As soon as Crazy New Mama posted about you, I visited and now I can’t get enough! Your daughter is beautiful and I love the stories that you tell about her. I’m assuming she’s close in age to my kiddo, as they seem to be going through a lot of the same things. You also have such a great way with words that make your stories to interesting! Keep up the good work!
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