Eating in front of the TV

[The_Bucket]

I don’t get a dad giving in to a kid. Seriously. As long as it’s not in public, I sometimes get a kick out of kids throwing tantrums. It’s amusing because they frequently make no sense. It’s like a behavioral non sequitur. I don’t get angered in the slightest. They get a swat on the bottom (not hard mind you) and put on the steps. If they continue the fit, they go to their rooms.

I like being the dad that can just walk up to his kid, point at the stairs and say absolutely nothing and the message is sent. It’s sweet.

 

[Kouyate42]

I’m in agreeance with the people who are saying about consistency in discipline. Major problem with kids is that they will easily become confused if there isn’t consistency, and this applies to pretty much everything from daily routine to discipline and house rules. They won’t learn where the boundaries are and will end up being manipulative because they’ll learn that if one parent wants X and they don’t want to do X, they’ll go to the parent who wants ‘Y’ and either way, they get their own way.

Sit down with your husband and work out what the rules are and also agree to both enforce them. Be willing to come to a middle ground. Listen to what he’s saying. Make sure he’s listening to what YOU say. Make it a two-way process and you’ll get results. Also, write a rulebook or ‘house rules’ list if you want. Hang it somewhere prominent.

Key also is that it will likely take time for you to see any changes in your small son. You might have to repeat something 100 times but if it is needed, you will just have to grit your teeth and get on with it. Having your husband on side will help in taking some of the strain off you.

Time-out is a good technique which doesn’t involve smacking or any sort of shouting even, and it works for even the smaller children. The usual rule is to use their age as a rule as to how long they’re on time-out for at any one time. So a 2 yr old is on time out for 2min at a time. Use a quiet room with no distractions or things like toys which will confuse things, or even a chair set to the side of the room may also work. If they come out of time out before their time is up, they go back to the chair/room and the time starts again. Make sure that afterwards you sit down next to him and explain to him why you did what you did and ask for an apology. As soon as this is given, the punishment is over.

 

[Musician]

Stick to your guns on family meal time.
We raised our family with evening family meals and they are memories to be treasured. As the children got older it was so rewarding to hear about their days at school and their ideas. It was also a great time to address serious issues in a fun, conversational way.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I don’t get a dad giving in to a kid. Seriously. As long as it’s not in public, I sometimes get a kick out of kids throwing tantrums. It’s amusing because they frequently make no sense. It’s like a behavioral non sequitur. I don’t get angered in the slightest. They get a swat on the bottom (not hard mind you) and put on the steps. If they continue the fit, they go to their rooms.

I like being the dad that can just walk up to his kid, point at the stairs and say absolutely nothing and the message is sent. It’s sweet.

Some fathers are conflict avoiders. Some hate noise of any kind. You are obviously comfortable with your role as a husband and father, head of the household.

 

[ryecroft]

I don’t think it’s a good idea. We have tried very hard to not have our children eat in front of the tv. It’s just too easy to do mindless eating of bad things.

The only television our kids watch is after dinner - when we will watch a movie from the library. Our rule is that they must have eaten a good dinner - no snacks for at least an hour. Then, if there is a snack, we turn off the tv - go up and have a snack - and they can watch a bit more of the movie after they brush their teeth and use the rest room.

On rare occasions, we have had popcorn while watching, but that is unusual.

My wife and i have had lifelong struggles with our weight. That is one thing we do not want our children to inherit. So we have done a lot to encourage good eating habits. So far, it has been one struggle where we have seemed to have done a good job.

But I think that you have to start early. I would talk to your husband privately about your concerns. In our family, if a child did not eat his/her dinner, then his/her left over dinner would be the snack for that child. We have made a game out of eating good things - and we don’t usually push it. With our kids now, we’ve made a connection between eating their vegetables and fruits and how fast, strong, smart or cute they are. All i have to say is something like. "That’s okay, Daddy needs to be faster than you anyway, so i can catch you. Don’t eat that broccoli, I don’t want you to be that fast. Mommy, you watch her while i get a glass of milk, don’t let her sneak a piece of broccoli. Every one of my kids would sneak the carrot/broccoli/brussel sprouts. Even though my older kids now realize it is a game, they still like to do it. And there are other games we play along that line. And then i follow up the next day with questions. “Where did they put that school of yours?” My 3 year old can tell me when we are five blocks away that she can see the school. So I will ask her “Did you sneak extra carrots last night that your eyes are so good?”.

And I think a family dinner without outside interruptions is worth it. We don’t answer the phone during dinner.

Good luck. It’s a lifelong struggle to get it right.

I’d say something but I think the subject has been taken care of.

Not to get off the subject - but that’s great! Seriously, I’m going to have to try that with my God Daughter when I’m watching her! What a cool idea!
God Bless
Rye