Feel Bad, But I Find Myself Getting So Angry Ay My Nephew
Julian is three months older then Marlow. And I am getting so mad at him over meal time. I feel terrible, but I actually have to get up and walk away because my little 2 year old nephew can push me that far.
I am seriously getting to the point where I am going to tell my sister I can't do it anymore. That her son is going to put me in the loony bin.
And he is a really well behaved child usually. He plays quietly, he listens, he's really mellow. He goes down for a nap without any tears, he lays still while you change him. He is even getting really good at cleaning up since I started watching him.
Then comes lunch. And I could beat my head against a wall.
He will not eat a single thing that I put in front of him. Before he came along Marlow would get things like squash soup and crackers for lunch, and rice with peppers and steamed broccoli in it. And she would eat it, not problem. But I know not all kids eat like that, so I have modified the lunch schedule. Now we eat cheese sandwiches with pickles on the side, hotdogs and macaroni, tater tots and chicken fingers, cream of tomato or cream of mushroom soups, alphaghettis. That sort of stuff.
And she eats it, of course, my kids a garbage can. But Julian won't eat any of it.
It really bothers me how picky he is, and how utterly misbehaved he is at the table. He throws his food. On the floor, at the wall. And if he can reach it, he will snag Marlow's bowl and throw it too. So I sit very close to him. I try and take his bowl to feed him. I try to sneak in foods, I try to bribe him, to coax him. Nothing.
One day I let him sit there, with his food in front of him, for a full hour. And all he did was pout!
I watch him for free, and I waste stupid amounts of food on him. Every meal he throws on the floor is one I could of fed my own daughter. And it makes me upset that he is like this and his mother allows it. She doesn't care much. She acts upset that he does it, put then caves into his demands.
And what does he demand? A peanut butter sandwich. We are not eating that everyday, and I refuse to make two seperate meals to cater to him. I feel like a bully, but I can't constantly give in to his tempers.
Its getting so bad that I'm dreading lunch time. I have stopped mopping my floor twice a week like I used to, I just spot mop. Because he covers it in food everyday.
As soon as noon hits he basically camps out at the table, throwing a tantrum, until nap time, upon which he is escorted from the table straight to bed.
I really don't know what to do...it doesn't sound so bad when I type it out, but in reality it is unbearable.
I am seriously getting to the point where I am going to tell my sister I can't do it anymore. That her son is going to put me in the loony bin.
And he is a really well behaved child usually. He plays quietly, he listens, he's really mellow. He goes down for a nap without any tears, he lays still while you change him. He is even getting really good at cleaning up since I started watching him.
Then comes lunch. And I could beat my head against a wall.
He will not eat a single thing that I put in front of him. Before he came along Marlow would get things like squash soup and crackers for lunch, and rice with peppers and steamed broccoli in it. And she would eat it, not problem. But I know not all kids eat like that, so I have modified the lunch schedule. Now we eat cheese sandwiches with pickles on the side, hotdogs and macaroni, tater tots and chicken fingers, cream of tomato or cream of mushroom soups, alphaghettis. That sort of stuff.
And she eats it, of course, my kids a garbage can. But Julian won't eat any of it.
It really bothers me how picky he is, and how utterly misbehaved he is at the table. He throws his food. On the floor, at the wall. And if he can reach it, he will snag Marlow's bowl and throw it too. So I sit very close to him. I try and take his bowl to feed him. I try to sneak in foods, I try to bribe him, to coax him. Nothing.
One day I let him sit there, with his food in front of him, for a full hour. And all he did was pout!
I watch him for free, and I waste stupid amounts of food on him. Every meal he throws on the floor is one I could of fed my own daughter. And it makes me upset that he is like this and his mother allows it. She doesn't care much. She acts upset that he does it, put then caves into his demands.
And what does he demand? A peanut butter sandwich. We are not eating that everyday, and I refuse to make two seperate meals to cater to him. I feel like a bully, but I can't constantly give in to his tempers.
Its getting so bad that I'm dreading lunch time. I have stopped mopping my floor twice a week like I used to, I just spot mop. Because he covers it in food everyday.
As soon as noon hits he basically camps out at the table, throwing a tantrum, until nap time, upon which he is escorted from the table straight to bed.
I really don't know what to do...it doesn't sound so bad when I type it out, but in reality it is unbearable.
Replies
Wow, I have the opposite problem. I watch my cousins 4 year old son and he eats me out of house and home! I recently asked her if she could please send a packed lunch and a couple of snacks like she would for school. Maybe your sister could do the same. Good luck!
That does sound frustrating! When I worked in childcare each child brought their own lunch. If they ate, they ate, if they didn\'t, we packed it back up so the parents knew. Of course we always encouraged them to try what their parents sent, but honestly you can\'t force a kid to eat. I suggest you ask your sister to pack him a lunch everyday. That way you can still provide your daughter with the variety of nutrient rich foods you are used to. I basically give my child three chances. If he keeps tossing his food on the floor lunch is over for him good luck!
Oh My, that is awful. I would be frustrated too. My nephew was that way and now at 15 will only eat plain chicken, bagels and peanut butter. You are doing your best. It is so frustrating to waste food!
I would give in. It\'s really not worth a trouble to you and it is to him, since he has no other worries in life and toddlers just LOVE to push your buttons. You got lucky with your girl and frankly your nephew seems easy too except for lunchtime. I beat my head against the wall with my older son each meal then also for naptime and bed time, for him making a mess if he doesn\'t have all my attention. He is a dear boy but very very energetic and he just loves to push my buttons. So consider yourself lucky (I know,easy for me to say) that you \"only\" deal with mealtime for one of them.
Here\'s what I\'d do. I would stop forcing him to eat lunch. Tots are real good at power battles - my son especially. I can get something with tricks or by pretending I don\'t care but forcing him usually gets me nothing. I would put his lunch on the table and tell him he can eat it or go play by himself quietly and I would feed my daughter. I would save his lunch for my dinner or lunch tomorrow. I may make him a PB sandwich if he doesn\'t cave in in a few days. After all you don\'t want him to starve and PB sandwiches are easy to make. And I\'d forget about principles. It\'s all about survival :) I frankly think 2 is early to teach them what to eat. At this age they tend to really change their eating habits and get picky. Just keep offering good food and eventually it will work. I would also make comments such as \"this soup is so yummy, isn\'t it Marlow? And this PB sandwich is not very tasty. Marlow will become big and strong for eating soup. She will be faster/bigger than [your nephew\'s name]\" If you can get Marlow to repeat this too it will work better.
BTW most of my son\'s meals are during play so go for finger food that you can just put there instead of forcing him to sit down to eat. And another thing that works for us is if I eat without offering and say something like \"Mmmm, I don\'t think I can give this to Laza, it\'s just for grown ups\". It also works if I let him feed me. Eventually he tries to eat too and if he likes it he will continue. It also works if I ask him to just take one bite. Most of times he will like the taste so if I manage to get him to take that first bite the rest is easy.