From Mr. Handsome:
Last weekend, I had an epiphany during breakfast with the family, as I was enjoying my Corn Chex (the only cereal that Ellie buys) with a little bit of Trader Joe’s granola. “You know Ellie,” I said. “I think that as a father, it is very important for me to spend quality time with our children. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I think that is very important,” replied Ellie.
“Well, I have some free time this afternoon, and I could plan an outing,” I stated. “What do you think?”
“That’s a great idea,” responded Ellie.
“What if I take the kids to Five Daughters Bakery for donuts?” I suggested.
Ellie looked up sharply from her no-sugar-added oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins (what she eats every single morning). “So what you are saying is that Daddy wants donuts,” she stated.
“No, no, no” I replied in total shock. “The donuts are just extra. The focus is family time.” I could tell that Ellie didn’t believe me.
After breakfast, I hosted a men’s Bible study. Throughout the entire study, I could almost taste the creamy deliciousness of Five Daughters 100-layer donuts. And of course, I couldn’t wait to spend quality time with my children.
I excitedly told Little Buddy that we would be going out for donuts after Littlest Buddy’s nap. I was expecting my five-year-old to jump for joy, so you can imagine how shocked I was when he looked back at me and said, in a very mature tone, “That’s okay, Daddy. I don’t need a donut.”
“”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. “”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. One of our friends had brought mini cinnamon rolls to Bible study, and Little Buddy explained that he had eaten a few and that he therefore didn’t need any other treats for the rest of the day.
“But don’t you want a sugary chocolate donut with sprinkles on top?” I asked my son. “And don’t you want to spend quality time with Daddy?”
“Well I would actually rather stay home and wrestle with you, Daddy,” said Little Buddy. “And could you give us horsey back rides, too?” How could I say no to that?
At that moment, Ellie, who had overheard the conversation, came rushing into the room with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you, Little Buddy!” she exclaimed. “Deciding that you don’t need a treat shows that you are very mature.” Ellie works hard from the time the kids are six months old to give them vegetables at every meal and limit their sugar intake to one small treat on most days. She is the only person I know who genuinely likes the taste of vegetables, and our kids are following in her footsteps.
Ellie turned to me and said, “Mr. Handsome aren’t you proud of Little Buddy and his wise decision to stay away from sugar? Since you’re a mature adult, I’m sure you won’t mind skipping the donuts, right?”
I felt a small tear welling up in my eye as I said, “Yes, Little Buddy, I am very proud of you.”
Ellie we have missed you! I hope all is well 😣
Thank you, Tina! We are doing well. How have you been?
I have a baby now so everything is great! Tired but so happy 😊
Congratulations! How wonderful! Sorry I’m responding so late. How is everything going? How are sleeping and feeding going?
He is the best baby I could have wished for. Always happy and rarely cries. 😍
I’m so glad to hear that!
Well Mr H.what you need to do now is explain to the group that meets that in your house celery is the go to snack. Therefore, if they could just bring celery to the meetings it would be “gratefully appreciated”!
Haha, that’s great! Little Buddy sure is mature for his age. 🙂 Maybe Mr. Handsome can take him for a donut another day.
Ellie, I’d love to hear practical tips on how you incorporate veggies into every meal for your kids – that’s quite impressive! I have a 17-month-old and I feel successful if I manage to get him to eat some veggies at just 1 meal a day. LOL. Do you find that you have to “sneak” in the veggies? I’ve been resorting to blending spinach into pancake batter, or adding shredded zucchini to his healthy “cookies.” Right now he has pleasantly surprised us by enjoying steamed broccoli though!
Hi Alisa,
I completely understand. Feeding our kids healthy food takes a lot of time and thought. When I say every meal, I don’t mean breakfast, lol. But I do try to give one veggie at lunch and dinner, and then sometimes I’ll bring them out at snacktime. My boys will both eat veggies plain for the most part, but I know some kids have a harder time with that. I do a lot of pureed baby veggies and then start with cooked as they get closer to a year. And I still cook carrots quite a bit for my kids, as they eat those better than raw.
Ellie
Ah ok – I would have been super impressed if you’d managed to do veggies at breakfast every day too! Though I suppose it is possible! 🙂 Getting little ones to eat healthy definitely takes more forethought than I had anticipated. That’s great that you’re establishing those patterns so early, though!
When my grandson was young he like can ravioli, I would carefully take meat out of the ravioli add it to the sauce and replace it with mash green beans. Made homemade carrot muffins and add applesauce and plenty of shredded carrots. Put spinach in his cheese omelets. He ate all of these foods I made.
Those are great ideas!
Ellie, you are a wise lady. Keep it up; your kids will benefit from the nutrition you provided for them for a lifetime!
Thank you, Ellyn 🙂
Little Buddy is a smart boy. Mr. H or Ellie, could you tell us some interesting thing about your other two children.🙂