As you've read, Sweet Girl has mono. This, after also having had Strep Throat and Influenza B all in about 3 weeks. Through all of this, I've been struggling to get her to eat. I have gotten to the point where I will feed her whatever she will eat. You want a chicken nugget happy meal? Sold to the woman with the sick girl. You want mac and cheese for the 8th time? No problem. You'll eat three bites if I give you cookie? You got it.
I know that some moms will think that I've sunk to the lowest point in motherhood. Call Nanny 911! Oh well. I know I feed her well the rest of the time and I know she has better eating habits than most children. After losing almost two pounds though, I'll feed her whatever gets some calories into her - especially since I know she'll only eat three or four bites and then nothing will get her to eat more. I can get back to the "regimen" when she's back to having an appetite.
I don't normally worry too much what other parents think about what Champs and I do as parents. We've discussed so much of our parenting approach, discussed what works and what doesn't, discussed consistency, discussed prayer and reading with her and all the other things that are important. So, I just deal with what we need to do and don't worry about it. Much, that is.
When I was in the store the other night buying a Madagascar TV meal, mac and cheese, popsicles and cookies (truth, I swear), I saw another mother eyeing my basket disapprovingly. I sooooo wanted to explain and set her straight, but I kept my peace. It took me back though... It made me remember when we got Sweet Girl's ears pierced. It went something like this...
Champs wanted her ears pierced when she was a baby and I agreed, figuring that if they were done early, she wouldn't play with them as she aged (I was right). So we discussed it with the pediatrician who recommended having it done between 9 and 12 months. This way, she would be young enough to not remember it, but old enough to have had a few rounds of vaccines and to determine if she had any allergies. We thought that made sense and waited until she was 11 months old. We planned a big photo shoot for her first birthday and wanted her ears pierced in time.
On the big day, we gave her a dose of tylonol and went to the mall. We stopped at Claire's and asked the girl who was working if we could see the earrings. Sweet Girl was dressed in a white shirt and denim overalls with a cow embroidered on the front. The girl directed us to the case and helped us pick out a pair of pink studs. Then she called out to her manager that "these people want to pierce this boy's ears. Can you help?" I figured that if she couldn't figure out that Sweet Girl was a girl, I didn't want her trying to pierce her ears. We graciously said we wanted to look around and might be back.
We then went to the Piercing Pagoda. They were wonderful. They explained that they had special earrings for babies that had a rounded back so they wouldn't get poked by the sharp earring. Then they explained that they would do the ears one at a time instead of both at once. It is safer for babies in case they jerk away. We picked out another set of pink earrings and listened as the gal commented on how cute our girl was (yes, that really helped to give her more credibility than the girl at Claire's). She had me hold her and made the marks on her ears. When the first earring went in, Sweet Girl let out a yelp. I cuddled her and give her a bottle to suck on... No more tears after that.
About that time, I noticed a woman in her fifties looking at me with the most disapproving look possible. She was positively glaring at me! I turned my back on her and sat down for the next earring to be put in. This time, Sweet Girl let out another yelp. I popped her bottle in her mouth, rocked her and sang "Winnie the Pooh" (the song I've sung to her every time she's cried since she was born, I think). Her tears stopped almost immediately. I looked over at the woman. She had been joined by her daughter. She had her hand in front of her mouth and was glaring at me, whispering to her daughter and gesturing at us with her pinkie. She had disapproval written on her forehead. I nearly lost it with her. I wanted to walk over and tell her it was none of her business and review the precautions I had taken. In the end, though, I paid the girl, gathered my husband and my daughter and walked away.
Like I said, I don't normally get bugged by people's opinion of my parenting. But once in awhile....
I wonder if the woman at Cub the other day went home and told her family about that awful women who bought junk food for her kid? Oh well, it doesn't matter. Sweet Girl actually ate 5 bites of her dinner tonight!
Here's some comments from this post:
Star said...
I don't think I ever had to coax any of my kids to eat. But if I were in your position right now I would do whatever it took.Tell all those nosy people to pay some attention to their own kids!
shpprgrl said...
i totally agree, when they are sick anything vaguely nutritional is fair game! ice cream for supper...sure!
Susan said...
Whenever I had strep throat as a child, I always turned to apple juice and popsicles. Does she like either of those? How about Jello?
I recently had my tonsils out. I lived on jello, apple sauce, popsicles, and sherbet. Maybe those things will help?
I hope she feels better soon! Poor thing!
Thumper said...
Hey, when a kid is sick, ANY food in them is a victory. Sometimes, even when they're well... I'm pretty sure that between 3 and 5, the only thing my kid ate was pizza, garlic bread, and frozen yogurt...
princssis said...
I had the same thing happen when Belle had her ears pierced at 12 months old. I just acted to proud and happy. Tank's fiancee (oh, I need a name for her!) was with us and snapped lots of pictures!
Hope Sweet Girl eats a little more and gets to feeling better soon!
^prayers^
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