Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Doh for Know

Moms....Grandmothers....Ladies who work with kids....I don't believe as of yet I have begged for advice but in a bit I do indeed plan on it and I intend on paying you doh for your advice.....in advance too.

First let me share my 2 newest birdy kitchen towels....in the shop now.


ok....now the doh.....Play-doh adventures...you didn't really think I was gonna pay you ....did you??
I don't know why we can't seem to find the tiny orange scissors....Hmmmmm?
a road system....and the little green things....cornfield....and 1 hard-working tractor....and bunches of cars.
the yellow...sand...the green...the ocean a wavy ocean at that...Ramone is cruising on the beach.

Now that I have paid in full......ladies ...help me out.

Here are my 2 issues......what do you do about whining......especially since being sick...Chloe seems to whine non-stop....and I mean not really crying...but even asking for a drink in a whiny voice.......I wanna know what works for you if your kids even whine....and if they don't....Thank the Lord.
Do I say....when you whine I don't understand you.
Whining will not get you anything.......
Ignore....?

Next Issue.....Chloe's diet....now I claim my part of this up til' now....I have not made a habit of offering up a lot of different foods....I have been content to let her eat what she likes...but it is becoming more of a challenge to feed her....so how do you get your kids to eat......do they have to clean their plate...do you let them eat whatever they want even if it is some combination of bread and cheese .....all the time??

come on...don't' be afraid to comment ....if you have never commented before....let this be your first time.

EDITED TO ADD....Chloe is 3 very soon to be 4....for those of you who don't know.

Thanks
have a happy day


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14 comments:

Tangee said...

First let me say, love the name Chloe, I have a Chloe Rose and she's 7. Okay, first question, whining, I tend to ignore it now. I have 4 kiddos and my youngest is now 3 and he's not a big whiner, but when he does, I tell him to stop or he has to do timeout(timeouts rarely last more than 1 min). Honestly, there will be times she whines and you just have to ignore it. On the 2nd one, this is what my first pediatrician first told me about the eating issue, as long as they get one good meal a day, toddlers are getting enough to eat. My youngest is not a big eater at all. I just make sure he has something in his tummy every 2 hours or so. We do a banana for breakfast or yogurt, lunch is usually half a sandwich and some fruit, and then a small portion of whatever we have for dinner, with snacks in between meals presented. Snacks in our home are fruits, veggies, goldfish crackers, quesadillas, muffins, etc. I really try to present new things to him on a weekly basis. I hope that helps a bit. Oh, and just to help, my oldest is 9 and STILL WHINES...on occasion...I'll let you know when it stops.

Crystal said...

I tell Moses once to ask in a nice way and then ignore any whining after that...even at 20m it usually nips it in the bud because he quickly realizes that he won't get what he wants if I ignore him.

Our food philosophy is that we try to only keep healthy things in the house so that whatever he wants can only be but so bad, you know? As he gets older he will have to try what we are having for dinner and if he doesn't like it he can have yogurt and fruit. We actually already do this. It works for us. :)

Could it be she is not getting enough sleep? I know Moses is more whiny with less sleep.

Hugs to you friend!

Allikaye's Mama said...

I don't have any wonderful advice for you..but I am going to keep looking at your comments and get some ideas for me too! I like that you asked those questions!! And LOVE the birdie towels!!!

Sara said...

Hey.. I found your blog through etsy and and I love it! Anyway, I had to comment on this whining thing, because I too had a whiner for a while. What I did is I started telling Mr. whiney that I couldn't hear him while he was using that voice, I could only hear his regular voice, etc. etc.. you get it. And, I kept saying it until he stopped whining and talked to me like the big boy that he was.. anyway.. worked for me, at least for the constant whining.

Karen~ said...

