Convincing kids to eat broccoli

My 3-year old misbehaved yesterday afternoon. He refused to sit in his booster seat when my wife asked him to.

So, like any good parent, I threatened to punish him.

“Hey, Mister,” I said, in a stern voice. “If you don’t go to your seat right now, you will not be allowed to eat broccoli anymore.”

My 3-year old looked at me, eyes wide-open. He hates broccoli.

“But I love broccoli,” he said. He looked confused.

“Nope,” I insisted. “No broccoli.”

“But I do.”

“That’s your punishment,” I said. “From now on, you only eat Popsicle and chocolate—and that’s that.”

“But I do,” he said, softly this time.

“No.”

My reverse psychology—or whatever psychologists call it nowadays—was working.

My 3-year old looked dejected. He slowly climbed up to his seat and, at least to me, reluctantly allowed my wife to buckle him up.

Between that time and last night, I developed a conscience. So I called my 3-year old, knelt in front of him and offered to allow him to eat broccoli again.

He looked at me, waited a second, smiled a little then said: “Yuck! That’s gross.”

Okay. That’s one way not to convince your kids to eat broccoli.

Any other ideas?

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Separation Anxiety?

My 3-year old cried and threw a tantrum yesterday morning, feeling upset that my wife had to go to work. It’s been months since he felt this way.

“I’ll miss her,” he said, sadly.

“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “You’ll see her again tonight.”

That didn’t work.

So that night, my wife took the time to talk to him. She goes to work, she explained, so she could earn money to buy him toys when he’s a good boy.

My 3-year old said nothing.

“But you know what?” my wife tried again. “This Friday, I’m not going to the office. We could spend the whole day together. Maybe we could play bowling.”

My 3-year old still said nothing.

My wife felt worried. Something is clearly bothering my 3-year old.

Then it happened.

“Mommy,” my 3-year old whispered. “If you don’t go to the office, what about my toy?”

He’s OK.

Parent Resources

• Saying Bye-Bye to Baby, Parenting.com
• 15 Ways to Ease Your Child's Fears, iVillage.com
• Control Back-to-School Anxiety, PsychCentral.com

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Too much TV?

Whenever my 3-year old watches too much TV, I change the channel to the news. It works. He’ll stand up, reach for his favorite Batman Lego car and get lost in his pretend world of fighting the bad guys—saliva flying within a 3-meter radius and all.

Not today.

“What are they doing, Daddy?” my 3-year old, with eyes glued to the news, asked.

“Um …,” I stalled, thinking of what to say.

A panel of counter-terrorism experts was discussing the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Images of bombs leveling buildings and bridges flashed in-between the discussion.

“Why are they doing that, Daddy?”

I dreaded this moment.

How do you explain a war to a 3-year old? Is Israel justified in devastating Lebanon, leaving hundreds dead and another million displaced? If they’re not, was it OK for Hezbollah to cross Israel’s borders and kidnap two Israeli soldiers, the incident that sparked the war?

My 3-year old looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I looked at him, waiting for divine intervention.

Then it happened.

“The people are all talking at the same time,” my 3-year old said, referring to how the counter-terrorism experts tried to out-shout each other on TV.

Oh.

“That’s rude,” my 3-year old added. “They should have time-out.”

Forgot to mention. We were watching Fox News.

Parent Resources:

• Prime time Fun: Alternatives to TV by Kya Fawley
• Resilience in a Time of War by the American Psychological Association

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Breastfeeding or bottle-feeding?

I’m a dad, but I understand the frustration moms feel whenever someone questions how they feed their baby—and where.

Tracy, in her blog, puts it succinctly: “Get over the boob issue, people.” She was referring to how a mother received a ticket for breastfeeding on a subway car.

One site, HeliumKnowledge.com, posed a somewhat similar question to its readers. I answered that question by offering quick retorts for moms—or dads—who feel tired of others questioning how they feed their babies.

My answer went this way:

If you’re breastfeeding—

• Tell them you’re willing to switch to bottle-feeding if they’re willing to clean your baby’s poop during bouts of diarrhea. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to suffer from diarrhea, allergies, bronchitis, ear infections, meningitis, pneumonia, vomiting and wheezing.
• Tell them they should try breastfeeding themselves. If they do, you explain, they could finally solve their weight problem as breastfeeding burns up to 500 calories a day.
• Obviously, you tell them, they have no idea how sexy models—like you—think (or how to train a basketball superstar). Demi Moore breastfed. So did Michael Jordan’s mom.

If you’re bottle-feeding—

• Tell them you’re willing to try breastfeeding if they’re willing to give you $100,000 for a boob job. Some mothers who can’t breastfeed have problems with their nipples.
• Tell them you gave birth to triplets. If they’re willing to let your third baby suck on their breast every four hours for the next 12 months, you’re more than willing to breastfeed.
• Tell them you want to breastfeed but can’t. You’re afraid your baby might suck the anti-depressant medication you are taking. Tell them you’re taking medication because people like them keep questioning your decisions.

Note: At HeliumKnowledge.com, I’m registered as Sleepy Tuesday. I have no idea why. I guess I registered on a Tuesday and I was sleepy then.

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