She Eats Like a Bird

I was told that many, many times when I was younger.  I didn't think I ate too little, I just ate until I was full and then I stopped eating.    There would usually be lots of food left on my plate when I was done, but that was mostly because portions were always so large.   For the most part, I wasn't offended by the comments.   Sometimes people would say things hinting that I had a problem (like bulimia I supposed) but that seemed more some kind of comment made because of how they felt about food as opposed to my eating until I was full and then stopping.

I don't get the comments that I eat like a bird anymore.   I didn't think about this until the other day and I realized that food at some point became higher value, more important, more of a thing to look forward to, enjoy and even overeat than it was when I was younger.   That's why today I have to be mindful of how much I eat because I have the capacity to eat more than my body really needs if I don't pay attention to how much I'm eating.

I watch my children eat their food and no matter what it is, be it yogurt, juice, water, ice cream or even candy, they always stop when they've had enough.    What makes us move from that carefree state of enjoying food to the extent we need it, into people who fixate and focus on food on a daily basis?

Tonight some friends and I went to the state fair.   Did we go for rides?  No.   Did we go to look at the exhibits?  Not really.   Did we go to see the sights and listen to the music?   Not even close.   We went for the food.  Pretty much only for the food.

The Big Boy Update:   My daughter and son were in the back seat talking this morning.  They were having some sort of discussion about something grown-up that neither of them really knew anything about.   My son decided his sister didn't know what she was talking about so he told her, "I'm an expert" and then proceeded to tell her his own completely innocent, mis-guided ideas.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Hair cut.   I said I wasn't going to do it.  I didn't want to do it.  I was adamant I wasn't going to cut her hair but today I had just had enough.  It has never been cut and she's almost three-years-old.   It is very fine and very brittle and it breaks easily or is pulled out if she or anyone else isn't careful with it when they're putting it up.   There was this bit in the back that looked a rat tail because the other parts around it had broken off.   I asked my husband if he thought we should just cut it and he said he supported my decision.    So she had her first hair cut.   I took her to my hairdresser and as she cut her hair we collected the clippings into a little plastic bag I brought.   My daughter sat very still and looked in the mirror the whole time.    The total amount of hair cut off wasn't that much, but you can brush through it now and it looks less crazy.   My daughter likes her shorter hair.   She looks terribly cute too.