Hi April, I know Chloe has been sick and that's no excuse but we do tend to put up with more when they don't feel good...we are all gulity of that. Maybe Chloe doesn't even realize that she is whining alot. It has been a while since my son was 3 but I have alot of 3-5 year olds in my speech therapy classes. I try to be consistent with whatever I do and I try to tell them that are not babies anymore and that I expect them to act like big boys and girls. Maybe just talk to Chloe on her level and explain you have expectations of her and that whining isn't what an almost 4 year old little girl should be doing. I'm not sure on the food thing, my son was picky when he was younger but then one day...he liked almost everything. I was never the type to say clean your plate or else because I think when you do that...you have to be able to follow up on what you say. Sounds like I am full of advice, doesn't it April...I don't have a clue if any of this was helpful. I know you guys will work through this April, I do remember with my son...that there are all these little stages of negative stuff. It's like you get through one thing and think "thank goodness" then something else comes up. Believe me, with my almost 15 year old...I'm still going through those not so little stages...lol. I should be asking you guys for advice. Keep us updated on Chloe.

Karen~

Margaret said...

I have the same problem with my 3 year old boy about the whining. I try to ignore it. Dad usually gives him a time out. He hasn't stopped yet. It is always worse when he gets tired. He was very laid back until our little girl was born a year ago. I don't know if he is just at the age, if its having a little sister, or both. He is great with her though, so I am glad of that.

Our son eats pretty good. I always keep washed fruit in the fridge where he can reach it. Then that is about all he wants to snack on. Right now his favorite is blueberries. I can't say I blame him.

Anonymous said...

Hi April--now, listen up! LOL! I used to be a Pre-Kindergarten teacher for about 20 kids all Chloe's age.....it's my favorite age actually! Every year...a fresh batch of fun personalities! I can't wait til Lily's 3-4ish.
Anyways...for the whine, I normally tried to be all animated and get them to laugh/distract them with something else/re-direct their attention. I also told them (in a funny voice) "hmm..I don't understand what you're saying--what language is that?? You have to tell me in your big girl voice so I can understand!" If it kept going on and on, I would usially just remind them or at times you just have to say "sorry, once you can tell me in a "big girl" voice then I can ________" and ingore until they come around. Sometimes changing the current scenery can help (just start singing or dancing or something crazy and walk out of the room while you're doing it--she'll surely follow to see where and what silly mom is doing--and want to join in). I remember days when we had groups of whiners I'd just starting marching and clapping and singing around the room....soon even the most stubborn would follow the leader. But then there were days when a child just needed some cuddles from being tired. Sooo....that's my take on that! I'm big on distraction----for her age.
As for the food, I would introduce new and different foods by letting Chloe help you prepare the lunch or dinners.....even starting from looking through recipe books and picking some out together, doing the grocery shopping together, washing, preparing the food, serving it...etc. I think the more involved she is with preparing, the more she may want to at least try the fruits of her labor. For yourself, you could also look into the book: Deceptively Delicious by JEssica Seinfeld. Sneaky ways to add in lots of foods kids tend to snarl at. Lots of controversy around this book by prim and proper moms (no offense), but whatever! You gotta start somewhere, right??
OK, sorry for the long comment!! I've been up sonce 4:30 with huge storms!! Have a happy day!

Amy Bell said...

hey girl...ok, those towels are just SOOOO cute! love them! and the playdough...a big hit at our house.

luke went through a whiny stage...i just told him that was his baby voice and if really needed me, he needed to use a big boy voice....that looked. it did not work for zeke...he likes being the baby...:)

we have a horrible time getting luke to eat...he has some texture issues and it is hard...at dinner, we ask that he eat certain amounts of the food we know he likes...as for trying new things? tough..but, now that he is almost 5 he wants to try other things...my ped said that as long as they get 1 tbsp a week of each food group...we are good. can you believe that? we also do vitamins and such...the 2nd one eats everything in sight...oh, and a funny story...my ped. told me one day that she had a boy that would ONLY eat cheetos...yep. he lived on cheetos for month or so...gross and not healthy, but very funny.

i do keep apples and granola and trail mix handy...it seems to work.

i wish my kiddos came with a manual...:) being a mom is so hard...listen to your mommy alarm and don't worry about anything else...you know her best and you are the mommy....pray and pray.

much love

The Gerster Family said...

I haven't got to this stage in my parenting yet, but I plan on using my mother's own tactics with us. We weren't allowed to be picky eaters, mostly because there wasn't enough food to do so, but she would always make a good, healthy dinner with lots of variety. We were allowed to eat as much as we wanted, but we weren't allowed to complain about the food. If you wanted to complain and not eat it, you could leave the dinner table and go to bed hungry. Once we got older, we would have to clean up the kitchen too. This taught us very quickly not only to be appreciative of what God had blessed us with that day, but also to not be picky eaters. If we really didn't like something, mom would take that into consideration the next time she made dinner, but we atleast had to give it a fair chance, understanding that this was it for tonight. Hope that helps a little bit!

alliehoopes said...

Wow I love all the comments! I ignore Lily....as in act like I can't see her and call out "Happy Lily....where aaaaaare you? I can't find you?" She runs up with a big dorky smile and tries really hard to stop whining.

And she eats chicken nuggets for breakfast so I've got nothing there for ya!

Trish said...

I tell my girls I don't understand whinning! So until you can ask in a nice voice you don't get what you want! Plus, I can only take so much whinning so after a little while they do time out. A minute per age in our house!

As for the eatting issue...they get served what we eat, unless I know they really don't eat it like tacos and stuff of that nature, if they don't eat it then that is their choice and so they don't eat until breakfast! If they are acting extremely hungry later on and didn't eat their dinner then they can choose to not eat or have plain oatmeal with NO SUGAR! I know I'm mean :) They usually choose not to eat! It's worked for us and there is at least one night a week that someone chooses not to eat dinner. However they are slowly coming around to realize that mom is serious and will nibble on a few things.

My kids are (just turned)4 and 2.

Hope this helps!

Scottie said...

:) My kids have all been fussy eaters and I find that it works itself out as they get older and I don't even worry about it anymore. I just give them what I know they will eat. :) As for whining....I tell my kids I can't hear them when they talk like that and then proceed to not hear them. They get it pretty quick. ;) Have fun!

Bekah said...

My two year old copies one of her younger friends when asking for a drink. She asks in a really whiney, almost crying voice. I just tell her, "ask me like a big girl then you can have your drink", and I ignore her whining until she asks me like a big girl. She knows that her friend is a baby and she hates being called a baby so she'll do anything to steer away from that title. As for food, I know that kids her age are not growing as fast and dont need SO much food. I alwasy fix her exactly what the rest of the family is eating and let her eat as much as she will on her own. Then I MAKE her eat three more bites. Even if she refuses to eat any at all, she has to eat THREE bites and then she can leave the table and wait in her room until we are finished. At first I had to sit there for an hour to make her eat her three bites but now she is cathcing on that she has to have three bites and she may as well have them hot : ) It's just the principle that I stress not really the eating. She eats really healthy snacks so I dont worry to much about her nutrition( plus she takes a vitamin). SOme good snacks that have alot of nutrition is cereal ( beleive it or not), esspecially cherrios with bananas cut up in it, strawberrys, crackers with peanut butter spread on it, fruit grain bars, raisins or yogurt covered raisens, cheese crackers, cheese sticks, yogurt. Just some ideas.

The Glass Onion said...

If you are still asking for advice, here is my take. Like the others said, ignoring the whining or explaining that you can only understand her when she talks like a big girl, is about all you can do. Only acknowledge her when she isn't whining. Of course a little whining is OK when she doesn't feel well or needs some sleep.

My daughter is so incredibly picky. She won't even eat cheese on her sandwich, just mayonnaise! I too take responsibility for this. I wish I had done things differently when she was younger. So, my solution was to make a "New Foods" chart. Whenever she tries a new food, she puts a star on her chart and draws a picture of what she ate. She earns rewards (usually toys) for a certain number of stars. 5 stars earned her a My Little Pony, for example. She gets double stars for new fruits and vegis. She is still quite picky, but she has discovered some new foods that we have now added to her "likes" list. My next child will be a good eater. I will make sure of this from the start. Live and learn.